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Easy Grammar Fix

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Snag Breac

Snag Breac

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Veteran 10k Posts Collingwood Magpies - Alan Didak 2010 Player Sponsor
Oct 16, 2007
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GRAMMAR is a strange beast.

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Strange but necessary. I’m testing out this mini grammar-fix for use elsewhere. The idea is to provide a short, simple reference for students. Because so many kids write mostly in text, I find they’re often unsure about grammar when it comes to more formal writing such as homework. I’ve tried not to put in technical explanations or to tell the whole dull story – just the most salient points.

Please take a look and let me know if it’s clear enough to use. If there are any other grammatical points you think I should include, make a comment here or PM me.



I’ve listed some of the common grammatical mistakes on Big Footy Collingwood board. I’ve tried to make the sentences relevant if idiotic.
  • Your/You’re
Your is a possessive adjective. Use it only to suggest ownership.
Yourturn. Pull up your socks.
Who’s your favourite player? Heath Shaw.
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You’re is a short way of writing “You are”.
Never write; “Your right mate” when you mean: “You are right mate”.
You can abbreviate to; You’re right mate

  • Their/They’re/There
Their is used for possession (ownership) only.
It’s their team. They want to do it their way. (Never: It’s they’re team)

They’re is short for They are.
They’rethe best team in the league. (Never: Their the best team)

There is used to indicate location. Eg:
It’s over there. Are we there yet?
There is also used when we write, there is or there are.
We can shorten there is to there’s. Eg:
There’s no doubt that Collingwood will do well in 2008.
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. Using Of instead of Have as in Could of/Should of
This construction does not exist! Don’t use it, under pain of death. Eg.
We should of beaten Geelong. We could of won the Grand Final. AHHHH!

Never, never, never! Mistakes like this will lose us the premiership. When we write sentences like this, we’re writing about what has happened. We should write:
We should have slaughtered Geelong. We could have won the Grand Final.

  • To/too
To is a preposition. This is the one we use most of the time. E.G.
I’m going tothe game. Are you going to go?
Go to hell! I’m a Carlton supporter.

Too is used to suggest excess - too much. E.G.
Pendles is too young to be captain. Dale’s hair is too long.
We’ve got too many rookies.

Too also implies also. E.G.
Are you coming to the game? Didak is playing; Strauchnie is playing too.
Is he? Then I’ll come too.

  • Of/off
Both are prepositions that come before nouns or verbs. They are often used with travel, movement, removal.

Of is used most often. E.G.
The Pies got out of Dubai as soon as possible.
They’re all members of a great team.

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Off is also an adverb. It suggests “away”.
Shaw grabbed the ball and ran off.
Maxwell beat off six Carlton players with one hand.
The plane took off.
Don’t log off. WakeUpTaz has just posted a new thread.
Get off that unicycle, ScottyD, you’ve broken your leg!
Also:
The Pies got sick because the meat was off.

  • Did good/well
No one ever does good. They do well.

Good is an adjective; it describes nouns. E.G.
O’Bree’s good in clearances.
Anthony did a good job for a rookie.

Well is an adverb; it’s used to describe how we are (state), or how perform an action. E.G.
Fraser tapped it out really well.
Davis has been working out and he’s looking well.
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  • Then/than
Then is used in relation to time (what comes next). E.G.
Train hard, then you may get selected
We slaughtered Geelong, then we went to church to give thanks.

Than is a joining word we use when we’re comparing things. E.G.
Clarke is faster than Judd.
Burns would be a better captain than Maxwell at this stage.

  • Are/our
Are is part of the verb To Be. E.G.
Are you a member?
You are a lousy player. (You can also shorten the verb to You’re)

Our/s is used for ownership. E.G.
He’s Marty Clarke, and he’s ours.
Our ruckmen are the best in the AFL.





  • Were/we’re/where
These 3 are often confused.

Were – This is simply the past tense of the verb To Be. E.G.
We were lucky to get Cameron Wood.
The boys were sitting beside the bins.
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We’re - This is the shortened form of “we are.”
We’re looking forward to a great season.
A premiership – that’s what we’re after.

Where is used for place. E.G
I’m going to the Telstra Dome; that’s where the game is.

Where is often used in a question.
Where did Thoolen come from?
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Use this sentence as an aide-memoire:
We didn’t know where we were going. Now we’re lost.

  • Use of that or which
The best guide to the use of these words is a well-trained ear and a well-honed instinct for good language usage. Train those ears and instincts by reading widely and by listening to the discourse of the articulate.

When it relates to the subject of the sentence either may be used.
Which is more formal, while that is widely used in conversation. E.G.

