There's is one I give my Grammar Nazi a pass on, too, even though I know it's not grammatically correct.
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I'm still trying to learn how and when to use "may" versus "might". I found myself writing that I may do this or that, then decided it's should have been might all along.
may - have permission to <you may go now>: be free to <a rug on which children may sprawl — C. E. Silberman> —used nearly interchangeably with can
might —used in auxiliary function to express permission, liberty, probability, possibility in the past <the president might do nothing without the board's consent> or a present condition contrary to fact <if you were older you might understand> or less probability or possibility than may<might get there before it rains> or as a polite alternative to may<might I ask who is calling> or to ought or should<you might at least apologize>
Easier on your ear maybe! Not mine. I cringe when I hear it and start twitching like Ms. Mod!As tightly wound on rules as I must seem to be now, this particular transgression doesn't bother me because, even though it's incorrect, it's easier on the ear.
It's sort of like saying, "I wish that someone would take this corpse away, and they could keep it in their freezer for all I care." "Someone" is singular. "They" is plural. (You see the talent I have for stating the obvious?) They don't agree. But since we don't have a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun that works (other than the abominable "(s)he" or "she/he," which I translate to "she/he/it," which I then abbreviate to "sh/it"), we blend the number disagreement.
When I see a contraction like "there're," I start to think of sentences like, "There're rarer horrors than Aurora," and both my ears and tongue start to hurt. Although it would be a good (if painful) sentence for Japanese students to practice their English phonetics on.
Edited: You can learn from cartoons.
Or maybe wishing I was farther away?Maybe they're wondering what you'd be like wetter.
Me too! I'll also change a singular noun to a plural so I can safely proceed. Sometimes if something sounds incorrect I can't tell if it is. (BTW, thank God and Jordan for the Message Board Edit feature.)I'm not a brilliant speller. I have to "write" using my finger on the table if I come across a word I can't remember how to spell. And have been known to rewrite a sentence to not include a word i'm not sure about.
And I spend too much time at Facebook, where there are a plethora of postings of what look like posters with grammatically incorrect statements. Most of these mistakes are of the plural subject/singular verb or vice versa variety. I often Comment with a correction.Players of the SKMB game The Person Below Me (TPBM) are forced to do this - to use their or they even though in reference to a single individual - since no player necessarily knows the gender of the next person to play, and since we universally refuse to be forced into a disruptive-sounding rule. To use the plural with the singular, though technically incorrect, simply sounds more acceptable, and so is.
What frightens me in modern English usage is that certain mistakes seem to be have come to sound better to most than the correct ones. The word "less" is chronically used when "fewer" should be, for example. It bothers me no end.
Can't wait!
Thank the lord you haven't seen my page. Pretty sure I'd keep you busy all day...
="mustangclaire, post: 95920, member: 27598"]
Hmm. The challenge, the gauntlet thrown...You got to find me first....
Oh wow, I remember the first time I saw that someone had written "of" instead. Coincidentally, that's when the fear began.I don't think this one has been mentioned yet. It should be should have, not should of.
I don't think this one has been mentioned yet. It should be should have, not should of.
I don't think this one has been mentioned yet. It should be should have, not should of.