Grammatical Errors You Can't Stand

[latecomer91364]

There's bound to be a post about this in here somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look for it.

I never hate people, but I hate it when people incorrectly use 'I' instead of 'me'.

For example: "A woman came over and spoke to James and I", or similar. I've heard this mistake from Fortune 500 executives, Presidents (both parties), and celebrities (who, honestly, I don't expect to be all that smart anyway).

The rule I remember for which is correct: Remove the other person from the sentence, and the correct pronoun will reveal itself:

"A woman came over and spoke to me."

That's one of my biggest foibles.

What's yours?

PS: don't even get me started on whether 'its' needs an apostrophe within its context.

 

[sr71plt]

I don't go all the way to "can't stand" on grammatical errors, but the flip side of the OP example tells me a lot about the writer--putting the "I" or, more usually, the "me" before the other person (e.g., "I and Matilda swung on a chandelier" or "Me and Fred wallowed in the mud.").

And another flip side I find notable is the use of pristine grammar in dialogue by an uneducated person. Missing a chance to establish character there as well as being unrealistic.

 

[Handley_Page]

'Your' for 'You're'

 

[SimonDoom]

I started a thread similar to this one shortly after I'd started publishing stories, about 7 months ago or so. Attention to grammar, style, and spelling definitely influence my ability to enjoy a story. But I've gotten more forgiving about these things as a reader on this site over time, for a few reasons:

(1) I came to realize many readers on this site don't care that much about spelling and grammar, and they will reward stories that have good characters and an entertaining storyline even if the spelling is poor, so it's somewhat pointless here to take a grammar Nazi posture. It's not appreciated, and it's easy to understand why.

(2) I discovered how easy it is when you self-edit to let errors get through in one's stories that make it look like one doesn't know grammar even the error really is just a typo. I've done this quite a few times, to my chagrin. I think I published a story that used "your" for "you're", for example, and that's just embarrassing.

(3) Different authors see this site very differently. Some authors like to publish many stories, without having to work too hard to polish the prose and grammar to a high finish, and that's fine.

That said, for me, the errors that stick out are not grammatical errors, as such, but the following four things, all of which are common on this site but which can be eliminated with a modest amount of diligence:

1) Spelling mistakes that could be corrected immediately with the use of a spellchecker. There's no reason not to use this before submitting a story for publication. I've seen common words spelled in ways I didn't think possible, and the use of a spellchecker would have dealt with this error immediately.

2) Unconscious shifting of tense from present to past and back.

3) Unconscious shifting of point of view from first person to third person and back.

4) Unconscious changing of names. I.e., halfway through the story Bob becomes Bill. I have done this! Without thinking, halfway through a story in one line I suddenly stopped using the main female character's name and in its place used the name of a female character from another story I'd just written. It happened just once, but readers caught it and said it was distracting. So I changed it and submitted the story again.

 

[rjordan]

I started a thread similar to this one shortly after I'd started publishing stories, about 7 months ago or so. Attention to grammar, style, and spelling definitely influence my ability to enjoy a story. But I've gotten more forgiving about these things as a reader on this site over time, for a few reasons:

Same here. If the story is otherwise entertaining and the characters interest me, I can overlook the common spelling and grammatical errors. I'm more bothered by name changes or continuity problems that make me go back through the story trying to figure out what's gong on.

Some spelling/grammar errors are fun. I think of them as Easter Eggs. I read a story a couple days ago here where the guy felt himself "push past her spinster". Spell checkers don't find things like that and sometimes I'm glad of it.

rj

 

[oggbashan]

There are few that I can't stand but a couple that slightly irritate:

Misuse of less and fewer. If you can count them, they're fewer. If you can't they're less. Fewer plums; less cream.

Apostrophes - but the UK greengrocer trade has made a point of deliberately misusing apostrophes for decades - tomato's; potato's. Someone on a market stall found that if they misused apostrophes people would stop to correct them - and the discussion often led to a sale...

