Pet Peeve: Seen vs. Saw

[Kycha]

But in my mind, the #1 grammar mistake that just makes my skin crawl, makes me think "this person genuinely doesn't know any better" is ALOT. That is not a word. Not in any way, shape or form!

I had to laugh when I read your post. My 10th grade English teacher drilled it into us that alot was not a word. That there is no such word as alittle, and there is no such word as alot. Once, she gave us an assignment. We had to write a paper, but you got an automatic F if there was any spelling errors. Well, guess who got the only F in the class. And guess which word I spelled wrong...alot. I have learned my lesson. And after misspelling it 3 times in this post, you are probably going nuts...j/k.

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

It drives me so crazy...that I try not to use these words, b/c no matter how "I" use them, they sound WRONG

 

[golfgal]

I had to laugh when I read your post. My 10th grade English teacher drilled it into us that alot was not a word. That there is no such word as alittle, and there is no such word as alot. Once, she gave us an assignment. We had to write a paper, but you got an automatic F if there was any spelling errors. Well, guess who got the only F in the class. And guess which word I spelled wrong...alot. I have learned my lesson. And after misspelling it 3 times in this post, you are probably going nuts...j/k.

And the few posters that use allot instead of a lot...

 

[MdmMim]

It bothers me when "bring" is used instead of "take." They are not interchangeable. No one says "take" anymore; "bring" is used incorrectly all to often.

 

[golfgal]

It bothers me when "bring" is used instead of "take." They are not interchangeable. No one says "take" anymore; "bring" is used incorrectly all to often.

Can you give an example?

 

[tink1969]

Drives me nuts! My husband uses 'seen' instead of 'saw' all the time. If I correct him he gets mad. He also says...."I haven't ate anything". Ooooh, it is so annoying!!!!!

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

I can top these "seen" stories! My child brought home a spelling worksheet a few months ago. The kids had to insert the correct spelling word into each sentence. Two of the sentences contained improper use of "seen."

When John went to the park he seen many ______ being pushed in their strollers.

 

[elgerber]

i can top these "seen" stories! My child brought home a spelling worksheet a few months ago. The kids had to insert the correct spelling word into each sentence. two of the sentences contained improper use of "seen."

when john went to the park he seen many ______ being pushed in their strollers.

omg!

 

[CurlyJo224]

Seen/Saw is bad, but the one that drives me insane is "should of."

People! It is a contraction of "should" and "have!" The word is "should've."

 

[KimR]

I can top these "seen" stories! My child brought home a spelling worksheet a few months ago. The kids had to insert the correct spelling word into each sentence. Two of the sentences contained improper use of "seen."

When John went to the park he seen many ______ being pushed in their strollers.

When my DD was in kindergarten, the para-pro could not conjugate a verb to save her life. It was always 'He don't....she don't....I seen...'. It drove me crazy. To make matters worse, the class had quite a few ESOL kids trying to learn to speak English. Aside from that, the lady was just plain mean. I sincerely hope she is no longer working in the education field.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

When my DD was in kindergarten, the para-pro could not conjugate a verb to save her life. It was always 'He don't....she don't....I seen...'. It drove me crazy. To make matters worse, the class had quite a few ESOL kids trying to learn to speak English. Aside from that, the lady was just plain mean. I sincerely hope she is no longer working in the education field.

I'm fairly certain that this sheet came from the student teacher in the room. I didn't step into the fray about the sheet. I was fairly confident that the parent who is an editor for a major newspaper wasn't going to let this slide.

Now if I could eradicate "brung" from my child's vernacular, I would be a happy person.

 

[golfgal]

I'm fairly certain that this sheet came from the student teacher in the room. I didn't step into the fray about the sheet. I was fairly confident that the parent who is an editor for a major newspaper wasn't going to let this slide.

Now if I could eradicate "brung" from my child's vernacular, I would be a happy person.

I don't know if that is really any "qualification" for proper grammar expertise just reading newspapers these days . In middle school our kids had a proofreading unit where the teacher used the newspaper for them to find mistakes--they always found a LOT of them.