Is there anyone left who knows the difference?

[bellefan7757]

I thought it was just me being a typical teacher - the spelling errors and misuse of words really bugs me sometimes. I thought I might receive ugly comments if I mentioned it. (One of the worst is all the ways I've seen posters misspell "probably".) I feel better now! BTW - I teach first graders about there, their and they're. I guess I should spend a little more time on it!

 

[Ty_Ty]

--------------------------------


There

Their

They're


--------------------------------


This has been a public service announcement.

Thank you.

There is a snake in my boot!
Their cat is ugly.
They're really annoying.

Sorry mine are lame, couldn't think of anything better.

 

[Tiger926]

As an English teacher, I can relate! My biggest source of frustration comes from the incorrect spellings of 'lose' and 'loose'. Drives me bonkers!

Tiger

 

[Debbie-TN]

The one I can't stand is saying done for did. My own mother says this and it drives me crazy. It's not polite to correct your mother. I have to admit though, the one I have trouble with is may and might. When you go to WDW, you may or might have to wait in line. What the rule for this?

 

[j109]

Here's a little grammar "sin" that drives me crazy for some reason: the use of the expression "try and". As in We're going to try and make it to Disney this year. I even see it used in books and magazines every so often. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much, but I'll try to not make a big deal of it if any of you use it.

(Of course, I think there may be several grammatical errors in my paragraph above; especially in my use of the colon.) (and that semi-colon.) (and all these parentheses!)

 

[mainegal]

--------------------------------





This has been a public service announcement.

Thank you.

Thanks.
I think it will get even worse as folks text instead of using full words and sentences.

 

[stormer]

Much and many drive me crazy. My students always talk about how much pages are in the book, etc.

 

[TrustedTraveler]

Compared to some other chat boards I visit, DisBoards members excel at spelling and grammer!

That's because we're over 40. Some of us way over.

 

[cbsnyber1]

I admit that I have trouble with "that" vs. "which." I think I used "that" correctly in my above paragraph. From what I understand, here is the correct difference:

The brown chair that's broken is in the dining room.
"Chair" is the direct object

The brown chair, which was given to me by my aunt, is broken.
"Chair" is the indirect object

Is that right? Can someone help me here? I've been struggling with this for years.

Thanks!

I would suggest that the sentence construction in the first example be changed to "The broken brown chair is in the dining room". That deletes "that" altogether.

The second could be rewritten as "The brown chair, given to me by my aunt, is broken". That eliminates "which".

Doesn't answer your question but does eliminate it!

 

[wendydarling826]

This is one of my pet peeves. Also, the use of apostrophes in plurals.
I am a teacher, and I teach there, their, and they're, your, you're etc., but it seems there are a lot of adults who just never got it!

 

[Millermom0606]

That's because we're over 40. Some of us way over.

Hey I haven't even hit 30 yet thank you very much!!

 

[Dervis]

As an English major, its one of my biggest pet peeves. However...its the interent; a magical land where the rules mandating the English language are tossed to the wayside, leaving us in a chaotic state of lingusitic anarchy. Eh...whatcha gonna do?

 

[cgorn]

I'm also bothered by "ensure" vs. "insure" and "affect" vs. "effect."

Living in PA, I have been surrounded by the overuse of "got." Isn't "got" the past tense of "get"? Thus, the old PA slogan, "You've got a friend," was always the object of interstate teasing.

Also, I was taught that, no matter what, periods and commas go inside quotation marks (see my examples above). English teachers: is that still true?

Thanks!

 

[TillyMarigold]

As a professional writer, this drives me *insane*. But I think the thing that most makes me crazy lately is the astonishing number of people who* drop the -ed's off the end of their*** past participles when the -ed is not syllabic: He had walk over to my house.

That, and apostrophe abuse. I've even seen apostrophes used before the S in words that are *singular*, such as "ethic's" or "the Edward's family."

*Oh, and that/who makes me nuts, too.**
**So do to/too/two.
***And I agree with Robo.

 

[Wall-E1]

Does anyone know the difference between a yam and a sweet potato?

 

[MissNurse]

Here's one that drives me crazy:
should of does not equal should've

 

[tawasdave]

There..their now...Easy...Take it easy...

 

[TillyMarigold]

Does anyone know the difference between a yam and a sweet potato?

They're entirely different plants. The yam (various species of genus Dioscorea) is grown in Africa and Asia ... sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are related to morning glories and grow in Central and North America.

 

[bumbershoot]

Another one: "Its" vs. "It's"

I learned this one in college when an instructor said she'd give an automatic F to any paper that mis-used the two words.

Ah, I just love "teachers" who focus on one tiny little thing that they can very likely figure out anyway, instead of focusing on the subject they are being paid to teach....

... "affect" vs. "effect."

Living in PA, I have been surrounded by the overuse of "got." Isn't "got" the past tense of "get"? Thus, the old PA slogan, "You've got a friend," was always the object of interstate teasing.

I've given up (among other things like the signs for p, q, f, and g, and how to pronounce "scarce") trying to figure out the difference (see above mention of teachers glomming on to one little thing instead of teaching their actual subjects). There's a block in my brain that I can't seem to move. I try very very hard to just avoid the need for that word in sentences...

As for PA...there are some pretty heavy dialects going on there...I went to chiropractic school with many Pennsylvanians and noticed it with the commonly heard "I need adjusted" instead of "I need to get adjusted". And it was in many other sentences similar to that... My "accent brain" was in heaven there...Pennsylvanians, people from New York and New Jersey, and of course the school was in Spartangburg, SC... (by the way, I overuse ellipses if you hadn't noticed) Oh the different ways people can say the word "oil"...

 

[TillyMarigold]

Ah, I just love "teachers" who focus on one tiny little thing that they can very likely figure out anyway, instead of focusing on the subject they are being paid to teach....



I've given up (among other things like the signs for p, q, f, and g, and how to pronounce "scarce") trying to figure out the difference (see above mention of teachers glomming on to one little thing instead of teaching their actual subjects). There's a block in my brain that I can't seem to move. I try very very hard to just avoid the need for that word in sentences...

As for PA...there are some pretty heavy dialects going on there...I went to chiropractic school with many Pennsylvanians and noticed it with the commonly heard "I need adjusted" instead of "I need to get adjusted". And it was in many other sentences similar to that... My "accent brain" was in heaven there...Pennsylvanians, people from New York and New Jersey, and of course the school was in Spartangburg, SC... (by the way, I overuse ellipses if you hadn't noticed) Oh the different ways people can say the word "oil"...

"I need adjusted" or "the light bulb needs changed" happens in British English, it might just have not shifted in Pennsylvania the way it did in the rest of the US.