As usual, Jen has outdone herself and come up with yet another wonderful topic for the Spin Cycle. I have to tell you, this one really got me fired up. Ok. Well that might be a bit of an exaggeration. But regardless it’s a great topic.
Not to offend anyone that may stop by to read this, but I have to throw this out here: one of my biggest peeves is misusing words in the English language. Not just the misspelling of them, but using the incorrect form. I hate nothing worse than reading something that has a great point, but in the process, I have to wade through error, after error, after &^%$# error. Chances are I’ve tuned you out and your point, no matter how great it was, is lost because I have trouble taking you seriously. Really, it’s sad that so few people correctly use the English language when writing. I catch teachers doing it on places like Myspace and Facebook. Social networking sites are not free from the critical eye of moi! And if you’ll make that mistake there, chances are you do it in the classroom too! How are we supposed to educate the youth of tomorrow if the teachers themselves can’t get it right? All that said, if you’re guilty and I still read your blogs, I love you anyway. So don’t take it personally, okay? This week was all about venting!
The list of the errors that bother me most, includes but is not limited to:
Your instead of you’re.
You’re is a shortened version of You Are. But I see it, ALL THE FREAKING time written as your. If, when you read the sentence back to yourself, you can say you are in it, then for the sake of not making yourself sound foolish, and uneducated change it. Please. I implore you!
Examples:
Your house is cute. That would be correct. It is possessive of the word you. It is something someone owns, or refers to the individual.
Your so lucky! Incorrect. It should read: You’re so lucky!
Moving on.
Using there instead of their, or vice versa; and having no idea when to use they’re. Confused much?
Again, here’s the easy way to remember this: There is a place. Their with the I, is the possessive, like your, above. They’re is the shortened (contracted) version of they are. Capiche?
Examples:
There house is pretty. Wrong! It should read: Their house is pretty. (possessive, got it?) I remember this because if it belongs to someone it is the form with the word I in it.
We are going to go ride over there. Correct! (There – is referring to a place).
There coming over. Incorrect! It should read: They’re coming over. Correct! Again if you can repeat it to yourself,and have it read, as they are, then you should use the contracted form or simply write, they are.
Brake instead of Break or vice versa.
Brake is a noun and means to stop.
Break is a verb (think back with me, verbs are often action words).
Examples:
I am going to brake this colt. Incorrect.
I am going to break this colt. Correct! As an aside, the term break isn’t used very often anymore in the horse business, and it’s not really in my vocabulary. I use the word, “start” when referring to colts, because that is what I am doing. I am going to teach him how to ride around, as opposed to the negative connotation of “breaking” him. I want to to work with him, not demand of him. You’re all probably confused. Sorry.
I am going to have my breaks worked on. No, you’re going to have your brakes worked on. And technically that’s incorrect too, because you shouldn’t end a sentence in a pronoun. Let’s try again:
I am going to have some work done on my brakes! We have a winner!
It’s when it should be Its.
It’s is the contracted version of it is, or it has; Its is the possessive form of it or belonging to it– meaning it is gender neutral.
Examples:
Its time to go. Incorrect. It’s time to go, would be correct. It is time to go! Read it with me now- IT IS time to go. It’s time to go! I think we might be making progress with this teenie word that is so misused!
That horse is in it’s own pasture. Incorrect. That horse is in its pasture. Because that pasture belongs to the horse.
I think that concludes this lesson for now. If only everyone else remembered what I do from third grade English, maybe I’d be less peeved!
To read more Pet Peeves, visit Sprite’s Keeper.
I love you.
My heart sings for this Spin!
I do occasionally have my own grammatical fouls, but I try to keep them limited to the feel of whatever post I’m writing. Grammatical errors seem to actually work well in funny or loose lined stories. When I am writing about something serious, I stay far away from intended slips. I didn’t major in English, but all my friends think I should since it drives me up the wall.
You’re linked!
I have to agree totally.
homophones!!
“A” is studying them in school (3rd grade) this week. We were going over putting them all in one sentence. It is actually quite fun!
You’re going to your house to feed two puppies, too. The bough bowed in the wind. The principal had principles. I’ll be in the aisle. She ate eight hamburgers. The sail is on sale. Where will you wear that? It seems that seam is not straight.
(btw- I have a diffucult time with ‘a lot.’ I tend to make it one word. )
It is amazing that anyone would ever read my blog. From what you wrote, it looks like I make a lot of mistakes. I am concertrating very hard to not make any here. Sorry, I drive you crazy.
I wonder what they teach in school these days. Certainly not much English. It’s bad enough to find examples of this type of thing on blogs and Facebook pages, but imagine my horror to find it in company newsletters at work. Titles of articles in the local newspaper. On bulletin boards, I ads in national magazines, Tis everywhere!