This is the photo of Cousins which/that shocked the nation.
There’s the corporate box that/which costs so much.

When it relates to the object of the sentence, use which, or that; but usually there’s no need to use either. E.G.
The goal which/that Thomas scored was a ripper. OR
The goal Thomas scored was a ripper.

NB: Which is rarely used after all, none, no one, much, little, everything or after superlatives like best, worst, biggest, smallest etc.In such cases we can use that or nothing. E.G.
All the supporters that join get a free hat.
The Collingwood song is the best song (that) I’ve ever heard.

When it relates to a preposition in formal writing it should be preposition + which. E.G.
The money on which I was counting never arrived.
When using language less formally we can change the word order and use either which or that. E.G.
The money which/that I was counting on never arrived.

But we don’t need to use either. E.G.
The money I was counting on never arrived.

Frequently Misspelt Words​

Herewith the correct spellings of 30+ words which have appeared
on BF in other forms and guises.

Abysmal
Accrue
Acquire
Competent
Concede
Conscientious
Definite
Definitely
Deteriorate
Disappoint
Eligible
Embarrass
Grievance
Harass
Incur
Initial
Legend
Maintenance
Management
Occasion
Occasionally
Occurred
Pavilion
Personnel
Possession
Precede
Queue
Recommend
Relevant
Rhythm
Separate
Succeed
Surprise
Weird
 
Nice work.

For some reason BF posters cannot tell the difference between singular and plural when it comes to those footballers who play in the ruck. I'm not kididng, people use ruckman and ruckmen interchangably and it's bizarre to see.
 
This is THE most common mistake on bigfooty.

It seems people don't realise there is such a word as biased.

WRONG
"I may be bias, but Didak will win the Brownlow this year."

RIGHT
"I may be biased but Didak will win the Brownlow this year."

Bias is a noun, not an adjective while biased is an adjective.

Now this is my biggest pet peeve, people who say 'but' at the end of the sentence. It is a word that joins two things together. It is not a word like however. It's a word like the, and, etc. People actually say things like "I had to go to work today, it was good but" and it sounds horrible and pisses me off.

I'm no grammar angel, I often type and say should of and also I get confused with apostrophes. Although I don't put them before any s like a lot of people do.
 

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Jabso said:
This is THE most common mistake on bigfooty.

It seems people don't realise there is such a word as biased.

WRONG
"I may be bias, but Didak will win the Brownlow this year."

RIGHT
"I may be biased but Didak will win the Brownlow this year."

Bias is a noun, not an adjective while biased is an adjective.
Click to expand...

wow, i never new that.
I've made that mistake before.

Thank you :thumbsu:
ANND! lots of people think thank you is one word, when it's two.
 
The Royal Sampler said:
Nice work.

For some reason BF posters cannot tell the difference between singular and plural when it comes to those footballers who play in the ruck. I'm not kididng, people use ruckman and ruckmen interchangably and it's bizarre to see.
Click to expand...

I'm guilty of that. Probably because to me when I speak I say man and men completely differently and for some reason ruckman sounds weird so when talking about 1 ruckman I often say and spell it ruckmen.
 
It's all very clear, but I think you'll find the "doing good"/"doing well" distinction is slowly dying out. I've even heard Obama use "doing good" (or similar) recently.

Snag Breac said:
  • Did good/well
No one ever does good. They do well.

Good is an adjective; it describes nouns. E.G.
O’Bree’s good in clearances.
Anthony did a good job for a rookie.

Well is an adverb; it’s used to describe how we are, or how perform an action. E.G.
Fraser tapped it out really well.
Holland’s been working out and he’s looking well.
Click to expand...

Couple other common BF mistakes to consider:
- The grocer's apostrophe (there's a mod on the Freo board who won't leave home without it)
- Here, here/hear, hear. God knows why anyone would still use this, but it's doubly jarring when spelt incorrectly.

Anyways, nice work. You did good! :p
 
THANK YOU!!
I need some serious help when it comes to this type of stuff, I'm really bad at it.....:eek:
It has taken me a while to work out what 'to' to use..... but I know now! & that have/of stuff, I never get that right! :(

When I text I always use short typing because you can fit more on a text & it's easier; but I tend to type proper words on th computer, it's good practice for typing assignments.


:eek: oops if I have done something wrong in this message ^ :p
 
Jabso said:
This is THE most common mistake on bigfooty.

It seems people don't realise there is such a word as biased.

WRONG
"I may be bias, but Didak will win the Brownlow this year."

RIGHT
"I may be biased but Didak will win the Brownlow this year."

Bias is a noun, not an adjective while biased is an adjective.

