Top Ten Grammar Myths

[Deltron Zero]

Top Ten Grammar Myths

#4 applies to us-

You use a before words that start with consonants and an before words that start with vowels. Wrong! You use a before words that start with consonant sounds and an before words that start with vowel sounds. So, you'd write that someone has an NSX instead of a NSX, because even though MBA starts with m, which is a consonant, it starts with the sound of the vowel e--MBA.

 

[ChopsJazz]

Too bad it doesn't say anything in there about the use of than and then.

(or there, they're and their!)

 

[redshift]

Top Ten Grammar Myths

#4 applies to us-

You use a before words that start with consonants and an before words that start with vowels. Wrong! You use a before words that start with consonant sounds and an before words that start with vowel sounds. So, you'd write that someone has an NSX instead of a NSX, because even though MBA starts with m, which is a consonant, it starts with the sound of the vowel e--MBA.

hehe, learned that in high school... check my previous posts for verification. :wink: :biggrin:

 

[Bigglezworth]

The 'a' and 'an' drives me up the wall on the forums. More so in the past 5-6 years as the texting generation comes up with an increasingly annoying number of ways to spell words. I'm also driven crazy about the "I'm good" one, as MOST people I know when asked how are you respond with I'm good. Rarely do you get asked how are you "at something", vs. being asked from a health perspective. lol

 

[robr]

I think most people around here actually get a vs. an correct. It's they're vs their vs there and especially your vs you're that people on forums CONSTANTLY get wrong (then blame it on a typo... HA... as IF!!!)

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Can we start with spelling myths?

I'm easy to please. I'd be happy if more (no, most) people knew the difference between lose and loose. :wink: Please don't tell me they have gotten the proper spelling changed through simple ignorance.

 

[NSXGMS]

1. You shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition. Wrong! You shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition when the sentence would mean the same thing if you left off the preposition. That means "Where are you at?" is wrong because "Where are you?" means the same thing. But there are many sentences where the final preposition is part of a phrasal verb or is necessary to keep from making stuffy, stilted sentences: I'm going to throw up, let's kiss and make up, and what are you waiting for are just a few examples.

Not exactly. The examples given are unique examples of colloquial terms in which the words aren't exactly prepositions anymore. "Throw up" is a whole term--an expression. "Up" used in a directional sense is either an adverb or a noun, not a preposition. The only prepositional uses of "up" are seen is phrases such as "up the road" or "it's up to us."

"For" as used in the phrase "what are you waiting for" has lost its prepositional purpose. "Waiting for" has become a common colloquial expression. The true and proper way to structure that question should be "For what are you waiting" but no one has actually said that since the 18th century. Point: it is never acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition.

5. I.e. and e.g. mean the same thing. Wrong! E.g. means "for example," and i.e. means roughly "in other words." You use e.g. to provide a list of incomplete examples, and you use i.e. to provide a complete clarifying list or statement.

Umm, no.

Eg. = Ergo

Cogito ergo sum: I think therefore I am.

I think for example I am? I don't think so.

Ergo = consequently; therefore.

8. Irregardless is not a word. Wrong! Irregardless is a word in the same way ain't is a word. They're informal. They're nonstandard. You shouldn't use them if you want to be taken seriously, but they have gained wide enough use to qualify as words.

Now this is just stupid. English is a living language and that's where the problem stems. When enough people say something long enough it becomes a word. But it was never an "original" English word.

Here's what my New College edition of the American Heritage Dictionary has to say about this:

Usage: Irregardless, a double negative, is never acceptable except when the intent is clearly humorous.

 

[NSXGMS]

Too bad it doesn't say anything in there about the use of than and then.

(or there, they're and their!)

Yeah, I know. However those aren't "misconceptions" so much as flat-out errors.

My numero uno pet peeve is making plurals possessive with the apostrophe. Wow. I see this all the time. "How many dog's do you have?" Jesus. That stuff is very scary...

 

[heySkippy]

My own pet peeve is people who don't what an acronym is.

Oh, and "alot" isn't a word either.

 

[steveny]

I think most people around here actually get a vs. an correct. It's they're vs their vs there and especially your vs you're that people on forums CONSTANTLY get wrong (then blame it on a typo... HA... as IF!!!)

I get it wrong a lot and it's not a typo. It's because I don't know it. I never paid attention in school. I am trying though.

 

[BioBanker]

Too bad it doesn't say anything in there about the use of than and then.

(or there, they're and their!)

your wishing for too much!!!!!:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

 

[Bigglezworth]

My own pet peeve is people who don't what an acronym is.

Oh, and "alot" isn't a word either.

BINGO! "A LOT" is TWO WORDS (2) NOT ONE (1) as in (ALOT or ALLOT)

Link taken from the autosignature of a moderator on another I subscribe to.:smile:

http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/misspelled.html

Personally I think the majority of typing and grammar woes in the English language come from people not learning how to pronounce the words properly in the first instance. They are actually typing exactly what they would say if they sounded it out to you while talking.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/mispron.html

 

[nicholas421]

Wrong!

That's an incomplete sentence.

 

[Tom239]

5. I.e. and e.g. mean the same thing. Wrong! E.g. means "for example," and i.e. means roughly "in other words." You use e.g. to provide a list of incomplete examples, and you use i.e. to provide a complete clarifying list or statement.

Umm, no.

Eg. = Ergo

Cogito ergo sum: I think therefore I am.

I think for example I am? I don't think so.

E.g. is short for exempli gratia, not ergo. It means for example.

 

[La-squared]

Oh, and "alot" isn't a word either.

gdae and I have discussed this.
It seems like a simple concept to me, but.... :::shrug::::

alot and alright

 

[NsXMas]

Wow, this is the goodest grammar thread me have read lately.

 

[White92]

My own pet peeve is people who don't what an acronym is.

Oh, and "alot" isn't a word either.

"alot" :smile: That reminds me of a teacher I had in high school. She would never let us write using words such as "like, go, got, get, gone, alot" There were several others, but I'll always remember that. Except when I'm posting on NSXPrime alot.:wink:

 

[naaman]

My number one grammar pet peeve is when people refuse to say "you and me" even when it would be the correct thing to say (they opt for "you and I" instead, because they have been wrongly informed by their 4th grade teacher that "you and me" is never correct).

A subject is someone or something that performs a verb (action).
An object is someone or something that a verb is happening to... or should I say... to which a verb is happening.

"You" can function as both a subject and an object.
"I" is a subject.
"Me" is an object.

In many cases, "you and me" is also preceded by a preposition, such as "between you and me" or "to/from you and me."

So, it is correct to say "you and I will go to the store," and incorrect to say "you and me will go to the store."

However, it is correct to say "they will be playing against you and me." It is incorrect to say "they will be playing against you and I."

 

[NSXGMS]

E.g. is short for exempli gratia, not ergo. It means for example.

You are correct. I have seen ergo abbreviated e.g. in the past but according to my references this is not correct.

 

[Bilulan]

I always stumble on

affect vs. effect

 

[Bigglezworth]

I'm always driven nuts by the people that use "probly or prolly" instead of probably. Again they are likely just typing it how they prounounce/speak the word.

 

[evel333]

"Revert back" drives me crazy.

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: What a cerebral bunch of car nuts

I'm amused and pleasantly surprised that this thread is getting this kind of mileage. I wonder how it would fly on the Viper Alley forum?

 

[Deltron Zero]

Re: Can we start with spelling myths?

I'd be happy if more (no, most) people knew the difference between lose and loose.

Ooooh. That one happens at work all the time. It really bugs me.

 

[Deltron Zero]

i run my emails through da ali g translata to for real mess wiv people.