About the gender thing, the english language itself has no genders associated with simple objects, such as a pencil, or a strawberry. BUT in english, some people DO refer to their cars as females, their guitars as females, their boats as females, etc. Also, i think "postings" would have worked fine in liue of "posts", though i'm not too sure.. Flores, the thing about english is our language has many rules, and every rule is broken often. Plus, pronunciation is just plain STUPID. For example, you could spell the word "fish" as "ghoti" the "gh" from "enouGH" the "o" from "wOmen" the "ti" from "naTIon" Also, modern english DOES have "thrice" as a word, but it's hardly used. PS - about genders, most things are english are referred to as he. "what that dog doing?" - "He's pissing on your car" etc, there are other examples..but for some reason i c an't think of any... oh, and FLORES - whats your native language, out of curiosity?
<i>PS - about genders, most things are english are referred to as he. "what that dog doing?" - "He's pissing on your car" </i> "What is that dog doing?" - "<i>It</i> is pissing on your car" Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
What kind of a threat is that? Add me to your list. I could care less. Feel better now? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
So, when I'll have a doubt, I'll use "it". Don't worry about genders : I'm used to its in French where it doesn't follow any rules. While I was writing these sentences, I thought about a question... That's not really a problem : do you make a difference between "I'll" and "I will"? I mean, I know that it's the same but I would say that the first one is used in "current" language while the second one is used in "written" language. Isn't it? That's the same with "I'm" and "I am".
Good question. I was actually thinking about that when I was writing this. I think, if I remember correctly, that the capital "E" is used when it is a nound and lowercase "e" when it is an adjective. "That is an english tea pot." "I am writing this in English." I am not sure, however. Anyone know?
I think, if I remember correctly, that the capital "E" is used when it is a nound and lowercase "e" when it is an adjective. Uh...what's a nound? Sorry, yes I know it is just a typo, but it sounded so funny!
Thanks for the Info. I agree that while English is one of the most efficient languages for today's use....ie. We are hadly in the business of writing great poems or composing moving speaches. My native Language is Arabic.
My monthly moaning post I don't like these threads. A large part of the internet users are not native english speakers. They will make mistakes. But they try to express themselves in a foreign language. On the other hand english native speakers quickly complain about these minor errors. Most of these errors will not stand in the way of understanding the sentence. And many native englsih speakers do not even know a second language (ok...feel free now to post: 'but I do, I know at least 20!'). Most of them wouldn't even dream about posting in a foreign language forum. And yet we do, and we do the best we can. So we make a few mistakes. Who cares? This is the internet after all. We speak engrish here.
A couple that bug me... It's --- used only as a contraction of "it is." The apostrophe does not indicate possession. Its --- possessive form. I know, it violates the rule to use an apostrophe to indicate possession... I've seen these words confused a few times on this board: Accept (to receive or admit) with except (with the exclusion of). Effect with affect. If you don't understand this one, go to a dictionary yourself Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!. Wow, that felt good to get off my chest. Thanks for the thread one_raven!
<i>"I think, if I remember correctly, that the capital "E" is used when it is a nound and lowercase "e" when it is an adjective."</i> <i>Proper adjectives</i> are capitalized till common usage turns them into <i>descriptive adjectives</i>. A proper adjective is a proper noun that is used to modify another noun. American (proper noun) <i>American</i> soldier (used as a proper adjective) I'm not certain about the capitalization of the <i>E</i> in the proper adjective <i>English</i>, but my guess is that ,yes, it is still capitalized and has not yet evolved into a descriptive adjective: <b><i>English</i> language</b>. A current dictionary should offer current (popular) usage. The rules change with time--depending on what <i>most</i> people are doing with the language. I myself kind of like making my own rules. It's easier than chasing the ass of a crowd? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Not true! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Apostrophe's nominate possession too, so 'it's' and 'its'' are used when talking about an object.
Grrrr. I've never had a problem with Accept and Except. It's Effect and Affect that bug the hell out of me. I don't know why. Its just like a mental block. Im always questioning myself with those ones... Anyway Later, T
Queen's Englisj The English language has evolved right along with us. I was so happy to see this thread started! I, too, am a verbophile. Although we communicate somewhat casually on sciforums, our point is more well-taken if our grammar and punctuation reflects standard usage. However, in America, our present language is an offshoot of the Queen's English. When the early settlers brought the Queen's English to the colonies, the language started to incorporate Native American words like "Manhattan," "Chappaquiddick," and "Kaine-tuck" (Kentucky). As more immigrants arrived from Western Europe, we included words they brought from their native lands like, "morgen" (morning), "nacht" (night), and "schule" (school) from Germany. Actually, the Germanic-derived words, for the most part evolved into English words via England and not directly to America. The English language was by this time was decidely filtered into something the Queen herself couldn't understand! Then came the Southern and Eastern Europeans with their native tongues blending into the already filtered English language with words like "polka," "borscht," and "goulash." (These aren't ideal examples but the only ones I could think of just now). Generation after generation in America, the language evolved into they way we communicate today. "It takes two to tango," is now verbalized by the under-30 group as "It takes two to tangle." (This was the predominant answer on a standardized college entrance exam in 1998). All verbal language came out of Phoenicia and spread out like a fan shape Northwest to Europe, North to Scandinavia, Northeast to Eastern Europe, West Southwest to Asia, South Southwest to South America and on to the South Pacific. As we evolve, so does our language. What we speak today in the United States we call English, but this is no longer true. Today, we speak American.
I was kind of pissed off when I had learned that you couldn't use "it's" as a possession. I know so many people, including myself that learn in high school that using "it's" as a possession is proper. Apparently, according to my univ. English prof. this is not true. Of course I will take my profs word over my High Schhool teachers word but I know for a fact that it is not just my HS teacher. I would bet that the majority of Alberta and Sask. teachers tell all of their students that "it's" can be used in a possessive nature. Who knows, this could be a problem across Canada AND the US. You'd think we'd get correct information going through school, maybe it isn't so.
I don't think necromancy of your own creations (especially of helpful ones like these) is a sin here. Is it? I was actully looking for this thread several months back, but couldn't figure out how to find it. I thought of this thread again tonight (after reading someone's post) and it struck me out of the blue that I used the word "yore" somewhere in it, and that was the anchor I could search for. I think it's a classic. And I honestly do think people could learn something from it, because these are very common mistakes - especially for those learning English, like ESL students, youngsters and Brent.
