Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bacasper]

I am starting this thread in order to draw attention to errors made by we who call ourselves English teachers on Dave's in an attempt to help us educate each other.

Post here the grammatical errors you find on Dave's, primarily the more bothersome ones. We won't especially deal here with spelling errors that are a result of typos, only the more blatant ones.

This is not primarily an attempt to embarass people although that may happen a bit. If so, please be light-hearted about it, use it as a learning experience, and don't flame me or the poster. Better yet, post mine if you can find any. I am gambling that you won't and will be embarassed if you do but I am always willing to learn.

I'll start things off with something I have frequently seen on this board: resign vs. re-sign. What might seem a small distinction actually has a major difference in meaning; indeed, they are essentially opposites.
resign means to relinquish a position, while
re-sign means to renew or extend a contract.

Here's another from the thread "Are you cheerful, positive, talkative, outgoing...?:"
I mean...if he was an art teacher would people still pester the OP?
As an imaginary situation in the present, this requires subjunctive.
Correct: ...if he were an art teacher...

From the same thread:
Error: It is here too.
Correct: It is here, too.

Others?

[Ya-ta Boy]

[bacasper]

From the same thread still:
Error: Your failure to understand that shows either your lack of care or education.
Correct: Your failure to understand that shows your lack of either care or education.

and

Error: Another teacher was a bit loopy, alcoholic and anal to the point of OCD but he was always incredibly energetic and enthusiastic in class so people actually payed attention and tended to learn a lot.
Correct: Another teacher was a bit loopy, alcoholic, and anal to the point of OCD but he was always incredibly energetic and enthusiastic in class so people actually paid attention and tended to learn a lot.

Remember, in a list of three or more things, a comma is required between the penultimate item and "and" or "or."

[jajdude]

embarrass

[bacasper]

Well, I couldn't let this one go by:
my hagwon actually has "Friends" in it's name
Of course, "it's" is a contraction meaning "it is." The possessive form "its" takes no apostrophe.

[ontheway]

Becasper wrote:

"Remember, in a list of three or more things, a comma is required between the penultimate item and "and" or "or."



It seems to me, in the deep foggy remnants of my memory of my university days, that I remember that this particular comma you mention was a matter of style. One professor insisted it was redundant and docked five points for a comma before "and."

[bacasper]

[bacasper]

[bacasper]

[Big Mac]

All I see when I read this thread is someone trying to prove that he or she is smarter than everyone else on this board. Get a life.

[bacasper]

[Woland]

Let's all get our long, shallow-bowled, metal spoons and drain the sea. That should be fun.

Ya-ta is right; time would be better spent on ideas for interesting, engaging lessons.

(NB: And this from the resident grammar freak; don't cut into my territory, bub. )

[jinks]

Some of the spelling and grammar on these boards is pretty shocking, but as far as grammar howlers go, I don't think the subjunctive, the Oxford comma or the single / double letter dilemma (especially when coinging a new usage) are really worthy of a lot of comment.

[yingwenlaoshi]

[cbclark4]

From the MS text book at my school:

The total number of camels which were given to the sons was seventeen.

A teacher asked why it could not also be:

The total number of camels which was given to the sons was seventeen.

Also am I using the colon correctly?


cbc