Grammar

I went through a phase at one point where I had to correct bad spelling and grammar.

See below:

PS - Please don't take any offence! ;)

Do errant apostrophes get on you'r nerves? Do you cringe when you sees mismatched subjects and verbs? Do misspellings grind your gaers? If so, you're one of the diminishing few who care about using language clearly and properly. You've come to the right place. (And yes, don't worry; the mistakes were intentional!)


That said, nobody's perfect and we all make the occasional mistake. It is also true that the English language is so illogical that there are certain words people often forget how to spell. Here is a list of the most egregious and common mistakes I've noticed:


Words people assume are one word:

Anymore/Any more [questionable]
Aslong/As long
Aswell/As well
Atleast/At least
Ofcourse/Of course
Infact/In fact
Incase/In case
Infront/In front
Alright/All right [questionable]
Alot/A lot
Abit/A bit
Asif/As if
Nevermind/Never mind [we can thank Nirvana's album 'Nevermind' for this confusion]
Thankyou/Thank you
Inbetween/In between


Mix-ups:

Affect/Effect
Accept/Except
Your/You're
There/Their/They're
Who's/Whose
Who/Whom
Know/Now/No

Plain silly mistakes:

Are/Our/Hour
Right/Write/Wright/Rite
Ascent/Accent/Assent
Cite/Site/Sight
Four/For/Fore
Heard/Herd
Banned/Band
To/Too/Two
Weather/Whether
Not/Knot
Plain/Plane
Wait/Weight
Cue/Queue [the latter often written as ʽqueʼ]
Which/Witch
Luck/Look
Where/Ware/Wear
By/Bye/Buy
Aloud/Allowed
Quiet/Quite
Definitely/Defiantly [or any variant thereof]

The list is endless.

Finally, some other common mistakes:

• Replacing ʽhaveʼ with ʽofʼ (e.g. Could of/Should of … )
• Confusing ʽbeingʼ with ʽbeenʼ (e.g. I love been a raging rapist)
• Muddling ʽseeingʼ and ʽseenʼ (e.g. Seen as you're an idiot anyway … )
• 'Hence why' (the 'why' is implicit in the 'hence')

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I've let my standards in grammar slip recently, though I have to say I don't wish for the English language to transform into the language that Stephen Fry defended:

I will try to find a link; the summary of it is:

The English language should transform into a language that looks exactly how it sownds [sic].

Jason

WYSIWYG for the English language.

I am terrible at speeling and often wonder where I need to place a comma or smiley face in my posts. This is a very useful link. I enjoy writing but do so little in any sort of a formal setting anymore. Even with an occasional business letter, I often assume the reader may be in the same place.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ribshaw

WYSIWYG for the English language.

I am terrible at speeling and often wonder where I need to place a comma or smiley face in my posts. This is a very useful link. I enjoy writing but do so little in any sort of a formal setting anymore. Even with an occasional business letter, I often assume the reader may be in the same place.

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It can be a chore to learn the finer point of the English language - but is such a delightful experience.
I've had many a debate on correct usage of punctuation - how thrilling I sound!

Jason

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Poyol

It can be a chore to learn the finer point of the English language - but is such a delightful experience.
I've had many a debate on correct usage of punctuation - how thrilling I sound!

Jason

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I am rather amazed at the people I have met online who use English as a second language and do so very well. If you are ESL, I am amazed. As a dumb American I know but one and even there I use a lot of slang depending on the situation. One of the real disadvantages of being at a computer all day is in some areas it really takes the thinking out of doing, like spell check and math in your head.

On my to do list is learning Spanish, if for no other reason to keep sharp and be forced to think a little. Of course on that same list are six pack abs cleaning my office, so not going to happen anytime soon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ribshaw

I am rather amazed at the people I have met online who use English as a second language and do so very well. If you are ESL, I am amazed. As a dumb American I know but one and even there I use a lot of slang depending on the situation. One of the real disadvantages of being at a computer all day is in some areas it really takes the thinking out of doing, like spell check and math in your head.

On my to do list is learning Spanish, if for no other reason to keep sharp and be forced to think a little. Of course on that same list are six pack abs cleaning my office, so not going to happen anytime soon

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I'm a native Brit, so I've had a while to try and perfect my use of the English language - I've not quite done it yet!

A minute of mental arithmetic per day can help jog the brain!

