Common Grammar Mistakes (PHOTOS)

Bugaboo is from the archaic term bogy boo -- a term for a hobgoblin or anything that haunts, bothers, bugs, harasses, irks, annoys, or frightens, like the bogeyman. "The Bugaboo Review" is a lighthearted examination of usage, grammar, and spelling mistakes, the bugaboos of the English language. It is meant for those who love language, for those who "know what they don't know" (or don't remember!), and for those in the process of learning English. My sources for this work range from errors made by my students, to suggestions by colleagues and friends who asked me to include errors that "bug" them, to discourses found in many other books, dictionaries, and articles on the subject.

I've left out the copious regulations that govern spellings and word usage and instead have given simple ideas to assist you with what is generally accepted among the well informed.

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lay/lie

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To lay is to place something or put something down, and it must be followed by a noun or pronoun, a thing; to lie is to recline. A lie is an untruth, and to lie also means "to tell an untruth." Examples: Lay that package on the mantel, will you please? Bridgette would like to lie in the hammock near the pool. Sometimes it's tempting to lie when you're in trouble, but a lie only makes things worse. (Hint: Lay sounds like place; lie sounds like recline. But be careful: lay is also the past tense of the verb to lie: Jay lay on the couch all day yesterday.)

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To lay is to place something or put something down, and it must be followed by a noun or pronoun, a thing; to lie is to recline. A lie is an untruth, and to lie also means "to tell an untruth." Examples: Lay that package on the mantel, will you please? Bridgette would like to lie in the hammock near the pool. Sometimes it's tempting to lie when you're in trouble, but a lie only makes things worse. (Hint: Lay sounds like place; lie sounds like recline. But be careful: lay is also the past tense of the verb to lie: Jay lay on the couch all day yesterday.)

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framante said on 25 Thursday 2011 pm31 6:19 pm: This article is incorrectly titled. All the examples are spelling errors, not grammar errors.

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Comments

[sj-99999]

05:06 PM on 09/12/2011

what about 'might' and 'may'? I wish she would have addressed those as well. =/

[verham]

04:24 AM on 09/11/2011

My pet peeve is the lack of adverbs these days. Adverbs have largely been replaced with adjectives instead! He paints 'bad' instead of 'badly', they are a 'happy' married couple instead of' 'happily' married, she sings 'good' instead of 'well', they run 'careful' not 'carefully', just to name a few. I am an elementary school teacher and my students constantly hear and read inaccurate modeling of the English language from parents, television, and in print. Once they are taught to be 'Adverb Police', they enjoy presenting snippets of conversations or texts they've discovered that don't follow the rules!

[Ria325]

09:40 PM on 09/04/2011

Can someone clue people in that there is no such word as "nother", so you can not break up the word another and throw an adjective in the middle, e.g. a whole "nother" story. ~ Maybe a whole other, but there is no nother.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

10:05 PM on 09/07/2011

If there's no such word "nother" why is it listed in multiple dictionaries (I just checked Webster's 3rd and the OED)?

Is a word cease to be a word when a tiny number of people claim it's not a word?

[msdymond]

01:05 PM on 09/04/2011

The didn't include "lose" and "loose."

[diahni]

01:50 PM on 09/03/2011

Here's one - I frequently hear people, both in person, and in the news, say "very unique." I hear it so often that I suspect it's now okay to use. Another pet peeve is "impact" pronounced as "impack."

[deepintheheartoftejas]

08:13 PM on 09/04/2011

Don't worry, it is just fine to use "very unique". In fact, Charlotte Bronte wrote: "A very unique child, thought I". A few crazies will object. Ignore them. Don't let the crazies win.

[MtnGeek]

11:17 AM on 09/06/2011

Something is unique or it isn't, it cannot be more unique or very unique.

[diahni]

01:46 PM on 09/03/2011

The thing that bugs me the most is when people say, "I was like" instead of "I said."

[European1919]

07:26 AM on 09/01/2011

The author should have made it clear, that these "bugaboos of the [...] language" usually only befall Americans, which means they're restricted to American, not English.

