The Pint of English pub quiz.

We _____ to the pub quiz last Friday and came second.

Your answer:

Correct: went

“Last Friday” is a finished time, so we use the past simple.

Could I have a _____ of tea, please? Milk, no sugar.

Your answer:

Correct: cup

Tea comes in a cup (or a mug, if you’re lucky).

“Fancy a pint after work?” _____

Your answer:

Correct: I’d love to!

“Fancy…?” is an invitation; “I’d love to” is the natural yes.

The Thames is _____ than the Mersey.

Your answer:

Correct: longer

Short adjectives add -er to compare two things.

Sorry, there aren’t _____ crisps left. Someone’s eaten them all!

Your answer:

Correct: any

In negative sentences we use “any”.

Have you ever _____ fish and chips on the beach?

Your answer:

Correct: eaten

“Have you ever…?” takes the past participle: eaten.

If it _____ tomorrow, we’ll have the barbecue in the garden.

Your answer:

Correct: doesn’t rain

First conditional: “if” + present, then “will”. Optimistic, for Britain.

In Britain, people usually _____ patiently at the bus stop.

Your answer:

Correct: queue

To queue: the great British pastime.

“Sorry I’m late. The trains were a nightmare!” _____

Your answer:

Correct: Don’t worry, it happens.

You reassure someone who apologises; “You’re welcome” answers “thank you”.

She’s really good at _____ pub quizzes.

Your answer:

Correct: winning

After a preposition like “at”, use the -ing form.

After all these years in Italy, I’m finally _____ to driving on the right.

Your answer:

Correct: used

“Be used to + -ing” means something is no longer strange to you.

I wish I _____ that last pint. My head is killing me!

Your answer:

Correct: hadn’t had

Regrets about the past: “wish” + past perfect.

The new James Bond film has been a huge box-office _____.

Your answer:

Correct: success

The set phrase is “a box-office success” (or “hit”).

“Did you watch the final last night?” Don’t _____ me! We lost on penalties. Again.

Your answer:

Correct: remind

You remind someone else; you remember yourself.

_____ the mud, Glastonbury was brilliant this year.

Your answer:

Correct: Despite

“Despite” goes straight before a noun; “in spite” needs “of”.

Not only _____ the best Sunday roast in town, but it’s dog-friendly too.

Your answer:

Correct: does the pub serve

After “Not only” at the start, the verb comes before the subject.

Sadly, the film didn’t _____ up to the book.

Your answer:

Correct: live

To live up to: to be as good as expected.

If I _____ up in Yorkshire, I’d probably say “nowt” instead of “nothing”.

Your answer:

Correct: had grown

Mixed conditional: an unreal past (“had grown”) with a present result (“I’d say”).

“How was the job interview?” Well, it _____ have gone better. I called the manager by the wrong name.

Your answer:

Correct: could

“It could have gone better”: British understatement for “it went badly”.

_____ he known the pub was closing early, he’d have ordered sooner.

Your answer:

Correct: Had

“Had he known” is a formal way of saying “If he had known”.

By closing time, Tom was three sheets to the _____.

Your answer:

Correct: wind

“Three sheets to the wind”: very drunk. A sailing idiom.

The sketch was a _____ satire of upper-class life.

Your answer:

Correct: biting

Satire that is sharp and critical is “biting”.

The critics were _____ in their praise: not a single bad review.

Your answer:

Correct: unanimous

Unanimous: everyone agrees. The usual partner for “praise”.

Her version of events was, to put it _____, economical with the truth.

Your answer:

Correct: mildly

“To put it mildly” signals an understatement.

No sooner _____ the kettle on than the doorbell rang.

Your answer:

Correct: had I put

“No sooner” at the start inverts the verb: “had I put”.