Punctuation

esmerelda98

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Here's a new one on me: people are asked what they think to this, that or the other rather than what they think of it. Has this been in use for a while but I've just not noticed it?

Sounds like an Americanism to me.

sneezyboots

I hate people spelling grammar incorrectly and I only use red pen to mark. Just felt like chipping in :P

peachyprice

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Here's a new one on me: people are asked what they think to this, that or the other rather than what they think of it. Has this been in use for a while but I've just not noticed it?

Haven't noticed that one B&T, perhaps it's regional?

Filey

Thanks to everyone for their input on my granddaughter's punctuation and related replies. She did learn it at primary school and they seemed more concerned about it then than now in year 7 at secondary school. I hope that by the time she gets to the stage of applying for jobs she will be able to put together a reasonable letter of application.

How do people get to be journalists and writers these days? I mean at what stage do they actually get to grips with grammar and punctuation. Are they taught it or is it by osmosis as presumably they consume a lot of the written word as they go along.

BTW we already have "Eats Shoots and Leaves", one of the most entertaining and informative books there is. Love it! Will offer it to my granddaughter.

thorsoak

margaretclare wrote: »

'I will drown, no one shall help me!' rather than 'I shall drown, no one will help me!'

I frequently find 'will' used where I would have used 'shall'.

I was taught that "'I will drown, no one shall help me" = suicide and
"I shall drown, no one will help me" - accident !:D

Oldernotwiser

MichelleM wrote: »

(And dont pick up on grammar/spelling, Im not at work!)

Why should this matter? Correct grammar and spelling aren't some kind of veneer that's added in certain situations, they should be automatic for anyone who is reasonably well educated.

Alcmene

It appears to me that nowadays there is a lot more emphasis on "experience" learning. Whilst I do not dispute the merit of this approach, I think that fundamentally, the basics need to be mastered. This means that children need to memorize rules such as grammatical endings to irregular nouns, and they need to memorize facts that pertain to certain aspects of the English language.

This can sometimes be a difficult task, I do not envy anyone the job of teaching English grammar. However, it is sometimes made even more difficult due to the fact that the person teaching may not have a complete command of the language themselves.

I personally know teachers who do not know how to use the apostrophe correctly, they do not know how to pluralise words properly (I have often seen "deputy" pluralised as "deputys") and they show poor command of the basic grammar rules as a whole.

What hope have we got when some of the ones doing the teaching still need to be taught?

Alcmene

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Why should this matter? Correct grammar and spelling aren't some kind of veneer that's added in certain situations, they should be automatic for anyone who is reasonably well educated.

Thank you, you emphasized the very point I was just making.

beckiem

my daughter is 9, when i went to her last parents evening i was looking through her work books before i went in to see the teacher. i noticed there was loads of spelling mistakes and hardly any capital letters etc.
so when i went in to see the teacher i asked why this hadnt been corrected? i was told " the dont like to do to many corrections because it can knock there confidence"!! fair enough it might do, but how is she going to learn otherwise!!
apologies on my bad grammar im doing this quickly before i make sandwiches for tomorrow

Alcmene

beckiem wrote: »

my daughter is 9, when i went to her last parents evening i was looking through her work books before i went in to see the teacher. i noticed there was loads of spelling mistakes and hardly any capital letters etc.
so when i went in to see the teacher i asked why this hadnt been corrected? i was told " the dont like to do to many corrections because it can knock there confidence"!! fair enough it might do, but how is she going to learn otherwise!!
apologies on my bad grammar im doing this quickly before i make sandwiches for tomorrow

Hey Becki

If it were my child I would ignore the school policy and make it a point of covering the essences of grammar at home. I would also make a point of correcting all mistakes and talking over how improvements can be made.

And whilst you are in your right to type however YOU want, I'm afraid that I could just never bring myself to type how you just did, regardless of how much of a hurry I'm in. I often make typing mistakes when I am in a rush, but those are just often the recognised basic ones such as "teh" or the replacement or misplacement of a single letter (there has been much research conducted into typing errors if you are interested). I cringe at the mere sight of an "i" or a missing apostrophe, and let's not even mention the merits of knowing the difference between "their" and "there.