English Mistakes

OK, here are a few mistakes that you should not make.

(2) "is" and "are"-Please take care when using these words. Do not mix them up. The word "is" is a singular word, and the word "are" is a plural word. Example: She is going to the mall. They are going to the mall. An exception to this is the word "you"Example: You are very nice.

(3) "alot" Although you will find many English speakers using this term, it is incorrect. A lot is a piece of property, and should not be used to describe the quantity of something. The correct terms to be used are words such as "much" and "many".

Thank you for reading.

-Lizz

Wow, what a classist, pretentious place you must live – and how dull!

For us poor, ignoramus saps, could you tell us what, exactly, is 'Proper English', by the way?  I've studied Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, Scottish English, African American Vernacular English, Cockney English, Jamaican English, British English, etc… where do they speak "Proper English"?

I do not need to waste my time arguing with you. This post was meant to help people not to allow you to piss and moan about nothing. Please do your bitching else where.

Note to others:Please excuse my poor language

By the way, if you're going to be prescriptivist, be more careful with your grammar!

1. "Ignoramus" starts with a vowel, and therefore the proper indefinite article to precede it is "an", not "a".

2.  "Heed" as a verb takes a direct object, and does not use the preoposition 'to'.  You should have written "they will heed your advice."  You only need 'to' when you use the nominal form of heed – ie, "pay heed to"

3.  The proper word to use in the place of "ain't" actually depends on the person and number of the subject – it MAY be aren't, but it's just as likely to be "am not" or "isn't."

etc.  But hyuk, I sure am an ignoramus!

Ok…whatever. I give in. Are you happy now?

I mean, I actually think the idea behind this post is a really good one and reflects well on your character.

Pretentiously calling people who use "ain't" ignoramuses does not, and implies the inferiority of whole dialects of the English language and the people who use it.

I already said that I give in. Can you please just stop.

Dear Lizz,You have a point there.I quite agree with you.I always try to use English as formal as possible.

I ain't got a lot of problems with people who use only formal English… but it's actually going to make you sound more 'fresh off the boat' than not, often.  At my university, for instance, it's always the people who learned English as a foreign language (and learned it really well) who meticulously avoid placing a preposition at the end of a clause, even if the result sounds absolutely ridiculous.

For the record, all of Lizz's points DO stand if you're in a formal setting, because such boring, stuffy places tend to squash all forms of local variation and beautiful vulgar speech in favor of elitist standards. 

On the subject, here is another to avoid:

Mistaking they're, their, and there.   The first is a contraction of the verbal form 'they are'.  The second is a possessive adjective.  The third indicates a place.  As in, "There, they're making mistakes in their English."

I think for most of english learners, they rarely use those slang, but it's good to learning the meaning of them, coz many native speaker use it.  I think slang is a kind of culture.

"I understand that, and I agree that your point #2 is a very good one and a mistake that I've noticed a lot of people making."

"I mean, I actually think the idea behind this post is a really good one and reflects well on your character."

I've indicated that I think her topic is a good one.  What makes you think I don't have any interest in teaching?  Because I don't believe in the homogenization of English on message boards and in common speech?  I do believe in teaching, I believe that teaching is very important.  I just don't appreciate her denigration of dialects or her advocation of prescriptivism over popular usage.

Where the hell do you see me trying to bring up my education?  I was simply pointing out that if you're going to call other people ignoramuses (I'll point out that she hauled out the insults first), you had best make sure that you aren't making any errors yourself.

I agree with you.  Liz has a good heart – anybody who wants to teach others does, I believe.  I just don't think her bigoted dismissal of eg. African American Vernacular English and various southern dialects as belonging to ignoramuses demonstrates that good heart very well.