Correcting people's grammar - acceptable?

Pollycat

Penster wrote: »

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.

I actually think that pub signs and business signs in general should be grammatically correct.

Mojisola

maman wrote: »

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.

With the spoken word, it can be very hard to tell whether people are saying "could of" or "could've" (same with "must").

It's also where the use of "could of" has come from and this is so common now that it's likely to become an acceptable use - the language is constantly changing.

annie_d

i really do try not to correct people but if the day isn't going well or I am tired or stressed, then I do. I wish I had enough self control not to do this. It really isn't helpful.

Concerned75

If they want too rite poor grammar, let them get on with it. Not your problem and probably to lait for sum people....

Mupette

Concerned75 wrote: »

If they want too rite poor grammar, let them get on with it. Not your problem and probably to lait for sum people....

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Pollycat

Concerned75 wrote: »

If they want too rite poor grammar, let them get on with it. Not your problem and probably to lait for sum people....

I see what you did there. 🙄

goodwithsaving

I correct grammar the majority of the time. I always correct myself if I don't say 'May I' but say 'Can I?' - old habit that one.

I get irritated with poor grammar at work, and if a potential date (online dating) messages with poor grammar, that's a turn off. I know it's snobbish, but it's basic education. I think it depends on how you were brought up, my teachers and parents were extremely fussy on spelling, grammar and speech.

TBagpuss

indiepanda wrote: »

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"

I think that is in part about knowing that they are wrong / not good at spelling or grammar. If someone doesn't realise that they're getting things wrong, or if it isn't something they notice, then they would not see the need to get another person to check or proofread their sign.

A lot of people my age (early 40s) whad little, if any, formal education about grammar or puctuation or parts of speech. I had a little, becuae I happened to have a teacher who was very close to retuirement and just carried on teaching the way she always had, regardless of what the National Curriculum said. A little later, I studied French and German, and in both we were taught some grammar, but we were never, formally taught anything at all about English grammar.

My parents did pick us up on some things, and I have always read a great deal (including, when I was younger, lots of school stories written in the 1920s-1950s, in which characters were forever being pulled up on such things!) so I have learned a fair amount about what is correct. Plus, I find it interesting.

but a lot of people my age or younger will have had the same lack of teaching but would not have had the same interests of influences. And presumably there are now quite a lot of teachers who were never taught these things themselves, so are not well-placed to teach others.

Pop_Up_Pirate

It's like calling people 'fat'. Even if they are fat, it's not the done thing to say so because it can cause upset and offend. It only serves to point out a person's 'failings'.

Pointing out mistakes in spelling and grammar is similar. You would be pointing out another person's failings and why would you want to do that?

mgdavid

Pop_Up_Pirate wrote: »

It's like calling people 'fat'. Even if they are fat, it's not the done thing to say so because it can cause upset and offend. It only serves to point out a person's 'failings'.

Pointing out mistakes in spelling and grammar is similar. You would be pointing out another person's failings and why would you want to do that?

If sensitive souls get upset or take offence that is their problem not mine.
To answer your question, to help them improve themselves - it may even help them do their job better, or perhaps get a better job.
Would have thought it obvious.