What kind of pirate are you?

Hey, mates! In honor of International Talk Like A Pirate Day on September 19th, we put together a wee test to find our which pirate ye be! Take the quiz to find out now.

Thrusted? The Past Tense of Thrust

• Thrust is the standard past tense form of the verb thrust.
• Thrusted exists, but it is rare.

Have you ever flown in an airplane? Thrust is one of the things that makes the aircraft move in the sky. According to HowStuffWorkst, thrust is “the aerodynamic force that pushes or pulls the airplane forward through space.” Planes use jet engines or propellers to create thrust. Why the lesson in aerodynamics? If you understand thrust as a noun, it will help you to get a sense of the verb. To thrust means to propel forward, to push something or someone forcibly in a certain direction.

How to Conjugate Thrust

Look at the conjugation below. Then, try to guess why thrust is one of the easiest irregular verbs to memorize in the present tense.

I thrust you thrust he/she/it thrusts we thrust you thrust they thrust

Thrust doesn’t change much in the present tense! Except for the third person singular form, which features an S at the end, thrust is the form to use. How about the past tense? Typically, you add an -ed to the base form of a verb to form the past tense. Applying this rule, the past tense of thrust would be thrusted. Are there any examples of this form on the web?

Jackson Post 158 was thrusted into the loser’s bracket at the Zone 4 Senior Legion Tournament following Friday’s loss but was able to prevail in thrilling fashion Saturday and advance back to the championship game, where it fell once again to the hosts and ended its season in Ste. Genevieve. —Southeast Missourian

Morin was first to take the stage in the final round of the eighth annual tribute artist competition in Immokalee. He started his set with “Burning Love.” On each “hunka hunka,” Morin punched the air and thrusted his hips, sending the beads on his waistband into a fury. It wasn’t long before a crowd at the Seminole Casino Hotel gathered at the stage, desperate for their moment with — at least in their minds — Elvis Presley. —Naples Daily News

Though you can find examples of thrusted, they are relatively rare. What do writers use instead? Examine these two quotes:

Between the rows of tomatoes were little arachnid weeds that sprouted out instead of up. He knelt down and his right knee—the bad one—flared up from the impact. After taking a moment to wince, he thrust his hand into the soil, which was surprisingly warm for this time of year. He figured the weeds would come up easily, but when he went to pull, they stayed firmly rooted. —Drew Magary, The Hike

Although she has been thrust into the limelight for her stunning performance on a reality TV singing competition in China, Adinda Tasya Mansor is not about to rest on her laurels. —The Star Online, “Adinda already eyeing next round of singing contest in China”

How much more popular is thrust than thrusted? Google Ngram Viewer is an online search engine that compares how many times certain words appear in a large text corpora. In comparison to thrust, thrusted is barely on the chart.

Thrusted just isn’t very popular. Most people use thrust. Now that you know so much about the verb, you can use it to talk about lots of things. In fencing, to jab with the sword is to thrust. You can thrust an object, but you can also thrust yourself figuratively into a conversation or a situation. How will you use this word?

Check Your Answers for Grammar Skills Test—Starter

So, you want to know what your English grammar level is? You’ve come to the right place. This post will cover the answers and additional learning resources for “Grammar Skills Test—Starter.” The Starter test covers Question formation, verb tense, prepositions, subject-verb agreement, and word order.

Correct answers are highlighted. Links go to additional learning resources to help you continue improving.

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences:

1 ___ can you see? I can see three cats.

• which
• what

Subject(s) Tested: Question words

2 ___ is the sun? It’s in the sky.

• What
• Where

Subject(s) Tested: Question words

3 What __ she see? She can see a plane.

• can
• do

Subject(s) Tested: Question formation

4 Where ___ the students? They’re on the bus.

• is
• are

Subject(s) Tested: Question words, subject-verb agreement

5Are you __ busy?

• a
• an
• No word is needed.

Subject(s) Tested: Article use

6 What punctuation is needed?

Ms Jones went to dinner with Mr and Mrs Brown

• period
• question mark
• exclamation mark

Subject(s) Tested: Punctuation

7Please, call me ___ ten o’clock.

• at
• in
• on
• for
• with

Subject(s) Tested: Common prepositions

8 ___ my stay in New York, I made a few friends.

• During
• At
• On
• While

Subject(s) Tested: Common prepositions

9My uncle ___ in the center of town.

• live
• living
• lives

Subject(s) Tested: Verb conjugation

10What is the correct form of the word?

Are you good at ___ questions?

• write
• writing

Subject(s) Tested: Gerunds

11Select the most natural word order for this sentence.

• He told us an interesting story.
• Us he told a story interesting.
• Us he told an interesting story.
• He told us a story interesting.

Subject(s) Tested: Word order

12The train leaves ___ five minutes. Hurry up!

• at
• on
• in

Subject(s) Tested: Common prepositions

13Last night I went home and _______ TV for an hour.

• heard
• watched
• listened to
• looked at

Subject(s) Tested: Verb use, verb tense

14I love _________ to music.

• listening
• watching
• hearing
• looking

Subject(s) Tested: Gerunds, verb tense

15Which sentence is correct?

• I’m going to make my homework.
• Make the beds.
• I need to remake the task.

Subject(s) Tested: Make/do use

Grammar Madness: The Battle to Determine the Most Maddening Writing Error

Since the dawn of writing, grammarians have been irked by sloppy and erroneous written communication. But over the past few years, it’s gotten increasingly difficult to go even a single day without seeing several writing errors. From street signs to Facebook status updates, unfortunate writing mistakes are omnipresent in both the real world and the virtual.

Over the next few weeks, the Grammarly team will use social media to determine the most detestable of all writing errors. After all, who better to make this determination than the world’s largest community of grammarians?