[Youssouf Magassouba]

01:28 AM on 09/01/2011

It is always great to help learners with some clear cut definitions of words that are confusing most of the time for non native speakers.

[JoeyDee2]

09:49 AM on 09/01/2011

Non-native speakers (and many "natives") must be driven crazy by "raise" and "raze."

[tploomis]

10:54 PM on 08/31/2011

It grates on me when people say "have went" rather than "have gone."

[ptuph1]

12:49 PM on 08/31/2011

The mispronunciations that drive me up the wall the most are those where people add an "s" to a singular word where it absolutely does NOT belong ..... inwards, outwards, upwards, downwards, forwards, backwards, anyways, etc. Not one of these words is meant to be plural.

Of all the words made plural inappropriately, TOWARDS makes me the craziest ..... especially when it's pronounced "tord" or "tords" !! Sadly, this one is so common that I can't turn on the TV without hearing it over and over and over again. It seems like it's everywhere these days ..... including published materials.

A couple more that are irritating to me are "Febuary" and "exspecially". I noticed that "libary" was already addressed on another post.

It's really good to know there are so many of us (nearly 2,200 posts at this time) that actually understand what is happening with grammar, punctuation and spelling. At least we know we're not alone in our perceptions. :-)

[johnmarshall1962]

12:09 PM on 08/31/2011

My pet peeve? The use of the word "only." ONLY is misplaced about 90% of the time-especially in commercials. You can "ONLY buy it at" wherever. Can I do anything else with it. . . . .Lift it? Hear it? Play with it? According to the commercial I can only BUY it. Now if I could buy it ONLY at a particular store, I think that is what the commercial is trying to say. The use of "THEM vs THOSE," double negatives, ("I don't want no") and similar phrasing murders our language. Mark Twain once said to his wife when she was trying to imitate his cussing, "Libby-ya got the words but ya just ain't got the music." That seems to be where most of us are at this point in time, even though the "music" might be a bit hard on our ears. My grammer isn't as good as it used to be. I've been told I have to learn to "go with the flow." But I STILL try to remember that a preposition is not a word you want to end a sentence with. :)

[billyinnevada]

10:00 AM on 08/31/2011

I frequently hear news media types use the word "existential" in contexts I simply don't grasp. I realize that English is a living language, but what does a 19th century nihilistic philosophy have to do with current news? Fox blondes are particularly prone to use the word, although I've heard CNN anchors use it as well. I wish I could remember an exact quote, but I suspect it's just a bunch of doofs trying to sound smart.

[Whereof one cannot speak]

11:04 AM on 08/31/2011

Existential is not existentialism; existentialism is not nihilism.

[tploomis]

10:57 PM on 08/31/2011

Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre did not live in the 19th century.

[billyinnevada]

06:33 PM on 09/01/2011

Oh, you guy's got me good. However, existentialism IS a 19th century philosophy that Sartre and Camus espoused in their 20th century writing (they didn't invent it). And as for you Whereof, if Existential doesn't relate to Existentialism and nihilism WTF does it relate too?

[Angela9]

09:50 AM on 08/31/2011

Kids today are awful with correct grammar usage and spelling.In college, points were deducted for wrong usage and spelling. I do not understand why kids are not being taught this most important aspect of communication. Writing and speaking correctly is so important in one's job. U R BTW--this just does not cut the mustard.

[4me2knw]

06:39 AM on 08/31/2011

Oh gad! All the spelling and grammer police are here! I'm getting outta here!

[ronnybrume]

06:06 AM on 08/31/2011

When our 26 year old son was in middle school, we asked his teacher why she didn't correct grammar and spelling. She said too much emphasis is put on that, rather than content. We were appalled. When I was in College in the 70's, professors always took points off for improper grammar and spelling, even in Social Sciences. Now today, I work with younger adults that are unable to send emails that are understandable. "Me and Tom" are going "their" tomorrow, "your" going today. Or worse---"Ur going with me, k?" It's like fingernails on a blackboard.