What's your personal grammar or spelling pet peeve?

[*Fantasia*]

Why oh why do people use an apostrophe when it isn't necessary or when they only need to use a plural 's'? Example: What are your kid's doing this weekend?; Those Obama supporter's are celebrating too much.; These are my hero's.

So here's the scoop on the apostrophe. My beef is mostly about use #2:

From http://www.write101.com/sample.htm

Just when do you use an apostrophe?

1. Use the Apostrophe to show OMISSION

What's a nice kid like me doing in a place like this?

We started with two words, what and is, but because this is informal writing, we want to express it informally, so we omit a letter from the word is.

I could've danced all night ... (could have, not could 'of')

It's time for breakfast (It is time ...)

It's been raining all day. (It has been raining ...)

So, in future whenever you see an apostrophe, make a conscious effort to work out what the original word was before the letter was omitted. Sometimes, as in the case of could've and would've, more than one letter has been omitted.

This will establish good habits and alert you to the role of the apostrophe.

2. Use the Apostrophe to show POSSESSION

We went to Marmaduke's restaurant for dinner. (Marmaduke owns the restaurant; it is the restaurant of Marmaduke.)

Notice how the apostrophe comes at the end of the noun (Marmaduke) and is accompanied by the letter 's' - a bit like a chaperone.

We knew whom to blame for the missing pie; there was cream all over the dog's whiskers!

We're only referring to one dog and it owns the whiskers (and the pie and a very satisfied smile, no doubt).

Some words sound awkward when an apostrophe 's' is added:

Jesus's disciples.

The accepted form here is to just use the 's' apostrophe:

Jesus' disciples.

N.B. This only applies to names of Biblical or historical significance e.g. Jesus, Moses, Zeus, Demosthenes, Ramses ... the rest of us whack in the apostrophe and add an 's.'

Moses' followers, Zeus' priests, Demosthenes' teachings, Ramses' pyramid

Others don't have the same clumsy sound:

The princess's chair.

The important thing is to be consistent in your use of the form - nothing is writ in stone!
Using the Apostrophe with Plural Nouns

Confusion arises when the apostrophe is used with a plural noun.

At the zoo, the children were most interested in seeing the lions' den.

More than one lion owns the den, so we add the apostrophe after the 's' (this is the den of the lions).

So, the general rule is:

* if there's one owner - add an apostrophe and then 's'
* if there are two or more owners - add 's' then an apostrophe.

Exceptions to the Rules about Apostrophes

However, (and of course you're not surprised to hear this, are you?), there are exceptions to this rule.



For words which form their plural by changing internal letters (instead of adding 's'), the apostrophe comes before the 's'.

It was the children's turn to wash up.

Children is already a plural word, so we don't need to make it doubly plural by adding 's' apostrophe; however, we do need to indicate the idea of ownership, so we use apostrophe 's'.

Some other words which follow this rule are: men, women, people.
How to Use the Apostrophe with Double Possession

When you have 'double possession' - when two or more people (or subjects) own one item and both (or all) of their names are mentioned, the apostrophe is applied only to the second (or last) name.

We had coffee at Ermintrude and Marmaduke's mansion.

When you're using names that end in -S, you follow the same rules as with any other name and add apostrophe S:

Chris's car, Bridget Jones's Diary.



Plural names also follow the same rules:

Bill Thomas's car; the Thomases' new house (add -es to names that end in S to indicate plural form).


Using the Apostrophe with Expressions of Time

The apostrophe is also used with many expressions of time (to show that the time period owns the other noun):

an hour's time; a year's holiday
When NOT to Use the Apostrophe

BUT notice that we do not use the apostrophe with possessive pronouns (remember, these are the little guys who step in and lend a paw to nouns).

After dinner at Marmaduke's restaurant, we went back to his place for coffee.

The bird's feathers were ruffled. (The bird owns the feathers.)

The bird ruffled its feathers. (The bird owns the feathers, but the pronoun its is being used instead of the noun, so there is NO apostrophe.

You'll see it's and its used incorrectly nearly every single day and in places where it should never happen. An easy way to make sure you never confuse the two is to ask yourself (do this quietly, you don't want to alarm those around you), if the words it is can be substituted in the sentence- if the answer is yes, then whack in the old apostrophe.

If the answer is no, then sit on your hands so you won't be tempted.

The bird ruffled its (it is?) feathers. (NO)

It's (it is?) a lovely day. (YES)
Tips for Using the Apostrophe Correctly

To summarise, here is a good way to check if you need an apostrophe - for future reference:

If you can substitute the use of "of" then you use the apostrophe.

e.g. This is Marmaduke's house ... it is the house of Marmaduke.

The children's mother phoned ... the mother of the children phoned.

Three months' work ... the work of three months

none, i don't let it bother me.

 

[OK!]

Thank you for saying that!

As far as the DIS is concerned, the cutesy words drive me up the wall. Ressies, souvies, preggers, etc. really get to me.

Ugh, me too!! The apostrophe thing drives me absolutely insane as well, especially when coupled with an incorrectly-written price, such as "tomato's 3 for .99¢." Wow, so you actually get 3 tomatoes for less than a penny? Where do I sign up?!

 

[Imzadi]

That's a regional thing. We say "waiting on line" in the NYC area.

Maybe they say that in the Bronx, but in Manhattan I say "waiting IN line."


My peeve is to see uncorrected typos in thread titles, especially when the OP has posted to his own thread several times. Maybe the OP missed it while originally typing it. But to keep clicking on the thread several times to re-post & not correct the spelling, come on!

