r/EnglishGrammar

As a tedious Gen X grammar pedant, and book reader, I am noticing people not using an anymore, especially in front of initials, eg, “I just saw a NSX drive by earlier…”

I am over patrolling the internet for erroneous “your/you’re,” and “they/their/they’re” uses, that is a lost cause. Someone said of these, that gen Zers know which is right, but choose not to adhere, as “It’s not a test!” I don’t believe this.

So is it that grammar is not a priority on school’s curricula anymore?

RIP our beautiful language.

Me to Him: Would like to do this trip on 31st. It would be crowded considering the festival -Possible to make arrangements for both of us?
Him: Both of us means? Your mom?

Did I sound like I meant my mother?

I keep seeing people use the word “stood” and “sat” in present tense sentences in fiction, particularly fanfiction that otherwise has excellent grammar and writing. My best bet is that this is a mutation from the slang use of “I’m sat” to express intense interest, but being used in context that isn’t slang.

Or am I missing something? Is the sentence “he is stood in the middle of a group” correct in a way I’m not understanding?

"We consider how the problem is dealt with a major concern."

Is the cited sentence grammatical and natural?

Is "the problem" the implied object of the preposition "with" in that sentence?

I don't know how to make this happen, but I want to just ban the contraction of "you're". I've seen people use it incorrectly and insist they are correct, and plenty of people who just guessed with crossed fingers.

Every confused person will have to type out "you are" when that is what they want to say. The usage of the possessive "your" will continue. My desperate hope is that eventually everyone with doubts or erroneous thinking will become retrained in the correct usage.

This is not for the betterment of society or anything, I just hate the errors with the heat of a burning sun.

We all say "I'd've" (I would have), "shouldn't've" (should not have), "s/he'd've" (s/he would have)....funny. I'm noticing all the ones I know have 'have' in them.

Anyway...we all say them, but how often do you write them?

When I Googled, the most compounded one that came up in early results was "Y'all'd've" (you all would have), which I've never used, but "y'all" is not a term I commonly use.

(I'm in N Central California now and grew up 50/50 in San Francisco and London)

Was reading a passage and saw this sentence which felt a bit off to me: "it is no longer I who do it". My grammatical intuition is that it should be "it is no longer I who does it".

I guess the idea is that it is the "I" (not) doing it, and so "do" conjugates with "I", but my intuition is that it would conjugate with "who".

Interestingly enough though, if I swap I out for they (which also conjugates with does), then "it is no longer they who do it" sounds more natural than "it is no longer they who does it"

1. I have been living here since seven years ago.

2. I have been living here since more than seven years ago.

3. I have worked here since two months ago.

4. I have worked here since more than two months ago.

Are these sentences correct?

Is is correct “Will you still dare to love me under full moon?” without “the”

1. We want to eradicate any possibility of the return of the cancer.

2. We want to eradicate any possibility for the return of the cancer.

Which is correct?

When I become a werewolf, would you love me still beneath the moonlight? Does the “love me still” works

I've just had a bit of a disagreement with someone on another thread about prepositional verbs (dispose of, rely on, etc). I was arguing that they're not phrasal verbs and it seems the general consensus is against me on this. I accept that - but my question is why?

The argument against my view is that the meaning of dispose of is different to the meaning of dispose on its own. I'm not sure I agree, and I certainly don't think that's true of rely in rely on. A couple of examples:

A: How did you dispose of the batteries?
B: Dispose? We didn't dream of throwing them away.
I came up with this on the other thread to suggest that of doesn't contain the meaning. The other person said this sounded wrong to them, and that they'd say:
A: How did you dispose of the batteries?
B: Dispose of? We didn't dream of throwing them away.
To me, this doesn't sound very natural, but I accept it's not totally wrong.

What about?:
A: Who did you rely on?
B: Rely? No-one! We didn't trust anyone.
This sounds fine to me.

And finally:
A: We've run out of milk.
B: Run out? Oh no!
This is a phrasal prepositional verb. To me, the meaning is contained in run out, and the of is purely prepositional. Am I wrong? What am I missing?

1. They knew to prepare a good meal.

Does that mean:

a. They knew that they were supposed to prepare a good meal.

or:

b. They know how to prepare a good meal.

1. This is a book I highly recommend reading.

2. This is an instrument we recommend having.

3. This is a book I highly advise reading.

4. This is an instrument we advise having.

Which are correct?

1. At present, we accept patients with a primary diagnosis of depression.

2. At present, we are accepting patients with a primary diagnosis of depression.

Do these mean:

a) we only accept

or:

b) we do accept such patients (as well as)

1. I did not go out to make her happy.
2. I did not go out so that she would be happy.
3. . I did not go out in order to make her happy.
4. I did not go out for her to be happy.

Aren't these sentences ambiguous?

Two possible meanings:

a. I did go out but my intention was not making her happy.

b. In order to make her happy, I did not go out.

Would a comma after 'out' help to make it clear that the intended meaning is b?

1a) I did not go out, to make her happy.
2a) I did not go out, so that she would be happy.
3a). I did not go out, in order to make her happy.
4a) I did not go out, for her to be happy.

Are these sentences natural?