Ask Mike: Grammar me this
Hey Guys,
I have made my share of grammatical errors. Every once in a while, I use “its” instead of “it’s.” And when it comes to whom vs. who, I don’t even pretend to know when I’m supposed to say what (or is it “which”?). Fortunately, I know I’m not alone in my ignorance. I did some digging around Yahoo! Answers and found a slew of questions on grammar. Here are some choice samples…
Who vs Whom: There are numerous questions on this age-old question. Blogger Grammar Girl writes that you use “whom when you are referring to the object of a sentence.” For example, saying “Who do you love?” is grammatically incorrect. The correct way is, “Whom do you love?” because, according to Grammar Girl, “you are asking about the object — the target of my love.”
Affect vs. Effect: A top contributor to Yahoo! Answers, d_r_siva, writes that “affect” is used only as a verb in general use while “effect” is “commonly used as a noun and only in formal contexts as a verb.” Or, as Ena writes, “When you affect something, you produce an effect on it.” Got it?
Grey vs. Gray: Here’s an interesting one. When describing the color that’s a mixture of black and white, is it “grey” or is it “gray”? Apparently, both are acceptable — it just depends on where you live. A Yahoo! Answers member writes that “gray is the American way of spelling… and grey is the British way of spelling the same thing.” As far as I can tell, either one works.
It’s vs. Its: As I mentioned, I still mess this one up every once in a while. And, no, I’m not proud of that fact. Basically, “Its” means in possession of. For example – “The dog ate its toy.” It’s, on the other hand, is simply a contraction of “it is.” If nothing else, remember that rule.
Got any other grammar snafus that drive you bananas? Please leave a grammatically correct note in the comments below.
Thanks for reading,
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When you chAnge something, you Affect it,
which may rEsult in, or Effect, something else.
For example, if you dress-up for a night on the town,
you are Affecting your look,
which, hopefully, has the Effect of causing everyone
to smile at your style and je ne sais quoi!
My bugaboo is with people who use “it’s” as “it has” or “it was” which is grammatically incorrect.
My biggest problem is with “I” and “me”.
Isn’t it “I” before “me”, but not after “c”?
What an “I-sore”!
Mike-
How would I format this for my book? Is it correct the way it is? Do I need to indent the quote? Should I or should I not skip a space after the colon?
On July 31, 2000, Doctor Smith reported:
“Walter is well nourished and is consuming a healthy diet. He is well developed, exercises every day, walks 1-2 times a day for 30-45 minutes each. In post surgery, he is a talkative man, and maintains a positive outlook on his current condition, including his upcoming external beam radiation and chemotherapy treatments. The 7th cranial nerve contains a deficit on the left side of his face, with a left mouth droop while smiling, and minor left eye twitching. The patient understands the positive and negative effects of external beam radiation and has signed a consent form outlining a treatment program.”
Grey vs. Gray is a spelling issue, not a grammar issue.
Hey Ask Mike,
It’s me Dad from Yahoo! Answers.
Well, English is my second language, and I just love using it
There are many words that I don’t fully comprehend, and I must admit that your blog here enlightens me so much, particularly the part about whom VS. Who. I didn’t know this at all!!!
Words I frequently see being misused are: THEN, THAN, THEIR, THERE, WERE, WHERE.
The word “THEN” is an adverb and means. 1 at that time. 2 after that; next. 3 also. 4 therefore.
But this simple word ( like ITS and IT’S ) are often misused. For example, the below sentence is incorrect:
John likes Ice-cream more THEN his sister Lisa does.
The correct way should be: “John likes Ice-cream more THAN his sister Lisa does.
The word THAN means less or more in comparison.
The correct way to use THEN is as followed:
“John throws the ball, THEN his dog runs to get it.
The word THEIR is a possessive determiner which means. 1 belonging to or associated with the people or things previously mentioned or easily identified. 2 belonging to or associated with a person of unspecified sex (used in place of either “his” or “his” or “her”). 3 (Their) used in titles.
And THERE is an adverb that means. 1 in, at, or to that place or position. 2 in that respect; on that issue. 3 used in attracting attention to someone or something. 4 (usu. there is/are) used to indicate the fact or existence of something.
It is incorrect to say, THEIR used to be a hole in the middle of the street.
But it is correct to say, They were shot on THEIR way home from work.
It is incorrect to say, THERE bags were stolen, too.
But it is correct to say, John and I also went THERE.
The word WERE and WHERE should not be misunderstood, as they are both totally different words with different meanings.
WERE means second person singular past, plural past, and past subjunctive of be.
WHERE is an adverb and means, 1 in or to what place or position? 2 in what direction or respect? 3 at, in, or to which. 4 the place or situation in which. 5 in or to a place or situation in which.
For example: WHERE is my laptop? correct
WERE is my laptop? incorrect.
John and I were at Lisa’s birthday party. Correct.
John and I WHERE at Lisa’s birthday party. incorrect.
These are words that are often misused — not by me, but I do have my share of grammatical errors nevertheless.
Dad
Their vs there vs they’re
or
Then vs than.
I mean seriously, it’s NOT that difficult to use the right one.