Now this is my biggest pet peeve, people who say 'but' at the end of the sentence. It is a word that joins two things together. It is not a word like however. It's a word like the, and, etc. People actually say things like "I had to go to work today, it was good but" and it sounds horrible and pisses me off.

I'm no grammar angel, I often type and say should of and also I get confused with apostrophes. Although I don't put them before any s like a lot of people do.
Click to expand...
You are absolutely right, that is the most common mistake on BigFooty. No-one gets "biased" right. Thanks for bringing that up.
 
Thanks for posting as it's definitely something that many people need. Unfortunately this stuff isn't hammered into the kids as much as it should be in primary school and early high school years. I find that some classes/teachers/schools are too busy trying to teach children abstract things and useless garbage when really a good spelling and grammar test, mixed with some timestables and other maths, would really be much more useful in primary school and early high school.
 
The Royal Sampler said:
You are absolutely right, that is the most common mistake on BigFooty. No-one gets "biased" right. Thanks for bringing that up.
Click to expand...

The one that I most commonly hear is "biast".
 
Jabso said:
Now this is my biggest pet peeve, people who say 'but' at the end of the sentence. It is a word that joins two things together. It is not a word like however. It's a word like the, and, etc. People actually say things like "I had to go to work today, it was good but" and it sounds horrible and pisses me off.
Click to expand...

I hate it when people do that, every time i hear someone say it i yell at them. My friends used to say it, it pissed me off, they no longer say it ;):cool:

martyTHOMAS said:
Thank you :thumbsu:
ANND! lots of people think thank you is one word, when it's two.
Click to expand...

I have made that mistake many times.......lol. And i am aware that doing this....... pisses people off too, i am sorry.:eek:

Also, after being on bigfooty for the time i have been here, i am more aware of commas and which there/their/they're is correct. I get it right most of the time now, if not all the time. Commas i over-use(?) though...
 
Hey, Snag, excellent stuff. You know I deal a lot with this. What about apostrophes? Kids here put them in constantly in plurals! Especially in fruit & Veg shops, eg. Orange's, apple's, potatoe's!! Are the shops guilty chez toi?
 

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I appreciate the then/than explanation as it's an area of weakness for me. The apostrophe is my biggest issue also. Who wants to give me a rundown on that bad boy??
 
Thanks for the input. I think grammar counts, not for the sake of being right, but for the sake of clarity. And when you’re having a bit of fun trolling or attacking trolls, you don’t want to make yourself an easy target by exposing your flaccid grammar.:mad:

I still don’t know how to multi-quote, but to address a few of the issues you’ve raised.

Ruckman/ruckmen. I hadn’t noticed this one; those ruckmen threads are so dispiriting…. I wonder if the tendency also applies to words such as Fireman, policeman etc? It probably is related to pronunciation.

Bias – yes, I’ve seen that, and it made me think of a dress pattern: Cut on Bias.
I may include a list of simple Dos and Don’ts to cover such mistakes. If I have time I’ll also add a list of confusables. People often mix up affect/effect or wander/wonder, sort/sought etc.

As for doing good/well. Yes, language is always evolving and today’s howlers will be quite acceptable in the future. It’s become a popular stylistic quirk, a conscious downhomeism (new word) that politicians use for effect. But for the purposes of correct writing, it’s out.

The apostrophe, comma etc. I wasn’t going to bother with punctuation, but will if time allows. Good link MDC. That explanation is very clear. :thumbsu: As for commas; I like a well-placed comma. As general guideline, it’s useful to read the sentence aloud, listen for the natural breaks and insert to taste. There are rules, but commas are very subjective. You only have to look at the great writers to see how differently they approach their usage. I've grown fond of punctuating with smilies since I joined BF.;)

And lastly, the dangling but.:eek: A personal favourite. I have a theory about this; won’t go into details yet, but am consulting the scholarly brother for verification. More anon.
 

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Snag Breac said:
Love Jimmy. Reading him is like going home; so you can imagine the sort of dive I came from.:p
Click to expand...

Probably not the right topic, or board (or even country) to bring this up, but I have a strong affinity for a lot of Irish writers. There's a certain music in their writing, whether prose or verse, which isn't to be found in other English-language writing. O'Casey is a wonderful example - I could just open any page of any play and read for hours.
 
mydarlingclementine said:
Probably not the right topic, or board (or even country) to bring this up, but I have a strong affinity for a lot of Irish writers. There's a certain music in their writing, whether prose or verse, which isn't to be found in other English-language writing. O'Casey is a wonderful example - I could just open any page of any play and read for hours.
Click to expand...
Maybe start a fav author/book/poem etc post!!
 

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