Ho Hum. Time for another Newbie grammar guide.

Imperator Severn · Post by **Imperator Severn** » Thu May 22, 2003 1:09 am

Not that it will help anyone else, but my therapist says this should do me a lot of good.

Using pointless abbreviatons

Some abbreviations are very useful in chat. It's a pian in the ass to type some things out. I would argue that "u" and "y" are pointless even then, but I suppose it's debatable. However, this is a forum, not a chat room. If you take a few extra seconds to write whole words, you won't annoy people with late responses.

You're and Your, They're, Their, and There, Where, wear, and ware, hear and here

You're and They're a contractions. They mean "you are" and "they are, respectively. You can use "you're" and "you are" interchangably, and so for "they're" and "they are."

RIGHT:

"You're [you are] taller than I am."
"They're [they are] getting drunk again."

WRONG

"You're [you are] pants are wet."
"They're [they are] hands are covered in chocolate."

Your and Their imply ownership. If something can be mine, it can be yours or theirs.

RIGHT

"Your [my] avatar is creepy."
"Their [my] shirts are green."

WRONG

"Your [my] wrong about that."
"Their [my] getting ready."

There, Here, and Where have to do with position. "Where is it? There it is! Here you go."

You wear clothes. You hear music. A ware is a product. You keep products in a warehouse.

Always capitalize the word "I." You look stupid if you don't. Trust me, i know.

Me and I

Most often, people are confused when referring to themselves and someone else.

WRONG
"Joey and me are going to go swimming in the mill pond."
"The weather is too cold for Joey and I to swim."

When in doubt, cut out the other person and conjugate the verb. If it sounds silly, you're using the wrong word. Using the examples above, I get these results:

"Me am going to go swimming in the mill pond."
"The weather is too cold for I to swim."

...to be continued.

SothThe69th · Post by **SothThe69th** » Thu May 22, 2003 1:11 am

Imperator Severn, being ironic, wrote: Always capitalize the word "I." You look stupid if you don't. Trust me, i know.

Imperator Severn · Post by **Imperator Severn** » Thu May 22, 2003 1:26 am

Yes, that was intentional.

Mandor · Post by **Mandor** » Thu May 22, 2003 7:59 am

Thanks, but I, for one, already knew all this.

daemon princess · Post by **daemon princess** » Thu May 22, 2003 8:06 am

loose (adj) loos·er, loos·est
1. Not fastened, restrained, or contained

lose (v) lost, (lôst, lst) los·ing, los·es
1. To rid oneself of
2. To fail to win

There is a difference, hard to believe though it may be.

Imperator Severn · Post by **Imperator Severn** » Thu May 22, 2003 1:03 pm

Thanks, but I, for one, already knew all this.

It's O.K. Your native language isn't English, so you probably try to write in a way that people understand you. Isn't that odd?

A word, on the overuse, of commas. Unless, there is a necessary pause, they serve no function, but to make, your post, harder to read. Do, not use them, to separate, every clause. It's annoying.

Its and It's

I know this is a bit weird, but these are the accepted rules. Deal with it.

Its expresses ownership, just like my and your. There is no apostrophe because the contraction it's [it is] also uses an apostrophe, and the words must be separated somehow.

RIGHT

I think it's going to snow.
Its fur was covered in ice, the poor thing.

WRONG

I threw the car into reverse on the highway, shredding it's transmission.
Its too late, the damage is done.

Plural words do not under any circumstances use apostrophes.

WRONG

Burrito's
Hour's
CD's
80's
baby's

RIGHT

TVs
Desperados
70s

[sense a pattern here?]

Of course, due to its German roots, English is not always so simple when it comes to plural words.

man --> men
moose --> moose
mouse --> mice
baby --> babies

Some words from Latin follow latin rules, and others did not become nouns until they were in English.

Nemesis --> Nemeses
Ignoramus is the "we" form of the verb "not to know." Therefore, it means literally "we do not know." However, it is used in English as a noun to classify a foolish person. Therefore, the plural follows standard English rules to become Ignoramuses, not Ignorami.

Romanes eunt domus?! The Romans they go house?!

Mandor · Post by **Mandor** » Thu May 22, 2003 1:16 pm

I was 9 a.m when I posted it, thats the reason why there was 2 extra comas in my sentence.

You should also add a chapter about the overuse of the point.
That.... definatly... something very annoying..........

Jezebel · Post by **Jezebel** » Thu May 22, 2003 1:19 pm

Don't like William Shatner type?

Skorpion · Post by **Skorpion** » Thu May 22, 2003 1:28 pm

WRONG
"Joey and me are going to go swimming in the mill pond."
"The weather is too cold for Joey and I to swim."

They make sense to me.

I threw the car into reverse on the highway, shredding it's transmission.

That also makes perfect sense.

Oh, wait, you speak American. English is a whole different language.

Imperator Severn · Post by **Imperator Severn** » Thu May 22, 2003 1:43 pm

I was 9 a.m when I posted it, thats the reason why there was 2 extra comas in my sentence.

Heh, I actually wasn't referring to you. Your commas were all perfectly grammatical, except maybe the middle one.

Skorpion: I'll bet you 10 million dollars that those sentences are bad grammar in England, too.

Skorpion · Post by **Skorpion** » Thu May 22, 2003 2:17 pm

I managed to write like that through 5 years of school, and nobody brought it up.

Wierd should be spelt weird, though. Wierd, huh?

Ashen · Post by **Ashen** » Thu May 22, 2003 2:28 pm

Another thing that bothers some people is writing alot instead of a lot (just like a little is not spelled alittle). But I spell it wrong about half the time, so I don't really care.

Regarding apostrophes:

I know someone has posted this before, but I still think it is funny.

Shanira · Post by **Shanira** » Thu May 22, 2003 2:47 pm

Also good to keep in mind: Never end a sentence using 'with', for example:

Bad - It was the only thing I had to defend myself with.
Good - It was the only thing with which I could defend myself.

Or at least, I recall that was a grammar rule. Or maybe it's just style. It makes you speak a lot less funnily though!

gravity · Post by **gravity** » Thu May 22, 2003 3:12 pm

Thanks for ever and ever, Severn!!!

Remember: you shouldn't refer to yourself in third person unless there is actually a reason!!!

Lith does it all the time because Lith refers to herself in thrid person in real life, and thinks the habit is slightly oddly her!

But, if you are writing a serious post, never refer to youself in third person, it's annoying!

And, for spelling:

to, too, and too are all different words.

their, they're, and there are also all different words.

And remember: .... sleep is good, and makes forum posts make more sense!!!!

document · Post by **document** » Thu May 22, 2003 3:18 pm

WRONG
"Joey and me are going to go swimming in the mill pond."
"The weather is too cold for Joey and I to swim."

My Dad (journalist / weatherman) taught me a trick in figuring out when to say "me" and when to say "I". The trick is to take the other person out of the sentence. Do this with the sentences up above and it comes out like this:

"Me am going to go swimming in the mill pond."
"The weather is too cold for I to swim."

Obviously, looking at it you would switch me with I, and I with me.

"I am going to go swimming in the mill pond." -> "Joey and I are going to go swimming in the mill pond."
"The weather is too cold for me to swim." -> "The weather is too cold for Joey and me to swim."

Isn't that a neat little trick?

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Ho Hum. Time for another Newbie grammar guide.

Ho Hum. Time for another Newbie grammar guide.

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