Thursday Thirteen #5: Thirteen common grammatical bugs and glitches

Wednesday, 13 February 2008 16:13

Thursday Thirteen #5: Thirteen common grammatical bugs and glitches

I had grammar and spelling taught to me in a way that isn’t, I think, often done now. I also read voraciously, and thus learned by osmosis. The other day, though, when an A-list blogger that I otherwise respect posted something spelled so terribly that I winced, I thought I’d round up some of the common mistakes and try to explain what to do about them.

It’s vs. its.
When used as possession, there is never an apostrophe in “its”. The only time those three little letters get split up by an apostrophe is when they are hiding another “i.” Behold:

Its nose was very long. (Possession. The nose belongs to “it.”)
Its view was endless. (Possession. The view belongs to “it.”)

It’s a sunny day. (There’s a missing “i” and so there’s an apostrophe.)
It’s pretty! (Ditto. Missing “i”, therefore apostrophe.)
Their and they’re.
Pretty much the same as above. Their is used in possession. They’re has a missing “a.”

Possession: Their aunties ate some apples.
Possession: Their noses grew longer by the minute.

Missing letter: They’re eating apples. (They are eating apples.)
Missing letter: They’re suffering from long nose syndrome. (They are suffering from long nose syndrome.)
Your and you’re
And again, just like above.

Possession: Your pretty eyes.
Possession: Your yellow dog.

Missing letter, in this case “a”:
You’re pretty. (NOT your pretty.)
You’re funny. (NOT your funny.)
Whose and who’s
Whose indicates possession.
Who’s indicates that there’s a missing “i.”

Possession:
I waved at the dog whose tail was wagging.
The dog whose tail was wagging bit me.

Missing “i.”
Who’s listening to this radio show? Can I change the station?
I’m going to the store. Who’s coming with me?
Per se
Lots of folk write “per say.” It’s wrong.
It means “by itself” or “as such.”
Lets and let’s.
Both are nouns. Both are used differently.

Lets: it means “to permit.”
He lets his son drive his car from time to time.
She lets her daughter ride her motorcycle from time to time.

Let’s: the apostrophe indicates a missing “u”, as in “let us.”
Let’s pray.
Let’s eat sushi!
Let’s all go to the emergency room with food poisoning.
Loose and lose
Loose is a noun or a verb. Lose is only ever a verb.

Verb:
I let loose the dog. It ran away.
If I let the dog run away, I will lose it. (NOT I will loose it.)

Adjective:
The dog got loose.
The collar was loose.
I’m at a loose end.
Horde and hoard.
A horde is a mob, a big group of, say, ravening monsters, hungry children or Huns.
A hoard is a stash of goodies. The dragon had a hoard. Big difference.
Affect and effect
Affect is a verb. Effect is a noun. The effect of something affecting you is…well, whatever.

The effect of eating too much food at Thanksgiving is a feeling of bloatedness.
The effect of hard work is success.
Doing that will have no effect.

I affect my mood with meditation.
I believe that our actions affect more than just ourselves.
I affect my environment by filling it with clutter.
Definitely and definately.
It’s definitely definitely and never definately.
Allright, all right and alright.
All right is right. None of the others are all right.
Alright is not all right. Alright is not all right, either.
Really!
Setup and set up
Setup is two words.
Plethora
There’s actually nothing wrong with the usage of this word except that you probably don’t know what it really means. It’s one of the most over-used words I see in the blogosphere. It’s used to indicate “lots of” but it comes directly from a medical term that means “an excess of body fluid.” Ewww! Its proper use is “overabundance/excess” and ever since I looked that up, it really makes me go squick every time I see it.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Subscription links

feed readers

If you liked this, you might also like these

26 Comments, Comment or Ping

Nicholas (5 comments.)

You’re right. These things should be instinctively known by about the age of ten.

Another word used often, and wrongly, is decimate. It doesn’t mean to destroy or devastate, it means to remove the tenth part of something. It comes from the same root as decimal.

