Correcting people's grammar - acceptable?

Mr_Toad

Also I think those people who complain don't always take into account local dialect and the way things are often said in their particular corner of the world and for some people are written in same way.

Phrases like 'I done it' or 'I seen it' often reflect the way people talk.

People near me often use 'I be' in conversation, 'I be tired', 'I be ready for a cup of tea' and so on.

I have friends who live in villages where people talk of 'they neighbours', 'they cyclists' and use other, to me, odd sounding phrases.

onlyroz

Writing on a forum shouldn't be like being at school. I was once a member of a small forum where the moderator was always correcting people's spelling and grammar. Very annoying and totally unnecessary.

Haleenjohn

It worth that you need to do a progress that it equivalent level or lower than your present requirement
the administration has withdrawn funding in such conditions.

indiepanda

Newlyboughthouse wrote: »

Everywhere I look, I see terrible spelling and grammar. It is shocking. Check out the post in Pets and Pet Care titled 'out of hours vet', for example.

Question: is it acceptable to correct perpetrators? I feel that I can't without fear of being accused of being the grammar police or a grammar nazi. So I just seethe on the inside.

However, I can see the population getting dumb, and feel such corrections should be made. Otherwise, eventually, 'to' will be accepted as 'too', or 'loose' will be accepted as 'lose' etc.

Thoughts on a postcard...

I loathe poor spelling and grammar. At work if I am responsible for reviewing someone's work I will always correct errors I spot as it's my job, my employers would expect me to do it, and if I made a mistake my boss would correct me too.

But in friends, family or on line... I would keep quiet. It's not worth offending someone over. Well, unless they were being rude about someone else's spelling and grammar while making lots of mistakes themselves.... then they are asking for it.

I do recall reading somewhere that the more spelling and grammar mistakes someone makes on an internet dating profile, the less replies they get. I know it puts me off I see lots of errors, which is probably unfair as they might be dyslexic. Although I suppose that's not so common that it explains most badly written profiles.

Izadora

indiepanda wrote: »

I do recall reading somewhere that the more spelling and grammar mistakes someone makes on an internet dating profile, the less replies they get.

Fewer

(sorry)

indiepanda

Izadora wrote: »

Fewer

(sorry)

Well exactly. I tap out a reply on a forum way quicker than I would write a report at work, so am more inclined to make the odd slip up, which is partly why I wouldn't correct people on forums.

I do wonder at people who pay to have signs printed for their shops or for leaflets / websites promoting their business and don't have them proof read by someone with good spelling and grammar.

It's the apostrophes in the wrong place that drives me mad - you know, putting them in plurals like "Apple's, £1 per kilo"

maman

Mr_Toad wrote: »

Also I think those people who complain don't always take into account local dialect and the way things are often said in their particular corner of the world and for some people are written in same way.

Phrases like 'I done it' or 'I seen it' often reflect the way people talk.

People near me often use 'I be' in conversation, 'I be tired', 'I be ready for a cup of tea' and so on.

I have friends who live in villages where people talk of 'they neighbours', 'they cyclists' and use other, to me, odd sounding phrases.

I believe there's a great deal of confusion between regional accent/dialect and sloppy speech.


For example, I don't have a problem with the BBC using presenters from many regions. I'm not expecting to hear every presenter sounding like HRH but that doesn't make it acceptable to use 'must of and 'could of' and 'gonna' and 'got beat' and other examples of sloppiness.

Pollycat

maman wrote: »

I believe there's a great deal of confusion between regional accent/dialect and sloppy speech.


For example, I don't have a problem with the BBC using presenters from many regions. I'm not expecting to hear every presenter sounding like HRH but that doesn't make it acceptable to use 'must of and 'could of' and 'gonna' and 'got beat' and other examples of sloppiness.

But do you expect every poster to be 100℅ grammatically correct and do you view someone's post reaching out for help as less worthy of response simply because they don't use commas, full stops & apostrophes in the right way?

FTR, I don't think you do.

ripplyuk

Izadora wrote: »

If you want to be really pedantic, "Me and Jane" would never be correct as you should always put the other person first

Whoops! I know that :rotfl:.
I must have been rushing writing that post, or my brain was in a pickle!

I guess that's the other significant thing about grammar on forums. People are much more relaxed about it than they would be writing a report or essay etc. I don't mind that on a forum. It should be informal and it only matters that the post is understandable.

It does bother me when businesses get it wrong. I've seen adverts where the grammar and/or spelling is so bad I've had to read it a few times to make sense of it.

Penster

Under my breath I correct "less" with "fewer" - how pedantic is that? - but watch my tongue when someone uses "we was" in a sentence. I have a few Polish friends who like to be corrected in order to improve their spoken English but I'd only correct where it would be easier for them to be understood and it's certainly not every time. I always want to change pub signs with offending apostrophes but instead I laugh and move on. They're there to sell beer and don't need to be grammatically correct however much it annoys me. The use of the word "only" amuses me when it's used incorrectly. That being said I correct every mistake my children make.