testing myself here- "... for no fewer than five members of the British, Belgian and Malaysian royal families"?

It is correct! When would you ever say, "Goodnight from I"?

Those were the ones I got. Also I tend to think that people should be followed by "who" (or "whom") rather than "that".

No; but they might have said 'goodnight from Tom and I' ; which I suspect is what the public expected (rightly or wrongly).

Would you say 'my wife and I', or 'my wife and me'?

Or would you say 'David and I' or 'David and me'?

How about 'David and myself'?

Or would you say 'David and I' or 'David and me'?

Local state school dates as listed on the local authority website -


Monday 3rd September - Friday 26th October
Half-term: Monday 29th October - Friday 2nd October
Monday 5th October - Thursday 20th December

It depends on whether we're the object or the subject of the sentence

Any owner of adog who fouls the footpath is liable to a fine not exceeding ?200.

Thus:
David and I bit the dog.

But:
The dog bit David and me.

Exactly

Any owner of adog who fouls the footpath is liable to a fine not exceeding ?200.

On newsletter from an MP

(Town name) sees welcome reducation in claims for jobseeker's allowance.

I assumed it was the word 'reducation'

Oh yes, of course! That's the second time I've been hopelessly unobservant in the last 48 hours.

I think Maggie has stumbled on a fantastic neologism which, being an amalgamation of "reduction" and "education", should mean something like "a course of education which results in the student understanding less than he knew in the first place" (cf. "GCSE").

Aha! I think so too. Good one.

Of course, I guess everyone was expecting it to be yet another apostrophe howler.

Nah - they're so 2011. (And it is officially "Jobseeker's Allowance", although I'm not altogether sure whether I agree with the placement of the apostrophe.)

In todays Wirral News...

In todays Wirral News.

THELMA, a lovely gentle rescue cat, seeks a new home, good natured, and has been fully immunised and spade.

In todays Wirral News.

THELMA, a lovely gentle rescue cat, seeks a new home, good natured, and has been fully immunised and spade.

THELMA, a lovely gentle rescue cat, seeks a new home, good natured, and has been fully immunised and spade.

This thread is supposed to be a refuge, a sanctuary, a veritable oasis of impeccable grammar, spelling and punctuation.

On newsletter from an MP

(Town name) sees welcome reducation in claims for jobseeker's allowance.

f#m has form (see posts passim) Perhaps he's allergic to apostrophes.

Do it, C!

...but don't forget to state the learning intention first...

B x

You presented a clear vision for establishing this school, the extent of your group's passion, commitment and your personal motivation was evident throughout the application and at interview.

Whist you were very confident your school would be over-subscribed; the evidence of demand within your application did not reflect this.

....would have benefitted from more consideration...

If you would like further feedback, we would need to make an appointment to do that on the telephone, which you can contact me by email to arrange.

These are extracts from a recent letter from none other than the Department for Education .

I am sorely tempted to get out my Red Pen, mark it and return it with 'Could Do Better' inscribed at the bottom. Typo, mis-spelt word, appalling punctuation and clunky sentences. Gah.

As soon as you arrive with us you sense that, compared with other schools, here is somewhere special, friendly and pleasingly different. Our campus is exceptional, with a range and quality of facilities few can equal. Pupils past and present will tell of our successful commitment to them as individuals, our dedicated caring staff and the practical completeness of the education we provide. Examination results mean our Junior School pupils achieve very well. Whilst **** ********'s College is the UK's top number 1 School in the North for academic results, based on average UCAS A-Level points per student, we still accept a broad range of ability children. We aim to give every pupil an Education for Life, with academic achievement as its core but with social and life skills as its heart.

Our Queens Kindergarten accepts children from 3 months to 3 years, Chapter House accepts children from 3 years to 11 years and ****** ********'s welcomes pupils aged 11 to 21 - all who share our philosophy ?To Be The Best That I Can With The Gifts That I Have? and who seek a better quality of life at school as day pupils or residents on campus. We would be delighted if you were able to visit us to discover first-hand the quality of education and the breadth of learning and leisure opportunities we provide in order to meet each pupil?s academic aspirations and encourage their personal and social development.

Our curriculum provides the ?polish? which contributes to success in later life. Social skills are vitally important and give every pupil the opportunity to enhance academic achievements. We hope this website provides you with an interesting and informative insight into what makes ** so successful ? and so special.

The text below was copied from the website of a public school in our area.


Marks out of ten please?

8 or 9, I would say; there are a few odd phrases like "a broad range of ability children" (what's an ability child??) but it's accurate in terms of spelling, punctuation and syntax, with good use of subordinate clauses and generally it reads quite clearly. (I'm assuming the odd question marks are the fault of the forum, not the original website?)

Yes; the question marks are the fault of the forum. I wish they could fix it.

It may just be me, but I found the text quite difficult to read, and I found myself re-reading sentences three or four times to make sense of what was being said. It certainly wouldn't give me a great deal of confidence if I was contemplating spending 20,000 PA or more on my child's education.

However, the phrase that really struck me was "the UK's top number 1 School in the North".

How many top No 1 schools are there?

SB

Not just you. Incredibly difficult to read. Phrases which don't work, words which don't go together. Successful commitment; practical completeness. What does that mean? Sounds a bit like my ten-year old who was busy looking up the thesaurus for words to make her essays more interesting and ended up writing about how the Olympic rings were "enrolled".

It may just be me, but I found the text quite difficult to read, and I found myself re-reading sentences three or four times to make sense of what was being said. It certainly wouldn't give me a great deal of confidence if I was contemplating spending 20,000 PA or more on my child's education.

However, the phrase that really struck me was "the UK's top number 1 School in the North".

How many top No 1 schools are there?

Fair enough, everyone who thinks it is ok. I read it and firmly believe it is rubbish. It reads like a bad translation in places, and in others as if the author struggled to find additional words to make it more interesting. It also, IMHO, doesn't actually say anything.

You can't win that one Swell Box. (Very funny though....) Perhaps you should ask "The top no 1 school in the North" to pay you 20,000 pounds to teach them to write.

***** ****** School provides girls and boys with a safe, happy and nurturing environment in a stunning area of County Durham.

With its outstanding academic record, first class facilities and excellent pastoral care, it offers all students the chance to excel both inside and outside the classroom.

Boarders and day pupils from the age of 4 to 18 benefit from a strong family atmosphere. The school?s ethos of openness means that it welcomes parents, former pupils and friends of the school to join in and promote a sense of pride, endeavour and tremendous fun.