While the whole to, too, two/there, their, they're/your, you're things bug me (not to mention the then/than issue that the world seems to have- and countless others I won't go into [if you say "I seen it" or "We done that" in my presence, consider yourself punched in the face]), there is still one common mistake that drives me positively bananas.
The one thing that bothers me the absolute most because EVERYONE does it- is the whole screwed up pronoun thing. I let it slide with most people- but when I hear it on the freaking news- it drives me crazy! Those people make a living supposedly sounding intelligent and every time they make this mistake I want to reach into the TV and wring their necks!
If you say "Her and her friends were going shopping." or "Him and me went to a movie." or if you caption a picture that says "Sparky and I," That is just so wrong. It makes me cringe.
Here is the rule. Take the second person out of the sentence and say it. You wouldn't say "her was going shopping." you would say "SHE was going shopping" so the correct way to say that is "She and her friends were going shopping."
The I/me problem can be confusing. I think people are so afraid that they alllllllways have to say "I", but sometimes it actually is correct to say "me."
If you're not sure- do the same rule as before- take the other person out of the sentence. You would never purposely say, "me went to a movie" (unless you're Cookie Monster- for which I forgive you this blunder). You would naturally say, "I went to a movie" Also- taking yourself out of the sentence, you wouldn't say "him went to a movie." So the correct way would be, "He and I went to a movie"
It works the other way though too. A picture labeled "I " is not correct. But if you were to label it as "me," there you'd have it! So "Sparky and me" is better.
That last one is up for debate. I suppose it could be considered correct to say "I" there- but I think it sounds more natural (especially with American English) to say "me".
Because if you were to say, "Sparky and me went for a walk" that's wrong. "I" would be correct in that case. "Sparky and I went for a walk."
Just remember to take the other person out of the sentence and see how it sounds. That's how you know you've got it right.
I wish people understood just how important grammar is. Seriously. People judge you according to the way you speak and present yourself. Yeah sure, there are blunders on my blog now and again- I won't say I'm perfect (although my family would beg to differ- and say I claim that all the time) but honestly, it really is important and people are just so freaking lazy about it.
Please PLEASE make an effort to correct your children. Yeah- it's cute when they're little- but it won't be so cute when they're applying for a job or trying to write a paper and they sound like hicks (unless they're trying to get a job on Duck Dynasty. If that's the case, then by all means, encourage the hick out of them).
[Stepping off my soapbox]
And now for the people I have offended- here are some of my favorite grammar related pins:
2 comments:
Bakeshow - I totally get what your saying but sometimes their just will be people whom don't pay attention to what they are saying even if they actually do no rules of spelling, grammar, and punctuation. At least they are getting their point across rather then just letting it all go for lack of a solid grasp of the hire principals of the English language. Paul and me argue about this all the time.
:) You know I jest. And that every mistake above was intentional. hahaha
I am afraid to speak to you now. Heck, I'm afraid to even comment on your blog. XOXO
Post a Comment