Grammatical Incongruities: If only you had went to English class!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

If only you had went to English class!

While posting the last entry, this popped into my head. I hear this so much, it makes my head spin. I hear supposedly-intelligent people say this all the time! Did you grow up in the sticks? So deep in the sticks that there was no school for you to attend?

I should have went...
They could have went...
We might have went...

Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Went" is past tense.

I went to bed at 10 last night.
We went to the movies last weekend.
They went to Europe on vacation.

The grammar for which you're groping is perfect tense:

I should have gone...
They could have gone...
We might have gone...

Don't sound like an idiot! Use the correct tense! If you grew up speaking English, there's no excuse for this one!

1 comment:

allen said...: Jay: keep on keeping on, but I have a feeling that, like Canute before you, you might get your feet wet.

Can you have a go at the absurd modern habit of starting every bloody sentence with SO?

It came, it'll go, but like 'had went', it ain't half annoying in the meantime!

With respect,

Allen.; August 27, 2016 at 3:39 AM

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About Grammatical Incongruities

Grammar is an interesting beast. There are rules, yet those rules can change over time. Moreover, there are many exceptions to those rules. Not that I’m an expert on foreign languages, but, as I understand it, English tends to have more exceptions and oddities in its grammar than do other languages.

As a computer programmer and son of a Greek professor, grammar has been pounded into my little brain for some time (yes, computer languages have grammars, too). When I was young, I used to say to my dad “Mike and me are going to go play” (Mike was my best friend). He would ask “Is me going to play?” I would just smile and tell him he could come, too. Eventually, I got it right.

Now, as an adult, I am cursed to notice errors in grammar whenever I read anything or listen to anybody speak. As I get older, I try not to let it bother me so much. Not everyone cares as much as I do and it’s not really a critical part of life.

In any event, I find grammar interesting enough that I figured I’d put some of my thoughts down for the edification of others. Some of you might find practical answers here if English isn’t your first language. Others might just enjoy debating the nuances of our vast and complex language. I just hope we can all enjoy discussing and learning about the grammatical incongruities of the English language.

Grammatical Incongruities

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

If only you had went to English class!

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