Post your least favorite part of English Gramer.

[awkwardamanda]

What is MLA format?

MLA = Modern Language Association. It's just their formatting standards for things like spacing and how to cite references. That was the format I was taught to use for essays in high school English classes. MLA format calls for a double space after a period. I believe APA (American Psychological Association) calls for only a single space.

I think this is more of an editorial standard which can vary from publication to publication, rather than a part of English grammar. None of the publications I submit to have this as a requirement.

Yeah, something like that.

The rule used to be two sentences after a period, but it's not anymore.

lolwut?!

The thing I hate about language in general is the fact that it changes.

Would you rather we still used Old English and wrote like Shakespeare? The way people speak and write tends to change over time. It's a natural process and not just a bunch of new rules someone cooked up one day. Besides, language sometimes has to change. New inventions and discoveries have to get their names from somewhere and often such names are based on related words or other languages.

Personally, I see no reason to need double brackets. Just re-write what you're trying to say.

They're sometimes needed in lists. Just read some of the ingredient lists on food packaging and you'll come across them soon enough.

 

[NewtoThis]

Sometimes I have a hard time remembering which spelling is American English and which is British. Canceled or cancelled!? I have no idea...

But I'm American and I use the British spelling for "theatre" every once and a while and I've been marked down on English papers for spelling!

 

[Rembrandt Broam]

Sometimes I have a hard time remembering which spelling is American English and which is British. Canceled or cancelled!? I have no idea...

A general rule would probably be that if it seems to have extra "L"s or "U"s then it's more than likely the British English version.

But I'm American and I use the British spelling for "theatre" every once and a while and I've been marked down on English papers for spelling!

Seems wrong that they would mark you down for spelling it correctly.

 

[mikebird]

The most annoying is how many times a phrase or clause are repeating within the same phrase or clause, and then again throughout the conversation. These examples have NO MEANING, and are repeated countlessly. I do not use these.

1. Uhhh.... (brain on pause)
2. You know what I mean..?
3. At the end of the day...
4. You know.... (we need another subject in here. Who knows what? There is no meaning. "Hello" can be sentence. But "you know" is like a dog barking. It's an excuse to say something, mid-sentence, when your brain needs a rest to formulate your next phrase.
5. Alright?
6. You might disagree, but "How are you?" is meaningless. "How long is a piece of string?" has a lot more meaning for me

Yep. I think the above are the same as a dog barking. There is no content, but probably the loudest you shout, the more it'll mean

I see most of the wrong grammar is because people never paid attention to how to read or write. Just use our voice to say anything (SHOUT) is all the matters. They never needed punctuation.

 

[mikebird]

Another thing about pronunciation, for Americans.... non to criticise; I'm after an explanation... (it's accent)

why is every mid-word 't' spoken lazily, as a 'd'?

British: Terminator
USA: Terminador or cockney? scouse? or Scottish? "Termina' 'or"


British: Computer
USA: Compuder

Can't think or ANY other examples right now

 

[hoddesdon]

^^ that is the New York accent, I think. Many American shows are set in New York.

 

[Beatrice]

^^ that is the New York accent, I think. Many American shows are set in New York.

Hmm, I don't know about that. I think I say a soft "t" when I say the word "Terminator". I don't have a New York accent, though.... not at ALL I have a New England accent.... New Hampshire. I wouldn't say "TerminaTor", with a hard "t", because it would sound over-pronounced here, like a robot or..... a Brit haha. Like I was trying to put on an accent. I would say "Terminader". Soft "t's" are standard here.

 

[equivocate]

Would you rather we still used Old English and wrote like Shakespeare? The way people speak and write tends to change over time. It's a natural process and not just a bunch of new rules someone cooked up one day. Besides, language sometimes has to change. New inventions and discoveries have to get their names from somewhere and often such names are based on related words or other languages.

The interesting thing is that in the 18th Century, because there was so much domestic and international political unrest, the government decided to standardise the English language in order to create a better feeling of unity between the English, Irish Scottish and Welsh. The poets who helped do this pretty much defined the pronunciation and rules of grammar that we still use/don't use today, like double negatives, phasing out of 'thou' and capital letters for emphasis. They essentially created a big list of things NOT to do when writing, which still form the guidelines for how we write today.

Aside from a load of new words and a few sentence construction tweaks, we pretty much still rely on a lot of rules made in the 18th century.

Plus, Shakespeare created so many new words you wouldn't believe, and most of them are still in common(ish) usage today so technically we do still speak like Shakespeare