Grammar (was weird fanfic reviews)

[find_sam at hotmail.com]

> > > Scott: "It continues to amaze me that some people can have such 
> bad 
> > grammar."

> > Sam: "I get frustrated at people who can't understand the 
> difference 
> > between you're and your, and when to use each appropriately 
(sp?). 
> > And the their/there/they're difference. And the whole apostrophe 
> for 
> > ownership/plural deal. I seem to be seeing "CD's Sale" wherever I 
> go. 
> > I didn't know that a compact disc could *have* a sale!"

> > Yael: I was almost offended by that. Not all of us are native to 
English, 

> Parker: I can forgive grammar errors from people who are not native-
English 
> speakers *very* easily. (It is a difficult language, after all)  

Sorry, Yael. Like Parker, I don't have any sort of Grammar Nazi 
prejudices against people whose first language *isn't* English. You'd 
expect grammatical and spelling errors, *especially* in writing, 
where even the best of us have to grapple with The Typo! ;)

Parker:
> But 
> people who grew up speaking English, taking it for 12 years 
(primary 
> and secondary school) should know the basic rules for grammar!

Exactly. This is where I have a problem with people's grammar and 
spelling. Correct G&S is all around us - books, advertisements, etc. 
People should be able to pick up correct usage by familiarity. And 
even if people *do* ignore everything around them, then the basic 
rules aren't hard to memorise and apply. In most cases, it's not 
difficult to look at a passage and be able to get a sense of 
something wrong.

Gosh, the sounded snobby! <vbg>

But yes, English is an incredibly difficult language to learn, and 
it's even tricky for someone who has learnt it as a first language. I 
can never spell beauro, as in FBI. It gets me every time!   

>>> Sam, the Spelling Snob (and alliteration advocate)