Common Grammatical Errors

tequathisy · Post by **tequathisy** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:29 am

One that really annoyes me is when him and her and are used in place of He and she.

Example: Her and Max went to the dance together. Him and Michael were good friends.

It should be; She and Max went to the dance together. He and Michael were good friends.

It bugs me because for seem reason I always imagine that only little kids make that kind of simple mistake.

Zanity · Post by **Zanity** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 3:56 pm

Ok I know this isn't technically a grammatical error but... It always throws me for a loop when some one writes something like... She shook her head yes.

Granted it is technically shaking your head up and down, but I was always taught that it's nodding your head yes and shaking it no.

behrlyliz · Post by **behrlyliz** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:39 pm

I’m digging way back to my English 1101 days. I have a question concerning literary action. I know that literary action occurs in fictional time. Am I correct in saying that it should take place in the present tense? Should you always write in present tense, unless you're writing about something that occurred in the past, historically or like a flashback?

I hope I'm wording this correctly.

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:48 pm

behrlyliz wrote:I’m digging way back to my English 1101 days. I have a question concerning literary action. I know that literary action occurs in fictional time. Am I correct in saying that it should take place in the present tense? Should you always write in present tense, unless you're writing about something that occurred in the past, historically or like a flashback?

I hope I'm wording this correctly.

It's a convention in english literature, at least, that prose fiction is usually in the past tense, even if there's no particularly compelling reason that this should be so. Maybe it's to mimic non-fiction - generally something happens first, and then somebody writes it down or tells the story, so by the time the story becomes words it's past tense.

Does that make sense??

Zanity · Post by **Zanity** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:49 pm

I'm not sure... Most fics I read tend to be in the past tense for most of if not all of the fic.

I know it's a very common problem, one that I fall prey to now and again, for people to switch back and forth between present and past tense in a continuing narative.

But which way is correct, or if it's just a matter of style, I couldn't tell you. It's been way too long since I've actually studied the rules regarding such things.

LairaBehr4 · Post by **LairaBehr4** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:06 pm

Chrisken wrote:
behrlyliz wrote:I’m digging way back to my English 1101 days. I have a question concerning literary action. I know that literary action occurs in fictional time. Am I correct in saying that it should take place in the present tense? Should you always write in present tense, unless you're writing about something that occurred in the past, historically or like a flashback?

I hope I'm wording this correctly.
It's a convention in english literature, at least, that prose fiction is usually in the past tense, even if there's no particularly compelling reason that this should be so. Maybe it's to mimic non-fiction - generally something happens first, and then somebody writes it down or tells the story, so by the time the story becomes words it's past tense.

Does that make sense??

It's true that fictional prose is correctly written in the past tense. However, there are ways to get around it. One way is to direct your story to the readers exactly, as if you were reading to them. I used this in Chapter 9 of my story 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves', which begins with something like, "Let us follow Max for a while, dear readers." In such a situation, you can use the present tense because you are describing actions in real time, as they happen, to the audience.

Another way is to change the authorial point-of-view - that is, instead of writing in the third person ("Liz walked into the classroom"), you make it so that Liz is telling the story ("I walked into the classroom"), and then change it to the present tense ("I walk into the classroom"). See Evelynn's "The Denial Game" for a good use of this maneuver.

Hope this helps!

LairaBehr4 · Post by **LairaBehr4** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:10 pm

Okay, one of the things that really bugs me (big francophile that I am) is when people write "deja vous" instead of "deja vu". "Deja" means "already" in French, and "vous" means "you." It makes no sense. "Vu", on the other hand, is the past tense of "to see", so instead of "already you", it's meant to be "already saw", as in "already saw this."

I'm not sure whether there's meant to be a hyphen between "deja" and "vu", but regardless, you can see how "already you" is just plain wrong.

Heavenli24 · Post by **Heavenli24** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:24 pm

LairaBehr4 wrote:Okay, one of the things that really bugs me (big francophile that I am) is when people write "deja vous" instead of "deja vu". "Deja" means "already" in French, and "vous" means "you." It makes no sense. "Vu", on the other hand, is the past tense of "to see", so instead of "already you", it's meant to be "already saw", as in "already saw this."

I'm not sure whether there's meant to be a hyphen between "deja" and "vu", but regardless, you can see how "already you" is just plain wrong.

Yeah, that bothers me too. I'm really into good spelling and grammar, whether it be in English or in French (which I spent 5 years learning at school).

Btw, as far as I know, there's no hyphen between deja and vu.

Another one that bugs me is the 'lounge' on Liz's balcony. I'm not sure about the US, but in the UK, lounge is another name for the living room or den, not a chair.

The correct French term for the 'lounge' chair is 'chaise longue', meaning literally 'long chair'. However, I've seen 'longue' spelt 'lounge' quite often in other text, so maybe that's where the shortened term 'lounge' comes from.

LysCat · Post by **LysCat** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:02 pm

I can't stand it when author's mistake unconscious for subconscious.

"Max unconsciously placed a hand against the middle of her back as he lead her from the room."

Every time I'm reading this....I'm like. 'Wow, that's amazing. People who are unconscious don't usually do much of anything.' It irritates me so much, and it's such a common mistake.

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:20 pm

LysCat wrote:I can't stand it when author's mistake unconscious for subconscious.

"Max unconsciously placed a hand against the middle of her back as he lead her from the room."

Every time I'm reading this....I'm like. 'Wow, that's amazing. People who are unconscious don't usually do much of anything.' It irritates me so much, and it's such a common mistake.

Um, I'm going to cast my vote in favor of that sample sentence you used, and argue that it isn't a mistaken usage. Going to the dictionary, I find these relevant meanings for the root word, 'unconscious':

- not perceived at the level of awareness.
- not consciously realized, planned, or done; without conscious volition or intent.

It's not that Max was unconscious, himself, when he did it. The word is referring to the fact that he was not conscious, or aware, of what he was doing when he did it.

To do something subconsciously, on the other hand, seems partway between doing it unconsciously and doing it consciously. If Max placed a hand on her back subconsciously, then, he'd be imperfectly or partly aware that he was doing it.