The one that really bugs me is people who use “their”, “there”, and “they’re” interchangeably, and there are a ton and a half of them on Yahoo!Answers. I could understand and forgive this if English was not the writer’s first language, but it usually is.
which witch? definatly different, but always confused.(:
Another common mistake that irks me is the abuse of the word “your.” Most people use “your” in place of “you’re.” It’s almost as if people aren’t aware of the existence of the contraction of “you are.”
It’s just like the “It’s vs. Its.” “Your” means in possession of you. “You’re” is the contraction for “you are.” This is why we learn the concept of every sentence having a subject and a verb. “Your boring” doesn’t seem to fulfill that requirement, does it?
Some examples of common mistakes are “your welcome” or “your doing it wrong.”
The corrections are “you’re welcome” or “you’re/you are doing it wrong.”
I mess my its and it’s as well.
One grammar error that bothers me to no end:
“Should of” instead of “should have”.
Or anything similar…
“you’re” and “your”
“there”,”their”,and “they’re”
but mostly “you’re” and “your”
“I have made my share of grammatical errors.”
Including this sentence…
While not relating to grammar per se, this is still an error. :p The word “grammatical” would only be useable if a sentence was in good form. In other words: free of error. Saying “an error in grammar”, while longer, would be a correct way to say what you mean.
One grammatical error that drives me nuts is when people confuse “your” and “you’re”. It appears regularly on signs. Text messaging (ur) has completely destroyed this distinction. It may be just me, but it totally drives me batty. I’m an English teacher, though, and I’m used to correcting the errors. Just my two cents!
A famous Homerism: “what are you inferring?”
I imply, you infer.
Enormity does NOT mean immensity. It means horribly wicked. To speak of the enormity of the Holocaust is not to refer to its size, rather, its chilling, methodical evil.
When Juliet says “wherefore art thou Romeo?”, she is not looking for him. Wherefore does not now, nor did then, mean “where”, just as therefore does not mean “there”. It means “why”.
It is chaise longue (Fr. “long chair”) not chaise lounge.
If you peruse something, you give it a long and thorough inspection. A quick glance is a cursory inspection.
There are more, but I do not wish to monopolize this post.
Cider
you’re vs. your… It drives me insane!
There, their, they’re.
It really annoys me when people get those wrong. It’s not that hard to remember! ‘There’ is a place. ‘Their’ is genitive third person plural. ‘They’re’ is a contraction of ‘they are.’
Too, to, two.
‘Too’ is an adjetive/adverb (I don’t remember which). ‘Two’ is a number. ‘To’ is a preposition or implying something is in the infinitive case.
When is it acceptable to use me instead of I? My friends always seem to be so anal when I say “me and my friend…” but then they post several pictures on Facebook saying “A pic of my sister and I”. Is that really proper grammar?
you are not alone Mike!!!
This shows most of my grammar concerns except:
“A lot” Vs. “alot”
(I was taught a different way every year of it during grammar school)
“Good” Vs. “well”
(As in ‘I don’t feel good/well”
“Dreamed” Vs. “dreamt”
(”Dreamed seems wrong, but according to the spell check from Firefox, it says “dreamt” is wrong)
“Fish” Vs. “fishes”
(Every Science book I’ve ever saw says “fishes”)
Thanks for putting all these together.
~Kels
You are not alone Mike we all do make mistakes ,don’t feel bad buddy!
“your and you’re” & “their and they’re”
I never know when to use which.
That’s interesting post. Now I know.
It’s is a contraction, which means it is and its is used to show ownership. Whenever you are in a situation of when to use it’s or its, just remember that it’s really means it is. Say it is in the place of it’s and see if it makes sense. Example: The car is in it’s right place. Replace the contraction it’s with it is and see if it makes sense.
Glad to know the effect/affect rule! I mess that one up constantly!
what really makes me crazy is the people wgo spell ‘lose’ ‘loose’. They are two differewnt words, with different meanings, and when read incorrectly (because of incorrect spelling) the question or answer makes no sense at all.
what really makes me crazy is the people who spell ‘lose’ ‘loose’. They are two different words, with different meanings, and when read incorrectly (because of incorrect spelling) the question or answer makes no sense at all.
seems to me i remember that if something belongs to you, ie. it(being the dog) it should be it’s, since it’s the dog’s toy. now i am really confused. shoot.
“You’re” vs. “Your”
I know the correct usage, but most people don’t.
They say things like “your right,” when it should be “you’re” which is a contraction for “you are”
“Your” is showing possession
“You’re” is saying “you are”.
The way it looks to me, is not many paid attention in grade school….where it is clearly explained….what the apostrophe is used for….possession or a missing letter. It is. It’s. It is something that was drummed into my head in 4th or 5th grade. Contractions are another sign of ignorance…so many people…say your not going to use it. When it clearly should be you’re (you are) not going to use it. Your is possession. Rarely do we see someone who knows how and when to use a contraction. Sad the level of education that is here in America. Is that good enough for all you who didn’t pay attention in school? Why don’t you pay attention when you read….you could get it. You could improve your grammar, just by reading…..IF you pay attention. Sad.
sometimes ’tis just a bit of a typo,
sometimes it’s common to use less characters from places like twitter and messaging, that users do the same here regardless of spellin’ and punctuation,
the spell check does not always catch words that are both right and correct in different countries, like colour and color
if it is not in a grammatically necessary category, then as long as it can be deciphered by users, need not comment about typo errors as an answer and leave no actual answer too question,
sometimes users are not from English native speaking areas, and do know what they mean to ask, but still not correct in translating text from phonics to other visual written methods
best let begones be bygones and help where one can, also users could have disabilities unknown for cause of textual errors, no fault of their own ,
~ their own, there owing, they’re owned,
It’s vs. its – Yes, “it’s” is a contraction of “it is”. So, “It’s a cruel world.”, would be proper. “Its” possessive; “The door lost its knob.”
