Common Grammatical Errors

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Shiesty23
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Post by Shiesty23 »

Forgot to put this in my other post... :? :roll: :| :(

These two words I myself get mixed up: :? :| :x

<center>Assume or Presume? </center>

Assume has a variety of meanings. It basically means "to take up or on oneself," "to suppose or take for granted," "to pretend," or "to be taken up." The noun form is assumption.


Presume is related to and similar to assume, but it has the sense of doing it beforehand. It means "to dare or venture without prior knowledge," "to assume as believable without direct proof," "to take as a premise, subject to further proof," or "to behave arrogantly or overconfidently." The noun form is presumption.

A presumption is often taken up or assumed to be true until proven otherwise, as presumed innocent. Sometimes it has the sense of behaving in a superior manner, as in to presume upon someone. Presumption often has the sense of blind overconfidence, or going beyond the limits of proper manners. Presumptive means "based on reasonable grounds of evidence" as in presumptive heir. Presumptuous means "unusually confident or bold, often arrogant," or "foolhardy."


To assume suggest taking by one's own will or power for good or evil, right or wrong. If he assumes a position that is not rightfully his, he has arrogated or usurped it. A person can assume office either lawfully or unlawfully. When a debater assumes something, he or she may take it for granted without explaining it. If a person takes to himself character traits or a position he does not posses, he pretends to or affects the character he is assuming. A smooth talker often assumes something to be true that would be challenged if directly stated. When people claim something, they assert that they have a right to it. When they assume it, they take it.

The adjective assumed means "taken for granted" or "fictitious." When used as an adjective, assuming means "arrogant," its opposite, unassuming is more common. Something that is assumable is something that can be taken, as an assumable loan.
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KatnotKath
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Post by KatnotKath »

This might just be me, but I know another I always have to think about before writing is affect or effect.

Taken from the dictionary:

affect - to influence or change something

eg. His proximity could not fail to affect Liz, after so long...

effect - a condition caused by something

eg. (I hope). The effect his words had on her was amazing, causing her cheeks to flush in embaresment.

I'm just desperately hoping now that I haven't completely made a fool of myself... :?
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Breathless
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Post by Breathless »

KatnotKath wrote:I'm just desperately hoping now that I haven't completely made a fool of myself... :?
Oh, no, don't feel foolish! I have that same problem! Affect and effect always make me have to stop and think.

I try to overlook grammatical errors (and typos!) if the story is good and it captivates my interest. God knows, I've made my share of mistakes, and none of us are pros here.
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Kath7
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Post by Kath7 »

Angel wrote:Well spank my ass and call me Charlie. I've been using Granolith and Khivar for years. Does this mean I have to go back and change them all? Man, I can't even manage to get a new part out in a timely manner let alone do that. lol
I won't be doing that either. Maybe I'll change my ways, but I really don't feel that granolith and Kivar are on the same level as Isabel. They just aren't. Isabel's name is EVERYWHERE. Those other two, not so much. Maybe it's hypocritical, but there you go. lol
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maxandliz4ever1357
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Post by maxandliz4ever1357 »

I won't be doing that either. Maybe I'll change my ways, but I really don't feel that granolith and Kivar are on the same level as Isabel. They just aren't. Isabel's name is EVERYWHERE. Those other two, not so much. Maybe it's hypocritical, but there you go. lol
I agree. Isabel is a common name, and we're all used to it being spelled 'Isabel'. When is comes to words like Kivar and Granilith ( I don’t even know if I spelled them right :oops:) they're supposed to sound alien, and are therefore not common language.

I don't read a fic and think, 'OMG they spelled Kivar wrong! I am so out of here!' because it's not quite as obvious as 'Isabelle'.
This might just be me, but I know another I always have to think about before writing is affect or effect.

I hate the words affect and effect. :lol: I always have to pause and think.
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anonymousarfan
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Post by anonymousarfan »

maxandliz4ever1357 wrote:Didn't someone say on the other thread that the writers spelled it something like Surina? Or was that just a rumor? In any case, I think most people use Serena. At least, I've never seen it written any other way.
BUT
Breathless wrote:
Luvya wrote:Also what is the correct spelling of Serena?

The correct spelling is Serina.
.

I tought it was Serena (which, btw, means calm in Spanish). Now, I'm not sure :oops:

A very common mispelling (sp?) mistake is knew vs. new

"They knew the story" it's a verb, past tense of to know

"I have a new car" it's an adj.

and the other is know vs. now

Again the first is a verb, the other is a moment in time (sorry, I don't remember the grammatical name for it :oops: )
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Breathless
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Post by Breathless »

anonymousarfan wrote:
maxandliz4ever1357 wrote:Didn't someone say on the other thread that the writers spelled it something like Surina? Or was that just a rumor? In any case, I think most people use Serena. At least, I've never seen it written any other way.
BUT
Breathless wrote:
Luvya wrote:Also what is the correct spelling of Serena?

The correct spelling is Serina.
.

I tought it was Serena (which, btw, means calm in Spanish). Now, I'm not sure :oops:


I turned on the closed caption on the DVD, and the official spelling is definitely Serina. I prefer Serena, but if I ever write something with her in it in the future, I'll probably go with the official spelling. I won't be changing anything I've already written.
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anonymousarfan
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Post by anonymousarfan »

Breathless wrote:
anonymousarfan wrote:
maxandliz4ever1357 wrote:Didn't someone say on the other thread that the writers spelled it something like Surina? Or was that just a rumor? In any case, I think most people use Serena. At least, I've never seen it written any other way.
BUT
Breathless wrote:
The correct spelling is Serina.
.

I tought it was Serena (which, btw, means calm in Spanish). Now, I'm not sure :oops:


I turned on the closed caption on the DVD, and the official spelling is definitely Serina. I prefer Serena, but if I ever write something with her in it in the future, I'll probably go with the official spelling. I won't be changing anything I've already written.
Ok, so it's stated, Serina it is! :D
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maxandliz4ever1357
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Post by maxandliz4ever1357 »

I tought it was Serena (which, btw, means calm in Spanish). Now, I'm not sure
Sorry! I didn't mean to confuse you! :oops: I didn't know how to spell is either, so I was going on prior knowledge. Thanks for clearing that up, Breathless!
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Eccentric One
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Post by Eccentric One »

I was the one on the other thread that mentioned the spelling of Surina.

That was taken from the script of End of the World. I hate that spelling, but that's how it is in the script. I'd have to pull it out from storage and see which of the several re-writes it is. That episode had quite a few revisions. The one I have was before they decided to use "I Shall Believe." It was going to be "Harvest Moon" or something else. Kinda made me cringe. I can't do that scene without "I Shall Believe."

How accurate would the closed captioning be? I don't know how they do it. Do they work from the script and the studio does it? Or does a separate facility listen to the words and type in what they hear?

I think with this canon name we have a bit more left open to interpretation. As far as I know, this character isn't in the books. Just the series, where it's only spoken. Breathless has a verifiable source with one spelling and I have a verifiable source with a different spelling. Then we have what has been the commonly accepted spelling for years in fan fiction. How on earth are we all supposed to come to a single conclusion on that?

Also, I had put this on the other thread, but since that is gone, I'll put it here. It's a link to a website with a TON of common grammar mistakes. And it breaks them down into quite easy to understand explanations. Check it out. I used to have it bookmarked on my computer at work. Nothing worse than writing a professional correspondence and making a grammatical mistake to a client.

Common Errors in English

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