Grammar that confuses you

[graemer]

What usage of grammar makes you stop and think "is that correct"?

(that's probably bad grammar)

I always have to stop and think about "Hone" and "Home (in)" and if the right one has been used.

Also has any one else noticed the growing trend for people to confuse"Lose" or "Loser" with "Loose" and "Looser"?

[Quizmonster]

In schoolchildren, 'lose' and 'loose' have been confused since time immemorial, so I don't see it as a "growing trend", Graeme. Similarly, any school essay will almost invariably have 'hoilday' for 'holiday', 'competion' for 'competition' and 'solider' for 'soldier'...to mention but a few. 'Twas ever thus and is likely to remain so.

Personally, I always think twice about the spelling of 'appalling'. Once, in schoolmastering days, I corrected a boy's work by telling him his spelling was 'Apalling', with but one 'p'! Never again.

[Guinevere]

I still have to think about where to put apostrophe s ('s) esp with plurals.  'Their', 'there' or 'they're', and 'your' or 'you're' seem to trip a lot of people up!

I was taught precious little grammar in school, so you can't really blame people who get it wrong.  The thing that really annoys me is people not using full stops (or any punctuation) or capital letters because it makes it really difficult to understand!

[graemer]

Hi QuizMonster. To tell you the truth I have only ever seen looser for loser on this site which made me think it was a growing trend. Your other examples seem to me to be more spelling mistakes, but I have seen "looser" from very literate people on this site.

Another example for my question is a really intelligent teacher friend of mine cannot decide between the use of "Wonder" and "Wander". She seriously cannot determine when to use which one.
p.s. I always have trouble with "occasion". have i spelt it right?

[smorodina]

'Lose' and 'loose' present an extra problem in the Maidstone area, as there is a village called 'Loose' which is pronounced the same as 'lose'. Even in my schooldays there was very little formal grammar taught at school, so most of my knowledge of the subject has come from private study. The almost universal incorrect use of the apostrophe (particularly in 'it's') now makes me doubt my own use, even when I know I'm right. I rather feel that grammar will lose out over usage with some of these.

[graemer]

Hi Guinevere. I agree that it's difficult for anyone these days who didn't have any emphasis on grammar and punctuation in their education. My bug is, I was a lazy student and only since leaving school have I tried to improve my correct use of the English language. Now I could no sooner describe a split infinite or any other amazing expression that say IndieSinger could use, but I think with a bit of application I could master "There" " they're" and "Their". Mind you as I said to QM I have teacher friend who can't distinguish between Wander and Wonder.

I guess I'm wandering does grammar matter these days as long as the message is there?

[ali_alic]

most of those examples are just incorrect word usage as opposed to grammatical errors.  Words that are often mixed up which set(s) my teeth on edge are :

Bold and bald

Bought and brought

Crotch and crutch

As for grammar - would love to know when and when not to use the word whom!!   Any advice Abers?

Alison

[graemer]

Hi smorodina, thanks, that's really interesting about Maidstone.

[Clanad]

For those of us to whom (notice the correct usage of "whom" after a preposition) grammar school is a distant memory, a little basic English review is needed. A nominative pronoun acts as a subject of a verb (Who ate the cake?) or as the subject of a linked verb (Did you see who ate the cake?). A direct object, on the other hand, is the object of a verb (Whom did you call?) or a preposition (He is the person to whom I placed the call).  

Tip: if you can replace a word with "he" or "she," then it is the subject of the sentence and you should use "who." If you can replace the word with "him" or "her," it is the object and you should use "whom."  (With belated thanks to American Heritage Book of English Usage).

I'm still awaiting a spell checker application that can distiguish between from and form...

[graemer]

To whom it may concern: please make that a seperate thread from ali. Thanks, graemer.

[Xollob]

I didn't get much English grammar at school, but learned a lot about English through the "back door" of Latin, French and German. I like to think I know how to use "whom", the problem is that certainly in spoken English it can sound outrageously pompous. I was in the UK recently with a German friend who used "whom" correctly in a sentence but just sounded ridiculous. 

[ck1]

how about 'definitely' vs 'definately', see a lot of people getting that one wrong!!

[secretspirit]

I love it when people say they'd like to "loose" weight. Where? Would they let it run around at home until it got tired or would it be set free within a town and be allowed to cause untold chaos? When I see words spelled or used wrongly it just clangs in my head; I think I must be a frustrated proof reader.

[silly moo]

The one both my daughters and myself hate is saying lend instead of borrow.
eg ' can I lend your pencil please'
the best answer is 'no, but you can borrow it if I lend it'

[natalie_1982]

I stopped reading the posts about half way down so if I am repeating something then sorry!

The ones that make me think "Oooh, is that right?" are:

inquiry - enquiry

effect - affect

relevent - relevant

cemetery - cemetary

[Xollob]

What really gets on my wick:
"Fred gave the book to Peter and I".
This is normally uttered by people who turn their noses up at "Fred and me went to the pub last night".

[greenday]

I dont no weather its just me but they're seams to be mutch confusion over this subject. ;>

[graemer]

Natalie_1982  good one yes I also have to stop and think about Affect/Effect.

[Bert]

There seems to be a bit of confusion here between common spelling mistakes - lose/loose, cemetary/cemetery - grammar - who/whom - and punctuation - it's/its. There are two sorts of spelling mistakes, one where a word does not exist, e.g. cemetary, and the other where two similar words exist, but are often confused, e.g. affect/effect, and lose/loose. May I point out Graemer's use of "seperate", one of my pet hates. I think it was Robert Robinson who said that the only advantage of a public school education was that you could spell "separate" when you left. I did not go to public school. Another mistake, far too common to be a simple typographical error (into which category "solider" and "hoilday" fall), is "flourescent". I think it is too late to learn the difference between "affect" and "effect" once you are past about 11 years of age. If you haven't got it straight by then, you'll always have a doubt in your mind.

[graemer]

Thanks Bert. I did point out in a separate answer that I was a bad student!

(Now I'm going to have to stop and think about that one too!)

[smorodina]

Graemer, there is a local story about the village of 'Loose', which may or may not be apocryphal, that the pronuncation (amazing how many people say that word incorrectly) was altered because the members of the 'Loose Women's Guild' were upset at the slur on their reputation.