Common grammar mistakes that get on your nerves?

PiE

Most grammatical mistakes are forgivable.

"The car is parked in are garage" however, is not.

pickarooney

incisor71 wrote:

The reason for using whom in my first example is because the subject (subjective case) is "I" and the direct object (i.e., accusative case) is "my great-grandfather", thus necessitating the usage of the direct object pronoun whom in the second clause of the sentence.

The second clause in the second example you cite utilises the indirect object (dative case) to whom in the second clause of the sentence. One of the functions of the dative case is to encapsulate the preposition to, thus giving rise to the need for to whom. That's something we're more accustomed to hearing than its accusative companion whom.

Well, if you're going to start encapsulating stuff, I have to concede

CuLT

Loose/Lose is mine; I thought I was going nuts for a few months after being continuously exposed to the misspelling by teachers in secondary school.

I really just can't get over American butchering of the language though, it really is a crime to have a dictionary with "neighbor", etc.

banquo

It's apostrophes for me.

I saw this on a wall in Finglas one day: "Barry is a rape'est".

incisor71

banquo wrote:

It's apostrophes for me.

On a quick visit to Cork city last Saturday, I noticed that a sign had been put up adjacent to footpath repairs near the Cork Deaf Centre on MacCurtain St.:

All business's
business as usual

TailFeather

Macros42 wrote:

One that's snuck in in England a lot (at least any English I speak to and on English TV progs) is "I was sat down". That really pi$$es me off.

SNEAKED!! That drives me insane!!

pickarooney

Why does it drive you insane? It's not as though it's grammatically wrong or anything.

Shabadu

"I amn't fond of grammatical errors."

^ This is quite common in Ireland. "I'm not" people. Learn it. Please.

PunyHuman

@ shabadu

I believe that "I amn't" is perfectly acceptable grammar, because it just as obviously means "I am not" as "I'm not" does; it's just a different vowel that's replaced.

It's Hiberno-English, dude.

Tar.Aldarion

I hate 'alot'.

In that poll I hate the mix up of you're and your the most.

Alun

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

I hate 'alot'.

In that pole I hate the mix up of you're and your the most.

It's almost as bad as people who mix up 'pole' and 'poll'

Alun

I dislike the increasingly common use of 'amount of' where 'number of' should be used instead.

Tar.Aldarion

Alun wrote:

It's almost as bad as people who mix up 'pole' and 'poll'

For the second time today I will say; I need to lay off the coffee.

PunyHuman

Now that I think about it, I have another one. Apologies if it's been posted before.

=> Using 'less' when the correct word is 'fewer'. The former is used to refer to amounts, and the latter to numbers.

This egregious error crops up mainly in supermarkets - the black hole of grammar - viz. 'Ten items or less'.

Marks and Spencer use the right word though. Unsurprisingly.

Shabadu

PunyHuman wrote:

Now that I think about it, I have another one. Apologies if it's been posted before.

=> Using 'less' when the correct word is 'fewer'. The former is used to refer to amounts, and the latter to numbers.

This egregious error crops up mainly in supermarkets - the black hole of grammar - viz. 'Ten items or less'.

Marks and Spencer use the right word though. Unsurprisingly.

Eh, I bet you *didn't* discover that when you googled "I amn't grammatically incorrect"* and clicked on the 2nd link from the BBC website§ and found the reference to I amn't- which coincidentally was contained in the comment from a man who referenced Marks & Spencers being the only retailer using the grammatically correct "10 items or fewer".

You, my friend, are PWNED. :v:

Screen shot of pure pwnage.



*ahem

§ cough

steveland?

Should of...

Would of...

If I read that one more time I'm going to punch my computer screen...

garthv

Shabadu wrote:

Eh, I bet you *didn't* discover that when you googled "I amn't grammatically incorrect"* and clicked on the 2nd link from the BBC website§ and found the reference to I amn't- which coincidentally was contained in the comment from a man who referenced Marks & Spencers being the only retailer using the grammatically correct "10 items or fewer".

You, my friend, are PWNED. :v:

She's right you know

PunyHuman

GaRtH_V wrote:

She's right you know

No, she isn't. I am right; always have been

Shabadu wrote:

Eh, I bet you *didn't* discover that when you...

I actually didn't, which is a pretty strange coincidence.

I noticed the less/fewer thing, with satisfaction, in M&S when I was doing my Christmas shopping.

Whyever would I google "I amn't gramatically correct"? The term I googled to get more info was "less/fewer" which brought me here.

Funny that.

I will only accept craven apologies on scented notepaper, damp with tears of sorrow.

Dizzyblabla

simu wrote:

"I done it" - really annoys me.

I think it's more of a Cork thing than anything else, but it drives me nuts too!

Shabadu

Denial only compounds your pwnage, PunyHuman; you must repent and make restitution!

FlutterinBantam

My God .... read thru the whole lot and no mention of my favourite...beloved of John Creedon and all inhabitants of Munster....

LEFT.... "The doorman left me in"

He LET you in, you barneuk... he should have left you outside

Aaaaaaaaaaargh

FlutterinBantam

Praetorian wrote:

You are breaking one of the rules of the forum. Do it again and you will feel my wrath.

A tad harsh Mr Mod.... If some geezer starts a "grammar" thread ..he/she should get it right....

I'm with the smartass dude:D

vektarman

Somebody waiting 'on' a bus instead of 'for' a bus, e.g. 'I'm waiting on a bus'.
What exactly are they doing, are they sitting on the roof of a bus?

Seen in a fishing tackle shop in Celbridge: 'live bate sold here'.

Ed D.

"I feel badly about..." All over the place in the States the last several years. Your fingertips look fine and you feel bad. May not sound as smart, but happens to be correct.