Modifiers with unique. 'Almost unique' I can accept. 'nearly unique'? Perhaps. 'All of them were unique'? No thank you.

txt speak in a story. txt speak in dialogue to establish character? Yes, but not otherwise.

Dialect or foreign mannerisms in dialogue? Too easily overdone. A flavour or hint is enough. Continuous use of Mockney or Franglais? No. Kipling's Indian Army stories and worst his Stalky stories are terrible. As a contemporary serving Indian Army soldier put it - "No soldier ever spoke like Kipling's soldiers".

 

[jaF0]

I don't too wound up in typos or common grammar gremlins if the story flows well. I know the vast majority of people don't speak too good in real life, so I don't expect it in writing.

What torques me off is chat speak. I thoroughly despise it in all forms, even as slang which definitely has a place in informal writing. Text/Chat speak never has a place, anywhere.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Then / Than - I just have to stop. I do have to say that I sometimes make the same mistake. It has something to do with my typing in most cases, just as I leave the "r" off "your" a lot. I try to catch them in edit, but sometimes they slip through.

 

[quietlylooking]

There's bound to be a post about this in here somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look for it.

I never hate people, but I hate it when people incorrectly use 'I' instead of 'me'.

For example: "A woman came over and spoke to James and I", or similar. I've heard this mistake from Fortune 500 executives, Presidents (both parties), and celebrities (who, honestly, I don't expect to be all that smart anyway).

The rule I remember for which is correct: Remove the other person from the sentence, and the correct pronoun will reveal itself:

"A woman came over and spoke to me."

That's one of my biggest foibles.

What's yours?

PS: don't even get me started on whether 'its' needs an apostrophe within its context.

Along the same lines: using the word "myself" instead of "me:

"The group consisted of my husband, my lover, and myself"

Also, the many "discrete" cheating spouses on Lit... don't get me started...

 

[hylas_]

Agree with Simon here. Correct language is always a plus, but at the end of the day, I came here to read something arousing. As long as the mistakes don't distract from that too much... but unintentional shifts in tense or POV bother me the most.

 

[HeyAll]

Two separate sentences combined as one

 

[Trinique_Fire]

Could of, would of, should of.

 

[FantasyXY]

I don't hate grammatical errors. In fact I find most of them rather amusing. The one that seems to disrupt my reading the most seems to be the miss use of there, and their. I'm not sure why that one makes me stumble so much when I read. Maybe it goes back to the old nag of an English teacher I had in grade school constantly harping about it.

What I do hate when it comes to grammatical errors are the Grammar Nazis with their holier than thou, look what I know, you're always wrong and I'm always right, I'm so fucking special attitude. That just drives me nuts.

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't hate grammatical errors. In fact I find most of them rather amusing. The one that seems to disrupt my reading the most seems to be the miss use of there, and their. I'm not sure why that one makes me stumble so much when I read. Maybe it goes back to the old nag of an English teacher I had in grade school constantly harping about it.

What I do hate when it comes to grammatical errors are the Grammar Nazis with their holier than thou, look what I know, you're always wrong and I'm always right, I'm so fucking special attitude. That just drives me nuts.

There v Their (and of course, they're) is annoying to read, but it's easy to do. I've done it while drafting, and had to catch it later while proofing. It can get through spellchecking. It's a typo that can make the author look like he/she doesn't know grammar.

 

[Halin24]

I'm well aware that my use of the English language is far from perfect. One reason is that I'm Swedish, another that it is 30+ years since I studied it. I do however react to many of the faults mentioned above. My main issue is when key words are left out though.

Why? Probably because I have to guess what was meant, and my vocabulary is rather limited. If the word is there and I don't understand it I can look it up. When it's missing all I can do is guess. It's not a frequent problem but it has happened that I have stopped reading because of it.

What I see as my own main problem when writing is the use of apostrophes. I just can't seem to find the rule for the use. The spell-checker is no help with that at all. Then, of course, it is the way to build a sentence. Often enough I build the sentence in Swedish when I write in English too. I know it's backwards when I focus but being tired I miss it.

