There, their, they're.

[knumbskull]

 

[knumbskull]

OK i'll stop image bombing the thread now. those were from here:

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Michael B]

I love grammar. NEEERD etc

one thing that used to bug me was "it's not that big of a deal" or "he's not that good of a player" - but this seems be used everywhere now in US English, so that one was a losing battle...

here's my favourite bit of grammar for you: who can explain to me the difference between "which" and "that"

Could be worse: good've or goodove or gooduv, gooduva.

 

[96tbird]

Unrelated but I just heard
co-operation pronounced
cooper-ation. Astounding.

 

[StudioStuntz]

...

These grammar threads come up all the time. One I never see mentioned is the oft-misused "I" instead of "me."

...

That's because some teacher in Muncie, Indiana came up with the catchy little "'I' before 'Me', except after 'Thee'" ditty a while back, and most people now know better.

 

[96tbird]

This is another detail that seems to be lost in the new age: bring or take.

You TAKE it with you when you leave here. You BRING it with you when you come.

I will take it with me when I go from here . I will bring it with me when I come to your location.


How to Use Take With You and Bring With You: 5 Steps

 

[Immigrant]

Unrelated but I just heard
co-operation pronounced
cooper-ation. Astounding.

The "news" radio station here recently acquired a new news reader, and she has a beautiful radio voice, but she is dumb. In the past two weeks, I've heard her pronounce:

Regime- rea jim ay- like resumè
economist- eeco nomist
Couch- like couch (sofa) except here, it's a street pronounced cooch

We should be getting smarter, yet we're getting dumber.

 

[Michael B]

The "news" radio station here recently acquired a new news reader, and she has a beautiful radio voice, but she is dumb. In the past two weeks, I've heard her pronounce:

Regime- rea jim ay- like resumè
economist- eeco nomist
Couch- like couch (sofa) except here, it's a street pronounced cooch

We should be getting smarter, yet we're getting dumber.

When someone pronounces a word incorrectly it's often because they have only read the word but never heard it. In that case it sounds like she doesn't listen to any broadcasts.

 

[Immigrant]

When someone pronounces a word incorrectly it's often because they have only read the word but never heard it. In that case it sounds like she doesn't listen to any broadcasts.

In other words, they hired a idiot because only an idiot wouldn't know how to pronounce economist.

And no, she not British.

 

[Xandrell]

You are, your, you're a ... never mind.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

The funny thing is, I am an excessively educated guy, but in first draft writing I still use the wrong forms. I guess it just shows the extent to which I think phonetically. I have to go back and edit everything.

The grammar point I see confusing people the most is the apostrophe. Online and in lots of student papers, people have no idea when to use it and when not to. It's really simpler than people think; it represents letters left out. That's it. Or rather, that IS it. I think what confuses people is the possessive form, like "John's dog." But that's because people used to say, "John, his dog," so the apostrophe shows that you're contracting "his."

Maybe another would be "whom." Some people use it just whenever, thinking it automatically sounds smarter to use it than not to. It doesn't. "Who" is for the subject of a verb, "whom" for the object. Who threw the ball? And to whom did he throw it? That's all.

The easy way to remember that one is to substitute he and him.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Interesting. I've never heard that explanation for the possessive use of the apostrophe. Where did you pick that up?

Anyway, the apostrophe thing gets a little messier when it comes to its vs. it's.

The apostrophe has two uses. One is the possessive, the other is contraction. The word that most confuses people is it or it's. It's always means it is or it has. Its is the possessive. Think of his or her. Those are his pants. That is her dinner. What is its point. It isn't messy at all It's not that hard.

 

[Marial]

Rather than stomp on other people's posts with grammar correction I thought I would post something helpful for TBers to refer to.

There, They're, Their - The Easiest Way To Learn How To Use These Words

Any others?

I find I'm often posting on my phone and that, coupled with my hands not being quite as quick as my brain, often leads to both dropped words and incorrect word choices. So it goes. I usually try to go back and correct things, but it doesn't always happen.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

The two that most upset me are the use of less when the word should be few. and myself when it should be my or me.

 

[hrodbert696]

It's not grammar exactly, but the phrase that's driving me nuts lately is "based off of that..." Based OFF of? What does that even mean? A base is what you put things ON. Then they are based ON that.

 

[Richland123]

This is another detail that seems to be lost in the new age: bring or take.

You TAKE it with you when you leave here. You BRING it with you when you come.

I will take it with me when I go from here . I will bring it with me when I come to your location.


How to Use Take With You and Bring With You: 5 Steps

I hear people say "I brung" it".

 

[Lobster11]

The apostrophe has two uses. One is the possessive, the other is contraction. The word that most confuses people is it or it's. It's always means it is or it has. Its is the possessive. Think of his or her. Those are his pants. That is her dinner. What is its point. It isn't messy at all It's not that hard.

Yeah yeah, I know the rule. I just described it as "messy" -- and very commonly confused -- because it's a rare exception in which the possessive form follows the rule of adding an s, but doesn't follow the rule of inserting an apostrophe before the s. I don't think "his" is a good analogy because it isn't a case of adding an s (sans apostrophe) to "hi" to make it plural, as you do to form "its" from "it." The plural "its" is a weird one, so it's easy to see why people so commonly screw it up.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Yeah yeah, I know the rule. I just described it as "messy" -- and very commonly confused -- because it's a rare exception in which the possessive form follows the rule of adding an s, but doesn't follow the rule of inserting an apostrophe before the s. I don't think "his" is a good analogy because it isn't a case of adding an s (sans apostrophe) to "hi" to make it plural, as you do to form "its" from "it." The plural "its" is a weird one, so it's easy to see why people so commonly screw it up.

That is probably the one I have to stop and thing about most. I wasn't objecting to nor criticizing your post, rather expanding on it.

 

[Richland123]

Here is one that people misuse often

Sit vs. Set

The easiest way to remember is to use "sit" for people or animals and "set" for things or objects.

Examples:

He is "sitting" in the chair.

The book is "setting" on the shelf.

The waiter "sat" down and "set" the dishes on the table.

 

[MonetBass]

OP: If you enjoyed that, check this out: Link Removed

IME people write incorrectly out of sheer laziness. (Yes, texting and Twitter are partially to blame.) Several times, after correcting someone, they justify it by saying "You know what I meant!". Sure, but if English is your first and primary language and you don't use it properly, what does that say about you?