tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34514774341135138752011-07-29T02:15:39.829-07:00Discussions of the intricacies and oddities of the English languageJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.comBlogger101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-74911546191880607832010-08-28T17:02:00.001-07:002010-08-28T17:06:11.164-07:00

...and the usage of the word "myriad" in the title of this blog post is one of them. This one is very simple. The word "myriad" is synonymous with "many." You wouldn't say "I have a many of hobbies," would you? No. You wouldn't. You would say "I have many hobbies." Likewise, you would say "There are myriad grammar errors perpetrated on mankind."

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-59167408010375534782007-10-31T22:47:00.000-07:002007-10-31T22:49:12.481-07:00

Engrish.com

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-90903860464293979642007-08-19T12:51:00.000-07:002008-01-05T12:18:00.538-08:00

As much as it pains me to use bad grammar, it helps me to make a point in an entertaining fashion. Well, maybe it's not really all that entertaining. Anyone who finds this grammar blog entertaining has a very sad excuse for a life and is very unattractive to the opposite sex...except maybe to other like-minded bores and nerds. I digress.A very common problem in the English language is the correct

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-3717714397630664542007-07-02T13:56:00.000-07:002007-07-02T14:27:26.862-07:00

Let me make this easy for you. There is no such word as irregardless. If you're speaking and are tempted to say irregardless, don't!Stop and think. In fact, the word you really want is actually easier to pronounce. You shouldn't even need to stop and think. It should just roll right off your tongue—and your very small brain. It's regardless. This is such a no-brainer that I'm having difficulty

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-39739655223381393092007-06-19T10:09:00.000-07:002007-07-02T14:28:00.027-07:00

There are probably few aspects of the English language that cause more confusion than using lay, lie, and associated variations. Let's start off by discussing a necessary foundation.It's important to know what a transitive verb is if you want to master laying and lying. A transitive verb functions in concert with an object. For example, "I hit the ball." Ball receives the action of the verb hit.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-54415281360649744792007-06-13T13:14:00.001-07:002007-07-02T14:28:07.758-07:00

This blog is extremely unique. In fact, it's more unique than any other blog I've ever seen before. Well, that may be pushing it, but I just know that most blogs aren't all that unique. Write down what I did today, write down what I may do tomorrow, blah, blah, blah.And why am I writing this? Well, in part, to annoy Bob. Yesterday, I discovered that Bob's really into grammar, too. In fact he may

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-46488451687677143792007-06-08T13:51:00.000-07:002007-07-02T14:28:16.733-07:00

I'm not a very good judge of character. There's one surefire way, however, to determine if someone is hoity-toity.We all know that me is a pronoun used as an object. For example, "Would you like to come to lunch with me?" or "Please give me the book." Why, then, do people commonly use I as an object when, clearly, it functions as a subject? For example, "I sleep eight hours a night."Well, it's

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-12843625244324305362007-06-07T10:25:00.000-07:002007-07-02T14:28:32.083-07:00

You would think that before a company puts and ad in a magazine (read by millions) or on TV (read by millions) or on a billboard (read by tens of thousands), they would have someone with half a brain check it for spelling and grammar. Or what about the sign in front of your store?It seems like, every so often, you see a pretty obvious (to the grammatically initiated, anyway) error of some sort in

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-38392000383304172112007-06-07T08:59:00.000-07:002007-06-11T13:44:13.592-07:00

Did you notice that the title of this post has three words that sound exactly the same? Enter the homonyms they're, their, and there. These words are commonly mixed up or confused with one another, a typical struggle encountered when using homonyms.Very simple, really. Here's the scoop:1) they're is a contraction (i.e., two words scrunched together with some stuff missing in the middle) of they

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3451477434113513875.post-10361721067198690332007-06-06T08:22:00.000-07:002007-06-11T13:44:29.326-07:00

The intricacy I want to point out is when to use "a" versus when to use "an." There is a common misunderstanding that you use "an" before words that start with a vowel. The converse is that you use "a" before words that start with a consonant. Here's an example using that thinking:Frank is a honorable man.Here's another:At the funeral on Saturday, Tim gave an eulogy.Using "a" in front of words

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345224230392616406noreply@blogger.com0