Grammarly Certified Advanced Grammar and Language Specialist Style and Writing Conventions 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence correctly applies title case?
- The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog
- The Quick Brown Fox Jumps over the Lazy Dog
- the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
- The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog
In title case, major words are capitalized but prepositions, articles, and short conjunctions (like 'the' and 'over') are lowercased unless they start the title.
Question 2: Which is the correct way to write a decade in American English?
- the 1990's
- the 1990s (Correct answer)
- the Nineteen-Nineties
- The '90's
Correct answer: the 1990s
Decades are written as numerals followed by a lowercase 's' with no apostrophe (e.g., '1990s' or '90s').
Question 3: When writing percentages in formal prose, which format is preferred?
- Use the % symbol always, even in text
- Spell out 'percent' and use numerals for the number (e.g., 25 percent) (Correct answer)
- Spell out both the number and the word (e.g., twenty-five percent)
- Always use the % symbol after a spelled-out number
Correct answer: Spell out 'percent' and use numerals for the number (e.g., 25 percent)
Most style guides recommend using numerals with the spelled-out word 'percent' in formal prose (not the % symbol).
Question 4: Which sentence follows the convention for using 'which' versus 'that'?
- The car which I bought last year needs repairs.
- The car that I bought last year needs repairs.
- The car, that I bought last year, needs repairs.
- The car, which I bought last year, needs repairs only when dirty. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The car, which I bought last year, needs repairs only when dirty.
Non-restrictive clauses use 'which' with commas; the clause 'which I bought last year' is parenthetical and requires comma-enclosed 'which'.
Question 5: What is the standard rule for hyphenating compound modifiers?
- Always hyphenate compound modifiers regardless of position.
- Hyphenate compound modifiers before a noun but not after a linking verb. (Correct answer)
- Never hyphenate compound modifiers in formal writing.
- Hyphenate compound modifiers only when both words are adjectives.
Correct answer: Hyphenate compound modifiers before a noun but not after a linking verb.
A compound modifier is hyphenated before a noun ('well-known author') but not when it follows a linking verb ('the author is well known').
Question 6: Which is an example of correct em dash usage?
- The meeting - which ran long - ended at noon.
- The meeting—which ran long—ended at noon. (Correct answer)
- The meeting – which ran long – ended at noon.
- The meeting, which ran long — ended at noon.
Correct answer: The meeting—which ran long—ended at noon.
Em dashes (—) set off parenthetical information with no spaces on either side in American English style.
Grammarly Certified Advanced Grammar and Language Specialist Style and Writing Conventions 2
Which sentence correctly applies title case?