Thread: 20 Common Grammar Mistakes

Even some of the grammar nazis make these mistakes.

20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes | LitReactor

My pet peeve is their, they're, there.

One of my pet peeves is accept/except. I'm more tolerant of non-native English speakers, although their grammar is often better than native English speakers.

I see a lot of assure/ensure/insure issues.

I haven't read the linked article yet, but I'm sure it would make me squirm. :)

The perspective of an amateur poet and professional translator: A textbook example of how useless and often counterproductive prescriptive grammar is. Languages change over time, but not without its opponents. The purpose of language is to communicate, duh, to allow another human being to formulate the same picture in his or her mind that you hold in yours and vice/versa. If English is working towards becoming more efficient by deleting purposeless features, then we will all benefit with increases in clarity and richness of expression. Let it be.

Another contention I have is with the article writer's insistance that this or that word is used incorrectly. Sheesh, every heard of etymology? It's a big thingy-thing for a self-professed language expert to miss. In 200 years, textbooks will describe that the word "moot" was of Modern English origin and it's original definition faded out and was replaced sometime in the early 21st century. Not without its opponents, of course.

My favorite part of the article was a comment from someone responding to the prohibition on use of "impactful":

I still can't accept "impact" as a verb. I ranted at a manager about "impactful", but he ignored me, so I started using impactment, impactitude, impateriffic, impactible, impactation, impactatory, in all my correspondence.

I have found that non-native English speakers have unacceptable written grammar in most cases. I work in IT and see it every day.

Here is an example from RoseIndia.net Simple JSF Hello Application

If I were to write something like this in a paper, I would certainly receive a horrible grade.

"This is the simplest JSF application that enables even a novice to understand easily the steps to follow to create own JSF application. In this example we will explain all you need, to develop this application like how to use JSF tags in JSP pages, how to configure the application through faces-config.xml, and web.xml, directory structure of the application etc. A detailed explanation of this example will definitely form a basis for you to develop your own JSF application with more advanced functionality of JSF."

Originally Posted by perrymk

One of my pet peeves is accept/except. I'm more tolerant of non-native English speakers, although their grammar is often better than native English speakers.

And what are the 20 most common Grampar mistakes?

Originally Posted by Bruce

My pet peeve is their, they're, there.

Say there, Bruce, 25 more posts and you are in the 7,000 Club.

I have special respect for people who develop fluency in a second language, especially if they can speak/write in a grammatically correct way. I know a guy, born in Massachusetts, not Latino who not only speaks fluent Spanish but he can pretty it up for a boardroom discussion or he can bring it doen to the street. He knows accents and regional colloquialisms and can adjust from Mexican to Puerto Rican to Peruvian, etc. I think this requires a special kind of brain and he is using his in his role as an international business guy. I don't think I could do it.

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I have a cousin who 'picked up' several languages as a teenager. He grew up in Corfu and hung around tourists, especially from the cruise lines. I’ve made several strong attempts and have grasped some basic greetings of a couple of languages, but no real speaking ability.

The most common mistake, by far, that I have seen in 25 years in higher ed is singular-plural disagreement. I find it constantly, because we often tend to speak that way. For example:

If a teacher completed a masters degree, then they will get a raise.

Yes I know. This one is common among American English speakers. I use grammarly.com to detect problems like this. It costs about 100 bucks per year but is well worth it. People also use "they" when referring to a company, as if the company is not its own entity. Everybody knows that corporations have personhood and exist as a singular entity.

For example, the following is wrong:
Google is a great company. They strive for excellence.

This is correct.

Google is a great company. It strives for excellence.

Legislation and case law may say that a corporation has personhood, but common sense suggests otherwise. Personally, in your example, I'd prefer something like this:

Google is a great company. Its employees strive for excellence.

Originally Posted by ryoder

For example, the following is wrong:
Google is a great company. They strive for excellence.

This is correct.

Google is a great company. It strives for excellence.

I think your correction may have an error. It is called anthropomorphism. Grammer is not my thing.

Originally Posted by okydd

Grammer is not my thing.

Nor is spelling.