Common Errors in English


Sometimes we all need an explanation. What mistake(s) do you keep making?

I always get confused with who's vs whose, cut and paste vs copy and paste, affect vs effect and Cavalry/calvary.

You all have my permission to point those out to me when I sin. *g*





"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh, at yourself."

Ethel Barrymore

My worst problem in writing news stories is knowing when to capitalize a person’s title. If it’s in a sentence before the name I think you do, as in:

Assistant Superintendent Jim Newcomer said
Or
Warren Smith, IU assistant director said

Maybe now that I looked this up I will remember!

And here is one with a twist:
"The first phase was completed last summer across the street from the cafeteria on Park Avenue," said district Business Manager Sylvia Len.

So her title is only “Business Manager” not “District Business Manager?” That’s one I didn’t know.

Typos are also good:

For "glad" I’m always typing "gald" Not a real word, but it sounds like one and with a really different meaning!

One of my pet peeves in writing is the use of quotes. When I finally learned this I wanted the whole world to know and do it right but that’s still “not happening.” The rule is- quotes ALWAYS follow punctuation. “(Unless there is a parenthesis involved, then it comes after- if the parenthetical is a whole sentence.)”

And I am not a natural speller. I misspell all the time. Sorry folks. I repent for that, but alas it is not my fate to spell well. I know I will always need help.

EEEE-YEEESSS!!

Aside my astounding gift to destroy any gramatical or structural elements in a sentence that should otherwise be EASY! I am also quite accomplished in destroying the english language!

Some, by no means not all, of these english errors include:

alot
effective/affective
their/they're/there
the use of "but" & "and"
how bout-- it's and its

i can't figure out when to put a period, a coma, a semicolon or a colon. lately i've liked to throw in a few of these "--" because i can't figure which of the above to use! isn't english fun! when i mess up, i tell people i'm being artistic. ever use that excuse?

i challenge you to find a post of mine WITHOUT a gross use of the english langauge, or a slaughtering of grammar and punctuation! yeah.

*hanging her head in shame*

mons

"I never understood the whole 'no cruel and unusual' punishment thing. If it's not cruel and unusual, it' not punishment." - PFJ

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Brucy runs out naked into the howling windy freezing winter nite...

WHAT ISSUE ??....WHAT 1 ISSUE ??? ARGHHHHH !!!

umm ....A'course I mean the above reply as Punctuation.


that & the COMPLETELY indiscriminate use of Capital Letterz.

Well theres those Incomplete & run-on Sentences...Typos...


Hmmm.... Prolly more goodies too.. but Who's countin Anyways..???



Brucy runs out naked into the howling windy freezing winter nite...

WHAT ISSUE ??....WHAT 1 ISSUE ??? ARGHHHHH !!!

Oh & Another thing Smirky


THAT is a TRULY TERRIFYING website


Do not send me there again....



Brucy runs out naked into the howling windy freezing winter nite...

WHAT ISSUE ??....WHAT 1 ISSUE ??? ARGHHHHH !!!

quote:

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Originally posted by Nanzar:
One of my pet peeves in writing is the use of quotes. When I finally learned this I wanted the whole world to know and do it right but that’s still “not happening.” The rule is- quotes ALWAYS follow punctuation. “(Unless there is a parenthesis involved, then it comes after- if the parenthetical is a whole sentence.)”

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You'll see me doing this all the time, and I'll tell you why . The rule doesn't make sense. It ignores logic. That's not to say language is always logical, but it should at least allow me say what I mean to say.

Here's a page that says the rule you're mentioning is chiefly American. I guess I mainly do it the British way. To me quotation marks set off something I want to relay exactly. I don't like to put anything inside the marks that isn't part of the quotation. If I'm quoting a phrase or a title or something which requires no punctuation then no punctuation belongs inside the marks.

Sometimes I'll go so far as to place my punctuation both inside and outside the marks, depending on what's being said. The way I see it, each sentence should be punctuated, both quoted ones and ones which contain quotations.

I don't really understand effect vs. affect yet, either.

Heitie!
What a great resource page! I have a grammar book I keep handy but I saved it for further study.

I didn't know it was another American peculiarity. I remember being taught to put the quotes inside the phrase way back in the 60's. But since then it seems to have changed. When I stared a newsletter I wanted to get it right so I looked it up. Now I seem to find the mistake everywhere, even in the US!

Brucy
What you do isn't error, it's poetic comedy.

Affect (vb)- to influence, to change
Effect- to accomplish (vb); result(n)

I don't know if this helps.

Here's a word that doesn't exist: "alright." It should be "all right."

What I'd like to know is why the semicolon is easier to type than the colon? Was it used more back whne the typewriter was invented? Same thing with the question mark and quotes- these things should be direct key strokes! Oh my gosh- the exclamation point too!


I think my favorite punctuation is the hyphen- it helps to point out my point- so to speak.

That's just a page I found in a quick search for the different placings of punctuation. I don't even know what else it says

I'm confused, I would never do some of those listed mistakes. (like dessert/desert for instance) Does anyone write "He don't", btw?

"What I'd like to know is why the semicolon is easier to type than the colon?" -> On the keyboards I use there's 1 key for [,] and other for [;].

quote:

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There are no simple rules governing preposition usage: you just have to immerse yourself in good English in order to write it naturally.

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oh, now they say

quote:

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Originally posted by Professor Xis:
Does anyone write "He don't", btw?

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sigh...alas, yes. That sort of thing can make the internet a scary, scary place.

Yo' Prof X! It's called intinet ghetto type dawg. if youz a real motha-fo you be down with the lingo!

man... he don't get it..


mons

[This message was edited by mons on 01 March 2004 at 08:30 PM.]

oh, ok, now I see. Anyway those links are useful.

quote:

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man... he don't get it..

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He do...he do!

'Sup mah honkies?

Yo - what I says to dat iz - da lingo be fittin mah stylin, not da other side up mah bruvvahs.

Dig?

~~~~~~~~~~

Who did you think I would be? - HA! - well you got me instead.

What's your biggest sin against English perfect? Repent!

capitalization. and i intend to coninue to sin unabashedly. just try andstop me...

WHAT WOULD XENA DO?

are you sitting on the soap?

No, Gabrielle. You understand hate, but you don't give in to it. You don't know how much I love...that.

shouldn't that be 'just try to stop me'?

disclaimer: i like my quotes on the inside

_____________________________
all i wanted to say was i love you and i'm not afraid

did i mention i have an aversion to spaces as well...?

actually, "inside" is the correct usage of quotation marks (even though you used apostrophes...), because the "?" wasn't part of the quote. right?

WHAT WOULD XENA DO?

are you sitting on the soap?

No, Gabrielle. You understand hate, but you don't give in to it. You don't know how much I love...that.

quote:

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Originally posted by Argeaux:
'Sup mah honkies?

Yo - what I says to dat iz - da lingo be fittin mah stylin, not da other side up mah bruvvahs.

Dig?

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Dig (except for "honkies")