 

[My I]

There's bound to be a post about this in here somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look for it.

I never hate people, but I hate it when people incorrectly use 'I' instead of 'me'.

For example: "A woman came over and spoke to James and I", or similar. I've heard this mistake from Fortune 500 executives, Presidents (both parties), and celebrities (who, honestly, I don't expect to be all that smart anyway).

The rule I remember for which is correct: Remove the other person from the sentence, and the correct pronoun will reveal itself:

"A woman came over and spoke to me."

That's one of my biggest foibles.

What's yours?

PS: don't even get me started on whether 'its' needs an apostrophe within its context.

So which is grammatically correct? "Billy loves Susie more than me." or "Billy loves Susie more than I."

 

[Jimmythekinkygoat]

I'll quite quickly give up reading a story if the writer has consistently made grammatical errors of any kind, a couple here and there don't bother me though. What'll stop me in my tracks is a change of tense or perspective mid-paragraph or sentence. It just kills the story.

 

[SimonDoom]

So which is grammatically correct? "Billy loves Susie more than me." or "Billy loves Susie more than I."

Are you saying Billy loves Susie more than you love Susie? In that case, I. Or are you saying Billy loves Susie more Billy loves you? In that case, me. The sentence needs more clarity.

 

[igottapussy]

What I find alarming and annoying is the ever-increasing omission of 'ed' from verbs. I've seen it in news stories (one this morning, in fact). Can't find it now, but it said that something 'happen' instead of 'happened.' I'm seeing this trend more and more and it annoys the hell out of me. No easier way to scream "I'm illiterate!" than this.

 

[latecomer91364]

So which is grammatically correct? "Billy loves Susie more than me." or "Billy loves Susie more than I."

While it's true that it is an ambiguous sentence, if you mean your love for Susie is not as great as Billy's, I feel (my own opinion) that while technically grammatically correct, it's awkward. For clarity: Billy loves Susie more than I do (or 'ever could' etc.).

 

[jaF0]

No easier way to scream "I'm illiterate!" than this.

Well, there is 'igottawhatever'.

 

[sr71plt]

Are you saying Billy loves Susie more than you love Susie? In that case, I. Or are you saying Billy loves Susie more Billy loves you? In that case, me. The sentence needs more clarity.

Right, neither one is correct. It's either:

"Billy loves Susie more than he love me."

of

"Bill loves Susie more than I love her."

Which, of course, have different means that neither of the original clarifies.

 

[OldJourno]

Homophones are the bane of most of us, at least before self-editing.
Not speaking of Lit but more about newspapers, the worst homophone is "diffuse" for "defuse," because they generally mean the opposite or what the writer is trying to convey.
Someone is attempting to stop (defuse) a problem rather than spread (diffuse) it.

Another common error regards reining and reigning, so much so that I find myself stopping and thinking about the word that was used whenever I see it in print.
Rein is something you do with a horse, reign may be associated with any of France's kings, all of them generally regarded as horse's asses.

 

[jehoram]

Another common error regards reining and reigning, so much so that I find myself stopping and thinking about the word that was used whenever I see it in print.
Rein is something you do with a horse, reign may be associated with any of France's kings, all of them generally regarded as horse's asses.

That's because of the use of the phrase "free rein." That's from when you're riding a horse and drop the reins, allowing the horse to go where it wants. Most people wouldn't know a rein from a jock strap, since they've never ridden a horse. But they know what a reign is, and assumes that the phrase is "free reign" meaning that the king can do what he wants. Logical, but wrong.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

The contractions and their apostrophes are where I draw the line. Your for You're, Its for it's, and so on. Once is maybe ok - goofs are goofs. Twice - you don't know the language and I'm done with you. It's really provoking in work email, because you know the mail program pointed it out and they ignored it.

Affect/effect also sets me off.

Reign doesn't bug me as much, but this video made me fall in love with Kory Stamper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fV4TPLyQYE
1:32 to the end is the fall in love moment.