Voting begins on March 18 in conjunction with one the most popular sporting events in America. (We couldn’t let grammarians be the only ones without a bracket on which to bet, could we?!)

Behold: The battle for the dubious distinction of “Most MADDENING Writing Error!”

Here’s how “Grammar Madness” works:

— Grammarly created four “regions” representing specific grammar errors that drive grammarians up the wall:

Your Confused! This region honors contextual spelling mistakes. Often writers spell a word correctly, but use the word in the wrong context. This drives grammarians crazy, especially on Facebook.

i should of cared less: Lazy writers are hazy writers. This region features mistakes that could be easily found and corrected in writing – if only the writer spent a few more minutes proofreading to ensure a clear message.

“Fire your Proofreader’s” From comma splices to misused apostrophes, this region focuses on the most technical of grammar mistakes.

Definately Annoying: This region is dedicated to incorrectly using, or spelling, a word. It is literally the worst, don’t you think?

— Beginning on March 18, there will be a daily vote for the most annoying writing error in one of the four regions. We’ll post the errors here, as well as to our Facebook page and Twitter handle.

— You can vote for the worst mistake by liking, re-tweeting, sharing, or commenting on Facebook or Twitter.

— Each day, the winning error will advance to the next round of the bracket until we finally crown the most “maddening” grammar error on April 6.

Best of luck!

**UPDATE: Check out our Grammar Madness winner here.**

Can You Pass This Difficult Spelling Quiz?

Quiz written by FutureTVWriter (link: https://www.playbuzz.com/futuretvwriter10)

The Right Way to Procrastinate, According to Productivity Experts

Just about everyone I know is a procrastinator on some level. Going by Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000-Hour Rule”, basically every college student is an expert procrastinator. But procrastination doesn’t mean putting off work forever and never doing it. For most people (even college students!), work that gets put off must eventually get done. From this perspective, the real masters of putting off work are those who still manage to get everything done and done well. Luckily, there are some simple productivity techniques that can make your procrastination work for you.

Accept that Procrastination Can Be Good For You

In our culture, we tend to vilify procrastination as the antithesis of productivity. When done correctly, however, procrastination can help you focus in on your goals, gain clarity on what’s important, and boost your creativity. Getting all the benefits you can out of your break time means actually learning how to procrastinate.

Procrastinating for Productivity

Effective procrastination is built around “active procrastination” or “productive procrastination” techniques. Strategies can include restructuring your tasks so that in putting off some work you actually get other valuable tasks done. You might also try pitting your task against your own boredom. (“You don’t have to write that email, but you can’t do anything else.”) Or you could default to certain helpful tasks, like organizing. In fact, active procrastination is often so productive that many people wouldn’t even call it procrastination. Here are some go-to strategies from success experts.

1Get Your Head Right

So often we dive into a project with little direction. Give yourself time before and during a project to step back, organize your thoughts or actions, and get clarity on what parts of the task are important. This doesn’t have to be terribly formal, either. It can be as simple as clearing the clutter on your desk for focus or clearing the clutter in your planner to decide what’s a priority. It can mean having a coffee and actively thinking about your approach to a problem or job. Whatever it is for you, do that thing that allows you to get your head on straight.

Sometimes it can feel like you’re juggling a million and one things at a time. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it is worth separating all your tasks, correctly prioritising each one and then resuming action. Doing this can clear things up in your mind and leave you feeling less overwhelmed. —Jörgen Sundberg, Link Humans and Undercover Recruiter

2Embrace the Time Crunch

One of the reasons procrastination is appealing to people is that it creates the needed additional stress to push us to complete tasks or projects. The added pressure of limited time can help us focus and prioritize better. So, let yourself wait until (almost) the last moment.

I have tried many things in the past to get work done: to-do lists, diarying the stuff that I need to do, Pomodoro. However, the best thing I have found so far is the ‘Just in Time’ method of working. You know there is a task to do by a certain date. Two days before the date you spend all your time getting it done, depends on how big the task is of course.

For instance, I had a program where I needed to make 15 videos. I would normally do this over a span of 3-4 weeks. However, I spent 2 days, before the program went live, and completed the videos. This way you’ve got pressure, you’ve got a commitment, and you’ve got the added bonus of not overthinking things, you get out of your own way and just get it done. —Stephen Aitchison, Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life

3Procrastinate by Getting Your Foot in the Door

Having trouble getting to the gym or writing that blog post? Let yourself procrastinate or dwell on one small step of that process. If you need to head for a workout, allow yourself to spend some time prepping your gym bag (once it’s all ready you’re more likely to go). Need to get the blog post done? Spend some time getting your space right or simply crafting the thesis.

The hardest part of anything is starting, and 9 times out of 10 if I start I can carry myself through and get a lot done. That other one time, where I still can’t do anything? That’s when I know I should just go do something fun and try again later. —Sean Ogle, Location 180

4Make Sure You’re the Best Person for the Job

Procrastination allows you to pause and look critically at a project. Taking time to critically analyze what parts of the project are holding you back might help you understand whether or not you are the best person for the task.

Procrastination is a gift. It allows you an opportunity to assess if you are the right person to work on that task or strategy. Overcoming procrastination only takes 15 minutes. If you are really avoiding something you need to ask yourself: Is this something I MUST do?

If the answer is no, determine can you delete it or delegate it. If you can delete it that’s fabulous. If you can delegate it, who is the best person to outsource it to? —Neen James, Neenjames.com

Productive procrastination isn’t necessarily the best fit for everyone. Depending on your situation, you may have better luck nipping procrastination in the bud. There are literally as many approaches to managing procrastination as there are people, and no one is always right. So, it’s important to think critically about your work, goals, and priorities when planning for your productivity.

How do you manage procrastination? Are there any tips you would add?

Do You Remember Your Grade-School Grammar?