10 exercises — how "for the record" marks a statement as formally noted, often to clarify who said or did what.
Quick reference
For the record: formally notes a fact, often to clarify responsibility or correct a misunderstanding
Fixed word order: "for" + "the" + "record" — definite article required, never pluralized
Close synonym: "let it be noted"
Contrast with "to be clear": adds a documentation-style, attribution weight
Register: neutral, common in both spoken meetings and written incident reports
0 / 10 completed
1 / 10
In a Slack thread about an incident, an engineer writes: "___ , I flagged this exact race condition in code review three weeks ago." Which phrase best signals a statement made to be officially noted or remembered later?
For the record is a fixed idiom meaning "so this is officially noted/remembered." It requires the definite article "the." "For a record" wrongly uses the indefinite article, "for record" wrongly drops the article, and "on the record book" invents a phrase that doesn't exist.
2 / 10
Which sentence uses "for the record" correctly?
"For the record, I never approved skipping the security review — that decision was made without me" correctly uses the phrase to formally note a fact, often to clarify responsibility or correct a misunderstanding. It cannot introduce a bare future plan, an instruction, or a scheduled future event.
3 / 10
Fill the blank: "___ , the outage was not caused by the deploy that shipped an hour earlier — it was an unrelated network issue."
For the record has a fixed word order: "for" + "the" + "record." The other options scramble this into invalid, meaningless sequences.
4 / 10
Which pair correctly distinguishes "for the record" from "to be clear"?
"For the record, I recommended against this approach in the design review" carries a documentation-style weight — noting it so there's a clear account later. "To be clear, I recommended against this approach" just removes ambiguity, without that same sense of formally noting it for the future.
5 / 10
A postmortem reads: "___ , the runbook did document this failure mode, but the linked steps were three versions out of date." Which best completes the sentence?
For the record is the correct, fixed form. The other options scramble the required word order into invalid phrases.
6 / 10
Which sentence contains an error in the use of "for the record"?
"For the record that we discussed at the offsite, the server rebooted overnight" incorrectly attaches a relative clause and applies the phrase to a neutral factual event rather than a statement being formally noted, often to clarify or correct something. The other three sentences use it correctly.
7 / 10
Choose the sentence where "for the record" is best replaced by "let it be noted" without changing the meaning.
"Let it be noted, I objected to removing the staging environment during last quarter's cost-cutting review" preserves the meaning exactly. The other options misuse the phrase as an urgency marker, an unrelated possessive-sounding construction, or a pairing with a specific future date.
8 / 10
A design doc states: "___ , the security team was consulted on this API design and signed off before implementation began." Which best fits?
For the record is the correct, standard form — the definite article "the" is required and "record" stays singular and uninflected. Option A wrongly uses the indefinite article. Option B wrongly pluralizes "record." Option D wrongly uses a gerund form.
9 / 10
Which register note about "for the record" is accurate?
"For the record" is neutral and equally at home in a spoken meeting ("For the record, I flagged this last sprint") and a written incident report. It always marks a statement as formally noted, often to establish who said or did what.
10 / 10
Which sentence best demonstrates "for the record" formally noting a fact to correct a misunderstanding about responsibility?
"For the record, I explicitly recommended a staged rollout, and it was the product team that pushed for a full release" is the textbook use: formally noting a fact to clarify who was responsible for a decision. The other options misuse the phrase as a command intensifier, insert it awkwardly mid-clause, or pair it incorrectly with a specific future date.