Easy to remember. Typically, when we add an (’s) to a word it shows possession (ie. “The girl’s hair is green.), but that is completely opposite in this case.
The most interesting book I know on how English grammar really works is Stephen Pinker’s ‘The Language Instinct’. Many of the rules that get passed on by bad teachers these days (’Don’t split an infinitive.’; ‘Don’t end a sentence on a preposition’) were actually invented in the Eighteenth Century when there was a fad for grammar books, and every publisher needed a new whizzo rule that nobody else had.
I disagree with several of the ‘rules’ you just offered:- when I affect an American accent, I certainly don’t produce an effect on it – but I never understood how people can have trouble with ‘its’.
His, hers, its … who writes hi’s, her’s or it’s?
Reading Y!A the things that bug me the most are people who don’t know the difference (or don’t care) between their, they’re and there. Another frequent error is the confusion between to, two and too, and between your and you’re. These are all grammar rules that should have been learned in elementary school, and just make the writer appear uneducated or unsophisticated.
I would like to be more understand regarding grammer in eglish langusge so send mere gramarticaly information to make high the language
Thanks and regards.
Actually, I am a Grammarian myself and as far as the “who and whom” goes, “whom” usually is in a prepositional phrase, such as “to whom are you writing?” On a side note, languages are constantly changing and evolving and it should not be looked down upon that someone uses “who” instead of “whom” because it has become acceptable in some circles not to use “whom.” The English we speak today would hardly be considered the English of Ben Franklin.
Here are some others:
You’re and your:
You’re is the contraction of “you are”, your means “belonging or relating to the person or group of people being spoken or written to”
They’re,their and there:
They’re is the contraction of “they are”, their is a possessive meaning “belonging to them” and there is an adverb meaning “to, at or in that place”.
Lay and lie:
Lay means “to put something in a flat or horizontal position” while lie means “to be in or move into a horizontal position”.
Loose and lose:
Loose is an adjective that means “not firmly fixed in place”, “not fixed or held together or to anything else” while lose is a verb that means “to no longer possess something” or “to be defeated”.
Then and than:
Then is an adverb (sometimes an adjective) that means “at that time”, “next, after that”, “in addition” “as a result” or “in that case” while than is a preposition, a conjunction used to join two parts of a comparison.
Note: The definitions are from the “Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary”.
I object when it is an error that obscures the meaning. But grammar errors only really bug me when they are over-correction from people trying to sound clever or formal, but end up wrong or unclear, such as excessive use of “myself” where it does not belong. I don’t think there is such thing as “correct” grammar in a language which is evolving as fast as english.
I actually kind of like text grammar, which seems to toatally exclude subjects, and use lots of sentence fragments, but remains clear in context, i think it’s clever.
I and me. Some times I don’t know when to use the right one! Like, is it, “Mike and I have trouble with grammer?” or “Mike and me have trouble with grammer?” Yikes!
skaizen,
Sorry, you are mistaken. “It’s” IS a contraction for “it is” or “it has”.
Who/Whom… the unwritten rule is to substitute he/him. Then, when you figure it out, change it back to who or whom.
the longest english word in the dictionary that is in your posting was not complete. i believe that this is the complete spelling.
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
…………………………………………………………………..
and my thought to share in this moment is:
“That All Is One”, which simply means that all of life…human beings, animals and fish life, and all varieties of vegetation in the sea and on the land, forest life, all minerals above and below the ground…the entire planet and the universe, and what is also described as a timeless planetary and universal energy force that we also have within our selves, and which has the potential to be very healing, are all very profound spiritual and quantum physics discoveries in recent years. and if all beings were to truly practice each day to embrace this belief in our daily lives, we may experiene a profound awakening and transformation…and truly embrace an unconditional love for ourselves and all of life… and in future years and generations, there would be no more violence of people toward other people and the planet…and ultimately the end of all wars, and to begin treating all beings equally with loving kindness, compassion and forgiveness. and that as we practice feeling more loving toward ourselves and all beings, we attract more positive energy toward ourselves and alll beings. and if we feel negative and cynical about ourselves and life, we will attract more negative and cynical energy toward ourselves; which is called the self fulfilling prophecy! and as we all know, it is our “ego” which creates most of the suffering and pain that humans create for themselves and experience from others throughout our lives. and… we can practice each day to understand the nature of our mind, the conditioning we have experienced from our family, our educational system, our culture and the political/economic system we live in. and how our attachment to our ego affects all of our lives…and through being inspired to be more aware when our ego is active, to practice letting go of our ego and to not let it control and dominate our lives! i feel that our deepest life vision and desire is to be happy, healthy and free…and if we are, then there will be more potential to have world peace and harmony. and what i have shared above is my ideal and what i seek to practice each day in my life, and in my relationship with my family, friends and people i do not know.
