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Pedants' corner
Original poster

DH insists that this is incorrect English, is he right.

38 replies

bran · 30/07/2010 22:12

Please tell me he's wrong.

We were talking about something and I said to DH "Fortunately, he paid you no attention".

DH insists that this is grammatically incorrect and that 'no attention' is meaningless. He tells me I should have phrased it "He didn't pay you any attention".

I think I will have to stop speaking forever if it turns out that my sloppily-spoken DH knows more about syntax than me.

OP posts:
ILoveDolly · 30/07/2010 22:15

If he can pay you attention, he can pay you NO attention. That's correct grammar IMO.

Habbibu · 30/07/2010 22:16

He's wrong. Attention can be quantified - some, a little, a lot of, no, etc. English is very flexible - it's part of its charm.

differentID · 30/07/2010 22:17

he is wrong

Katisha · 30/07/2010 22:18

"Pay no attention" is standard usage.

MintyBadger · 30/07/2010 22:18

No, he's wrong.
'No' + noun is the same as 'not any' + noun.
Is English not his first language?

BialystockandBloom · 30/07/2010 22:18

He's wrong. Pay no attention to him

Original poster
bran · 30/07/2010 22:21

I knew I was right.

There is more, which I think you will agree proves that I am very right and he is a grammer-loon.

He tried to prove his point by saying that "I'm no listening to you" is incorrect, and therefore 'no attention' is also incorrect, and I should be careful of how I speak in front of the DC as they will pick up bad habits. I pointed out that 'listening' is a verb and 'attention' is a noun and therefore the two phrases are not comparable. DH said "Well, young children don't know the difference between nouns and verbs, so you should still be careful".

I should really have posted in AIBU, shouldn't I? I thought I'd get a more sympathetic reception here though.

OP posts:
Original poster
bran · 30/07/2010 22:22

Opps, errant 'of' between careful and how. Sorry. I'll removed myself from pedant's corner now.

OP posts:
MintyBadger · 30/07/2010 22:22

'I'm no listening' is dialect, innit?
He doesn't really know his onions, but I doubt he's going to enjoy being told that by a bunch of wimmin!

Katisha · 30/07/2010 22:24

He needs to pick a more convincing example than that! I'm certainly no listening to that one...

Original poster
bran · 30/07/2010 22:24

Minty - I just told him that you all think he's wrong. He said, "Well, that just shows you" in what is best described as a superior sneer.

OP posts:
Prolesworth · 30/07/2010 22:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Katisha · 30/07/2010 22:25

Hahaha would it help if I sent DH on to talk to him, pedantically, man to man?

Original poster
bran · 30/07/2010 22:29

He says (to Katisha) "People who spend all day on the computer can't really judge. I'm sure her husband has better things to do." I think the man is underestimating the judging ability of MN.

Minty, I asked him if English is his first language. He says being foreign means his English is better. He was brought up in Malaysia and he did speak English as a first language, but it's not the same English IMO.

OP posts:
EightiesChick · 30/07/2010 22:30

He is indeed wrong.

Why would you be 'careful' rather than correct? Why is he convinced his knowledge of English grammar is superior to yours again?

Habbibu · 30/07/2010 22:30

that example makes no sense.

MintyBadger · 30/07/2010 22:30

Well, he does have a bit of an excuse there then (bah).
He's wrong about his English being better; it's different, though.

Katisha · 30/07/2010 22:31

Interesting that computer usage affects one's ability to speak English...

Yes, DH is probably better employed drinking coffee and zapping through the channels...Ah well.

Habbibu · 30/07/2010 22:33

No, he's still wrong. A noun is a noun is a noun. And a corpus linguist would agree.

Original poster
bran · 30/07/2010 22:34

Right - he is asking which of these sentences is more grammatically correct.
"People on MN have no life."
"Peopld on MN do not have a life."

He originally asked which of these is more "factually" correct. So you can answer that as well if you want.

OP posts:
Ryuk · 30/07/2010 22:37

bran, we don't think he's wrong. We know he is.

'Didn't pay you any attention', while technicaly correct, is more colloquial and considerably more clumsy.

"young children don't know the difference between nouns and verbs, so you should still be careful" is a meaningless sentence, as it attempts to combine two concepts which have no actual connection, as if one resulted from the other. He could take it from an incomplete argument to a complete one by saying 'young children don't know the difference between nouns and verbs, so you should still be careful, otherwise [thing that will happen otherwise]/because [reason to be careful]', but the third clause would have to be a direct consequence of not being careful around children who don't know the difference between nouns and verbs. Which I can't think of, off the top of my head.

Habbibu · 30/07/2010 22:38

Either is fine, no hierarchy, and the second gets him A Look.

MintyBadger · 30/07/2010 22:39

I might not have a life in his view, but my degree in English (not that it's needed for the original error!) is kicking his arse.

Habbibu · 30/07/2010 22:41

tell him any noun can be verbed...

Ryuk · 30/07/2010 22:41

"Right - he is asking which of these sentences is more grammatically correct.
"People on MN have no life."
"Peopld on MN do not have a life."

He originally asked which of these is more "factually" correct. So you can answer that as well if you want. "

Tell him that factually, neither are correct. The first would require us to be corpses, the second is too vague to be answered comprehensively as the nature of the term 'a life' is not specified. However I can state that in at least one way it's definitely incorrect, as some of us are pregnant and therefore in possession of 'a life' in the form of a fetus.

Grammatically, either are fine and identically correct.