Feb 13th, 2008
Joely (1 comments.)

Oh, yeah, these things bug me too. Happy TT!

Feb 13th, 2008
pussreboots (46 comments.)

Alright has been in use since the early 1900s. It may not be as proper as “all right” but I think it is here to stay.

I don’t think I’ve ever been guilty of using plethora in my blog, although with Harriet’s touchy stomach today, I’d have a valid reason to.

Happy TT.

Feb 13th, 2008
beautyredefined

Good list, but I have the ever so slightest quibble with #9. On rare occassion, effect can be a transitive verb as well - to bring about. I was able to effect a change.

Also, affect can also be a noun, when talking about mannerisms and things.

However, these are quite uncommon, and their misuse often bothers me. Most of the time, you can consider affect as the verb and effect as the noun.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_spelprob.html

http://web.ku.edu/~edit/affect.html

Feb 13th, 2008
Comedy Plus (1 comments.)

Yep, lots of folks have trouble with some of these. English 50 as I recall. Very well done. Have a great TT and Valentine’s Day. :)

Feb 13th, 2008
Susan Helene Gottfried (2 comments.)

One of my fictional characters has ranted about this sort of thing before. She’s a journalist. Me, I used to be a copy editor. It drives us both mad, needless to say.

Happy TT!

Feb 13th, 2008
SJ Reidhead (1 comments.)

You are starting to sound like my editor!

SJR
The Pink Flamingo

Feb 13th, 2008
Maribeth (1 comments.)

I always have my Strunk and White book handy.

Another word often misspelled is a lot (some like to think of it as alot).
Thanks for the info

Feb 13th, 2008
jehara (1 comments.)

these things bother me too. it really bothers me when people misspell lose to be loose. i really hate when people misspell things in general.
enjoyed the list. :)

Feb 13th, 2008
Sarai (1 comments.)

Very, very, very helpful to me. I have to go back to school to brush up on the grammar. My writing is suffering from it and my friends are tired of helping me out ;(
Have a good one!
Sarai
http://www.saraij.blogspot.com

Feb 14th, 2008
Robin (7 comments.)

Those types of errors drive me crazy too. I never learned grammar properly so I can’t tell you why many grammatical errors are wrong, but it’s like the politicians’ definition of porn - I know it when I see it LOL.

Feb 14th, 2008
Lynne (2 comments.)

This is an excellent list! I hope many will bookmark it.

Feb 14th, 2008
marcia v (2 comments.)

I am a grammar fan. :> have you read Eats ,Shoots, and Leaves

Feb 14th, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Nicholas: No kidding!

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Joely: happy TT to you, too!

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Pussreboots: Yeah, but at least it would be the right use of the word!

I really don’t like “alright.” It’s one of those words that sounds to me like fingernails down a chalkboard.

My problem. ;)

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Beautyredefined: True! (I didn’t know about the ‘affect’ noun, and true to the wyrd it showed up in another book I was reading shortly afterwards).

Still…I was talking about the common errors, not the uncommon. :)

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Comedy Plus: What is English 50?

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

SHG: Oh dear…double crazy-making! Danger, Will Robinson!

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

SJR: Heh. I do my best. ;)

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Maribeth: a lot, setup (when used as a verb)…there are a bunch. It makes me wince.

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Jehara: I had the opportunity to mock a spammer with their ‘loose’ vs. ‘lose’ the other day. ;)

See:
http://www.ravensrange.com/spammer-mockery/

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Sarai: Glad it’s helpful! I used to have a little notebook into which were copied some of these rules…our teacher dictated them to us and enforced them scrupulously. They sure stuck!

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Robin: Yes, I go on instinct a great deal, too. :)

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Lynne: Me too! Thank you and happy TT. :)

Feb 23rd, 2008
Linda R. Moore

Marcia: I haven’t read the book yet…I bought it for my Dad though, one time.

Feb 23rd, 2008

Raven’s Range
Blather around a virtual range