English grammar, anyone?
 

Here are 3 typical types of sentences one hears. Do any of them contain incorrect grammar?

Re: English grammar, anyone?
 

1 and 3 have obvious errors. I'm not sure where you were headed with 2.

I didn't read any of the other post yet. Honestly. I'm not that great with grammar but...
1. Well, I could of been better if I’d practiced more.
To my ear that sounds wrong.

2. Ted and Greg are scheduled to play a chess match. May the best man win.
Probably an improper use of a personal pro noun by today's standards;) Though grammarly it sounded OK to me. *Pretty sure grammarly isn't a word.

3. Both Paula and me attended the class.
Isn't it suppose to be Paula and I?

There, how did I do?

Re: English grammar, anyone?
 

Obviously, #1 should have "have" instead of "of". (See what I did there? Preceded each word in question with itself?) ;)

#3's been corrected by CR.

I don't see anything wrong with #2. (The two sentences could be separated by a comma or a hyphen, but either way they still seem correct even as separate sentences.)

Re: English grammar, anyone?
 

My pet peeve these days is how so many people begin sentences with the word "so".

"So" is a synonym for "thus" or "therefore" - yet people who haven't been speaking start out their sentence as if they've already built a preface adding up to a conclusion.

Traditionally, "so" is also used when you've been interrupted and try to continue as in "so, as I was saying".

And then of course there's the usage as in "It's raining so hard outside!" Here it's used as an intensifier.

To me, starting out a sentence with "so" sounds rude, even in answer to a question because it sounds as if you are saying you've been interrupted and are now trying to continue to speak.

Grammar is just the rich man’s way of saying “no, no dear sir/madam. you do not belong to our cohort”

ain’t it the truth!?

Guilty. To me starting a sentence with 'so' is like starting to speak by saying 'uhm'. By that I mean, its like a pause before you say what you want to say. I liked to use 'so' in post as it sounds more like informal talk. Same with starting a sentence with 'And'. It just seems to me like a naturally sounding segue to two connecting thoughts. But bare in mind I no nutin bout grammar, including which form of bear-bare to use in this sentence? It must be bare?

Eugh. I hate that.

I also hate the misuse of 'worse'.

I.e. - "Batman Begins is the worse film in the trilogy"

It's bear. Bare is naked. Unless you mean naked, always go bear. :)

Not bad, bro! #1 sounds wrong because it is wrong. Correct usage is, "...I could have been better", or ..."I could've been better". My guess is that folks who don't visualize words tend to use "could of" because it sounds like "could've".

#2 is incorrect usage because when there are only two, one may be better than the other, not best of the other. It should read, "May the better man win." If there are 3 or more, one can say "May the best man win".
[I think the word you're looking for is "grammatically".

#3 You're right. It should read "Paula and I". But one sees me/I and he/him (or she/her) and they/them goofs all the time...;)

I agree. I don't recall hearing it much from the common man, but more from people trying to connote that they have a higher understanding. But to me it sounds pretentious or imperious.

I listen to a lot of interviews of doctors and intellectuals, where the use of "So..." to start every answer is ubiquitous. IMO it sounds affected or pompous. In actuality it could simply be replacing, "Well...".

It reminds me of "artsy" people who use the expression "sort of" (sounding like "sort-uv") in nearly every sentence-- probably the type who wear scarves placed just so around their necks, like a uniform in order to designate themselves as artists...:rolleyes:

What especially bugs me is when Jeopardy has it's Teachers' Tournament and 90% of the English teachers start off answering their interview questions with "So..." (as if they'd been in the middle of telling a story but then Ken Jennings or Mayim Bialik rudely interrupted them)!

Re: English grammar, anyone?
 

I weren't never any good at grammar, but sometimes I get it right.

I noticed all 3 errors immediately. #1 in particular is a pet peeve of mine.

Another common error I notice is people saying loose, rather than lose.

Re: English grammar, anyone?
 

Most of these kinds of errors are typos and not grammatical errors.

Not sure I agree with the best/better distinction. Best is still relative to context, it doesn't imply universality. If it did you'd almost never be able to use it. I guess you might say it's a little superfluous, but that'd be a stylistic complaint and not a grammatical one.

Re: English grammar, anyone?
 

I know one thing, I can't spell grammar. Every time I've typed it in this thread I've typed grammer. If it wasn't for spell check, well you know.

What's the problem with #2?

Kelsey Grammer appreciates you, Citizen Rules! ;)
(And he says another re-watch of Down Periscope is in order!)

Best vs better, although I'm not sure if it's incorrect rather than preferred, but there's nothing else in the sentence that it could be.