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This is not a Hall of Shame thread.  Please do not copy posts with people's names.

This is a condensed thread to teach specific lessons to those who want to learn correct grammar and spelling.
We have many members whose mother tongue is not English.

Please title your post if you choose to add a lesson.  A font size of 12 pt in capitals will make that post easy to find.  The lesson posts will also be referenced in the wiki.

LESSONS

1.   there / their / they're
2.   a vs. an
3.   went vs. have gone
4.   It's vs. Its
5.   Affect vs. Effect
6.   Capital vs. Capitol
7.   Much vs. Many
8.   We're vs. Were
9.   Your vs. You're
10. Definitely vs. Defiantly
11. Manner vs. Manor
12. Exasperate vs. Exacerbate
13. Gorilla vs. Guerilla
14. Idle / Idol / Idyll
15. Precede vs. Proceed
16. Rouge vs. Rogue
17. Independence vs. Indpendents
18. Ordinance vs. Ordnance
19. Weather vs. Whether

  • Commas go before the space, like this, not like ,this.
  • Commas/periods go after the close parenthesis (like this), not before (like this.)   (Unless the entire sentence is enclosed.)
  • All punctuation goes inside the quotation, like "this." not like "this".

« Last edited by SSLPhD on September 24, 2024, 03:32:05 PM »

Author Topic: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101  (Read 68787 times)

Offline srap

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Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« on: January 08, 2016, 05:15:05 AM »
This is not a Hall of Shame thread.  Please do not copy posts with people's names.

This is a condensed thread to teach specific lessons to those who want to learn correct grammar and spelling.
We have many members whose mother tongue is not English.

Please title your post if you choose to add a lesson.  A font size of 12 pt in capitals will make that post easy to find.  The lesson posts will also be referenced in the wiki.

THERE / THEIR / THEY'RE

1. there - not here, but over there (It is easy to remember the spelling since 'there' has 'here' in it.)

2. their -  it belongs to them

3. they're - contraction of 'they are'  (It is easy to remember the spelling since the apostrophe replaces the missing 'a' in are.)

Examples: 
Correct:  They're picking up their luggage over there.

 Incorrect:  "They finally have a place to go to see there name or there having fun." [Liberty taken to change some key words for anonymity]
Correct:    "They finally have a place to go to see there their name or there they're having fun."

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2016, 10:01:36 AM »
This is not a Hall of Shame thread.  Please do not copy posts with people's names.

This is a condensed thread to teach specific lessons to those who want to learn correct grammar and spelling.
We have many members whose mother tongue is not English.

Please title your post if you choose to add a lesson.  A font size of 12 pt in capitals will make that post easy to find.  The lesson posts will also be referenced in the wiki.

THERE / THEIR / THEY'RE

1. there - not here, but over there (It is easy to remember the spelling since 'there' has 'here' in it.)

2. their -  it belongs to them

3. they're - contraction of 'they are'  (It is easy to remember the spelling since the apostrophe replaces the missing 'a' in are.)

Examples: 
Correct:  They're picking up their luggage over there.

 Incorrect:  "They finally have a place to go to see there name or there having fun." [Liberty taken to change some key words for anonymity]
Correct:    "They finally have a place to go to see there their name or there they're having fun."
unless you are using voice recognition. Then they're interchangeable.
Feelings don't care about your facts

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2016, 09:16:44 PM »
unless you are using voice recognition. Then they're interchangeable.
unless you reread your post before submitting it (how common is that?)
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Offline Am

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2016, 10:04:50 PM »
If the first letter of the next word is a vowel then you say/write "an" otherwise it's "a"

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2016, 10:05:37 PM »
Commas go before the space, like this, not like ,this
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline Iz

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2016, 10:11:54 PM »
Cool thread!
Here's my lesson:
Punctuation belongs immediately after the words; there should not be a space before it.