In reference to another comment, definitely should definitely be spelled definitely. And spell check should definitely pick that up.
However, that is not a grammatical error. I do well with grammar, but I have practiced spelling much more. I cannot be too annoyed with people who speak well, but do not reflect it in writing; I am the exact opposite. I can write well, but I am an inarticulate and downright awkward speaker.
If I had to choose one other pet peeve, it would be punctuation. If you do not understand why, read Eats(,) Shoots and Leaves. Is it about a panda or a dinnertime murder case?
Too bad these blogs can’t be starred. This one deserves multiple !
2 grammatical errors that drive me nuts are:
1. “are” instead of “our.” For example, “We need to wash are clothes.”
2. “should of” instead of “should have.”
Both of these errors make the culprit look like an uneducated fool.
I think some of the ignorance we see in YA is regional. I am from an area that accepts Yous as a plural for you and others. “Yous Guys”. Boy, that not only sounds bad, but looks bad too. Here is another one. When making reference to something. Some might say “It’s the same difference”. If that is not a contradiction in terms, i don’t know what is.
I have to admit though. I have learned something here today. I have always been at odds with loose and lose. Not any more. Thanks Y’all.
I have a trick for the who/whom dilemma. If the who/whom can be replaced by he/she/they, then use “who”. If it can be replaced by him/her/them, then use “whom”. Works every time for me. WHOM do you love? (Do you love HIM/HER/THEM?)
The its and it’s thing is easy, once you get used to it. The reason it confuses people is because it doesn’t follow normal grammar rules. Its is used when “it” is the pronoun and it is posessing something. With any other noun, you would use an apostrophe. But, since the English language has contractions, this is an exception to the rule. “It is” becomes “It’s”, and the posessive is just “its”. Just remember, there is no contraction in the English language which DOESN’T require an apostrophe. If you’re pushing two words together, it always gets an apostrophe. Otherwise, in the case of the I-T-S situation, it does not.
Affect and Effect are the easiest on this list. Effect is a noun, and Affect is a verb. Just memorize it, for god’s sake!
Strunk & White’s, Elements of Style written 90 years ago addresses many of these issues.
My freshman year in college, on day 1 in my first writing course, the teacher handed us a test with 100 questions from Strunk & White’s book. Anyone that didn’t score 100 had to keep taking the test everyday in class until they did.
Nobody got 100 on day 1 but almost all of us did for the next course after reading this short book.
The professor said “I’m not reading any papers with grammar problems covered in Strunk & White. I’m not putting up with it…” She was tough, best writing teacher I ever had
The use of pronouns is easy if you follow a simple method. I could go on about the use of subjective case for the “do-er” of the action and the objective case for the receiver, but to make it simple: split the pronouns. For example, if your sentence is: John and ___ went to the mall with Bob and ___, just split them. John went to the mall. She went to the mall. John and She went to the mall. John and she went to the mall with Bob. …went to the mall with me. John and she went to the mall with Bob and me.
It’s a fool-proof method.
I cringe when I hear the misuse of “lie” and “lay.” So many people don’t know how to use these verbs. When my doctor tells me to “lay down,” I wonder if he’s educated enough to treat me.
Let’s review the use of lie and lay. Lie means ‘to recline.’ Its tenses are used as follows: (present) He’s lying on the beach. (past) He LAY on the beach yesterday. (Future) He will lie on the beach tomorrow. (Perfect) He has/had/will have lain on the beach.
Lay means ‘to put or place.’ (present) She’s laying out the dishes. (past) She laid the dishes on the table. (future) She will lay the dishes on the table. (perfect) She has laid out the dishes.
It’s so wrong to say, “She’s laying on the couch.” What’s she laying down?
Hello,
Grammatical errors rile me beyond belief. However, there is one common error that currently appears to be in the ascendant is ignorance of the use of “less” and “fewer”. I can go from calm to incandescent in a millisecond with this one, as it is such a stupid error.
Signs in shops that should know better get it wrong as well.
Am I alone in this?
Halcon
Sorry, typo in previous message; my ‘phone rang and I wasn’t paying attention…
Haha, honestly I’ve never had trouble with affect/effect and it/it’s. Affect is the verb while effect is what happens after something, and it’s is just it is. Although I still (and probably never will) understand who/whom. And I didn’t even know about gray/grey! I’d list some other common mistakes but it seems like everyone else has already listed them.
Actually, I do see a lot of people in my grade mix up too/to/two (sadly enough)
To is used to describe the direction of something
I’m going to the store
She gave the book to me
Too is the same thing as also and describes…well, ugh I’m horrible at explaining this stuff.
I am going to the party too.
