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Valued Contributor
Posts: 923
Registered: ‎01-03-2011

Re: Learning correct English

The one that drives me nuts is "your" and you're."  "You're" seems to have left the English language!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,120
Registered: ‎03-29-2019

Re: Learning correct English

Let's not forget the incorrect usage of their, they're, and there.

The Sky looks different when you have someone you love up there.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,592
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Learning correct English

I’m remembering the posters who have been critical of others, and betting that at some point in the future, I see some of them make grammar errors on this site.  

 

None of of us are perfect.  I know I’m not.  I’ve been corrected at times, right here, on this site.  

 

 

It’s a chat board.  Some of us post quickly and don’t proof read everything before we post. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Learning correct English

I take it in stride. I have a degree in English literature. I taught language skills (grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, and word usage) to adults training to become court reporters; they taught me the meaning of patience and humility.

 

Beware when criticizing others for goofs because you then become a target as well. I correct you; then someone takes me on; and so it goes. I saw this unfold today in another thread.

 

None of us is perfect. Enjoy your own grasp of language and forgive others who make mistakes. Nitpicking is akin to not seeing the forest for the trees.

 

 

 

 


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,484
Registered: ‎11-24-2013

Re: Learning correct English

@Marp THANK YOU!!!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,788
Registered: ‎08-18-2016

Re: Learning correct English


@Mombo1 wrote:
...
I have a relative that always says “where was you?”.....  It makes me crazy...

 

When my folks were packing the trunk of the family car just prior to leaving for vacation, a neighbor kid (my playmate) sidled up and asked, "Where you gonna went?

 

60 years later, that kid's question still makes me laugh.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,592
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Learning correct English

@suzyQ3   As I read your post, I realized I made a grammar error.  I said “none of us are perfect”.  

 

Then your post came up and you said “none of us is perfect”.  Yours is correct, and I knew that.  It’s just one of those things some of us imperfect people do, at times!  

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,788
Registered: ‎08-18-2016

Re: Learning correct English

Every time there's a thread like this I think of my mother stopping whatever she was doing, calling me over, and having me repeat what I'd just said so she could hear it clearly.

 

Then she'd correct me, and take time so it sunk into my noggin.

 

I remember "these kind" was clarified as: this kind or these kinds; and lessons on less than vs fewer than, affect vs effect, and how to pronounce the letter I when saying "Italian" or "Irac", among other things. 

She'd also frequently send me to, "look it up" in our gigantic, library-sized dictionary.

 

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,783
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Learning correct English

How far back in time could you go and still understand English?Woman LOL

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fxy6ZaMOq8

~The only difference between this place and the Titanic is that the Titanic had a band.~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 38,159
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Learning correct English

[ Edited ]

How about, "John and I's" , or "I like your guys jackets", "you guys," instead of just "you," "your and my's," and on and on.  Proper grammar isn't taught by teachers today because they weren't taught.  Let's not forget "like" every other word, can't listen to someone who talks this way.

 

"Gotta," "wanna, "gonna," etc., etc.  When was "an" completely dropped, people now say "a" where "an" should be used.