To offer some grammar tips to anyone who might want them?

[UnaCorda]

I sincerely hope this doesn't come across as either rude or patronising - it genuinely isn't meant to. It's also not intended as a pedants' thread.

I just thought it might be useful to list a few common mistakes, with an explanation, so that anyone who isn't very confident with their written English might be able to correct errors which, for example, could perhaps count against them in a job application or when used in a professional context.

I'll start with three:

1. "Your" shows that what you're referring to (probably a person or object) belongs to whoever "you" is in the sentence; for example, "Your brother showed me your book". If you mean "you are" you need to write "you're".

2. "Non" is not a word on its own - it is negating something, such as in "non-stick" or "non-committal". ("None-stick" would be incorrect, as would "non of them".) "None" means there aren't any. "How many cakes are left?" "Sorry - none." Or, "How many of the children finished the test?" "None of them."

3. "Alot" is not a word and the same goes for "abit", "infront", "incase" and "inbetween". Instead use "a lot", etc., just like "a little".

Hope I haven't made any mistakes myself...

The one I've noticed so many getting wrong is using advise instead of advice.

Advise is a verb meaning to recommend or suggest. E.g. "Please could you advise me?"

Advice is a noun that means to give an opinion about the best thing to do in a particular situation. E.g. "My advice would be to talk to a doctor".

If comparing 2 brothers etc, you have the elder and the younger. If you are comparing more than 2, one will be the eldest, one the youngest and the other(s) in between.

Me and DP agree that the laundry needs done. Me and him would of done it yesterday accept his sister-in-laws both come to see the new chester of drawers. SIL was well mortified cos I only had instance café so we gone to the caff. I said, canna get a cappa chino?' They said no, I'd have to be pashint because there's no room behind the counter.
AIBU or would you of known what they was talking about?

I'm sorry I could of not rezizted!

@Darkestseasonofall

If you're really offering grammar tips can you answer this, when do you use "one" to refer to yourself / someone else?

That's tricky... I suppose it's correct when you're being very general - "If one were to read a quality newspaper every day..." or "Giving away half one's salary to charity is very laudable." If there is a specific rule, I'm not entirely sure.

However I think using it unironically in English would tend to make one sound like a bit of a posh twat in most cases. In French the equivalent is much more common ("On va souvent a la plage pendant les grandes vacances.")

@GoshHashana

How patronising!

Yes. Really, really patronising.

how is it that native Brits don’t understand their own language?

I think you'll find there are native speakers of all languages who don't have strong writing skills. It's not really so surprising that people mix up words that are pronounced exactly the same, especially those with dyslexia or people who don't read a lot of books.

I'm naturally quite strong in languages but struggle with other things. People just have different strengths and weaknesses.

@aihpos, I use advice and advise to help me use the correct spelling of practice and practise, which don’t have the advantage of sounding different.

[quote MillicentMartha]@aihpos, I use advice and advise to help me use the correct spelling of practice and practise, which don’t have the advantage of sounding different.[/quote]
That's a very helpful tip. I'll be using for that one. Thanks.

“Aswell” 🧐

I love this thread! I always want to know the correct way, should have listened more in school!

I always get confused with:
I ate/eat/eaten?
I have ate or have eaten?

@Anthilda

What is a past participle ? *@Procne*

It's the form of the verb that comes after have/has/had, so:

I have eaten - "eaten" is the past participle;
I have seen - "seen" is the past participle.

In regular verbs it usually ends with "-ed" - played, watched, travelled, listened, etc.

@Snackkers

I love this thread! I always want to know the correct way, should have listened more in school!

I always get confused with:
I ate/eat/eaten?
I have ate or have eaten?

Great!

I have eaten or I ate, depending on context.

I speak English as a second language, and there are two things I never quite grasped:

Either/Neither, as in: "I don't like it." "Me either/neither".

In/On/At when it's not physical, such as: in/on/at television, a photograph, phone, etc.

I'd love it if someone could come up with a simple explanation for when you use 'may' and when you use 'might'. I don't misuse them and notice the mistake, but I'm often stumped explaining it to students without using grammatical jargon.

I see a lot of 'If only he had finished the job yesterday, he may have felt better today' or similar structures.

Here's another one: usually "myself" is incorrect. Exceptions are when it's reflexive - "I wash myself", "I get myself some breakfast", or when you are emphasising that you're referring to yourself - "Well I think this one here is better, myself."

NEVER say, "Fred and myself went to the shops" or "please send this to myself."

@UnaCorda 2) and 3) were interesting choices.

I would have swapped them for:

"Would of", as in "I would of done that."

"Myself", as in "Please contact myself."

Although many will say social media is not the place to police the English language. I believe you are not being unreasonable.

I'm not intending to police it.

@UnaCorda Crossposted. The use of "myself" annoys me, because it's typically senior people trying to assert their positions by being unnecessarily pompous, but in reality, just being grammatically incorrect.

To/too/two

There are two shoes in a pair.

I want to come too.

I hope I'm not accused of being patronising too.

Using I instead of me

I is not necessarily correct after and.

So mary and I go to the shop. However, I ask you do you want to go to the shop with Mary and me.

If you're not sure which to use, leave the other person out. You wouldn't say: do you want to go to the shop with I do therefore you don't say do you want to go to the shop with Mary and I

[quote rainkeepsfallingdown]@UnaCorda 2) and 3) were interesting choices.

I would have swapped them for:

"Would of", as in "I would of done that."

"Myself", as in "Please contact myself."[/quote]
They weren't in any particular order - just what sprang to mind.

You've missed a lot of punctuation in your lesson, OP.
Don't you think it's important?

You also asked for explanations but don't really seem to be giving them.

Can I draw your attention to the (wrong) statement that "if I were" is correct, while "if I was" isn't?

"If I were" used to be considered the "standard" form, containing one of few residual uses of the subjunctive in English. "Hyper-correction" now occurs when people think- because "if I were" sounds posher, that "if I was" isn't correct. Not so.

Oh, and yes, totally patronising.

Oooh just found this little gem of a thread. I’m off to get more tea.