And two is just the number 2.
which of the sentence is correct-”it is i” or “it’s me”
hiiiiiii you stand at the opposite direction of mirror and talk with you if you can not do this so you can join inglish cochin ok
Mike, I work as a proofreader for a small printing/marketing company and, eye see a variety of speling; grammer and punctuation missteaks everyday. Some common errors I see include the lack of hyphens (to indicate which two words are being combined in a sentece to create one word) and the failure to add “ly” to a word when changing from an adjective to an adverb. In my opinion, however, the most misused word in the English language is “everyday.” Every day, I fight a losing arguement with our salespeople and the other proofreader that they are using this word incorrectly; the word “everyday” and the words “every day” are allowed to be used interchangeably where I work and it drives me nuts. The word “everyday” is an adjective meaning normal or usual; as two words, “every day” is generally used as an adverbial expression literally indicating a daily routine or event. So, it would be grammatically correct to say I see the same, everyday misuse of these words almost every day.
lay and lie:
I lay a baby down, but I lie down.
Past tense:
I lay down (lie), I laid the baby down (lay)
Past principle:
I had lain (lie), I had laid (lay)
My knowledge is the result of having a father as an Emglish teacher
Yes, I know I have unintenionally misspelled the word “sentence” in my previous posting. Guess I should have proofread the posting before sending, huh? We could do a series of additional postings on how the rapid pace of new technology is also impacting our language. We have worn-out computer keyboards leading to countless misspelled words (I’m definitely as guilty as anybody), we also have instant messaging and texting leading to abbreviations for words and expressions and, finally, we also have a push to “compound” words that were once hyphenated or two separate words into one word in a push for quicker communication.
would you please explain the difference between ‘toward’ and ‘towards’.
I would agree with most of what has been written here already by the other contributors; one annoyance that I would like to mention is that I often get the following comment that appears in a little box by my text when I am composing a reply to a question:
“Hmm… You seem to have a lot of punctuation.”
No, I do NOT have a lot of punctuation! Aside from some differences of opinion over the placement of commas, I generally have just the right amount of punctuation. It appears, though, that Yahoo Answers is actively discouraging correct punctuation in respondents’ answers. I would much rather that this little box with its inane comment did not pop up of its own volition almost every time I compose a response, but it seems that there is no way to disable the wretched thing.
Does this bother anyone else or am I alone in this regard?
How about or vs. nor?
It annoys me when people say ‘I got it’ instead of ‘I have it’. I also find it irritating when people say ‘I could of’ instead of ‘I could have’ because the word ‘could’ve’ is an abbreviation of ‘have’ NOT ‘of’. ve just sounds like of!
Advice vs. Advise
Seen it way too many times.
“I need some advise.”
“Someone please advice me.”
Seriously?
When people mix up “there” with “their”, it annoys me. It’s similar with “your” and “you’re”. I’ve seen some classic phrases torn apart by such shady grammar. I’m not claiming to be an experect – far from it infact – but it’s a simple thing that can transform a sentence. Once you get the hang of it, it’s a piece of cake, it’s just taking the time to learn it.
A well used phrase I love is “Grammar and punctuation are your friends, make use of them.”
So I am not the only one … That officious little box
takes offence every time I use a dash (–). I also would dearly love to delete it–so there!
I think it’s patheic and it shows you have nothing to do. When you set there and try to find grammar errors and others posts, just shows that you need a life, and looks like there is a lot of people who needs a life. G
I can’t help to worry a little when I see blog entries like these. This is standard grammatical knowledge. I’m not even from an English speaking country, hell, I’ve not even been to a English speaking country, but I know these grammatical rules. I’m frightened by how poor some peoples writing skills are. I’ve skipped answering countless questions, simply due to improper language.
Poor grammar is more offensive than cursing.
Interesting subject. In my experience (also as ESL) “it’s” instead of “its” is a highly frequent mistake, even among people whose grammar and spelling are generally very good. And it drives me NUTS!!! LOL
I’ve always thought that for some reason grammar and spelling are not emphasized as they should for people who have English as their first language – because us ESLs are taught all these rules and we seem to have a good grasp of them (of course, we have other weak areas such as idioms, prepositions, etc).
I was just wondering about the word alleged. My husband used it in a sentence like this a little while ago:
“it is alleged that they are coming over in a few hours”
It frustrated me because i thought you could only use the word in a past or present tense, not a future tense. like.. “He allegedly killed his ex-wife/ It is alleged that he killed his ex-wife.” I just wasn’t sure and I would LOVE to prove him wrong ha ha…or if I am wrong, I’ll admit it. lol
sometimes i use been instead of being,it sounds just the same aint it.
You people need a life, picking on insufficient grammar errors, just show how everyone is a looser.
Thank you, Mike, for airing this important issue. I am a former university literature professor and editor, and as such was beginning to lose hope in the essential literacy of the internet crowd. Now I won’t “dumb down” my answers to people who haven’t bothered to think through their grammar in a question.
Melissa, you can allege something in the future. “The bank robbers are alleged to be leaving the country from Sydney tomorrow.”
I am a retired English teacher. I would be elated to answer any grammar questions that you may have.
Whom—-> If you can answer the question with the reply ‘him’
As in “Whom do you love?”
—>”I love him.”