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2016, 10:30:53 PM »
Commas go before the space, like this, not like ,this

Cool thread!
Here's my lesson:
Punctuation belongs immediately after the words; there should not be a space before it.
Many times this happens due to a mobile keyboard automatically adding a space after each word. Swiftkey used to do that. I am not sure if it still does.
Feelings don't care about your facts

Offline srap

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2016, 01:08:26 AM »
Many times this happens due to a mobile keyboard automatically adding a space after each word. Swiftkey used to do that. I am not sure if it still does.
+1.  I just backspace to erase the space.

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2016, 01:11:58 AM »
The correct word is ANYWAY. There is no word 'anyways'.
'I need to go daven mincha now anyway, so I'll meet you in shul.'


(Thanks for this thread.- I really needed to say that. ^)
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Offline Iz

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2016, 01:21:33 AM »
The correct word is ANYWAY. There is no word 'anyways'.
'I need to go daven mincha now anyway, so I'll meet you in shul.'
Don't forget this one: 'I need to go daven mincha now any way, so I'll meet you in shul.'

Offline srap

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2016, 01:25:00 AM »
If the first letter of the next word is a vowel or a voiceless 'h' then you say/write "an" otherwise it's "a".
FTFY.

A vs. AN

Always use 'a' except if the next word
1. starts with a vowel or
2. starts with an 'h' that is not pronounced (IOW, it's as if the word is starting with a vowel)

This means that 'a' horse/historian/hotel is what we say in the US, but some English would use 'an' (h)orse/(h)istorian/(h)otel.
The English say 'a' herb where Americans say 'an' (h)erb.

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2016, 01:28:44 AM »
Don't forget this one: 'I need to go daven mincha now any way, so I'll meet you in shul.'
The correct word is ANYWAY. There is no word 'anyways'.
'I need to go daven mincha now anyway, so I'll meet you in shul.'


(Thanks for this thread.- I really needed to say that. ^)
:)   
How these mistakes grate me...
So happy to see there are a few of us who care to maintain well English.  :o (I couldn't resist.  Sorry)  :)

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2016, 02:27:01 AM »
Do you say I went to the store or I've gone to the store and when is it one over the other ?
Quote
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Offline srap

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2016, 03:51:31 AM »
WENT vs. HAVE GONE

Do you say I went to the store or I've gone to the store and when is it one over the other ?
Two different meanings.
'I went to the store' means 'one particular time in the past, I went to the store.'
'I've gone to the store'  means 'at some point in the past (not really important when), I went to the store.

GIYF: More info here

 
'I went.'         = I went.  I did that one thing at a specified time (last week / 3:00 / in the morning / etc).  Done.  Finished.  Simple.
                         The going part was what was important.
'I have gone' =  One of the things I did...within a period of time...
                          The fact that I went isn't specifically the important part.  The words that come next carry the important message.

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2016, 10:22:44 AM »
Don't forget this one: 'I need to go daven mincha now any way, so I'll meet you in shul.'
with a hat? without? with a siddur? from your smartphone?
There are many ways to daven Mincha...
:)
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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2016, 10:31:23 AM »
One of my pet peeves:

Don't say "I should have went" or "should have came".

It's "should have gone" or "should have come".

@srap maybe you can quantify this
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2016, 10:32:04 AM »
.
I like vanilla but my name is Venilla.

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #17 on: January 12, 2016, 10:40:10 AM »
One of my pet peeves:

Don't say "I should have went" or "should have came".

It's "should have gone" or "should have come".
At least he didn't say "I should of went". ???

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #18 on: January 12, 2016, 11:17:04 AM »
At least he didn't say "I should of went". ???
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

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Re: Grammar and Spelling Lessons 101
« Reply #19 on: January 12, 2016, 11:53:02 AM »
At least he didn't say "I should of went". ???
Oyyyy.  Cringing......

One of my pet peeves:

Don't say "I should have went" or "should have came".

It's "should have gone" or "should have come".

@srap maybe you can quantify this
Thanks for the challenge  >:(   Working on it... >:(