Lose or loose, confusion over spelling

There was a period of time in the 70s where spelling and grammar were not taught as it was thought to dampen creativity. It was quickly realised that this wasn't working, and since the introduction of the national literacy and numeracy strategies in the 1990s children are taught to spell and used grammar and punctuation correctly. The SATs papers for 11 year olds are challenging and there are high expectations. I taught for 40 years and was a primary headteacher for 30, only recently retired. It is really important that schools teach these things well for their Ofsted ratings.

The misspelling that I find confusing is defiantly for definitely. I see it all the time on Facebook comments - just why?
And pacifically for specifically - but that's how it's pronounced where I live!

My DD once corrected a friend's post on FB then apologised saying she had been brought up by the grammar police - ie me!
The one that irritates me most is could of / should of. Even some journalists make mistakes of that nature.

Mollygo

Our generation certainly was taught good grammar. Each morning we had to "parse the sentences" so we all knew nouns adjectives verbs etc etc. Obviously accents have something to account for the way words are spoken.
In Scotland we definitely pronounce the 'er' at the end of drawers, for instance.

Celeste22

Mollygo

Our generation certainly was taught good grammar. Each morning we had to "parse the sentences" so we all knew nouns adjectives verbs etc etc. Obviously accents have something to account for the way words are spoken.
In Scotland we definitely pronounce the 'er' at the end of drawers, for instance.

That was still going on when I was at school, but even the First Aid in English beloved of primary schools didn’t introduce terms like determiners fronted adverbials and aptronyms.

There's a village on the outskirts of Maidstone, Kent called Loose.

They have a branch of the Women's Institute which meets regularly.

Think about it.

Kicubbin. William Boyd books are just the job for keeping my dictionary on my phone handy, and more so with Paul Theroux. My adult education

kjmpde

I get confused with spelling so I try to find a different word to suit the phrase

on the same thread - look at people who get confused over hanging. I was always told that a person is hung and a picture is hanged

This is interesting because I have always used those words the other way round. A person is hanged whereas a picture is hung.
Am I wrong?

Seen in a local market 'Sprouts on the stork'.

"presant"

There is no such word.

I think it is to do with the fact that young people don't write any more. They type, or even just talk into their phones to send a text to someone. Spellcheck will not correct usage.

If it were not for spellcheck I'm sure I would make spelling errors. My nemesis have always been words with double letters; occasion, necessary, etc. In fact I was corrected for both of these just now. One has two c's and one s, the other has one c and 2 s's.

If I had to to pen and paper, the teachers and pedants here would find plenty to correct.

No, you’re correct, Nanny27.

The problem with spelling is that once phonics was abandoned in about the 1960s, 1970s the connection between the sounds which words contain and the letter or letters that represent those sounds was lost. Teaching each spelling as a random string of letters does nothing to ‘fix’ it. I’m sure that people who spell ‘definitely’ as ‘defiantly’ can say the word perfectly well. They just don’t understand that they’ve got the wrong letters in the spelling because the letters have no meaning for them.

Spelling depends on kinaesthetic memory, too, so if children don’t do much handwriting spellings don’t become automatic.

RosieandherMaw

suelld

I think one of the reasons you might be seeing more incorrect spellings/attributions to the words lose/ loose is simple … * interactive text!
I often fire off a text without checking the find that interactive text has ‘ corrected’ my spelling incorrectly ( tho occasionally usefully!)

I think you mean predictive text where the mobile/computer or whatever thinks it knows what word you mean or plan to use. Yes sometimes it will just “offer” suggested spelling but in my experience seems to be on another planet with the wildest ideas of its own.

Sorry yes …PREDICTIVE text …! Shame my computer didn’t correct me! 😁

Good grammar is the difference between knowing your sh1t, and knowing you're sh1t

I’m educated and have always been good at English subjects not so good on the numeric subjects but for the life of me and it’s been a long one! Thankfully!
I have started getting stuck on words when typing.
Of course I know the difference between words like no and know etc but I look back at my texting and the incorrect version is there.
I’ve always been a sticker for these basic words however lately I am stuck on when to use worse or worst any advice.

lazydays

I’m educated and have always been good at English subjects not so good on the numeric subjects but for the life of me and it’s been a long one! Thankfully!
I have started getting stuck on words when typing.
Of course I know the difference between words like no and know etc but I look back at my texting and the incorrect version is there.
I’ve always been a sticker for these basic words however lately I am stuck on when to use worse or worst any advice.

Worse is the comparative form and worst the superlative form of the adjective bad.
His driving is worse than hers.
He is the worst driver of all the people I know.

Nanny27

kjmpde

I get confused with spelling so I try to find a different word to suit the phrase

on the same thread - look at people who get confused over hanging. I was always told that a person is hung and a picture is hanged

This is interesting because I have always used those words the other way round. A person is hanged whereas a picture is hung.
Am I wrong?

To me it’s the person who is hanged, too. I still remember being told by my father, who was a stickler for correctness in both speech and writing.

J52

It might help to think that ‘lost’ has one ‘o’ as does ‘lose’

‘Loose’ has two ‘o’s making loose like a waistband.

‘Their’ has an ‘I’ in it and often refers to people, like I am.

Great tools.

And what’s all this ‘stop with’ business, when just ‘stop’ would be fine?
(Yes, I know it’s yet another import from across the pond….)

DrWatson In general, the standard of education has fallen off a cliff in the last 30 or 40 years, with some lousy English (see just about any F'book debate?!), and the History & Geography levels have also gone down the drane.
Did you mean 'drain'?

I wonder why there are such different judgements made about the ability to spell and use grammar correctly and the ability to use mathematics? Those with mathematical difficulties or shortcomings are rarely accused of being uneducated etc etc and some even sport their ineptitude as a badge of honour.

Recently seen on FB comments “Manor from heaven” 😳

A confusion I often see is between "stool" and "stall", as in "Footstall for sale".
One of my particular bugbears is using "there's" (a contraction of "there is") followed by a plural noun. e.g. "There's thousands of fans here today" instead of "there are".
Convenience, laziness or doesn't it matter?

I am known as a "grammar nazi" so it's mortifying to be pulled up on my own spelling or grammar but we all occasionally make mistakes.

Even as a young child I can remember being appalled when the teacher asked us to give her a sentence containing "are" and one of my classmates said something along the lines of
"Are Gran and Grandad took us to the park".

I was working as a TA in Year 3 when the "Literacy hour" was introduced. One of the early lessons I had to teach involved matching picture cards to words containing various digraphs: ll, sh, th etc. One little boy held up his picture of a doll and said 'I can't do this one 'cos I haven't got a "W"!'
Some of the children took great delight in being able to tell you what a "split digraph" etc was but on the whole I think personally that that over-complicates things for children who are already struggling. Teaching the correct way to use words by myriad examples is more important than the correct terminology (other than basic "Noun", "Verb", "Adjective", "Adverb" etc).

Thanks for pointing out spelling mistakes.
Intriguing the words causing confusion.

Magenta8

Being dyslexic goodness nose how many words I spell incorrectly without realising. I must get right up the pedants' knowses every time I post.

As long as your meaning is clear, not sure why it matters

For practise and practice, think of advise and advice. He advises - his advice is good, ie. practise is the verb and practice is the noun.

It is the grocer's apostrophe that makes me cringe!

Especially for those who should know better, typos in newspapers, and even in books these days.

I am a schoolreader and my 10-year-olds are quite bemused when they spot something in a book. This is not a misprint, or even an Americanism, but often the use of the wrong word (bare with me)