My god, this blog is chock FULL of errors in grammar and punctuation! You people are typing errors even when you are correcting or explaining grammar. Some of you don’t know how to properly place punctuation when using quotation marks, some misuse the word “less” when “fewer” is the correct word, some use the illiterate “i” instead of the pronoun “I”, and some are guilty of comma splices (connecting two sentences with a comma instead of splitting them up or connecting with a semicolon). Americans don’t know how to use their own language correctly after years and years of schooling. (And yet so many people make fun of, or look down their noses at, people for whom English is not their native language.) Go back and read your grammar books, people!
I cannot decide if the correct spelling is “weird” or “wierd”. I before E except after W?
Eat, Ate, and Eaten when used incorrectly irritates me to no end!!!
What really bothers me is that these grammar errors are made in movies and print media. So I have two college degrees and can’t find a job, while these people make careless mistakes and still keep their jobs.
I agree with the who, whom, whose and then there’s their or they’re. Oh wait, is it their or thier? Ok, their looks correct. Whew but how do I use them correctly?
Very interesting blog.
I was beginning to think I was the only person bothered by ‘less’ being used instead of ‘fewer’ but Halcon saved the day. That one really makes me steam and I hear politicians and even journalists making the mistake every day. It’s “I have less cash than I did yesterday” and I have fewer coins than I did yesterday”.
Another common mistake that’s guaranteed to set my teeth on edge is the misuse of ‘enormity’ as an indication of great size. ‘Enormity’ means great evil so it’s correct to say “the enormity of the genocide” but not “the enormity of the stadium” (or crowd or anything indicating great size).
Other grammar favourites are their, there, they’re; your, you’re; its and it’s; to, too and two; should of instead of should have.
Many people have trouble with using ‘I’ when ‘me’ is correct e.g. “She is thinner than you and I” instead of “She is thinner than you and me”. The trick with that one is to remove the ‘you and’ and see if it still sounds correct. i.e. “She is thinner than I” is obviously wrong.
Oh, and another one! Too many people get ‘compliment’ and ‘complement’ confused. They are two completely different words and are not alternative spelling of the same word. “I compliment you on your taste. That colour complements your colouring”
I’m not really good at english myself but I must say that some common mistakes just drive me nuts!!
Like many others, the you’re/your, there/their/they’re, loose/lose, its/it’s, then/than are the most commonly seen I think… should of (like wth???)/should have, you better should really be you’d (abbreviated had) better and many more.
OH!!! What makes me mad the most is that people keep using double negatives!!! I’m not talking about just lay-people, but in movies, on tv and radio!! They’re like “I didn’t do nothing yesterday.” like REALLY NOW ugh!! >___<!!!!
I was wondering… can you add a contraction to a contraction?
“Shouldn’t've”. (should not have)
Now, I’m sure I’m not the only person who is lazy enough to say that, but am I the only one who actually tries to use it?
ok btw one of my pet peves is good vs. well…
when you do something it is well when u describe something it is good.
“you did WELL” NOT “you did Good”
“she looks good” as in she looks pretty…
Ok, I have to make a couple comments, and I make no apologies for any errors in grammar I make. First off, those of you who are on your high horse about “affect vs effect,” the verb/noun trick does not work every time. For instance,
“Tom had a very darkened affect,” and
“We will be effecting a change in our operations protocol,” are both correct sentences. Secondly, I take offense with the dogmatic adherence to these rules, and the absolute vitriol with which some of these comments are written. “Uneducated, unsophisticated, ignorant, offensive,” really? How can you possibly be so fixated on these minor details? I read recently that Hemingway is being kept out of some classrooms because of his creative use of punctuation. . . way to not see the forest for the trees. Mark Twain is credited with saying “I have no respect for a man who can spell a word only one way.” These were men who understood that there is far more power in the meaning of words, in their feel and texture than there is in the hosed down and brushed off version of a language; if you doubt that for a second, go read (or reread) Huckleberry Finn. The language is constantly developing. And, there will come a time when those of you who refuse to adapt will find yourselves beholden to men and women 40 years younger than you, who text one hundred “words” per minute, and couldn’t care less how the longer versions of “ur” work, because they understand parts of society you refused to grow with. Face it, change is a constant. Feel free to learn and use these rules, but please stop judging those of us who choose not to.
I USE IT”S INSTEAD OF IT’S HAHA! HAHA!
*prft*
I think the words I mix up the most are “Lose” and “Loose” as well as “Chose” and “Choose”
Dang those double O’s.
Just a comment for Lars…
I have also run into countless grammatical errors, however, I deal with them for the simple fact that people do not come to Yahoo! Answers to practice grammar. They come to have their questions answered, and not answering their questions is not helping a single one of them!
By the way, check your own grammar before making others seem like fools!
“I can’t help to worry a little when I see blog entries like these. This is standard grammatical knowledge. I’m not even from an English speaking country, hell, I’ve not even been to a English speaking country, but I know these grammatical rules. I’m frightened by how poor some peoples writing skills are. I’ve skipped answering countless questions, simply due to improper language.
Poor grammar is more offensive than cursing.”
I could have sworn that you must have the word “an” before the word English, not the word “a” as you have it here! Also, i believe you mean “improper grammar” becase “improper language” is completely out of context.
