10 Common Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Make

Palmpilot

Palmpilot

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This is a pretty good article on common grammatical errors, although it oversimplifies the difference between "affect" and "effect." It fails to mention the situations where apostrophes are appropriate to form plurals, but those are so rare that it's probably safest to ignore them. It also doesn't mention exceptions to the use of apostrophes to indicate possession, such as "its" and "whose."

https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/adv...istakes-even-smart-people-make-174819423.html
 
Keep your Strunk & White's handy at all times.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Does it cover "lose" and "loose?"
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It does. However, it doesn't cover the fact that, while a period that ends a sentence goes inside the quotation marks, a question mark does not, unless you're quoting a question instead of asking one. :D
 
Irregardless, alot of good principals to impact you're writing before you lie your pencil down.
 
I tried to get all ten of them in one sentence, but it was just too contrived. So I settled for only six.
 
It's all a mute point anyway.
 
I was at a fast food joint about a month ago and two teens were talking behind the counter.

I overheard this gem:

"...that's my pejorative."
"You mean 'perogative'?"
"I do?"
 
I can't see "smart people" making a mistake such as, "He borrowed me his car for the afternoon." Misleading headline.
 
jordane93 said:
So glad you spelled grammar correctly in the thread title
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I cut and pasted the thread title from the headline (although I do know how to spell "grammar").

There was actually one thing I learned from the article: I didn't know that the past tense of "lie" (as in "lie down") is "lay." (I checked the Merriam-Webster site, and that's correct.)
 
I have to drive by a sign in my neighborhood every day that reads,

Drive Slow
We Love Our Children


Then take the time to teach them proper grammar!!

Drive Slowly
 
Palmpilot said:
It does. However, it doesn't cover the fact that, while a period that ends a sentence goes inside the quotation marks, a question mark does not, unless you're quoting a question instead of asking one. :D
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Unless you are following the Wikipedia Manual of Style, in which case the period goes outside the quotation if the quoted text is a single word or fragment.
 
It drives me nuts when otherwise smart people (and plenty of not so smart people) use apostrophe's to make noun's plural.
 
It is everywhere...
 

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I think "a lot" is the biggest I see.. It's two words people.. :-)
 
My daughter is a high school English teacher. I like to give her the what for.
 
As I see it:

If the message delivered is the one that was intended, and no rephrasing was needed, then the grammar and spelling that was used was not incorrect.
 
NoHeat said:
Irregardless, alot of good principals to impact you're writing before you lie your pencil down.
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:thumbsup:

I remember a high school teacher talking about "literary license". This gives the writer the freedom to express themselves and spell what ever, and punctuate whenever, they want. :D

Ain't is a word. My spell check just completed it for me. :lol:
 
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Intelligence correlates with proper grammar to a point, then grammah goes down as intelligence goes further up. Really smart people just don't fkin care.:lol:
 
Meh. Language evolves, and as long as meaning is conveyed, the particulars don't really matter.

I get fired up about logical fallacies. Those are language independent... timeless. People do this stuff ALL THE TIME. Either innocently, because they're not critical thinkers, or on purpose, to manipulate and deceive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

I ain't go no time for that.
 
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warthog1984 said:
Except when you are allotting a lot of something.
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A friend of mine, Lotta, works in the county court house. One time, a whole subdivision came up for auction. All of it. Finished and partially finished houses. It was her job to determine how many of those houses would go up for auction on a particular day. During the housing bust, several such neighborhoods would have to be divided up the same month. Poor Lotta.

Lotta allotted a lot of lots a lot.

(no, I haven't had a beer yet. Why do you ask?)
 
Mistake Not... said:
Meh. Language evolves, and as long as meaning is conveyed, the particulars don't really matter...
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Some types of errors obscure the intended meaning. Leaving out commas is an example, as illustrated by this list:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/commas-are-the-most-important

This one is a classic:

comma+grandpa.jpg


The rampant spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors on the Internet are distracting, and like fingernails on a chalkboard to people who know the rules. Obviously I don't expect people who don't care about it to start caring, but it makes us feel better to complain about it. ;)

Comma rules, for those who are interested:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm

A more complete list:

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp
 
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Kelvin said:
It is everywhere...
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That reminds me of a sign at a "cash only" gas station that's just down the road:

"No credit cards excepted"

Mistake Not... said:
Meh. Language evolves, and as long as meaning is conveyed, the particulars don't really matter.
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Agree. And I find Americans getting uppity about English to be quite humorous since even "when used properly" we've bastardized it beyond recognition.
 
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