[dsenette]

Quote

*admin thought it was a verb that accepted payment and lost its amateur status?

*dsenette smacks admin on the nose with a rolled up newspaper
BAD JOKE! very very bad joke!

[zorba the geek]

Let me do the dirty work-or let i do the dirty work? Let's hear it from the experts

[Johanna]

(You should) let me do the dirty work. English takes shortcuts where words are implied.

Some sentences are complicated. She and (me or I) are going to the mall. "I am going to the mall, therefore it's "She and I are going to the mall." Are becomes a singular am but we'll worry about that another time. Then, "John will drive you and me to the mall". John will drive me to the mall. Take out the other person and you'll know the right pronoun to use.
Johanna

[ipl_001]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to sari, Johanna and ruthandtroy to teach correct grammar!

I appreciate this a lot as, as a foreigner, I would like to learn street American but not bad grammar!

Take care because I already read huge threads about correct English... huge as there were long (and exciting) discussions between American English and British English and even between different parts of the UK (of course oodles between the states)!

I especially remember of a very interesting thread (I could probably find the URL if you wish it)!

Some examples of differences b/w American English and British English (regarding the grammar not the spelling):

- In American English, you may write (so I think)
If you would come to Paris, I would pick you up at the airport!
while in British English, you must write
If you came to Paris, I would pick you up at the airport!

- In American English, you use 'to guess' with a meaning of to think, to suppose, to believe... in British English, they never confuse between to guess and to think.

- 150 is said hundred and fifty (British E.) or hundred fifty (American E.).

I think my examples are a bit too much as the American sentences I wrote above are correct so that they are only differences, not mistakes...

The mistakes you pointed out are very common in everyday's language!
Thank you!

[ipl_001]

Hi,

Another common mistake we meet on forums: to vs too
(please correct me if I am wrong)

'to' is a preposition used to introduce a complement after certain verbs; 'to' is also generally met to use infinitive:
eg. My daughter went to school today, so I hope!
eg. I came to Geeks To Go to learn about malware and correct American language.

'too' is an adverb meaning also, as well:
eg. I love French language but American language, too!
eg. They came to Geeks To Go, too.



(Another mistake is 'compliment' confused with 'complement')

[MoNsTeReNeRgY22]

ipl_001, on Sep 1 2007, 01:42 PM, said:

Hi,

Another common mistake we meet on forums: to vs too
(please correct me if I am wrong)

'to' is a preposition used to introduce a complement after certain verbs; 'to' is also generally met to use infinitive:
eg. My daughter went to school today, so I hope!
eg. I came to Geeks To Go to learn about malware and correct American language.

'too' is an adverb meaning also, as well:
eg. I love French language but American language, too!
eg. They came to Geeks To Go, too.



(Another mistake is 'compliment' confused with 'complement')

That is correct. But too can also be used in the following manner.

ex) Jonn ate too much pasta for dinner last night.
ex) For the water balloon activity, they added too much water to each balloon.

[ipl_001]

Right MoNsTeReNeRgY22! Thanks!

[Chopin]

*Fredil Yupigo is taking an English Honors course and does not need this thread to help me remember

[Troy]

ipl_001, on Sep 1 2007, 06:06 AM, said:

I appreciate this a lot as, as a foreigner, I would like to learn street American but not bad grammar!

What? Who cares about Americans? They do everything wrong! I'm here to uphold the one true version of English - Australian!

[**Brian**]

Fredil Yupigo, on Sep 1 2007, 08:23 PM, said:

*Fredil Yupigo is taking an English Honors course and does not need this thread to help me remember

hehehehe - This is a cool thread, and it made me remember about one day when a classmate of mine tried to say that aint was a word - the teacher obliged him, but of course there is no way that this is a word, becaue you cannot determine what part of speech it is, and you cannot use it to show ownership or possession - The idea of that was probably so we did not get homework that night in English, but we did anyways hehehe silly guys

Fredil - It is always a good review to make sure you know proper grammer and usage of it - I, like a few friends of mine, have seen what they call 'leetspeek' and 'aol speak' and that can be annoying to a person who is trying to understand what they are talking about. I have 10+ years experience as an IRC Chat Server Operator, so I have seen this used, and have become accustomed to it, however, I prefer people to speak in thier native tongue as to avoid confusion

Brian

[Tal]

Interesting thread.

I too have noticed these mistakes in online communities, and I try to avoid doing them myself - I like to keep my English as correct as possible, although I am not a native speaker.