WiZ
I write carefully. That’s my great strength as a communicator, and my great weakness as a writer
Apart from the annoying “punctuation box” I have another “pet hate”. It is the “error on page”
warning. Occasionally the “refresh” option will help,
however, mostly it results in my abandoning Yahoo
Answers for a time. Is this really the desired result?
Does anyone else agree with me?
Ok. So what has been bothering me is the out right alternative spelling of words. I mean, so making “your” or “you’re” into “ur” or “before” to “b4″ was ok and maybe even somewhat creative. However, there are some post that I can’t even get through because “that” became “dat” and “should” is “shud”. “Is” is “iz”. I’m just saying. It’s like and toddler is trying to get some answers to their relationship drama or STD cases. “What” is “wat”. Bah!! Why would one want to sound so unintelligent?
“Would”, “wud”. Seriously. Entire entries like that.
I quickly and easily find other’s mistakes. Not because I have no life and nothing else to do, but because of my education from grade school, high school and college. Also, I have two parents with bachelor’s degrees and one who earned a master’s. They have careers in which proper spelling and grammar and articulation are vital. They did not want my siblings and me to sound like uneducated hicks, so they made sure to correct and teach us at home, too. I have not yet earned my college degree. I was graduated from high school two years late (due to my own laziness). However, I do know how to speak and to spell. I generally know when to use “who” and “whom”. I know not to end a sentence with a preposition, etc. I don’t always do this at home when I am speaking casually with my husband (who is also well spoken, with master’s degree in a career in which proper spelling, grammar and articulation is vital). We also have a 21-month-old daughter who, for the past three months has been speaking in sentences. Not just simple two word sentences, i.e., “Jacket on.” “More bread.”, etc., but full sentences, i.e., “Mommy put jacket on you.” (She is using “you” for “me” and I correct her when she does.) Or, “Daddy be home soon.” Or, “Daddy at church. Be home soon.”, etc. She/We have gotten compliments on her vocabulary, her sentences, etc. already, because we work with her. As it is, I also use “big words” when speaking to her, too. I tell her that screaming and crying will not expidite things when she is fighting a diaper change. (She is very close to being at the beginnings of potty training.) I tell her that when I’m talking to her and she is not only speaking and interrupting me, but deviating from the subject at hand, it is rude and inconsiderate.
I want my daughter to learn properly. I wonder about education today when I see posts from teenagers who use the text messaging/IM speak and can’t be bothered to properly write. Eleven years ago, I put out a personals ad on Yahoo! Personals. While I got over 50 responses the first day the ad was out, I quickly weeded through the ones with no sentences, run-ons, all caps, etc. I figured if they were too lazy to properly edit and proofread, then they weren’t worth my time. My husband’s response was one of ten I to which I replied. He was one of two I met. (The other one didn’t last a couple of hours.)
As I said, I don’t have my college degree, but you almost can’t get that from talking with me. (Yes, I try and talk with people and not to them. There is a big difference.) Also, having an expansive vocablulary, and knowing how to speak well has come in handy when I don’t want to speak with somebody and I’m quite certain they aren’t as articulate. So, I pull out the “fancy talk” and it has helped them back off. (Yes, it can be not nice. However,when I was on the bus on waiting at the plasma center when I used to donate and just wanted to sit and read or just sit and be with myself, it was effective.)
Also, I wonder if our country is starting to “dumb down” with grammar and sentences. (That should be “stupid” and not “dumb”, actually, since “dumb” is a synonym for “mute”, not “stupid”.) When I watched the presidential candidate’s speeches, I would correct their grammar. It made it more interesting. They didn’t use “whom” or they ended their sentences with prepositions. Which was amusing, since most went to Ivy League schools with supposedly wonderful grades and academic careers starting from kindergarten.
OK for the grammer!
What about SMS language?
R U cummin 4 me?
And then what about spelling?
Please help.
As a teacher, I am constantly trying to help my students appreciate grammar and how it has morphed over the years. The one I see written most incorrectly is: “alot”. Students do not recognize and MEMORIZE that it is two words. “a lot”. These are others that bother me:
Capital/Capitol- “Capitol” generally refers to an official building. “Capital” can mean the city which serves as a seat of government or money or property owned by a company. “Capital” can also mean “punishable by death.”
Could Of- this is the one that bothers me most. It’s “could have” not “could of.” When you hear people talking, they’re saying “could’ve.” Got it?
. Discreet/Discrete- We can break people into two discrete (separate) groups, the discreet (secretive) and indiscreet
Emigrate/Immigrate- If I leave this country to move to Europe, the leaving is emigrating and the arriving is immigrating
Farther/Further- Farther is used for physical distance, whereas further means to a greater degree
Lose/Loose- If your pants are too loose you may lose them. That would be almost as embarrassing as misusing these two words.
Moral/Morale- Morals are something you want to teach your kids. If your team’s morale is low, you need to do something to boost their confidence.
I have plenty that I go over with students throughout the year. Most of them don’t pay attention because in their writing – they still misuse the words. I think that it is a matter of training yourself to practice and undo the bad habits of writing or speaking that you have learned incorrectly in the past.
A teachers job is never done.
People mixing up you’re/your can drive me crazy…
As well as they’re/there/their, and then there are all those minor ones that even I myself get wrong once in a while, but I’m still gonna keep correcting people to the best of my ability! >=D
And people writing lower-case “I” is sort of annoying as well >_>
I dunno if any of you who have played WoW or the likes have had this discussion with anyone, but “rouge” and “rogue” are two different things ^^
Among the annoying violations of grammar is the excessive use of additional question marks and exclamation points at the end of a sentence, plus the obnoxious use of combining many question marks with exclamation points when the object question is simply a declarative, but strong statement.
Only one question mark or one exclamation point is necessary to end a sentence. Any more than one signifies a true amateur writer.
All of us on this forum witness this grammatical error every day.
What drives me insane is when people say “loose” instead of “lose”.
“How could you loose my cell#?!”
*rolls eyes*
Mine is “farther” and “further”
Little mistakes like you’re, your, they’re, their, there, its and it’s are not really annoying in isolation unless they cause confusion. They sound similar to their correct form and are easily understandable.
It’s only when there are several mistakes in one article that I get annoyed as I am then required to put more effort into understanding the article to make up for the lack of effort that the author should’ve put into writing it.
Mistakes that annoy me are those where the correct and incorrect words used do not even sound alike, like using “there is” instead of “there are”.
More annoying still are those people who don’t speak English as a first language yet moan about other people’s incorrect use of grammar – whilst making mistakes themselves.
An often easy way to determine whether to use “I” or “me” is to test the singular against the plural:
“My aunt came to see my brother and (I or me?).” If your brother was away on a trip, you wouldn’t say, “My aunt came to see I,” so “me” is correct: “My aunt came to see me.”
“My brother and (I or me?) went to the movie.” Again, if your brother was away on a trip, you wouldn’t say, “Me went to the movie,” so “I” is correct: “I went to the movie.” [Now, the Lone Ranger’s pal, Tonto, would say, “Me went to the movie.]
We should remember that usage determines grammar, not the other way around (obviously).
I don’t get bent out of shape if someone uses poor grammar as long as I can understand what the person is saying. But people who can’t construct a sentence that I can understand drive me nuts!
BTW, “effect” can be a verb: “The president wants to effect change in our relationship with Iran.”
Grammar and spelling is stupid and outdated, it is inefficient and has no logical purpose. To much of our language and spelling is derived purely on context, there are no such thing as spelling rules, you literally have to remember every single word how to spell it. Then you have these grammar and spelling police who are math drop outs who preach this stuff like it’s law. I say redo the whole system, simply it to where it makes sense and that it is logical
I’m really bad with using the wrong words or misspelling them… Sometimes I do it because it is fun to agrivate someone who has to correct me over little things. I figure if they get my point after awhile that they will leave me well enough alone.
My point is that words are just something created so that people could converse between each other an what not. It doesn’t make a different really if it is wrong or mispelled as long as the message conveyed is comprehended with little or no effort by the other person.. People who correct or have problems how to use it are only peeved because they can’t deal. Kinda like those neet freeks or who keep things in order… it is a OCD affect.
A better way to remember its or it’s – it’s always means it is.
People say loan instead of lend, even politicians and news reporters. e.g. Can you loan me a dime? it is lend. Lend is a verb, loan is a noun
People use lay instead of lie e.g. lay down here, it is lie down.
Stood often gets used instead of stayed. e,g I stood overnight at my friend’s house. (must have been tired) It is stayed overnight. People often say waiting on instead of waiting for.
The one grammar mistake that bothers me the most is when people say “I could care less”. The correct way to say it is “I couldn’t care less”, otherwise you’re stating that you do care when you’re trying to say you don’t. . .
Oh, I forgot to mention it also gets on my nerves when people confuse “their” with “they’re” or “there”, “loose” instead of “lose”. . .
I dislike the overuse of “to be” or any of its forms.
“What are you afraid of?” is weak because it uses “are” (not to mention it ends in a preposition).
“What scares you?” is much stronger because it (doesn’t have a terminal preposition and) has an active, definite verb rather than a vague one.
Look at this article on “e-prime.” It’s fascinating and I really try to implement this in all of my writing, as I feel it makes things much more descriptive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime
haha and I guess I should have replaced both of those “is” usages with “seems.”
Laura, as long as we’re planning on being pedantic and judgmental, you should probably ask those educated parents of yours to give you a refresher course. There are multiple missing commas and incorrectly referenced pronouns in your post. I would never have said anything, but you managed to be so condescending, it seemed like it would be fun. I’m sure that the people in your life know that you didn’t make it through college, if only because of the way you overcompensate. We’re moving into a technology based age everyone; learn the rules then break them or be left behind.
~One of the many overpaid young people stealing jobs from unadaptive grammar zealots =)
Thank you for this information. I also get confused sometimes when it comes to grammar. It’s something that i struggle with from time to time. Hey, look, I used the correct form of “it’s.”
“To” I went TO the store.
“Two” I bought TWO (2) of them.
“Too” He TOO went to the store.
Too or (also)
Worst vs. Worse
That one always gets me.Example-I feel worse than before.
That’s the worst of them all.
(Correct me if I’m wrong)
Moot vs Mute. drives me nuts and please don’t tell me that it’s a mute point. ggrrr.