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Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling
nosh:
One of today's top Diggs. ('Digg's?... "Digg"s ? nm!)
CleverCat:
;D
J-Mac:
There is one particular grammar mistake that really irks me: a/an usage.
People that misuse them tend to fall into 2 groups:
Native English speakers that tend to overuse "a".
* Examples: a apple, a egg, a ice cream cone, a octopus, a umbrella
Non-native English speakers that tend to overuse "an".
* Examples: an ball, an computer, an shirt.
The native English speakers bother me more than the non-native ones, since this is something you should have learned early on in grammar school.
-app103 (January 02, 2010, 09:46 AM)
--- End quote ---
Biggest issue with a / an is which to use before an acronym. E.g., "an FBI agent" ("an" modifying the "eff" sound) or "a FBI agent" ("a" modifying the word Federal that the F stands for). I have always used the former - mainly because the latter just sounds stupid! - but when trying to settle a small debate on this I researched on the web and found authorities backing both usages. Go figure!
Jim
parkint:
There is one particular grammar mistake that really irks me: a/an usage.
People that misuse them tend to fall into 2 groups:
Native English speakers that tend to overuse "a".
* Examples: a apple, a egg, a ice cream cone, a octopus, a umbrella
Non-native English speakers that tend to overuse "an".
* Examples: an ball, an computer, an shirt.
The native English speakers bother me more than the non-native ones, since this is something you should have learned early on in grammar school.
-app103 (January 02, 2010, 09:46 AM)
--- End quote ---
I agree.
The other one that 'irks' me even more is Me versus I
All through grade school the teachers were pounding into the students, "Mary and I go to the market".
Yet, today, I cringe when I hear a statement like, "At the party it will only be William and I"
Subject versus* Predicate.
*Writing this post reminded me of two more (seen in written language):
per say (to mean per se)
verses (to represent versus)
And then there is the ubiquitous, "ect." Which shouldn't be a problem for anyone who has worked on the command line in Unix
cranioscopical:
All through grade school the teachers were pounding into the students, "Mary and I go to the market".
Yet, today, I cringe when I hear a statement like, "At the party it will only be William and I"
-parkint (January 28, 2010, 11:49 AM)
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Some parties deserve a lamb basting!
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