20 Common Grammar Mistakes

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Kizmet, Feb 2, 2012.

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  1. Paul Chang

    Paul Chang New Member

    That's great! I use Ginger Software. I think Grammarly and Ginger are competitors. =p
    I did try Grammarly on my friend's com but I prefer Ginger - has a friendlier interface and it edits according to the context of the sentence. Makes proofreading my work a breeze...
     
    Paul Chang, Feb 7, 2012
    #21
  2. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    03310151, Feb 7, 2012
    #22
  3. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    [​IMG]
     
    03310151, Feb 7, 2012
    #23
  4. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    That's hilarious!!!!!!!!

    Abner :smile:
     
    Abner, Feb 7, 2012
    #24
  5. OutsideTheBox

    OutsideTheBox New Member

    who cares our language is getting simple and easy to use and its wonderful no more need for capital letters to start and lots of rules on punctuation just use the period alot. i am working on adding in textspeak and the like to my writing though to make things easier. its now truly becoming the global language our english now that the electronic age and young people are doing what should have been done toss the rules out and make new ones keeping this all simple.

    i'm :) 2 b back !
     
    OutsideTheBox, Feb 7, 2012
    #25
  6. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    I know I do this too often <grin> but I don't think what you've written sounds bad. If you were to say he or she...get a raise, it would be better, but to keep it gender neutral you really are stuck with "they." Could a person even argue that this use of they is singular? It "sounds" singular to me, even though it usually would be plural.

    I always hated English class lol.
     
    cookderosa, Feb 7, 2012
    #26
  7. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    English doesn't have a singular neuter pronoun- at least not inherently. Using "he" for that purpose, like how French handles the same situation, has become socially unacceptable by those who fear the implications of a "masculine generic." Although I personally avoid using "they" as a neuter pronoun due to the taboo it seems to have in professional and academic circles, I see no reason why "they" couldn't function as a singular neuter pronoun in addition to its regular duties as a plural neuter pronoun. Consider that "I are" is improper but that "aren't I?" is proper. Grammar is only "wrong when the thing said is either unclear to the receiver or the receiver is a grammar Nazi.

    By the way, the ONLY undisputed and universal definition of "proper grammar" or "proper speech" is "that which is used by the highest social class." Consider that infinitives have been split since before Modern English even existed as a language and that "Ain't" was once considered formal and that articulate people used to "aks" questions whereas less articulate people used to "ask" questions. Today, the exact reverse is true, but the fact that the higher classes demand linguistic assimilation has not changed at all.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 8, 2012
    Maniac Craniac, Feb 7, 2012
    #27
  8. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I hope you're right. The university where I work is offering an informal non-credit course in Arabic starting in March and since it's next to free for staff, I've signed up. I've never considered trying on a non-Indo-European language for size, so we'll see whether it fits. At least it's not tonal, and while the alphabet will take some getting used to, I'm told the language has phonetic spelling.
     
    SteveFoerster, Feb 7, 2012
    #28
  9. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    It's like this. I've never even heard of a neutered pronoun, you could even be making that up, but I'm not going to check, I'm just going to go with it. :)

    BTW, saying "neutered pronoun" in a reply totally trumps anything anyone else has said. You win.
     
    cookderosa, Feb 8, 2012
    #29
  10. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    To paraphrase Bob Barker, please remember to have your subject pronouns spayed or neutered :)
     
    Maniac Craniac, Feb 8, 2012
    #30
  11. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    I am a HUGE fan of the singular "they."

    SIDE NOTE: If anyone isn't up on the topic, the wikipedia page is a good start (Singular they - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

    I do my best to avoid it in formal writing, but I use the singular they in speech all the time. When I write, I typically attempt to pluralize the wording as much as I can, but if I cannot, I typically rely on the awkward "he or she" because I would much rather be perceived as awkward than sexist.

    I do understand that people using the generic "he" do not necessary intend any sexist overtones, but I prefer to respect the fact that some people are offended by its use. If language has the ability to make a simple adaptation to avoid offense, I think we should do it. This isn't a matter of political correctness. I'm perfectly fine with being politically incorrect if necessary, but endorsing a prescriptivist grammar for the sake of a prescriptivist grammar isn't worth the offense.

    On another note, I wish that the English language had retained the use of "Thou/Thee." Having one form function as the singular and plural version of the 2nd person both in the objective and in the nominative case does nothing to help clarity.
     
    StefanM, Feb 8, 2012
    #31
  12. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    I'm actually not a fan of the singular they, but it is simply a poetic ideolectic preference and I accept that forces beyond my control are at work. I see no logical reason why that, or any phonemically intelligable syllable in English can not serve that purpose. I find myseld quite often using the words "one" and "one's" in order to sound more educated while avoiding the trickiness of using the "wrong" phrase in the perception of some.

    I think I better stop now, lest I convince more people that my languagy type words and things are my attempt at showing off... :\
     
    Maniac Craniac, Feb 8, 2012
    #32
  13. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    Too late.

    Or is it "to late" or perhaps "two late"?
     
    03310151, Feb 8, 2012
    #33
  14. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    To borrow from Hamlet, Maniac Craniac "doth protest too much, methinks."
     
    StefanM, Feb 8, 2012
    #34
  15. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Tool ate? :thinking: It must have been hungry :dunce:
     
    Maniac Craniac, Feb 8, 2012
    #35
  16. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Man jumps in a cab at Boston's Logan Airport and says, "Take me somewhere I can get scrod."

    Cab driver: "I've been driving for twenty years, and I get this request all the time, but never before in the pluperfect subjunctive."
     
    John Bear, Feb 8, 2012
    #36
  17. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    English doesn't have more than a tiny remnant of pluperfect subjunctive, and as much as I tried to figure out how it supposedly appeared in that sentence, I couldn't find it. If I'm not mistaken, and I'm pretty confident on this one, the pluperfect would be "Take me somewhere I could have gotten scrod."

    Language is more addictive to me than alcohol and with similar polarizing social effects.
     
    Maniac Craniac, Feb 9, 2012
    #37
  18. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    As long as you don't start beating up women....
     
    Kizmet, Feb 9, 2012
    #38
  19. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Presumably, he'll just castigate them.
     
    SteveFoerster, Feb 9, 2012
    #39
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