Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Username

John Gibson

Member Since

November 20, 2011

Total number of comments

19

Total number of votes received

22

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Latest Comments

I would certainly like to see the conjugation of the verb "to of".

I thought this was solely a usage in the UK, where all teaching of grammar ceased about 30/40 years ago. However, I recently found an American using "would of", "could of".

“Anglish”

  • February 14, 2013, 8:35pm

I recommend that y'gan and spend a couple of weeks in the toon of Newcastle in Geordieland. From Wikipedia:

The dialect of Newcastle is known as Geordie, and contains a large amount of vocabulary and distinctive word pronunciations not used in other parts of the United Kingdom. The Geordie dialect has much of its origins in the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxon populations who migrated to and conquered much of England after the end of Roman Imperial rule. This language was the forerunner of Modern English; but while the dialects of other English regions have been heavily altered by the influences of other foreign languages—particularly Latin and Norman French—the Geordie dialect retains many elements of the old language. An example of this is the pronunciation of certain words: "dead", "cow", "house" and "strong" are pronounced "deed", "coo", "hoos" and "strang"—which is how they were pronounced in the Anglo-Saxon language. Other Geordie words with Anglo-Saxon origins include: "larn" (from the Anglo-Saxon "laeran", meaning "teach"), "burn" ("stream") and "gan" ("go").[70] "Bairn" and "hyem", meaning "child" and "home", are examples of Geordie words with origins in Scandinavia; "barn" and "hjem" are the corresponding modern Norwegian words. Some words used in the Geordie dialect are used elsewhere in the northern United Kingdom. The words "bonny" (meaning "pretty"), "howay" ("come on"), "stot" ("bounce") and "hadaway" ("go away" or "you're kidding"), all appear to be used in Scottish dialect; "aye" ("yes") and "nowt" (IPA://naʊt/, rhymes with out,"nothing") are used elsewhere in northern England. Many words, however, appear to be used exclusively in Newcastle and the surrounding area, such as "Canny" (a versatile word meaning "good", "nice" or "very"), "hacky" ("dirty"), "netty" ("toilet"), "hoy" ("throw"), "hockle" ("spit").[71]

Impact as a noun

  • February 14, 2013, 8:15pm

This history professor may well have suffered the damaging impact of a brick hitting his head, so I think we should treat him with the appropriate mix of understanding and disdain.

Instead of:

“I so appreciate you taking mine and Gregg’s child to school today.”

Use this:

“I so appreciate you taking Gregg’s child and mine to school today.”

Or even:

“I so appreciate you taking Gregg’s and my child to school today.”

Usually, in English, manners determine that the other person comes first in a sentence. Certainly it rules in cases where two pronouns are used.

More natural, in the course of a conversation where it was understood that two children, one being Gregg's, were involved, would be this sentence:

“I so appreciate you taking our children to school today.”

There was/were a pen and three pencils...

  • February 27, 2012, 2:57pm

Brockaway: "All of the following is wrong and sounds wrong:"

Well this certainly sounds wrong to me. I would always wriite:

All of the following are wrong and sound wrong:

“Fine” as a complete sentence

  • February 27, 2012, 1:59am

Hamish - Imagine one is giving a written description of someone in a noisy bar, and he keeps hearing scraps of conversation and describing his (puzzled/wondering) reaction. What are the words in ellipsis for the fragments?:

"Fine"
"Friday"
"Never!"
"Mrs Biggs?"
"Monica"
"Mercedes"

Sift

  • February 27, 2012, 1:48am

"If people make mistakes on the Internet, Google will find them."

Similarly, the internet allows the uninformed and lazy to wander in. For the not-too-lazy my google shows that many educated writers in English have used "sift the juice". But, if it's all too much for you, don't strain yourself.

Sift

  • February 20, 2012, 8:30am

Being sure I'd heard it before, I Googled "sift the juice". And there are lots of examples. Quoting from the first one:

"Peel and slice golden pippins, according to what quantity of jelly is required ; boil them to a marmalade with a little water, and a lemon sliced, and sift the juice ..."

“Fine” as a complete sentence

  • February 19, 2012, 3:05pm

I do encounter one word sentences in my reading (often in modern novels) from time to time. Usually they are mid-paragraph, but sometimes they are in dialogue. I was always taught that a sentence must make complete sense, but I now think that's incorrect. Rather, it's a sufficient condition that what appears has a capital letter, is followed by a full stop and it's meaning/intention can be understood, within it's context.