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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.
English grammar, anyone?
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I was driving so just to touch on #2, it's always better to use er vs est when comparing 2 of anything. I'm not sure est is wrong, but it implies that there is more than 2, which is misleading. My dogs are the cutest dogs in the complex (true). If I'm only comparing them to 1 other dog or even no other dogs, I'm not lying obviously but I am misleading the listener.
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Hmm? I write that one off to colloquialism: "May the best man win" has been an established & traditional saying for a long time. I don't see it as incorrect in any way as it is saying may the best (of those competing in a particular contest) win - and we infer it's directly referring to the skills involved in the contest (not to things like a person's overall character).
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In that case I completely agree, but as a general rule when using those types of words it isn't the preferred choice.
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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.
"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.
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I constantly misspell guard somehow by typing gaurd.
If you know that you're misspelling it, then it's just a typo. Type slower and proofread.
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If you know that you're misspelling it, then it's just a typo. Type slower and proofread.
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No I don't realize I'm misspelling it until it's autocorrected. I'll probably stop now that I'm putting a spotlight on it.
When I do that, it's usually because my fingers type faster than my brain processes, so I try to slow down, and I proofread everything whenever possible.
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When I do that, it's usually because my fingers type faster than my brain processes, so I try to slow down, and I proofread everything whenever possible.
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Not me, I really have a mental block with that word.
I usually mix up the letters "n" and "m" while typing. Those two keys really shouldn't be right next to each other.
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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)!
What's the problem with #2
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Here's another classic:
Most women appear to be attracted to men who are taller than them.
Is there any incorrect grammar in that sentence?
Most women appear to be attracted to men who are taller than them.
Is there any incorrect grammar in that sentence?
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Here's another classic:
Most women appear to be attracted to men who are taller than them.
Is there any incorrect grammar in that sentence?
Most women appear to be attracted to men who are taller than them.
Is there any incorrect grammar in that sentence?
Most women appear to be attracted to men who are taller than they are.
But remember I suck and grammar.
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It's probably suppose to be:
Most women appear to be attracted to men who are taller than they are.
But remember I suck and grammar.
Most women appear to be attracted to men who are taller than they are.
But remember I suck and grammar.
And one doesn't need to add the "are" at the end, although putting it there makes clear which pronoun to use.
I think the improper use of "them" has become so common that the correct word sounds wrong...
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As a once-proofreader (I proofed & edited 2 books that have been published) I've come to realize in modern times that readability often trumps old rules of grammar. (Many "rules" are now considered outdated.)
This idea, of course, should only be carried out to a certain extent - grammar is also the first foundation of "readability" - without caps, commas, periods, quotation marks, etc., we wouldn't be able to easily understand anything that is written.
But I have found that there are often times where restructuring a sentence to make it more "comfortable" to the eyes and the voice-in-the-head that translates what the eyes have seen is more helpful than just sticking to hard rules of grammar. The optimum goal is to have sentences that are both grammatically correct and which have a "flow" of readability.
I think what made me a decent proofreader was the fact that I am NOT a grammar expert - I focus more on what looks right, what sounds right and what reads easily than I am on all the rules (most of which I don't fully understand).
This idea, of course, should only be carried out to a certain extent - grammar is also the first foundation of "readability" - without caps, commas, periods, quotation marks, etc., we wouldn't be able to easily understand anything that is written.
But I have found that there are often times where restructuring a sentence to make it more "comfortable" to the eyes and the voice-in-the-head that translates what the eyes have seen is more helpful than just sticking to hard rules of grammar. The optimum goal is to have sentences that are both grammatically correct and which have a "flow" of readability.
I think what made me a decent proofreader was the fact that I am NOT a grammar expert - I focus more on what looks right, what sounds right and what reads easily than I am on all the rules (most of which I don't fully understand).
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Here are 3 typical types of sentences one hears. Do any of them contain incorrect grammar?
1. Well, I could of been better if I’d practiced more.
2. Ted and Greg are scheduled to play a chess match. May the best man win.
3. Both Paula and me attended the class.
Do any of you have other examples?
Do any of you have other examples?
“could HAVE been better”…
May the BETTER man win…
Both Paula and I…
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Today I read the following in a movie industry web magazine:
"This past weekend the film only grossed a little over $4 million domestically. It also played in 455 less theaters."
Is there anything ungrammatical in this quote?
"This past weekend the film only grossed a little over $4 million domestically. It also played in 455 less theaters."
Is there anything ungrammatical in this quote?
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Today I read the following in a movie industry web magazine:
"This past weekend the film only grossed a little over $4 million domestically. It also played in 455 less theaters."
Is there anything ungrammatical in this quote?
"This past weekend the film only grossed a little over $4 million domestically. It also played in 455 less theaters."
Is there anything ungrammatical in this quote?
Even "Weird Al" knows this!
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Today I read the following in a movie industry web magazine:
"This past weekend the film only grossed a little over $4 million domestically. It also played in 455 less theaters."
Is there anything ungrammatical in this quote?
"This past weekend the film only grossed a little over $4 million domestically. It also played in 455 less theaters."
Is there anything ungrammatical in this quote?
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