[Grammar] Sit or take an exam

[NamelessKing]

Hi, which of those words fit best?

I took an exam last week and despite not having studied anything I'm expecting a high mark.

I sat an exam last week and despite having studied naught I'm expecting to get a high mark.

Cheers.

 

[GoesStation]

You've made three different changes, so there are really nine sentences to consider. Focusing on the first verb, only took works in American English. Canadian and British English allow (and may require) sat.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi, which of those words fit best?

I took an exam last week, and despite not having studied anything, I'm expecting a high mark.

I sat an exam last week, and despite having studied naught, I'm expecting to get a high mark.

Cheers.

I've never seen sat or naught used that way. Maybe it's natural in the UK.

In American English, we almost always use commas to bracket dependent clauses and to separate the parts of compound sentences. The British are stingier with commas.

 

[NamelessKing]

I thought naught means nothing when considering something that required an effort. Is it used wrongly in my sentence?

 

[Rover_KE]

I've never seen sat or naught used that way. Maybe it's natural in the UK.

'Sat' is, but 'naught' isn't.

I thought naught means nothing when considering something that required an effort. Is it used wrongly in my sentence?

Yes.

 

[bubbha]

In the US, we don't use the verb "sit" in this way.

 

[emsr2d2]

"sit an exam" is perfectly grammatical in BrE, but not many people use it. I have always used "take an exam". I would use the commas as shown in post 3.

The use of "naught" in the second sentence is entirely unnatural. I would say "Despite not having studied at all". The only phrase in which I find "naught" natural is "but it all came/it has all come to naught", when the hoped-for result of some effort does not materialise.