Grammer - puncturation - riting. Disgusting...

NEoldiron

Florin, I'm with you totally on this one:-
Could have/could've switched to 'could of' and would have/would've switched to 'would of'.

The other one is there/their/they're. An easy way to remember is a little sentence or two.
"There they are. They're sitting in their car over there."

SuzanneClaret

;weep

I find grammar very confusing, to me it is not obvious.

SuzanneClaret

I don't even know if that comer is in the right place.

MrsGrey

FlorinRaduclious said:

MrsGrey - I'm guessing your first is the interrobang‽

semi-colon ;wahoo

grey_til_I_dye

NE

There is no 'easy way' to remember anything that suits everyone. I taught special needs literacy and was a SENCo, so I know of what I speak.

If it was just a question of telling people the rule, pretty much no one would ever make a mistake since we have highly qualified primary teachers who do a great job.

The confusion of 'literacy' with 'good at spelling and punctuation' causes untold problems, not least in education policy and target setting.

Suze, I suspect that your grammar is fine, and it is bits of spelling and punctuation that throw you.

Being good at spelling and punctuation is a talent, like being good at physics, or playing a musical instrument, is a talent.

It's not a good thing or a bad thing, just a thing.

FlorinRaduclious

...and those who do not use the oxford comma should be shot.

MrsGrey

NEoldiron said:

The other one is there/their/they're. An easy way to remember is a little sentence or two.
"There they are. They're sitting in their car over there."

Yeah, but for someone who knows there's a difference but still gets them muddled up, that really isn't going to help. ;lol

--

In my own experience, they're is usually OK. It's the other 2 that cause most problems. Just like two/to/too, where the first is seldom misused but the other two are - which brings us back to where we started and Trump's poster.

#circle

MrsGrey

FlorinRaduclious said:

...and those who do not use the oxford comma should be shot.

;nonono

;whome

The Oxford comma is an abomination.

thornburyiron

Mr G yes I was joking because of the rules we have on here. I could imagine people gnashing their teeth but unable to correct posts and lo and behold up pops Florin who admits to it. ;biggrin

grey_til_I_dye

thorn

;ok

FlorinRaduclious

MrsGrey - we've fallen out.

Grey - I agree that it is a talent that some have and others do not, for example I would never chastise those who are dyslexic - it is simply not their fault - however, some people could get things right if they bothered. I think it's more the laziness of the able that gets me. I'm probably just a grumpy old man though ;lol

thornburyiron

The rules of the forum stop me getting irritated at bad grammar, spelling or punctuation on here as it's accepted as it should be. However official letters or emails is a different matter.
I'm irritated more by predictive text because a failing of mine is to not always read what I've written on here before posting in a rush to sometimes post. The result being either something approaching garbage or the complete opposite of what I'd intended to say.

FlorinRaduclious

Thorn - There is something about writing, particularly online, which seems to change one's meanings on the journey from mind to page. For example the inability to obviously signify sarcasm (my most popular of joking strategies in day to day life) has caused me problems in the past. Even after reading it myself, it seems to transcribe correctly - the difference I later realise is that I instinctively put the emphasis in the right places because I know it's there. I really do wish there was a universally accepted way of writing that made it obvious when one was being sarcastic.

MrsGrey

FlorinRaduclious said:

MrsGrey - we've fallen out.

;weep

(Actually, while I am against the Oxford comma in principle, it sometimes is useful if a sentence is ambiguous. Although the ambiguity can in many cases be cleared up by the deployment of one of our other splendid punctuation marks. Or having a syntax rejig ;nolan )

grey_til_I_dye

Florin

some people could get things right if they bothered

As someone who professionally tried to bother people to do it for 14 years, trust me, it ain't that simple.

TheMadcapLaughs

I have never heard of an interrobang, or have I seen the symbol you printed after it. I thought my eyes had malfunctioned. After closer inspection, a quick wipe of my glasses, and the inevitable "google" I discover that an interrobang is a short hand symbol for what Phil Dunphy would describe as a "Why The Face".

SuzanneClaret

Grey ;ok

I was taught to read and write back when Havering Education Authority thought phonetics were a great idea, so I learnt to write words down by how they sounded.

Before I could be 'weaned off' this we moved to a different borough who taught kids how to read and write by a more traditional method and I was dumped into a remedial class because they though I was thick.

Even now, many decades later I do not recognise when a word is spelled incorrectly. I still struggle with where / were to use there / their.

FlorinRaduclious

Grey - What would you say is the reason then? As stated, I understand those who simply are inable, but those who can and don't are who irritate me. I have never worked in the teaching field so am interested in the views that side of the fence.

FlorinRaduclious

Suz - didn't see your comment until after I posted. I've never thought about how teaching techniques have changed over the years. What was acceptable in one era or area, less so in another, fair points ;ok

TheMadcapLaughs

Suze. Janet and John and ITA?! A whole new and different language. I blame this alien language for the strange way my brain works at times. I think children from this period are wired differently. Look at LGH......................

I T A ;puzzled

TheMadcapLaughs

http://oldladybirdbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/ladybird-books-in-ita.html

!?

SuzanneClaret

;ok Florin

My mum still has two of the story books I had as a 5 year old. I have tried to Google them but even the internet goes ;whome

SuzanneClaret

TheMadcapLaughs said:

http://oldladybirdbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/ladybird-books-in-ita.html

!?

This is them ;doh

FlorinRaduclious

Madcap, yeah the symbol looks a bit silly, but as far as I am aware it is also the term used for putting the separate marks together either '?!' or '!?'. Although it is a relatively modern term, I am unsure if it would be allowed / approved in schools - Greys?

upos

To save others, who (like me) do not know what an Oxford Comma is, having to look it up:

an Oxford Comma is the final comma in a list of things.

For example; "Please bring me a pencil, eraser, and notebook."

Does this make it clear? I hope it does!

SuzanneClaret

Ironduke

Ah, this a subjcct I could write about all day, but I`ll spare you that

Firstly I believe the advent of texts , sms etc are responsible for a fall in standards, with use of codes, abbrevs etc

The English is a most complex subject, with more words than any other known language

There is no legal rules about its writing or creation, just accepted standards
anyone can make up a word and put into circulation....words just come from things around us or in someones imagination, and if adopted appear in the Oxford

I used to get annoyed by my children for writing yeah instead of yes, spelling proper nouns with lower case

some people get annoyed by the misuse of the apostrophe, ie its Bishops` Stortford, not Bishop`s

another matter is pronounciation is it pergola or per gola, ssubtle or suttle

what is a silent "H"?

MrsGrey

Florin, it's a non-standard punctuation mark, so no, not recognised in 'standard English' writing. (Which is the form most widely thought of as the officially correct form of written English, and what is taught/required in schools).

TheMadcapLaughs

If you click the above link it`s like a medieval script. Being taught how to read and write using the above makes me wonder how I ever got anywhere in life. I have tried to describe this to my wife (5 years younger) and my kids and they think I am making it up or had maybe too much vodka over the years. I couldn`t remember what the system was called until about ten minutes ago. It`s bonkers. On saying that the sixties and seventies are still the best two decades in the whole of human history. ;cool

SuzanneClaret

Nah, that was the 80s mate ;biggrin