5 exercises — practise the frequency hedge "more often than not".
0 / 20 completed
1 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses "more often than not" as a sentence-initial adverbial hedge?
"More often than not, the flaky test fails because of network latency..." correctly preserves the exact fixed wording "more often than not". Options B, C, and D each substitute or reorder one word, breaking the fixed idiom.
2 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses "more often than not" in the middle of a clause, between the subject and the verb phrase?
"The deploy script, more often than not, succeeds..." correctly sets off the intact fixed phrase with commas. Options B and C insert an extra "it" inside the fixed phrase. Option D wrongly substitutes "most" for "more".
3 / 20
Which sentence correctly distinguishes "more often than not" (in most cases) from "always" (in every case, no exceptions)?
"...resolves... more often than not, though it doesn't always succeed..." correctly pairs the hedged majority claim with the honest admission that the stronger absolute claim doesn't hold. Options B, C, and D scramble the two expressions into confusing or ungrammatical combinations.
4 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses "more often than not" at the end of a clause to summarize a review comment?
"...approve the first version of a PR more often than not" correctly places the fixed phrase intact at the end of the clause. Options B, C, and D scramble the internal word order of the fixed idiom.
5 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses "more often than not" to hedge a claim about which root cause is most common in postmortems?
"More often than not, the root cause turns out to be..." correctly follows the intact fixed phrase with a comma before the main clause. Option B adds an extraneous "that". Option C inserts an incorrect comma inside the fixed phrase. Option D adds an ungrammatical "is".
6 / 20
Alex: 'The new caching layer is more often than not faster than the old one, but there are occasional spikes in latency during peak hours.' Which of these options best captures the nuance of Alex's statement regarding the caching layer's performance?
Alex uses 'more often than not' to hedge a claim. This phrase acknowledges that there *are* exceptions (latency spikes), softening the assertion of superiority. The incorrect options either state absolute certainty or misinterpret the conditional nature of the hedge. It's crucial to recognize this nuance when discussing performance metrics.
7 / 20
Sarah (Code Reviewer) comments on a PR: 'This implementation uses a retry mechanism; more often than not, it resolves the transient network errors. However, we should still monitor for longer failure durations.' Which of the following best describes Sarah's intended feedback regarding the code?
Sarah's comment acknowledges a positive outcome ('more often than not') but simultaneously introduces a crucial caveat – ongoing monitoring. The hedge doesn't eliminate the need for vigilance; it simply indicates the *typical* behavior. The other options misrepresent the level of confidence or recommend inappropriate actions.
8 / 20
Ben (Dev) writes in a Slack channel: 'I'm seeing an increase in 403 errors. More often than not, this is due to misconfigured IAM roles, but we need to investigate further.' What does Ben *primarily* mean with this message?
'More often than not' signals a probabilistic relationship. Ben isn't stating an absolute truth; he's saying misconfigurations are *the most likely* cause. The other options imply certainty or a simplistic explanation, failing to account for the hedge's conditional meaning.
9 / 20
Maria (Developer) writes in a PR description: 'This change reduces database query latency. More often than not, this improvement is achieved by optimizing the index structure. We'll continue to monitor performance metrics.' What is Maria's main intention with using 'more often than not'?
Maria's use of 'more often than not' demonstrates a cautious approach. It suggests a strong likelihood (the optimization *usually* works) but doesn't eliminate the possibility of other contributing factors. A developer shouldn't make absolute claims about performance improvements.
10 / 20
David (Developer) reports during a stand-up: 'I was working on the new authentication service. More often than not, users are failing with invalid credentials, but I'm investigating potential UI issues.' What does David mean when he says 'more often than not'?
'More often than not' indicates that invalid credentials are the *dominant* reason for failure, but doesn't exclude other contributing factors. This is a standard way to frame an investigation where several potential issues might be present – it allows for a nuanced discussion and avoids premature conclusions.
11 / 20
Alex: 'The new caching layer is more often than not faster than the old one, but there are occasional spikes in latency during peak hours.' Which of these options best captures the nuance of Alex's statement regarding the caching layer's performance?
Alex uses 'more often than not' to hedge a claim. This phrase acknowledges that there *are* exceptions (latency spikes), softening the assertion of superiority. The incorrect options either state absolute certainty or misinterpret the conditional nature of the hedge. It's crucial to recognize this nuance when discussing performance metrics.
