Is there anyone left who knows the difference?

[rie'smom]

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!

The punctuation would not always go inside the quotation marks if you're quoting someone or something w/in a sentence.

The teacher said, "Hurry, get into the hall!" when she saw the tornado coming towards the school.

 

[MM27]

I know the difference, but after grading hundreds of student papers a week, I sometimes start to question if I'm right. When you see the same thing wrong on several papers, you start to doubt yourself.

 

[manning]

The house is over there.....

I believe you just took their stroller......

They're going to WDW in April......

And OMG that drives me insane too!!!!! its hard to take someone seriously when they can't spell!

Not as bad as definate. Never was an A in that word.

 

[dis-happy]

It's used correctly. Got is not necessary and some consider using it improper.
Without the contraction, it would read:
'We have to gather more information before we can finish the project'. which is right.

Here are some common errors:

1. Accept/Except- Although these two words sound alike (they’re homophones), they have two completely different meanings. “Accept” means to willingly receive something (accept a present.) “Except” means to exclude something (I’ll take all of the books except the one with the red cover.)

2. Affect/Effect- The way you “affect” someone can have an “effect” on them. “Affect” is usually a verb and “Effect” is a noun.

3. Alright- If you use “alright,” go to the chalkboard and write “Alright is not a word” 100 times.

4. Capital/Capitol- “Capitol” generally refers to an official building. “Capital” can mean the city which serves as a seat of government or money or property owned by a company. “Capital” can also mean “punishable by death.”

5. Complement/Compliment- I often must compliment my wife on how her love for cooking perfectly complements my love for grocery shopping.

6. Comprise/Compose- The article I’m composing comprises 32 parts.

7. Could Of- Of the 32 mistakes on this list, this is the one that bothers me most. It’s “could have” not “could of.” When you hear people talking, they’re saying “could’ve.” Got it?

8. Desert/Dessert- A desert is a hot, dry patch of sand. Dessert, on the other hand, is the sweet, fatty substance you eat at the end of your meal.

9. Discreet/Discrete- We can break people into two discrete (separate) groups, the discreet (secretive) and indiscreet.

10. Emigrate/Immigrate- If I leave this country to move to Europe, the leaving is emigrating and the arriving is immigrating.

11. Elicit/Illicit- Some people post illicit things on message boards to elicit outrageous reactions from others.

12. Farther/Further- Farther is used for physical distance, whereas further means to a greater degree.

13. Fewer/Less- Use fewer when referring to something that can be counted one-by-one. Use less when it’s something that doesn’t lend itself to a simple numeric amount.

14. Flair/Flare- A flair is a talent, while a flare is a burst (of anger, fire, etc.)

15. i.e/e.g- I.e. is used to say “in other words.” E.g. is used in place of “for example.”

16. Inflammable- Don’t let the prefix confuse you, if something is inflammable it can catch on fire.

17. It’s/Its- It’s= it is. Its=a possessive pronoun meaning of it or belonging to. Whatever you do, please don’t use its’.

18. Imply/Infer- A reader infers what an author implies. In other words, when you imply something, you hint at it. When you infer something, you draw a conclusion based on clues.

19. Literally- If you say “His head literally exploded because he was so mad!” then we should see brains splattered on the ceiling.

20. Lose/Loose- If your pants are too loose you may lose them. That would be almost as embarrassing as misusing these two words.

21. Moral/Morale- Morals are something you want to teach your kids. If your team’s morale is low, you need to do something to boost their confidence.

22. Percent/Percentage- The word “percent” should only be used when a specific number is given. “Percentage” is more of a general term.

23. Stationary/Stationery- You are stationary when you aren’t moving. Stationery is something you write on.

24. Then/Than- “Then” is another word for “after.” Incidentally, the word “then” makes for boring writing. “Than” is a comparative word (e.g. I am smarter than you).

25. There/Their/They’re- There are few things as frustrating as when I look at my students’ writing and they’re misusing these words in their writing.

26. Unique- Something can’t be “kind of unique” or even “very unique.” It’s either one-of-a-kind or it isn’t. There is no in between when it comes to unique.

27. Your/You’re- If I had a nickel for every time I saw this one… yeah, you know the rest. “Your” shows ownership and you’re is a contraction meaning “you are.” Get it right.

28. To/Too/Two- Two is a number. “To” is used in instances such as, “I am going to the store.” If you are supposed to use the word “too,” try inserting the word “extra” or “also.” If one of those fits, you need to also add the extra “o” to make “too.”

