Free grammar lessons!

[rzr]

Well, Stretchy, I would do it elsewhere (as previously stated) but that's where I would really come across as a dick. I'm not going to point out the grammar mistakes of the people that are asking for help, only the ones that get it and in their gratitude still incorrectly use it.

[stretchypanda]

No. You won't.

=)

[rzr]

*grins* Fine, fine. I wish the other mods could at least be fun about it, it's easier to listen to people when they're nice about it.

[Zythus]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there is a Firefox plugin for 3rd party spellcheck databases. Potentially, we might be able to use Microsoft Word's checker for firefox.

On another note, through speculation, Word 2007's dictionary had fell one step lower than Word 2003's.

[Vanilla Mnm]

I know this was written awhile back, but why would you spend the time to do this?

[Squeek]

Because I had nothing better to do and wanted to remove all excuses people could think up for not typing properly.

This was supposed to serve as a "go-to" guide for showing people the errors of their ways.

[Vanilla Mnm]

Good idea, now that I understand

[championanwar]

I wish I could have read this before my English exam

[Afrombean]

I was just reading through this, and I noticed something:

Originally Posted by Squeek

Dialogue - Dialog (Same goes for Analogue. I don't care though)

There is actually a distinction on "analog" versus "analogue".

Originally Posted by dictionary.com

an·a·log Audio Help /ˈænlˌɔg, -ˌɒg/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[an-l-awg, -og] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. analogue.
–adjective
2. of or pertaining to a mechanism that represents data by measurement of a continuous physical variable, as voltage or pressure.

And

Originally Posted by dictionary.com

an·a·logue Audio Help /ˈænlˌɔg, -ˌɒg/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[an-l-awg, -og] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. something having analogy to something else.
2. Biology. an organ or part analogous to another.
3. Chemistry. one of a group of chemical compounds similar in structure but different in respect to elemental composition.
4. a food made from vegetable matter, esp. soybeans, that has been processed to taste and look like another food, as meat or dairy, and is used as a substitute for it.

In short, "analog" means something which measures something of a non-digital source (as in an analog joystick), while "analogue" is something which can be compared to something else.

[Squeek]

3 years later and someone finally notices something wrong.

Amazing.

[Shadowcliff]

ROFLMAO

Squeek made a mistake!

(better edit that out before anyone else sees it...)

[devonin]

Didn't we establish that an acronym was only an acronym if you pronounced it as its own word? (AWOL, RADAR etc) whereas if you read out the letters (RSVP) it was an abbreviation?

The word acronym was coined in 1943 by Bell Laboratories[1] for abbreviations pronounced as words, such as NATO,AIDS and Laser. Of the names, acronym is the most frequently used and known; it is widely used to describe any abbreviation formed from initial letters.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Others differentiate between the two terms, restricting acronym to pronounceable words formed from components (letters, usually initial, or syllables) of the constituent words, and using initialism or alphabetism[8][5] for abbreviations pronounced as the names of the individual letters

(Those references are pretty much all various dictionaries describing that usage.)

[Squeek]

Oh, that old thing.

You know I really don't care either way but if you want to make the correction you now have mod access to do so.

[Ice wolf]

I have added some things that you might want to consider putting in the first post.

EDIT: Yes, I now know that Squeek will not update the first post. I have made a few changes to this post anyway.



(The changes I made in this section are bold.)

Colon
Colons are easy. Use a colon before a list. The list may contain one item. For an example, you could write, "I'll tell you what I hate most: morons." Or, better yet, "There are only two kinds of people in the world: those that understand binary, and those that don't." Make sure that there are two spaces after a colon, there is never a verb right before a colon, and that the items listed after the colon are set off by commas.

We also use colons for time (8:45) and other stuff, but that's irrelevant, really. I read someplace that the best way to test for colon usage is to insert the word "namely" where you'd want to put the colon. It almost always works.





(I made changes to the "alot" section and the "could care less" section. Again, the changes are bold. The "alot" section could probably be put into better words. I also added the "anyways" section.)

"Alot." Yeah, this is wrong. The site says,

If you can't remember the rule, just remind yourself that just as you wouldn't write 'alittle' you shouldn't write 'alot.'

The correct way of writing "alot" is "a lot"; however, you should avoid using it altogether.

In its place, use "many", "few", or a number for countable nouns or verbs.

There are too many rats. There are too few rats. There are five rats.

Use "much" and "little" for uncountable nouns or verbs.

We dance much. We dance little.

"Could care less." Boy do I hate to see this. It makes me want to pull you aside and mention to you that you're really telling the person, "I care some, maybe even a lot." What you MEANT to say was, "I couldn't care less." This means that you care so little, that it is impossible for you to not care more than you do now.

"Anyways." The proper form of "anyways" is "anyway." "Anyway," at the beginning of a sentence, indicates that the speaker has resumed a previous topic. "As I was saying," could be substituted for the "anyway" that begins a sentence. At the end of a sentence, it means "in any case." Even though "anyway" is more proper than "anyways," it should not be used in formal English writing.

