It's been a while. You probably didn't see the last two [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.302051-ITT-a-Grammar-Nazi-on-common-grammar-mistakes] threads [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.303246-ITT-a-Grammar-Nazi-on-MORE-grammar-mistakes] I made about this, and now that common mistakes are cycling out, it's time for another set of reminders.
Now, I'll put this at the beginning this time to keep it clear- I am not saying everyone should write like a literature professor. That would be stupid. What I'm trying to do is help people recognize mistakes so they can improve, which would improve the forums a little bit. I'll go in depth in this spoiler box to keep the intro less cluttered-
So, let's get started. I'll go over a few things that I have in previous threads because they still happen a lot, but there's some new shit, too.
Apostrophes for the third time:
I'll try to make this as simple and clear as possible. Again.
Is it possessive (Steve's pants)?: If yes, put an apostrophe. If no, don't.
Is it a contraction (I'm, can't)?: If yes, put an apostrophe. If no, don't.
And that's all there is to it. Except for plural possessives, where the apostrophe goes at the very end (the rocks' grenades, my parents' crowbar).
One more time, I feel this is appropriate, and is in no way meant to offend-
A group is singular:
This is mostly a gaming forum, so we talk a lot about developers and publishers, which are groups of people. But most users I see are doing it wrong.
Let's say you're talking about a group. Read that sentence again. A group. As in one singular object, made of other objects. You probably say things like "my family is on vacation". A family is a group of individuals just like Bethesda is.
So, when you're talking about Bethesda, you don't say "Bethesda are making a new Elder Scrolls game", because Bethesda itself is singular. There's actually more to this rule, but nobody really cares about it, so I'll go over it in a spoiler box if you really want to know-
But just remember- groups are singular. Bethesda is a group, not are a group.
Couldn't care less (again):
This is something that bugs a lot of people. The popular mistake with this is to say "I could care less". I'll keep this very short- if you could care less, that makes you care to some degree. If you couldn't care less, that means you don't care at all, which is (probably) what you're trying to say.
Who gave the socks to whom?
Now, this is something that is almost never enforced in schools and that I don't often bother with, but hey,
The easiest way to remember this is to change who/whom to he/him. If there's an "m", it's whom. If not, it's who.
Example- ____ gave the socks to you? The answer would be "He gave the socks to you", so you use "who".
Example 2- You gave the socks to ____? The answer would be "You gave the socks to him", so you use "whom".
(In a wonderful coincidence, the motto of the moment is "Who shot who in the what now?". The second "who" should be "whom".)
It's simple, really. But there's no need to worry about it unless you want to sound a bit more sophisticated.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Keeping with tradition, I'll leave it at four. And to make this thread marginally more exciting (arguably), you can now test yourself! In here-
Congratulations for making it to the end of this thread, and let's hope the forums get slightly cleaner and more legible.
Also, for the love of everything that is good, do not try to post that Stephen Fry speech as an argument. That's not about mistakes, it's about purposeful manipulation of grammar. See the first spoiler box for details.
Now, I'll put this at the beginning this time to keep it clear- I am not saying everyone should write like a literature professor. That would be stupid. What I'm trying to do is help people recognize mistakes so they can improve, which would improve the forums a little bit. I'll go in depth in this spoiler box to keep the intro less cluttered-
One specific user got off on calling me out for, well, this explains it better than I can-
To this person and anyone like him who happens to read this, writing is like drawing a person. Perfect grammar and sentence structure is like drawing a perfectly realistic and anatomically correct person, but if all art was realistic, it would be shit. That's why it's acceptable to draw stylized humans. But, there's a difference between drawing a human stylized and drawing them wrong. I use fragments. Like this. For style. Using a fragment like "I ate a. Sandwich for dinner." is wrong.
Using "there" when you should use "their" is not a stylistic choice, it's just wrong, and that's the kind of thing I'm covering in these threads.
So honestly, if you really want to keep arguing about it, save us both some time and leave.
[sub][sub](First of all, there should be a period after "Mr", but that's beside the point.)[/sub][/sub]
To this person and anyone like him who happens to read this, writing is like drawing a person. Perfect grammar and sentence structure is like drawing a perfectly realistic and anatomically correct person, but if all art was realistic, it would be shit. That's why it's acceptable to draw stylized humans. But, there's a difference between drawing a human stylized and drawing them wrong. I use fragments. Like this. For style. Using a fragment like "I ate a. Sandwich for dinner." is wrong.
Using "there" when you should use "their" is not a stylistic choice, it's just wrong, and that's the kind of thing I'm covering in these threads.
So honestly, if you really want to keep arguing about it, save us both some time and leave.
