More clever than a 5th grader?
Happened to watch an episode of this american TV show. One contestant was asked:
How many demonstrable adjectives are in this sentence?
"The scruffy dog that had a long tail chased the multicoloured cat"
Answer: 1
The 5th grader and the contestant said 3. I also figured 3.
She lost and had to leave with nothing.
So, what went wrong? Apparently, the 3 adjectives scruffy, long and multicoloured are adjectives, but not demonstrable adjectives.
English has 4 demonstrable adjectives: This, that, those and these
So I thought "dangit, now I am embarassed", and I began to research "demonstrable adjectives"... and they are probably the most obscure english grammar concept ever. I can find nigh any reference AT ALL to them!
Go figure. While the contestant was woefully inadequate on all her other questions, I felt truly sorry for the 5th grader because that was a mean question.
How many demonstrable adjectives are in this sentence?
"The scruffy dog that had a long tail chased the multicoloured cat"
Answer: 1
The 5th grader and the contestant said 3. I also figured 3.
She lost and had to leave with nothing.
So, what went wrong? Apparently, the 3 adjectives scruffy, long and multicoloured are adjectives, but not demonstrable adjectives.
English has 4 demonstrable adjectives: This, that, those and these
So I thought "dangit, now I am embarassed", and I began to research "demonstrable adjectives"... and they are probably the most obscure english grammar concept ever. I can find nigh any reference AT ALL to them!
Go figure. While the contestant was woefully inadequate on all her other questions, I felt truly sorry for the 5th grader because that was a mean question.