Once upon a time, a sadistic language columnist challenged his readers to find one grammar or usage error in each of these sentences from scrambled fairy tales:

No. 1: Sleeping Beauty, as well as Sneezy and Dopey, were invited to Cinderella's wedding.

No. 2: Neither the Seven Dwarfs nor Goldilocks were invited to the prince's ball.

No. 3: Thumbelina flaunted the rules of propriety and danced with the pariah Rumpelstiltskin.

No. 4: "Whose afraid of the big, bad wolf?" Snow White asked.

No. 5: After losing his beans to Little Red Riding Hood, Jack cried for awhile.

No. 6: Hansel, Gretel and Rapunzel didn't get along with each other.

No. 7: The reason the Billy Goats Gruff were angry is because Puss in Boots had set up a "troll" booth at the bridge.

No. 8: "I wouldn't climb that beanstalk if I was you," the giant told the Three Little Pigs.

No. 9: "That's alot of rats!" Snow White told the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

No. 10: What the Wicked Queen saw in her "mirror, mirror on the wall" made her nauseous.

SOLUTIONS:

No. 1: Sleeping Beauty, as well as Grumpy and Sneezy, was invited. — The intervening phrase beginning with "as well as" doesn't affect the singularity of the subject (Sleeping Beauty).

No. 2: Was invited — In "neither/nor" clauses, the verb agrees with the nearer subject (Goldilocks).

No. 3: Thumbelina flouted the rules — "Flout" means "to defy, scorn." "Flaunt" means "to show off, display ostentatiously."

No. 4: Who's afraid — "Who's" is a contraction of "who is." "Whose" is a possessive pronoun.

No. 5: a while — "Awhile" is an adverb meaning "for a time" and thus should not be preceded by "for."

No. 6: with one another — Use "each other" for two people, "one another" for three or more people.

No. 7: is that Puss in Boots — "The reason is because" is redundant.

No. 8: if I were you — Because this statement is impossible or unlikely (the giant can't be the Three Little Pigs), use the subjunctive case verb "were."

No. 9: a lot — "Alot" is not a word.

No. 10: nauseated — Something that's nauseous, e.g., an offensive odor, makes you nauseated.

SCORING SCALE:

9-10 correct: Doc; 7-8 correct: Happy; 5-6 correct: Bashful; 3-4 correct: Sleepy; 0-2 correct: Grumpy

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His new book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Photo credit: EvgeniT at Pixabay