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Oh I totally agreeI wasn't trying to be a thread killer or debate starter, just thinking outloud about being mindful
Bath I did alot too... I also did thankyou quite a lot due to laziness even though it is in the dictionary it really annoys a few of my close friends. I have noticed though that hyphenated words are becoming redundant.
English was always my favourite subject at school. It was also one of my best subjects. Sadly I can hardly remember any of the rules taught to meIt does help having kids at school though as I am now learning it all again
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Another one that I notice lots of people on FB etc (and sometimes even news articles etc that should know better!) seem unsure of, is 'could/would/should OF'. It's actually could/should/would HAVE - I know when it's spoken out loud it sounds like 'should of', but I think what people mean in that example is actually 'should've', the abbreviation of 'should have'
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That is one of my biggest bug bears. Drives me bonkers!
Another one that I notice lots of people on FB etc (and sometimes even news articles etc that should know better!) seem unsure of, is 'could/would/should OF'. It's actually could/should/would HAVE - I know when it's spoken out loud it sounds like 'should of', but I think what people mean in that example is actually 'should've', the abbreviation of 'should have'
But the biggest has to be the apostrophe that doesn't belong. For some reason if an apostrophe is missing from where it should be it's far less annoying to me than when one is jammed in where it has no right to be there.
Abbreviations - give it an apostrophe.
Ownership - give it an apostrophe. Except its.
Plurals - don't you dare give it an apostrophe unless you want to see my brain explode!
Sorry for no examples - it's late, I'm medicated and will likely do something silly if I try.
But if you want to see me have an even bigger brain explosion, we can start discussing how you pronounce the name of the letter z - it made teaching algebra a nightmare!
BW
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THIS is my number 1 pet hate of all time. Have you noticed that a lot of signs in stores always have it wrong? No wonder people think it's right. For example in Target, Kmart and Big W the sign for CDs and DVDs are always spelt CD's/DVD's.
BellyBelly Life Subscriber
So it's alright to say I've seen? I hope so, because I use it all the time!
You mean "your" and "you're" - neither are proper nouns ;p
The ones that tick me off:
"I seen" - no, you didn't "seen" you "saw". If you are talking about something that happened in the distant past then you "have seen".
and the other classic:
"Them ones" - uh, no, you mean "those" ones or maybe "these" ones?
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I think there might actually be a rule that an apostrophe is fine to pluralise an acronym. I remember a discussion on another forum in my dim and distant past that it's acceptable to use an apostrophe when turning an acronym into a plural, but it is not essential. I personally wouldn't, but I think it's ok to do so.
Moderator
Yeah, apostrophes are ok when indicating plurals of an abbreviation such as CD's or to indicate plurals of a letter as in "there are lots of i's in invisibility" and also for numbers ie 2's and 3's. Some people prefer not to use an apostrophe but either option is ok.
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Hmm, not sure about that. I'll have a look online to see if I can find a rule saying that it's okay, but my English grammar books say this is wrong
As for the letters (i's) the ' is used for clarity so people don't think you mean "is".
STILL, I find a huge amount of people get the 's wrong - using it for plural.
Lol, I should have just kept it simple.
Last edited by Kaydee; December 6th, 2010 at 10:40 PM.
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I always thought the plural rule was the apostrophe after - eg the storms' impact (although the storms impacts would be better, unless there was only one impact from multiple storms)
You know, didn't we have a previous thread entitled "Does the butcher's apostrophe feel pain?" which has gone into the great unknown?
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
ok - licence and license. I'm not sure if I ever get those right.....
Nothing like a cuddle from DD after a hard day's work!
How about when to use "<name> and I" as opposed to "me and <name>"?
I always get those mixed up.
Moderator
The storm's impact has an apostrophe because it's possessive. The impact belongs to the storm. If there were multiple storms that caused an impact the apostrophe comes after the last 's'. The storms' impact.
If a word ends in 's' the apostrophe is after ie James' car.
Lulu, it depends if you're English or American. In Australia I have a driver's licence but my computer is American so it gives me that disapproving red line
Drop the other name and see if it sounds right ie "James and me went to the footy". Would "Me went to the footy" be ok?
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That's a good tip!
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
I have to ingore that stupid line more often Onyx.
Practice and Practise......now aren't they two different things?
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No, that's just the American fondness for S's (excpet when they should be there and they use a Z instead).
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
I thought there was a difference. Tennis Practise or a Doctors Practice? Feel me?
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i thought it was practice with a c if it was a thing like a doctor's practice
and practise with an s if it was a doing word (verb?) i went to practise my tennis
BellyBelly Life Subscriber
I hear this a lot! But I disagree. It is actually one of the easiest languages to learn. I'm not saying it's easy (quite the opposite!) but it is easier to learn than a lot of other languages. There are just about double the amount of grammar rules in some European languages (and even more in Asian languages). The grammar changes depending on whether you are talking about a male/female/neuter object (yep, everything has a gender. Table - male, cloth - neuter etc) and then changes again depending on what person you are talking to (formal and informal language use a completely different grammar). Also, when it comes to the 'possessive' rules, there are four different types of possession in the German language! Now THAT's confusing!
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