 

[Suzie Zoo]

Maybe they say that in the Bronx, but in Manhattan I say "waiting IN line."


My peeve is to see uncorrected typos in thread titles, especially when the OP has posted to his own thread several times. Maybe the OP missed it while originally typing it. But to keep clicking on the thread several times to re-post & not correct the spelling, come on!

I'm willing to bet that a lot of people don't know how to do that. I had the hardest time figuring out how to correct/change a title.


Most of these things don't bug me... but like I said, it's frustrating to say something correctly and have everyone think you are the one who's wrong!!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Maybe they say that in the Bronx, but in Manhattan I say "waiting IN line."

Ok...but my friend in Brooklyn also says "on line" so I know it's not JUST the Bronx!

I know not EVERYBODY says it...but I do hear it a lot around this area.

 

[heimlichfan]

expecially instead of especially

supposably instead of supposedly


My biggest pet peeve though is when my students misspell Word Wall words. For those of you who may be unfamiliar it's a wall with 100 high frequency words such as; about, could, really, etc...

I mean really! They can't just look at the wall?????

 

[agnes!]

i usually don't have alot of time online.

i'm here for info and entertainment.

i never worry about spelling or puncuation.

i don't mean it to be offensive.. it's just that i want to relax when i'm online.

It would be nice to relax when I'm "here", but the Community Board hasn't exactly been a relaxing place lately - for about, oh, maybe the last year or so ?

agnes!

 

[keerymom]

Alot is not a word. It is a lot.

 

[Imzadi]

Ok...but my friend in Brooklyn also says "on line" so I know it's not JUST the Bronx!

I know not EVERYBODY says it...but I do hear it a lot around this area.

I know. I was just kidding. If you notice, I wrote I say, not we say.

Then a British tourist comes to town & says, "Are we supposed to queue up over here?" and everyone goes

 

[twinklebug]

too vs to

they're vs their

weather vs whether

and my personal flaw: who vs whom... Perhaps someday this one will be drilled into my head, but until then, WHOM cares?

 

[julie_yet]

On the shows Say Yes To The Dress and My Fair Wedding I've heard people comment that a wedding dress "fitted" the woman perfectly. Yeah, um... no.

 

[mfd25wife]

My personal pet peeve is when someone replies to an e-mail but does not reply with the history. Sometimes, the answer I receive is "No, that was the Elle job". There is no reference to my original question or someone else's if I was just copied on it.

I get many many e-mails a day, and I'm looking at those thinking "what"?

I cannot be too picky because I get in a hurry at times, but I hate having to guess at what someone is talking about.

 

[mfd25wife]

I do hate when people call the library the libary and Walmart ends up Walmarts. We have one lady that puts a "t" on once and twice. The become oncet and twict.

 

[Imzadi]

I hate when there is a double post and the poster deletes the first post instead of the second, making you scroll down to finally read the post. Hello! The double post is the second post.

A verbal peeve is when people say melk instead of milk. I know, it's a regional thing.

 

[Aardvarks]

Ask becomes arks in Estuarine English (Thames)

What are them.............what are those!!

Similar to, but differrent from

He done it (EE again)........He has done it or He did do it.

It was me and him wot done it............It was him and I that did it

But to be honest, regional differences in grammar do make the world a more interesting place.

In America you say both 'in front of' and 'in back of' whereas in Britain only the former is used, the latter becoming 'at the back of'

However a lot of what the Bitish would consider to be 'Americanisms' are actually older versions of English that have persisted in the USA. There are some terrific books on the subject.

I would recommend Bill Bryson, Mother Tongue, as a good starting place ( he is American)

My own spelling and grammar suffer as a result of much time lost from school between the ages of 4 and 7 with childhood illnesses. I find that the scientific and technical words and structure learned in adult life do not cause me as much pain.

Peace

 

[cinmell]

Yous guys or yous
Where you at? Or, where yous at?
On line instead of in line
I ain't seen her.
texting lingo

I also can't stand cutesy abbreviations:
hubby
wifey
prego, preggers, "we're" pregnant, bump, baby bump
ressie
pressie
kiddos

 

[Mrs.Toad]

My personal pet peeve is when someone replies to an e-mail but does not reply with the history. Sometimes, the answer I receive is "No, that was the Elle job". There is no reference to my original question or someone else's if I was just copied on it.

I get many many e-mails a day, and I'm looking at those thinking "what"?

I cannot be too picky because I get in a hurry at times, but I hate having to guess at what someone is talking about.

That bugs me, too, and reminds me of the time I sent an email to a woman asking "XXX or YYY?", and she replied "yes".

When people do that in verbal conversation, I figure they're saying yes to the first option, without listening to the whole sentence. But how on earth do you skip several words in written communication?

 

[vettechick99]

I do hate when people call the library the libary and Walmart ends up Walmarts. We have one lady that puts a "t" on once and twice. The become oncet and twict.

Around here Wal-Mart is called THE Wal-Mart. "I went to The Wal-Mart this weekend..." Or "I got THE virus this weekend."

I never had too many grammar pet peeves til I moved to my new (small) town. Now I have many - they have such bad grammar here. Even the adults can't speak correctly. Even teachers with Masters! I have heard these statements before:

"He throwed the toy out of the car." (teacher)

"We is so thankful you are all here today." (by the principal to the parents!!)

"He run up to me..." (teacher)

BTW, incorrect subject-verb agreement really gets to me.

From the kids:

"I'm is."

"That's mines."

I honestly could go on and on...

 

[dismom2]

I make a lot of mistakes so I shouldn't talk, but I notice a lot of people write ect, instead of etc. when abbreviating et cetera.