Mike and Kelly were not at the party, but we had fun anyway.

"Any way" is the same as "a way." (Do not get that confused with "away," which means, but not literally, "far" or "far from.)

Is there any way to fly? Is there a way to fly?







(These next two sections are additions to Same sound, different meaning?)

Altogether / All together

Altogether - Altogether means "completely or entirely."
You should avoid using "a lot" altogether.

All together - All together basically means "together".
We're in this all together. We're all in this together. All of us are in this together.

Can / May / Should (How did you forget to add these?)

Can - Can indicates ABILITY to do something.
I can stay up till midnight.

May - May indicates PERMISSION to do something.
I may leave whenever I want.

Should - Should is synonymous with MUST or OUGHT.
I should not steal from the cookie jar.

If one of these words is used to form a question that a person answers positively to, they do not have to do the command asked.

e. g. "Can you move over?" asks if you have the ability to move over. You might answer "yes," but not move over. This is the correct thing to do. One could then ask "Will you move over?" You might answer "yes," but not move over. Again, this is the correct thing to do. One could then say "Should you move over?" You might answer "yes," but not move over. Once again, this is correct. One could then say "Move over." If you were not lying, you would move over.



These might have been mentioned before, but I did not take the time to look through 29 pages.

[rzr]

Originally Posted by devonin

Didn't we establish that an acronym was only an acronym if you pronounced it as its own word? (AWOL, RADAR etc) whereas if you read out the letters (RSVP) it was an abbreviation?



(Those references are pretty much all various dictionaries describing that usage.)

Originally Posted by Ice wolf

I have added some things that you might want to consider putting in the first post. The additions are bold.

Colon
Colons are easy. Use a colon before a list. The list may contain one item. For an example, you could write, "I'll tell you what I hate most: morons." Or, better yet, "There are only two kinds of people in the world: those that understand binary, and those that don't." Make sure that there are two spaces after a colon, there is never a verb right before a colon, and that the items listed after the colon are set off by commas.

We also use colons for time (8:45) and other stuff, but that's irrelevant, really. I read someplace that the best way to test for colon usage is to insert the word "namely" where you'd want to put the colon. It almost always works.





"Alot". Yeah, this is wrong. The site says,

The correct way of writing "alot" is "a lot"; however, you should avoid using it altogether.

In its place, use "many", "few", or a number for countable nouns or verbs.

e. g. There are too many rats. There are too few rats. There are five rats.

Use "much" and "little" for uncountable nouns or verbs.

e. g. We dance much. We dance little.

(This section could probably be put into better words.)





These next two sections would be added to Same sound, different meaning?


Altogether / All together

Altogether - Altogether means "completely or entirely."
You should avoid using "a lot" altogether.

All together - All together basically means "together".
We're in this all together. We're all in this together. All of us are in this together.

Can / May / Should (How did you forget to add these?)

Can - Can indicates ABILITY to do something.
I can stay up till midnight.

May - May indicates PERMISSION to do something.
I may leave whenever I want.

Should - Should is synonymous with MUST/OUGHT.
I should not steal from the cookie jar.

If one of these words is used to form a question that a person answers positively to, they do not have to do the command asked.

e. g. "Can you move over?" asks if you have the ability to move over. You might answer "yes", but not move over. This is the correct thing to do. One could then ask "Will you move over?" You might answer "yes", but not move over. Again, this is the correct thing to do. One could then say "Should you move over?" You might answer "yes", but not move over. Once again, this is correct. One could then say "Move over." If you were not lying, you would move over.





These might have been mentioned before, but I did not take the time to look through 29 pages of posts.

I agree, both of these should be added into the OP, along with several other perfections.

Originally Posted by Squeek

Quotation Mark

Originally Posted by Squeek

I HATE THIS MARK. I honestly HATE it to death. I want the inventor of its usage to make up his mind on what to do with it. It's a horrible mark.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, let me explain my hatred. Consider the following (correctly punctuated) sentence.

I told the guy that I wanted a "foot." I don't think he caught my drift.

It's so wrong! I swear! The quoted word should not have a period in it. It doesn't fit in there. The word belongs in its own quotes and deserves freedom from the sentence break. Ugh. Luckily, the British know my feelings for this and use my method of quotations. Therefore, if you want to say,

I told the guy that I wanted a "foot".

Regardless, you know that it's true. At least, according to English grammar.

[Crizo92]

Originally Posted by flypie743

Your a genius.

I lol'd at the first post after the grammar lecture.

[Xx{Midday}xX]

I never read this before, because I thought my conventions were quite thorough in relative comparison to others.

This OP is also quite thorough. Good job, Squeek.

[lizzzzzx3m]

Good job.

[TheRapingDragon]

I was just wondering about something. If I were to end a sentence with an abbreviated word such as "etc." would I have to add on a second period?

As in, which of the following is more accurately correct:

1. "One, two, etc."
2. "One, two, etc.."

[Ground_Breaker]

The period serves both purposes.