12 / 20
Sarah (Code Reviewer) comments on a PR: 'This implementation uses a retry mechanism; more often than not, it resolves the transient network errors. However, we should still monitor for longer failure durations.' Which of the following best describes Sarah's intended feedback regarding the code?
Sarah's comment acknowledges a positive outcome ('more often than not') but simultaneously introduces a crucial caveat – ongoing monitoring. The hedge doesn't eliminate the need for vigilance; it simply indicates the *typical* behavior. The other options misrepresent the level of confidence or recommend inappropriate actions.
13 / 20
Ben (Dev) writes in a Slack channel: 'I'm seeing an increase in 403 errors. More often than not, this is due to misconfigured IAM roles, but we need to investigate further.' What does Ben *primarily* mean with this message?
'More often than not' signals a probabilistic relationship. Ben isn't stating an absolute truth; he's saying misconfigurations are *the most likely* cause. The other options imply certainty or a simplistic explanation, failing to account for the hedge's conditional meaning.
14 / 20
Maria (Developer) writes in a PR description: 'This change reduces database query latency. More often than not, this improvement is achieved by optimizing the index structure. We'll continue to monitor performance metrics.' What is Maria's main intention with using 'more often than not'?
Maria's use of 'more often than not' demonstrates a cautious approach. It suggests a strong likelihood (the optimization *usually* works) but doesn't eliminate the possibility of other contributing factors. A developer shouldn't make absolute claims about performance improvements.
15 / 20
David (Developer) reports during a stand-up: 'I was working on the new authentication service. More often than not, users are failing with invalid credentials, but I'm investigating potential UI issues.' What does David mean when he says 'more often than not'?
'More often than not' indicates that invalid credentials are the *dominant* reason for failure, but doesn't exclude other contributing factors. This is a standard way to frame an investigation where several potential issues might be present – it allows for a nuanced discussion and avoids premature conclusions.
16 / 20
Alex: 'The new caching layer is more often than not faster than the old one, but there are occasional spikes in latency during peak hours.' Which of these options best captures the nuance of Alex's statement regarding the caching layer's performance?
Alex uses 'more often than not' to hedge a claim. This phrase acknowledges that there *are* exceptions (latency spikes), softening the assertion of superiority. The incorrect options either state absolute certainty or misinterpret the conditional nature of the hedge. It's crucial to recognize this nuance when discussing performance metrics.
17 / 20
Sarah (Code Reviewer) comments on a PR: 'This implementation uses a retry mechanism; more often than not, it resolves the transient network errors. However, we should still monitor for longer failure durations.' Which of the following best describes Sarah's intended feedback regarding the code?
Sarah's comment acknowledges a positive outcome ('more often than not') but simultaneously introduces a crucial caveat – ongoing monitoring. The hedge doesn't eliminate the need for vigilance; it simply indicates the *typical* behavior. The other options misrepresent the level of confidence or recommend inappropriate actions.
18 / 20
Ben (Dev) writes in a Slack channel: 'I'm seeing an increase in 403 errors. More often than not, this is due to misconfigured IAM roles, but we need to investigate further.' What does Ben *primarily* mean with this message?
'More often than not' signals a probabilistic relationship. Ben isn't stating an absolute truth; he's saying misconfigurations are *the most likely* cause. The other options imply certainty or a simplistic explanation, failing to account for the hedge's conditional meaning.
19 / 20
Maria (Developer) writes in a PR description: 'This change reduces database query latency. More often than not, this improvement is achieved by optimizing the index structure. We'll continue to monitor performance metrics.' What is Maria's main intention with using 'more often than not'?
Maria's use of 'more often than not' demonstrates a cautious approach. It suggests a strong likelihood (the optimization *usually* works) but doesn't eliminate the possibility of other contributing factors. A developer shouldn't make absolute claims about performance improvements.
20 / 20
David (Developer) reports during a stand-up: 'I was working on the new authentication service. More often than not, users are failing with invalid credentials, but I'm investigating potential UI issues.' What does David mean when he says 'more often than not'?
'More often than not' indicates that invalid credentials are the *dominant* reason for failure, but doesn't exclude other contributing factors. This is a standard way to frame an investigation where several potential issues might be present – it allows for a nuanced discussion and avoids premature conclusions.
What will I practise in ""More Often Than Not" as a Frequency Hedge — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise using the fixed adverbial "more often than not" to hedge a claim as true in most, but not all, cases. 5 exercises for IT professionals.
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 20 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.