PSA: English Grammar MEGA THREAD (All Your Grammar Are Belong To Us)

[Linguofreak]

Break:(Past tense: Broke) To damage, or destroy, an object (usually inanimate - can also refer to portions of the body, especially bones).

eg: I broke your phone. It is broken. Next I'm going to break your computer.

Note well that "It is broke" is not correct, though it may be common dialect for some. The correct usage is "It is broken".

The issue of past participles with vs. without -en reminds me of one Britishism that always causes cognitive dissonance whenever I hear it: "got" as the universal past participle of "get". On this side of the pond "get" as in "receive" or "become" has the past participle "gotten", and then we have "got" as a special form in the phrase "have got" meaning "have".

For instance:

He's gone and gotten himself killed -> He took actions that resulted in his death.
I've gotten a letter -> I have received a letter.
I've got a letter -> I have a letter.

From what I've heard of British usage, you'd say:

He's gone and got himself killed.
I've got a letter.
I've got a letter.

The first example just sounds weird when I hear it in the British form, and the second example becomes indistinguishable from the third.

 

[Xyon]

Either is correct from my point of view. Got and gotten are interchangeable, but got is more commonly used for either.

 

[Linguofreak]

Either is correct from my point of view. Got and gotten are interchangeable, but got is more commonly used for either.

I have spoken with some Brits who thought "gotten" sounded horribly weird, and even interchangeability creates problems in my dialect, as switching the two words can cause a change of meaning.

Being a [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_linguistics"]linguistics minor[/ame], I'm certainly not saying that the British usage is wrong, just that my brain complains about "got" in example one, and is liable to misinterpret example two if "got" is used there.

 

[Xyon]

Actually for examples two and three, the differentiation is more commonly on the "I".

I've got a letter - I am in possession of a letter.
I got a letter - I received a letter.

 

[Wishbone]

Now won't you please return all your ill-begotten gains to the Nigerian astronaut in the other thread?

 

[Xyon]

He's in the other thread? I thought he was stuck on a secret Soviet space station?

I smell a RAT!

 

[JEL]

"merry", "Mary", and "marry"

:lol: Here's a fun little example of just that:

 

[Jarvitä]

English abuse pet peeve thread?

alot vs. a lot

 

[orb]

alot vs. a lot

This story made my day. :rofl:

 

[Ghostrider]

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

 

[JEL]

a variometer can vary very much.

 

[streb2001]

If it is in it then it's its, but if it is it then it's it's!

 

[Xyon]

PSA: For all intents and purposes:

I heard someone butcher this phrase today, not for the first time. What came out of her mouth would be best translated as:

For all intensive porpoises.

Ohmyfail. Right.

For all intents and purposes. Used to express effective completion. For example:

That meat is steak, for all intents and purposes.

This sentence actually suggests that the steak-quality of the meat is in dispute, but what it does is reinforces that, for whatever purpose you would care to put it to or whatever intents you may have for this particular piece of meat, it will be steak.

If, however, I were to say:

This meat is steak, for all intensive porpoises.

Then I would be left with a profound fear and sense of dread expecting to see an intensive porpoise whenever I turned a corner.

 

[JonnyBGoode]

I've seen it spelled as "intense and purposes", too.

 

[Ghostrider]

for all intensive porpoises

ZOMG! :facepalm:

That's enough for the meekest of men to join the Grammar Nazi Party.

 

[orb]

The nominative singular pronoun "I"

The nominative singular (first person subject) pronoun, "I", is always written in uppercase.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME ik, ich, i; OE ic, ih; c. G ich, ON ek, L ego, Gk egṓ, OCS azŭ, Lith aš, Skt ahám


The most common theory is that when the old English "ich" (like in German) became reduced to "i", it could easily get attached to the end or beginning of another word, so scribes and later printers took the habit of capitalizing it. (source)

 

[Wishbone]

"hair-brained" vs. "hare-brained"

 

[RisingFury]

Than and then...

 

[Xyon]

Try fleshing it out a bit rather than making a single-line post about a grammatical "quirk" which irks you. This is a thread of PSAs, after all.

 

[orb]

PSA: Indefinite article "a" / "an"

Our last PSA was about a letter "I". Now it's time for a letter "a", and why it's sometimes "an". :lol:

–indefinite article

1. not any particular or certain one of a class or group: a man; a chemical; a house.
2. a certain; a particular: one at a time; two of a kind; A Miss Johnson called.
3. another; one typically resembling: a Cicero in eloquence; a Jonah.
4. one (used before plural nouns that are preceded by a quantifier singular in form): a hundred men (compare hundreds of men); a dozen times (compare dozens of times).
5. indefinitely or nonspecifically (used with adjectives expressing number): a great many years; a few stars.
6. one (used before a noun expressing quantity): a yard of ribbon; a score of times.
7. any; a single: not a one.

Origin:

bef. 950; ME; OE ān one in a weakened sense​

—Usage note

In both spoken and written English the choice of "a" or "an" is determined by the initial sound of the word that follows. Before a consonant sound, "a" is used; before a vowel sound, "an": a book, a rose; an apple, an opera. Problems arise occasionally when the following word begins with a vowel letter but actually starts with a consonant sound, or vice versa. Some words beginning with the vowel letter "u" and all words beginning with the vowel letters "eu" are pronounced with a beginning consonant sound, as if the first letter were "y": a union; a European. Some other spellings that begin with a vowel letter may also stand for an initial consonant sound: a ewe; a ewer. The words one and once and all compounds of which they are the first element begin with a "w" sound: a one-room apartment; a once-famous actor.

The names of the consonant letters "f", "h", "l", "m", "n", "r", "s", and "x" are pronounced with a beginning vowel sound. When these letters are used as words or to form words, they are preceded by "an": to rent an L-shaped studio; to fly an SST. The names of the vowel letter "u" and the semivowel letters "w" and "y" are pronounced with a beginning consonant sound. When used as words, they are preceded by "a": a U-turn; The plumber installed a Y in the line.

In some words beginning with the letter "h", the "h" is not pronounced; the words actually begin with a vowel sound: an hour; an honor. When the "h" is strongly pronounced, as in a stressed syllable at the beginning of a word, it is preceded by "a": a history of the Sioux; a hero sandwich. (In former times "an" was used before strongly pronounced "h" in a stressed first syllable: an hundred.) Such adjectives as historic, historical, heroic, and habitual, which begin with an unstressed syllable and often with a silent or weakly pronounced "h", are commonly preceded by "an", especially in British English. But the use of "a" rather than "an" is widespread in both speech and writing: a historical novel; a habitual criminal. Hotel and unique are occasionally preceded by "an", but this use is increasingly old-fashioned. Although in some dialects "an" has yielded to "a" in all cases, edited writing reflects usage as described above.​

________________________________________

–preposition

each; every; per: ten cents a sheet; three times a day.​

Origin:

orig. ME a, preconsonantal var. of "on"; confused with indefinite article "a"​

________________________________________

–preposition

Pronunciation Spelling. a reduced, unstressed form of of (often written as part of a single, unhyphenated word): cloth a gold; time a day; kinda; sorta.​

Origin:

ME; unstressed preconsonantal var. of "of"​

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 (source: dictionary.com)
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