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susans
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« on: February 07, 2008, 06:55:16 am » |
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Do you have any grammar obstacles? You know the ones you KNOW the rules to but you still make them (but of course correct them before anyone sees them!). Miss use laid/lain? Affect/effect?
I am ALWAYS typing "then" instead of "than" and I have to go back and correct myself. My other faux pas is transposing letters. I have to stpo and corretc mysefl all the tmie! (ok that is my bad sense of humor!)
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gee4
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« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2008, 09:23:50 am » |
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No....one thing I am fussy about is grammar. I usually end up correcting other people!
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raindance
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« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2008, 10:22:36 am » |
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Grammar and spelling are things that develop over time to a certain degree in living languages, so one shouldn't be too precious about these matters. Certain words and phrases, never mind spellings, that were in use a couple of hundred years ago are no longer in use today. That said, a piece of writing that is badly-spelled or punctuated grates on the eye.
Someone passed me a letter recently that contained the phrases "you was wrong" and "you should of". Much of this sort of thing may be attributed to laziness or poor education. There are some words that are often misused: most people say "can" when they should say "may", but that is what happens in a living language.
I think that English-English has more elephant traps than American-English. For example, when to use the word "practice" instead of "practise". I sometimes think that American-English uses spellings that are slightly more logical than English-English, but please don't ask me to say "chips" for "crisps" and "fries" for "chips".
Chips iz chips and crisps iz crisps. Nuff said.
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JessW
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« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2008, 10:47:03 am » |
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I find the use of "Can I" and "May I" very useful when dealing the step-children.
"Can I have a drink/yoghurt/etc?" - yes you can but it does not necessarily mean that you will"
"May I etc?" - yes or no depending upon if it is asked just before a meal!
That way I do try to teach them correct grammar.
Mind you, I do tend to typo the occasional "tot he" instead of to the, which always makes me laugh as I go back on myself and correct it.
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spitfire78
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« Reply #4 on: February 07, 2008, 04:35:17 pm » |
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Like your stepchildren, I also have problems with could/would. I used to work with a woman who was fanatical about grammar. If someone would ask her, could you do such and such... she would also reply "of course I can, now do you want to know if I WILL". I realized as I worked with her how often I did the same thing. Now I correct myself routinely on this one!
My big typos are: "teh" for "the" and "...ino" for any word that ends in "ion". Years ago I had one boss jokingly ask me if I was Italian because I so often typed words that way! Even though I know I do it and try to be careful, I still find myself doing it when I am typing rapidly or am distracted.
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Atlanta Z3
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« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2008, 04:54:25 pm » |
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"Operations are" "Operations is" was my recent argument. They made me put is, when I thought are read better. It was explained to me that even though it reads plural it’s really singular.
My favorite typo united became untied – whoops! I also had roster become rooster once.... but that's nothing to crow about (sorry!)
effect / affect
lie / lay
capital / capitol
council / counsel
A humorist relates “anecdotes.†The doctor prescribes “antidotesâ€
You can allude (refer) to your daughter’s membership in the honor society when boasting about her, but a criminal tries to elude (escape) captivity
safe deposit box - big pet peeve - it's not safety deposit box
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JessW
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« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2008, 02:03:23 pm » |
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Now you should really get the Independent Newspaper on Sunday (uk) as there is (apparently) a free booklet on this sort of mixed up word!
PM me if you cannot get a copy or are not in the uk!
jess
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laurafmcdermott
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« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2008, 02:40:22 pm » |
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I'm usually correcting other people's grammar. However, my tough spelling challenges are "definitely" and "separate". I really want to spell them "definately" and "seperate". No matter how many times I use these words, I have to confirm the spelling before I send something off.
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gee4
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« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2008, 02:46:58 pm » |
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Oh Laura those are my two pet hates.....grrr!
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msmarieh
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« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2008, 04:04:42 pm » |
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I use a lot of mnemonics (lol I had to look up how to spell that word!) to remember things.
For separate, ever since I was a child I have said the r separates the two a's, which sticks with me for how to spell it.
I also say accommodate is big enough to accommodate two c's and m's.
I've thought up lots of these over the years to help me remember things (plus the classics like "i before e except after c or when sounding of "ay" as in neighbor and weigh").
I still get tripped up once in a while and my biggest challenge lately is that three of the four people I support are international scientists (Russian, Italian and Indian), so I have to allow for international spellings (behaviour versus the American behavior for instance).
Marie
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gee4
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« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2008, 04:23:40 pm » |
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Marie,
I believe it's also in the pronounciation - some people say seprately so write it as they say it........I would 'of' really gets my goat!
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Atlanta Z3
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« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2008, 10:54:20 pm » |
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Word has an auto correct function that you can add your own words. I type raod so frequently it got added quickly. Once a word is in auto correct, the second you hit the space key the word auto corrects. (yipee!)
Tools - Auto Correct - Auto Correct Tab
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