Grammar

I mistakenly thought that the purpose of Pedant's corner or Pedants' Corner, depending on how many people are involved, was to ask a question or highlight a grammatical error we had noticed.

However, I didn't realise that it also meant we could single out and embarrass contributors for errors made in their own posts on this thread. How silly of me! ? I will have to be very careful.

I hope no-one with dyslexia wishes to ask a question and is put off posting. ☹️ We don't know what disabilities a poster has.

Off your own 'back' instead of bat - gets me every time.

I'm really sorry, Charleygirl, but this is a forum for pedants.

I agree that it is rude to do it on any of the other forums.

MaizieD

It does seem a bit odd, Marydoll, to be complaining ungrammatically about other people's bad grammar.

Particularly in 'Pedant's Corner' (which is, itself, a questionably grammatical title).

Something very odd going on here.

When I wrote this post on my tablet earlier this morning the forum was most definitely named 'Pedant's Corner'. I know it was because I deliberately altered what I had written from 'Pedants' Corner' to 'Pedant's Corner' so that it would correspond exactly with the forum title. I checked and rechecked...

Now I've come back to it the apostrophe is in the correct place.

What happened?

Does anyone nowadays know how to use the word 'whom?'
It has virtually disappeared.

The one that gets me is muddling up draw and drawer. My boss labelled her filing cabinet, writing 'draw' on each sticky label. My fingers itched to add 'er' to each one but I needed the job!

We have a local school, named St Thomas. Official communications referred to St Thomas' staff.
I was always taught that St James ' was correct and St James's was incorrect.

Hear hear Marydoll. I’d rather just read what someone posts and enjoy the interaction than pick it to pieces. What right has anyone? We don’t know the personal circumstances of anyone on here and shouldn’t be so snooty!

I see loads of grammatical errors and probably make a fair few myself. So what?

On Mondays we do.....

Furret, the point I was trying to make is that it's really not very kind to point out an individual's grammatical errors on a public forum.

I have a Master's degree in English language and literature, so grammatical errors could really irritate me. They don't! There are more important things happening in the world to stress about at the moment.
This constant pulling of of posters on GN recently is becoming quite depressing.☹️

I was taught to write as one would pronounce with names ending in ‘s’ - as in That is James’s book.
I think I was also taught that when the number is a unit Less than is correct - as in Fewer than 50 cars, but A dozen cars or less.
Maybe it’s position in the sentence. ‘Less than’ certainly jars in Less than 50 cars, But does fewer in A dozen cars or fewer.
Can anyone enlarge on this?

boodymum and MaisieD thank you so much for pointing out my grammatical mistakes in such a kindly and straightforward manner.

Totally my fault, I was distracted here and did not re-read it. I am also partially sighted but that is not an excuse.

Perhaps in future give some thought to people's inner feelings? You do not know my circumstances. Mistakes are easily made.

I used to be a proofreader for a printing company. I can't describe the agony, for me, of misplaced apostrophes etc etc etc. (But I love 'Arrive me' Nortsat! )

Monday’s staff meeting has been cancelled.

Marydoll

In the OP, however, the use of apostrophes is incorrect, because Mondays is a plural noun in this context. eg. ^On Mondays we have a staff meeting.^

Does it say that in the OP?

?

love it Grannynannywanny

That really appeals to me!?

?

In the OP, however, the use of apostrophes is incorrect, because Mondays is a plural noun in this context. eg. On Mondays we have a staff meeting.

It is not always incorrect to use apostrophes as you mention in the OP. Depends on the context eg

Monday's Child
Monday's child is fair of face
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

It does seem a bit odd, Marydoll, to be complaining ungrammatically about other people's bad grammar.

Particularly in 'Pedant's Corner' (which is, itself, a questionably grammatical title).

Correcting another poster's grammar is neither acceptable nor kind, boodymum67. ☹️
I wouldn't dream of pointing out another poster's perceived errors.
You know nothing about Charleygirl nor her circumstances. She could be dyslexic or perhaps, partially sighted. Who knows?

Charleygirl5

If you read my local Nextdoor online one would be hard pushed to know if eg the person was a cleaner or wanted one the grammar was so dreadful.

Your grammar has some mistakes.
No punctuation where it should be. No full stops.

Sorry, Rufus, I beg to disagree. James' does not imply that there are more than one person called James referred to.

The apostrophe after the s in a singular is simply the exception that proves the rule.

Bill Gates is famous for writing computer code, not accurate British English!
Geekesse MS now has an army of code writers on its payroll, but they still don't like "Jameses"!
What's "accurate" anyway, given the proliferation of dialects and languages?
Here in OZ we have a hybrid of the best of US and OZ whereby "humor" versus "humour" and the preference for "Z" (Zee!) over "S" can be overlooked!

Oopsminty Hope you've got only one Nemesis, otherwise "Nemesises", apart from being a tongue-twister would pose a problem as to where to stick apostrophes! OoRoo