Proper grammar

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by Klink258, May 31, 2008.

  1. Klink258

    Klink258 Ancient
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    We're - We are
    We're over here.

    Were - past tense state of being
    We were over there, but now we're here.


    Your - possession
    Is this your thing?

    You're - you are
    You're crazy.


    's is possession if an object.
    's is contracted "is" if not.

    It's not fair.
    To have its own gender would be great.

    They're - they are
    They're crazy!
    Their - Possession
    It's their dog.
    There - location
    Over there is the dog.

    ------
    /petpeeve
     
    #1 Klink258, May 31, 2008
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2008
  2. Tex

    Tex Ancient
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    Isn't "Its his thing" possessive?

    Therefore it should be It is his thing?
    Therefore it should be It's his thing?

    Correct me if I'm wrong...As this is probably some technicality that I'm missing...But uh...ya
     
  3. bnasty574

    bnasty574 Ancient
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    usually when you see a ' it means something is a contraction. So that would be saying
    "Its his thing" is possessive whilst "It's his thing" would mean "It is his thing"
     
  4. Mikey

    Mikey Guest

    Klink used a bad example for "Its"

    It's his thing is the correct statement.

    It's his thing = It is his thing

    Now an example for its would be something like...

    "Its (the lion's) habitat is endangered"

    Its is usually used to explain the ownership of an object or a non-human organism, like in this case the lion.
     
  5. Tex

    Tex Ancient
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    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! i had to post 3 times in shoutbox for someone to reply, and got nothing still...i thought my knowledge of english was failing epicaly...<3 for mike
     
  6. Pegasi

    Pegasi Ancient
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    Exactly. The possessive "its" is kind of an anomaly. The principle is the same as words like "his" and "theirs". Possessive of "he" = "his" and possessive of "they" = "theirs" (or just "their" sometimes, I know .eg "their house" or "the house is theirs". I'm pretty sure this is due to "they" already being a plural). No apostrophes because the word changes as opposed to just being extended.

    But "its" doesn't have an apostrophe even though it is just extended, the same is true of "her" and "hers" (which is even more confusing considering what I just said about "his"). A teacher once explained that this was just to continue the principle outlined above, but I think its because the English language is so old and convoluted that rules make less and less sense as time goes on. As a grammar obsessed English student I came to this conclusion a while ago..

    Also:

    There're = There are (plural)
    There's = There is (singular)

    eg.
    There're 20 melons in the bag = There are 20 melons...
    There's 1 melon in the bag = There is 1 melon...

    Dunno about America but in England " There're " seems to be dying out, with people saying " There's " even if its plural. This only confuses matters more and makes the rules more and more senseless.

    Thanks for this thread, makes me feel better about being so obsessive ;)
     
  7. Mikey

    Mikey Guest

    I know improper grammar is one of my pet peeves too...

    "Yo wht B3 h@PpeNinG GeE?"

    or

    "guyz u no tht thing on utube? that vid with all those vus?"

    I know I am exaggerating a bit, haha

    The only time I do not use full proper grammar is if I am texting or if I am typing with one hand while I am eating.
     
  8. Pegasi

    Pegasi Ancient
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    I eat and type alot :p and am guilty then too.

    But I just got this new mobile phone with a full qwerty keyboard, its a HTC smartphone kind of like a blackberry. No I'm not a businessman or really pretentious, it was really cheap. But now all my texts are typed properly :) it makes people think I'm even more sad though...

    And those examples, I see alot of that and everytime I do I die a little inside... The net seems to have become an excuse to be a retard
     
    #8 Pegasi, Jun 1, 2008
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2008
  9. Markkus

    Markkus Ancient
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    grammar doesn't need to be good all the time, only for special things. When your not using grammar, its basically using txt language.
     
  10. Pegasi

    Pegasi Ancient
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    I agree with you in principle. Language has 1 purpose - to convey something, to communicate whatever the speaker or writer is trying to communicate. Once that message has been communicated then language has served its purpose (excluding language for the sake of art or literature where nuances of language can make all the difference, but I digress). So if grammar is not quite correct but everyone listening or reading understands the message then language has served its purpose and the technicalities don't strictly matter.

    The problem comes when people change grammar or words so much that some people can't understand it anymore, leet for example. This is especially true on the net as there are so many different nationalities present, many of whom read English sites even though its a second language for them. For many of these people, they have learnt English in a class room and not through living with it so when people use very different grammar or words then they can find it hard to understand, try to remember the net is an international community with English as 1 of its (no apostrophe) dominant languages.

    When this is not the case and the small changes don't matter, then its just me being obsessive about, but I can't help it, I just can't... I'm sorry, feel free to ignore my niggles and talk how you want, most people I know do..
     
    #10 Pegasi, Jun 1, 2008
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2008
  11. Tex

    Tex Ancient
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    I do speak properly the majority of the time, though there are times where I don't find it to be a necessity, or I just get flat out lazy...One way or the other, does it really matter if someone doesn't use the correct grammar? I mean honestly, why do the little things always seem to be the things that piss people off the most?
     
  12. opothehippo

    opothehippo Ancient
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    lol y not we r w3 cannot u53 gud garamar?/

    I agree that good grammer should be used.
     
  13. ToochieHxC

    ToochieHxC Ancient
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    proper grammar FTW.
     
  14. OMG Productions

    OMG Productions Ancient
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    I always use proper grammar, except on MySpace.
    but even then i just type like this
     
  15. Chong

    Chong Ancient
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    Thats one of the only reason I post on any forums, whether it be bungie or forgehub, to improve two things, grammer, and typing speed/accuracy the former because I'm probably going to be majoring in some form of liturature and the latter becuase in this day and age you almost have trouble functioning (or at least I would) withouta proficient typing ability.
     
  16. COMMANDERMATT1

    COMMANDERMATT1 Ancient
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    agreed. i always try to type with good grammer because its hard for me to read is what i call "computer talk". and thats why i also have stopped going to bungie.net because every little kid on the forums uses bad grammer so then i cant read it.
     
  17. Azrius

    Azrius Ancient
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    I hold myself to rather high standards regarding my grammar and sentence structure on the internet. I couldn't care less about how anyone else chooses to express what they're thinking.
     
  18. Tex

    Tex Ancient
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    rofl, does anyone else see how this totally bashes the hell out of that "1337" speaking group (i have no idea what there name is exactly, but you get my point)

    rofloflofloflofl
     
  19. DARKLORD123456

    DARKLORD123456 Ancient
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    uhhh maybe i could learn sometihng frm this thread lol. ive been tld by ppl on thiss board my grmmar is under the standards lolz. mann i need to stp tht :)
     
  20. Pegasi

    Pegasi Ancient
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    I like that more people are agreeing with this thread, its a little sinister, but I like it. And yes I hate 1337, I don't like to insult anyone and 'each to their own' etc. but there are 26 perfectly good letters, use them.

    Any JDoerr, I'm doing a literature degree (I'm from the UK, but I think thats the same as a major) right now and, for me at least, both proper grammar and a good typing ability are essential as all assignments must be word processed at my university. So much so that my writing speed has suffered due to mostly using computers.
     

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