Personally I have nothing against those who choose to speak in a non-grammatically correct way, or leetspeak, as long as it's not exaggerated and there are sufficient punctuation marks to understand what's being said, and where the sentence ends. I think that's a part of internet culture, and like many accents and various flavors of English have been developed during many years, the internet has different accents too, that result in different grammatical skills.

lol anyway ppl pwn me in english grammar rofl

[Chopin]

wat u sya? my native tounge be 13375p33|<

[BHowett]

**Brian**, on Oct 1 2007, 07:47 AM, said:

This is a cool thread, and it made me remember about one day when a classmate of mine tried to say that aint was a word - the teacher obliged him, but of course there is no way that this is a word, becaue you cannot determine what part of speech it is,

Quote

Ain’t arose toward the end of an eighteenth century period that marked the development of most of the English contracted verb forms such as can’t, don’t, and won’t. The form first appears in print in 1685, in a Latin text regarding English variability[1]. The variant an’t arose in speech around the same time, and is still commonly used in some parts of England. An’t appears first in print in the work of Restoration playwrights: it is seen first in 1695, when William Congreve wrote I can hear you farther off, I an’t deaf,[2] suggesting that the form was in the beginning a contraction of “am not”. But as early as 1696 Sir John Vanbrugh uses the form for “are not”: These shoes an’t ugly, but they don’t fit me.[3] At least in some dialects, an’t is likely to have been pronounced like ain’t, and thus the appearance of ain’t is more a clarified spelling than a separate verb form. In some dialects of British English, are rhymed with air, and a 1791 American spelling reformer proposed spelling “are” as er. Ain’t in these earliest uses seems to have served as a contraction for both am not and are not.

http://en.wikipedia....i/Ain%E2%80%99t

and its in the dictionary..... http://dictionary.re...com/browse/aint

Quote

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ain't /eɪnt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[eynt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
1. Nonstandard except in some dialects. am not; are not; is not.
2. Nonstandard. have not; has not; do not; does not; did not.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Origin: 1770–80; var. of amn't (contr. of am not) by loss of m and raising with compensatory lengthening of a; cf. aren't]


—Usage note As a substitute for am not, is not, and are not in declarative sentences, ain't is more common in uneducated speech than in educated, but it occurs with some frequency in the informal speech of the educated, especially in the southern and south-central states. This is especially true of the interrogative use of ain't I? as a substitute for the formal and—to some—stilted am I not? or for aren't I?, considered by some to be ungrammatical, or for the awkward—and rare in American speech—amn't I? Some speakers avoid any of the preceding forms by substituting Isn't that so (true, the case)? Ain't occurs in humorous or set phrases: Ain't it the truth! She ain't what she used to be. It ain't funny. The word is also used for emphasis: That just ain't so! It does not appear in formal writing except for deliberate effect in such phrases or to represent speech. As a substitute for have not or has not and—occasionally in Southern speech—do not, does not, and did not, it is nonstandard except in similar humorous uses: You ain't heard nothin' yet! See also aren't.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

[**Brian**]

BHowett, on Oct 4 2007, 10:43 PM, said:

**Brian**, on Oct 1 2007, 07:47 AM, said:

This is a cool thread, and it made me remember about one day when a classmate of mine tried to say that aint was a word - the teacher obliged him, but of course there is no way that this is a word, becaue you cannot determine what part of speech it is,

Quote

Ain’t arose toward the end of an eighteenth century period that marked the development of most of the English contracted verb forms such as can’t, don’t, and won’t. The form first appears in print in 1685, in a Latin text regarding English variability[1]. The variant an’t arose in speech around the same time, and is still commonly used in some parts of England. An’t appears first in print in the work of Restoration playwrights: it is seen first in 1695, when William Congreve wrote I can hear you farther off, I an’t deaf,[2] suggesting that the form was in the beginning a contraction of “am not”. But as early as 1696 Sir John Vanbrugh uses the form for “are not”: These shoes an’t ugly, but they don’t fit me.[3] At least in some dialects, an’t is likely to have been pronounced like ain’t, and thus the appearance of ain’t is more a clarified spelling than a separate verb form. In some dialects of British English, are rhymed with air, and a 1791 American spelling reformer proposed spelling “are” as er. Ain’t in these earliest uses seems to have served as a contraction for both am not and are not.

http://en.wikipedia....i/Ain%E2%80%99t

and its in the dictionary..... http://dictionary.re...com/browse/aint

Quote

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ain't /eɪnt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[eynt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
1. Nonstandard except in some dialects. am not; are not; is not.
2. Nonstandard. have not; has not; do not; does not; did not.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Origin: 1770–80; var. of amn't (contr. of am not) by loss of m and raising with compensatory lengthening of a; cf. aren't]


—Usage note As a substitute for am not, is not, and are not in declarative sentences, ain't is more common in uneducated speech than in educated, but it occurs with some frequency in the informal speech of the educated, especially in the southern and south-central states. This is especially true of the interrogative use of ain't I? as a substitute for the formal and—to some—stilted am I not? or for aren't I?, considered by some to be ungrammatical, or for the awkward—and rare in American speech—amn't I? Some speakers avoid any of the preceding forms by substituting Isn't that so (true, the case)? Ain't occurs in humorous or set phrases: Ain't it the truth! She ain't what she used to be. It ain't funny. The word is also used for emphasis: That just ain't so! It does not appear in formal writing except for deliberate effect in such phrases or to represent speech. As a substitute for have not or has not and—occasionally in Southern speech—do not, does not, and did not, it is nonstandard except in similar humorous uses: You ain't heard nothin' yet! See also aren't.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Goodness Gracious - I didn't think that it would be in the dictionary!! Course, this word is non-standard hehehe

Thanks for the information Brian

Brian

[Chopin]

Quote

Thanks for the information Brian wink.gif

Brian

A bit egotistical here aren't we?