Common Grammatical Errors

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isabelle
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Re: Common Grammatical Errors

Post by isabelle »

"Younger than me" is correct in that sentance because "me" is the object of 'than.'

If it was written "younger than I was," then you would use I because I is the subject of the phrase "I was".
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isabelle
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Re: Re:

Post by isabelle »

CandyDreamQueen wrote:Here is an error that my beta always has to correct me on. I often use the word “that” when I should use the word “who”.

For example, I will write: “Max is the guy that saved my life.” Instead of, “Max is the guy who saved my life.”

I believe the rule is that when you’re referring to a person you should use the word “who”, and when you’re referring to an object you should use the word “that”, but my brain always forgets to apply that rule. I’m getting better though. lol

<<<Candice>>>
If it's dialogue, as you've shown, then you don't always need to use correct grammar unless your characters are all grammar teachers. If your character uses colloquialisms, sentance fragments or other bits of sloppy grammar, then you can write it the way you hear them talking.
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nibbles2
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Re: Common Grammatical Errors

Post by nibbles2 »

If it's dialogue, as you've shown, then you don't always need to use correct grammar unless your characters are all grammar teachers. If your character uses colloquialisms, sentence fragments or other bits of sloppy grammar, then you can write it the way you hear them talking.
That's true. The flipside to writing grammatically correct dialogue is that it is almost unreadable. Nobody, or very, very few people (and they're mostly not American teenagers), speak without using contractions, slang or imperfect grammar. Sadly people do say 'then' instead of 'than' and 'would of' when they mean 'would have'.
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Heavenli24
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Re: Common Grammatical Errors

Post by Heavenli24 »

nibbles2 wrote:Sadly people do say 'then' instead of 'than' and 'would of' when they mean 'would have'.
One misspelling that has been bugging me lately is the use of 'due' to mean 'do' (or vice versa):

i.e. "I'll have to make due with it", when it should be "I'll have to make do with it".

or "do to unfortunate circumstances..." instead of "due to unfortunate circumstances...".

I understand that in the US 'due' and 'do' have the same pronunciation ('doo'), but it's weird to read it as a Brit because they have different pronunciations here - 'doo' (do) and 'jew' (due) - and it makes me wonder how the two words could even get mixed up in the first place :P.
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Re: Common Grammatical Errors

Post by Galliard »

isabelle wrote:"Younger than me" is correct in that sentance because "me" is the object of 'than.'

If it was written "younger than I was," then you would use I because I is the subject of the phrase "I was".
Oh! Yes, that makes sense. Thanks! I guess Charlaine thought the "was" was implied. Perhaps this is a case where either usage might be correct.
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Re: Common Grammatical Errors

Post by tequathisy »

I'm not sure if it's a grammatical error, but Isabel's name is spelled with one S, one L and no E at the end.

I. S. A. B. E. L.

no Isabelle or Issabell.
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Re: Common Grammatical Errors

Post by chanks_girl »

tequathisy wrote:I. S. A. B. E. L.

no Isabelle or Issabell.

You're my new hero. I can't say how much I hate whenever her name is spelled wrong.

Speaking of names: did you realize it somehow became a trend to spell MICHAEL as MICHEAL?

If there are areas where the name is spelled with -eal alright. Nevertheless we talk about a character we know his name to spell. I also don't spell Liz as in Lis.

It bugs me.
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Re: Common Grammatical Errors

Post by tequathisy »

If, like me, you have trouble remembering the correct usage of an apostrophe This might help
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Re: Common Grammatical Errors

Post by tequathisy »

Ten words you need to stop misspelling.

They should put this poster in every class room in every school.
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Re: Common Grammatical Errors

Post by jbangelo »

Okay, I kind of want that poster.
“You know you’re right for someone when they force you to be the best version of yourself.”

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