Jason

I often wonder if the people who pronounce "ask" like "aks" think it is spelled that way?

This might be a problem that exists only in America.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Char

I often wonder if the people who pronounce "ask" like "aks" think it is spelled that way?

This might be a problem that exists only in America.

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Nope, it's not uncommon in Oz as well.

Far be it from me to pick nits,(yeah, right) but you forgot so/sew/sow...(sow, to plant not to be confused with sow, the female pig...!

http://images.askmen.com/galleries/m...-picture-1.jpg ?

Quote:

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Today, 07:34 AMlittleroundman
Re: Grammar
Nope, it's not uncommon in Oz as well.

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I was "wandering" about that. This reminds me of a story when I was spending time in Oz. You guys say Nestlé "nestle" not "nestlay" like we do. It gave me a giggle and I chalked it up to countries pronouncing things differently, which we do, and said nothing. Today, I might point out to my wretched EX in-law that there is an accent aigu on the "e" and not be so polite.

FTR, no offense to Aussies (just ex in-laws) as we Americans have no room to talk.

Make my day LRM and tell me it was ONLY my Tasmanian in-law pronouncing it that way:)

On a related note, I actually use realscam as a way to keep my reading, writing, and spelling skills functioning. While they've never been great, lack of use makes them worse. At the same time, I feel like I'm serving a purpose with some of my posts.

And now you know why most of my posts are edited. Just wish I had more than 30 minutes to fix all my mistakes:)

what do you use to alert someone about their error...............a gramophone

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Char

I was "wandering" about that. This reminds me of a story when I was spending time in Oz. You guys say Nestlé "nestle" not "nestlay" like we do. It gave me a giggle and I chalked it up to countries pronouncing things differently, which we do, and said nothing. Today, I might point out to my wretched EX in-law that there is an accent aigu on the "e" and not be so polite.

FTR, no offense to Aussies (just ex in-laws) as we Americans have no room to talk.

Make my day LRM and tell me it was ONLY my Tasmanian in-law pronouncing it that way:)

On a related note, I actually use realscam as a way to keep my reading, writing, and spelling skills functioning. While they've never been great, lack of use makes them worse. At the same time, I feel like I'm serving a purpose with some of my posts.

And now you know why most of my posts are edited. Just wish I had more than 30 minutes to fix all my mistakes:)

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Actually, she wouldn't have been alone back then


The company was always known as "NestleS" because of the way it labelled its' products here:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/files...Container.jpeg

and it wasn't until probably the 1980s Nestle itself changed the way it presented itself here, as Nestle'

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FwJrXtKo1Z...178_9970_n.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littleroundman

Actually, she wouldn't have been alone back then


The company was always known as "NestleS" because of the way it labelled its' products here:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/files...Container.jpeg
.
and it wasn't until probably the 1980s Nestle itself changed the way it presented itself here, as Nestle'

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FwJrXtKo1Z...178_9970_n.jpg

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Hmmm, I see "Nestlé's" in the old pic. See the marks on top of the "e". To me that reads Nestlay's Quik and not Nestles but I'll concede that's how it was pronounced down under.

Just let me have my moment here, Okay?????!!!!! Lol
Lord knows she picked on me enough.
Forgive me LRM.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Poyol

I'm a native Brit, so I've had a while to try and perfect my use of the English language - I've not quite done it yet!

A minute of mental arithmetic per day can help jog the brain!

Jason

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Ah. Was wondering about "offence" vs "offense". I couldn't tell whether or not you might be
making a joke there. So "offence" is the main spelling for brits?

And Australians

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Poyol

• Confusing ʽbeingʼ with ʽbeenʼ (e.g. I love been a raging rapist)

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LOL . . . what?

I almost spit out my tea when I read that.

At least the pronoun "I" is capitalized. My pet peeve is when somebody writes that in lower case.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littleroundman

Actually, she wouldn't have been alone back then


The company was always known as "NestleS" because of the way it labelled its' products here:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/files...Container.jpeg

and it wasn't until probably the 1980s Nestle itself changed the way it presented itself here, as Nestle'

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FwJrXtKo1Z...178_9970_n.jpg

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This is why I drink Bosco

I'm sure I sounded just as funny calling Sydney's Circular Quay (key), Circular Kway. :RpS_rolleyes: