View Full Version : Common errors in English
A useful site, enjoy (http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors) :)
Hmm, wonder if we can add it to the T&Cs that you have to read that site before posting? :D
What do you expect from a language where the plural of sheep is sheep?
And as for the fact that the last book I read was in German, so I couldn't read the language :)
And what exactly is English when it has been added to and chopped about so much by all the invaders over the year's , never mind how much we've butchered and are still butchering it ;)
andygrif
17-09-2004, 00:13
Comes to something when we need the yanks to tell us how to speak English. Although I notice that the most common mistake I see is missing... which is people putting it's when it should be its.
Comes to something when we need the yanks to tell us how to speak English. Although I notice that the most common mistake I see is missing... which is people putting it's when it should be its.
CD's instead of CDs (plurals eg CDs £3.99)
"could of" instead of "could have"
a few more that **** me off.
And what exactly is English when it has been added to and chopped about so much by all the invaders over the year's , never mind how much we've butchered and are still butchering it ;)
The year's what? Which year's? Which year's what?
I assume your intended reference was the plural of year - years as opposed to the possessive of a year or unspecified years?
"could of" instead of "could have"
That happens on this site SO often :grind:
That happens on this site SO often :grind: Yeah I know- apart from laziness, and without wishing to blow my top, I don't really tend to make bad grammatical errors really (when I'm trying!).
If I was going to pick up bad spelling / grammar every time I saw it, I'd have about 1000 posts by now :(
People complaining about 'bad grammer' always amuse me.
Nug - learning German helps with the old grocer's apostrophe problem - my late grandfather, who was a great lover of Germany and spoke the language well once invited a German friend to come along to his school (he was a primary school teacher in rural East Anglia). The friend came in, looked at a few books with Teutonic thoroughness, found an unfortunate child with an apostrophe in the wrong place and announced 'Don't you know the difference between a genitive and a plural?'.
Needless to say the result was blank incomprehension. In German, of course, the grammar is vital, and the s at the end of the word means its in the genitive case, indicating possession. All German children have to know this, but in the UK we haven't really gone for grammar teaching in a big way for ages.
The s/'s problem comes from us using the French ending s to signify plural and the German genitive ending, which is, er, also s, to indicate possession. The apostrophe was added to distinguish between the two. It sums up very neatly why English is a jumbled up mess.
(German plurals are a mess though, which is possibly why we didn't use them, except for rare cases like child/children and ox/oxen).
Richard M
17-09-2004, 09:09
(German plurals are a mess though, which is possibly why we didn't use them, except for rare cases like child/children and ox/oxen).
b0x0r and b0xen? :D
Quite. It's an Americanism, presumably derived from ox. Another example of how inventive English speakers can be.
Quiz:
How many plural forms are there in English?
How many ways can you pronounce the letter 'c'?
What's the only adjective in English that agrees with the noun?
Trivial fact - the German for 'login' is 'einloggen'.
gary_580
17-09-2004, 09:26
ohhh dont get me started
"Bought" and "Brought"
andygrif
17-09-2004, 10:18
CD's instead of CDs (plurals eg CDs £3.99)
"could of" instead of "could have"
a few more that **** me off.
This might be a controversial opinion, but I think that CD's is correct. The apostrophe signifies removal of letters, and as you have removed isc from discs then I would suggest that CD's is correct. Discus ;)
The CD's plastic case would be right.
Anything else does my head in :grind:
This might be a controversial opinion, but I think that CD's is correct. The apostrophe signifies removal of letters, and as you have removed isc from discs then I would suggest that CD's is correct. Discus ;)
Hmmm.
discus (noun) = a heavy plate-shaped object which is thrown as far as possible as a sport
discuss (verb - transitive) = 1 to talk about something with another person or a group in order to exchange ideas or decide something
2 to talk or write about something in detail and consider different ideas or opinions about it:
;)
andygrif
17-09-2004, 11:35
ped·ant ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pdnt)
n.
One who pays undue attention to book learning and formal rules. ;) ;)
Your/You're
There/Their/They're
Lose/Loose
This might be a controversial opinion, but I think that CD's is correct. The apostrophe signifies removal of letters, and as you have removed isc from discs then I would suggest that CD's is correct. Discus ;)
No, it's just lazier. I think that it's not entirely incorrect- but as it's a plural and not a genitive, in essence the apostrophe shouldn't be there.
On the other hand the contraction is really an abbreviation / acronym, so it needs a period and not an apostrophe.
Actually, there's one that really annoys me, bearing in mind the language is still called English and not American.
This isn't directed at you specifically nffc, but it really gets my goat when people use the word 'period' when they mean 'full stop'. I mean, it's not like we use the words sidewalk over here, is it?
Americanisms - the bane of modern conversation :grind:
I would suggest that CD's is correct. Discus
Since you've removed the letters 'ompact' as well as the letters 'isc', it should be C'D's, surely?
I'll take a raincheck now, on a ball park figure, run some ducks up the flagpole and see who salutes them in a row, and take this discussion offline.
Since you've removed the letters 'ompact' as well as the letters 'isc', it should be C'D's, surely?
I'll take a raincheck now, on a ball park figure, run some ducks up the flagpole and see who salutes them in a row, and take this discussion offline.
Surely C.D's. then? :spin: :D
I've always preferred vinyl myself :disturbd:
I've always preferred vinyl myself :disturbd:
you keep your deviances to yourself ... or is that deviations? ;)
you keep your deviances to yourself ... or is that deviations? ;)
Well, I'd definitely say I'm more deviant than noticeably different ;)
One of my favourite quotes:
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." -James D. Nicoll
Theodoric
18-09-2004, 19:58
One of my favourite quotes:
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." -James D. Nicoll
True. France has the Academie Francais to try to protect their belovÃÃ*’¨d language, whereas the British just allow English to go its own sweet way. The problem with "over correct" English started in the 18th Century when prescriptive grammarians tried to force English into the mould of Latin, even when it wouldn't fit. Hence such "wrong English" as split infinitives and prepositions at the end of sentences.
...it really gets my goat when people use the word 'period' when they mean 'full stop'. I mean, it's not like we use the words sidewalk over here, is it?
Pardon my stupid American self, but I have no idea what that means. How should period and full stop be used or not used? And what does sidewalk have to do with anything?
Snipers take aim, it's a stray Yank :D
its and it's
weather and whether
all intensive purposes .... all intents and purposes
and this isn't grammar, per se, but I hate the phrase "new and improved"
cookie_365
22-09-2004, 21:58
Does anyone actually know why the possessive of "it" is "its" and not "it's" ?
Does anyone actually know why the possessive of "it" is "its" and not "it's" ? Yes because it's a possessive pronoun and "yours" isn't "your's" is it?
homealone
22-09-2004, 22:36
Yes because it's a possessive pronoun and "yours" isn't "your's" is it?
correct, neither is 'your's', 'mine' :D
correct, neither is 'your's', 'mine' :D
Who's is it, then?
cookie_365
23-09-2004, 00:22
Yes because it's a possessive pronoun and "yours" isn't "your's" is it?
Ah ! I'm a :dunce:
Now that makes sense. Of course, it doesn't explain why possessive pronouns don't have apostrophes, but I think I'll be pushing my luck if I start demanding an explanation for that. ;)
Ah ! I'm a :dunce:
Now that makes sense. Of course, it doesn't explain why possessive pronouns don't have apostrophes, but I think I'll be pushing my luck if I start demanding an explanation for that. ;)
From the same site linked to in #1...
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/its.html
The exception to the general rule that one should use an apostrophe to indicate possession is in possessive pronouns. Some of them are not a problem. †œMine⠃¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚ has no misleading †œsâà ¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚ at the end to invite an apostrophe. And few people are tempted to write †œhiÃƒÂ¢à ¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€Š¾Ã‚¢s,â↚¬Â though the equally erroneous †œherâà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€ ¾Ã‚¢sâ↚¬Â is fairly common, as are †œourâà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ sâ₠ and †œtheirâ € s"†â€ÂÂall wrong, wrong, wrong. The problem with avoiding †œitÃƒÂ¢à ¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€Š¾Ã‚¢sâ↡¬Â as a possessive is that this spelling is perfectly correct as a contraction meaning †œit is.ââ‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Just remember two points and youââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ll never make this mistake again. (1) †œitÃƒÂ¢à ¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€Š¾Ã‚¢sâ↡¬Â always means †œit isâ₠¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ or †œit hasââ‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ and nothing else. (2) Try changing the †œitsâà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ in your sentence to †œhisâà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ and if it doesnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t make sense, then go with †œitÃƒÂ¢à ¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€Š¾Ã‚¢s.â↚¬ÂÂÂ
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