29. Lie/Lay- After you lay the books on the table, go lie down on the couch.

30. Sit/Set- Set your drink on the table and sit in your chair. Got it?

31. Whose/Who’s- Whose is the possessive form of who. Who’s is a contraction meaning “who is.”

32. Allude/Elude- When someone alludes to something in conversation (indirectly references), if you aren’t paying attention the meaning may elude you (escape you).

Add to the list: Principal/Principle. I'm always nervous when an irate poster is going to write a note to the "principle" at their child's school. Remember folks, the principal is your pal!

 

[manning]

How about "to", "too" and "two"

I need to go to the store.

There are too many people here.
I am too sick to travel.
you are too clever.
there are two too many here.

There are only two of us here.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

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


There

Their

They're


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


This has been a public service announcement.

Thank you.

My brain knows, but my fingers don't always agree.

 

[Steph1939]

How about "fixing to": I'm fixing to dry my hair.

 

[wdwfan16]

I want to go over they're.

Their is my car.

That is there car.


How did I do?!

 

[1PrincessMomma1]

I know how you feel and am glad you have had a good outcome.

My biggest problem is that I have had two strokes in my life. I had my 1st stroke at the age of 25 on the operating table and unfortunately it effected my memory so badly that it totally erased my memory for awhile. While I did regain alot of my memory I lost all of my high school and college years.

I did come out fine overall. I'm sorry you've had the problems that you did. I have some fine motor and hand /eye coordination issues but that's about it. I've had about a dozen TIA's since then but no other long term effects(affects? my brain doesn't want to work so the grammer police can correct me). I had mine @ 21 due to pre eclampsia.

 

[Took]

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....



/QUOTE]

I think your point fails in this instance since the subject was English (which the teacher was hired to teach) and the lesson was effective (the poster still remembers the difference. Besides, the teacher probably was only kidding, exasperated by the rampant sloppiness of students who refuse to actually learn standard English spelling and grammar.

 

[Lanshark]

I taught

there
their
they're
your
you're
to
too
two

just last week.

 

[Took]

The punctuation would not always go inside the quotation marks if you're quoting someone or something w/in a sentence.

The teacher said, "Hurry, get into the hall!" when she saw the tornado coming towards the school.

Commas and periods do go inside the quotations marks unless "intervening material" separates the period or comma from the quoted material.



"Hello, my name is Enigo Montoya." (period inside quotation marks)

The teacher said, "Please, come in" when she saw the students. (intervening material between the period and the quoted material).

 

[pennymom]

My most recent pet peeve is newscasters consistently using between instead of among about more than two people or things. For example: There have been discussions between Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

How can anything be between three things or individuals? You can only be between two, and must be among three or more.

I mainly have an issue with mistakes when it is in a school setting or when used by someone who makes a living using the language, such as a newscaster or writer. On the Dis, I try to ignore, ignore, ignore!

 

[PatriciaH]

The worst is there's. Even newscasters use it incorrectly all the time. Pal Mickey even said-"there's lots of countries in World Showcase!" Really Mickey? There is lots of countries?

 

[iwrbnd]

Love your post cuz I've been wondering the same thing!

 

[C.Ann]

Or people need to remember proper common grammar and not rely on computers so much......

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

Bingo! And with students being encouraged - or in some cases actually "told" that they have to do their assignments on computers with spell check - why bother to learn the difference?

 

[CanBeGrumpy]

I know all of the words mentioned in this thread, but sometimes I mistype them. Just because someone uses one of these words incorrectly does not mean he/she does not know the proper usage! It could just be a typo. Now, when my son's school newsletter came home with the word "Walla" in it (instead of Voila), I was (and still am) stunned.

(feel free to pick apart all spelling and grammar in this post; I know I am not perfect.)

 

[dizluvah]

So many of my friends on facebook belong to a group called something like "I judge you for your poor grammar" so most of the time I purposely use no punctuation, poor grammar, slang abbreviations - like cuz instead of because. I object to pretentious people and don't have to prove my intelligence or my writing skills to anyone

 

[cabanafrau]

So many of my friends on facebook belong to a group called something like "I judge you for your poor grammar" so most of the time I purposely use no punctuation, poor grammar, slang abbreviations - like cuz instead of because. I object to pretentious people and don't have to prove my intelligence or my writing skills to anyone

BTW, it's 'cuz.

 

[cdepauli]

Let us take a moment and reflect on the beauty of the conditional phrase, "if I were....". It seems to be MIA these days.

This one is funny to me because JK Rowling (in the Harry Potter books) constantly uses was instead of were and it drives me crazy!