So, let's get started. I'll go over a few things that I have in previous threads because they still happen a lot, but there's some new shit, too.
Apostrophes for the third time:
I'll try to make this as simple and clear as possible. Again.
Is it possessive (Steve's pants)?: If yes, put an apostrophe. If no, don't.
Is it a contraction (I'm, can't)?: If yes, put an apostrophe. If no, don't.
And that's all there is to it. Except for plural possessives, where the apostrophe goes at the very end (the rocks' grenades, my parents' crowbar).
One more time, I feel this is appropriate, and is in no way meant to offend-
A group is singular:
This is mostly a gaming forum, so we talk a lot about developers and publishers, which are groups of people. But most users I see are doing it wrong.
Let's say you're talking about a group. Read that sentence again. A group. As in one singular object, made of other objects. You probably say things like "my family is on vacation". A family is a group of individuals just like Bethesda is.
So, when you're talking about Bethesda, you don't say "Bethesda are making a new Elder Scrolls game", because Bethesda itself is singular. There's actually more to this rule, but nobody really cares about it, so I'll go over it in a spoiler box if you really want to know-
If you're talking about a group, but the individuals in the group are acting separately (i.e. "Bethesda ___ going on vacation to different places"), then you do use "are", because the group isn't acting as a singular object. Of course, it's much easier to just say "The employees at Bethesda are going on vacation to different places".
But just remember- groups are singular. Bethesda is a group, not are a group.
Couldn't care less (again):
This is something that bugs a lot of people. The popular mistake with this is to say "I could care less". I'll keep this very short- if you could care less, that makes you care to some degree. If you couldn't care less, that means you don't care at all, which is (probably) what you're trying to say.
Who gave the socks to whom?
Now, this is something that is almost never enforced in schools and that I don't often bother with, but hey,
The easiest way to remember this is to change who/whom to he/him. If there's an "m", it's whom. If not, it's who.
Example- ____ gave the socks to you? The answer would be "He gave the socks to you", so you use "who".
Example 2- You gave the socks to ____? The answer would be "You gave the socks to him", so you use "whom".
(In a wonderful coincidence, the motto of the moment is "Who shot who in the what now?". The second "who" should be "whom".)
It's simple, really. But there's no need to worry about it unless you want to sound a bit more sophisticated.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Keeping with tradition, I'll leave it at four. And to make this thread marginally more exciting (arguably), you can now test yourself! In here-
For 1-3, one word has an apostrophe either in the wrong place or when it souldn't at all.
1. I took my car keys and turned the ignition, and the seven meter's lights came on.
2. The old lady's cats' colors were all different, but their claws' shapes' were mathematically identical.
3. Plural noun's should never have apostrophes.
For 4-6, choose the correct verb form.
4. The team members [is/are] lifting large birds.
5. Bethesda [is/are] is fucking awesome.
6 (BONUS). Bethesda [is/are] visiting their concubines in the magical land of Cleveland, Liberia. ("their" refers to Bethesda, to clear up any confusion)
For number 7, choose the correct word (hurr durr derp derp derp).
7. I [could/couldn't] care less if you get this correct. Because I don't care at all.
For 8-10, choose the correct word.
8. [Who/Whom] is furiously masturbating in my kitchen?
9. You robbed the liquor store with [who/whom]?
10. The janitor, [who/whom] is large and ambiguously ethnic, did what to [who/whom]?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You can leave answers in a post, I guess. It's not really a competition unless it somehow turns into one.
1. I took my car keys and turned the ignition, and the seven meter's lights came on.
2. The old lady's cats' colors were all different, but their claws' shapes' were mathematically identical.
3. Plural noun's should never have apostrophes.
For 4-6, choose the correct verb form.
4. The team members [is/are] lifting large birds.
5. Bethesda [is/are] is fucking awesome.
6 (BONUS). Bethesda [is/are] visiting their concubines in the magical land of Cleveland, Liberia. ("their" refers to Bethesda, to clear up any confusion)
For number 7, choose the correct word (hurr durr derp derp derp).
7. I [could/couldn't] care less if you get this correct. Because I don't care at all.
For 8-10, choose the correct word.
8. [Who/Whom] is furiously masturbating in my kitchen?
9. You robbed the liquor store with [who/whom]?
10. The janitor, [who/whom] is large and ambiguously ethnic, did what to [who/whom]?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You can leave answers in a post, I guess. It's not really a competition unless it somehow turns into one.
Congratulations for making it to the end of this thread, and let's hope the forums get slightly cleaner and more legible.
Also, for the love of everything that is good, do not try to post that Stephen Fry speech as an argument. That's not about mistakes, it's about purposeful manipulation of grammar. See the first spoiler box for details.
