When to use a vs an and also say vs says vs said!
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How to answer the phone! I always forget if its "This is she" or "this is her", so sometimes I say "that's me!" Even though that's probably wrong too..
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I think you mean *which* grammar rules confuse you?! Lol.
I don't think any stand out for me as being particularly confusing but we all make mistakes - it's hard to concentrate 100% of the time!!
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@regberadaisy: a vs. an is a one of my pet peeves! haha. Sorry
DH always corrects me on my pronoun use. Sometimes it sucks being married to an English teacher!
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@Mrs. Lovejoy: HAHAHA! I'm going to answer the phone like that now.
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@Mrs. Lovejoy: I do too! If not I say "this is her" or "speaking", though when I say "speaking" I always feel like a biatch
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Some spelling gets me, mainly "er" vs "or". I was constantly misspelling interpreter, and had to remind myself it's all "e's".
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I LOVE commas, but I think most folks have started dropping them out of daily communication. So when I use them and people try to tell me my proper commas are wrong, I go batty! Semi-colons, though, wtf are those? So confused.
@regberadaisy: I *think* a vs an really just has to do with whether the next word starts with a consonant or a vowel (or soft vowel sound).
@Mrs. Lovejoy: Ha, I cheat and just say "this is X." Muahaha!
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@mrsjazz: I actually encourage DH to correct me when i say something incorrectly! I do tend to mix up my object and subject pronouns (he vs. his) sometimes.
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@indi: That's correct, though i think the exception is when using acronyms. Like, i think you'd say "He got an MBA" not "He got a MBA. because M sounds like "em".
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@indi: good call! I'm going to do that now.
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@Cherrybee: see!
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@Mrs. Lovejoy: I just say "I'm her" or "I'm dandelion"
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Most of it! I hated learning it in school. The only thing i excelled at was spelling.
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@indi: My husband says I use too many commas. He's such a know-it-all! Yes, you use "a" in front of consonants and vowels that sound like consonants (like a union "you" and a one-time thing "won") and "an" in front of vowels and silent h sounds. And what she said--->@Freckles:
@Freckles: Ha. My husband doesn't need any encouragement to correct my grammar
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who vs whom. As soon as I think I got it, I'm confused again! I swear I have to google it everytime! Lol
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@Freckles: That's what I meant by "soft sound" but I don't know the proper term to describe it. The one that KILLS me though is "an historian." I still argue that "hi" sounds hard enough to make the an awkward.
PS - I love your name! It was the name of my very first puppy, so it makes me smile when you post.
Oh, and the serial comma debate. Do we use it, do we not!? *I do, and giggle about the strippers, JFK, and Stalin meme every time.*
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@indi: YES TO THE SERIAL COMMA!!! I am very serious about serial commas. Please use them!
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The rules for when to use "lay", "lie", "lied" and "laid"!
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This sounds so trivial, but when someone's name ends in an "s" and then using their name as a possessive (does this even make sense?) throws me off.
Such as: "That is Charles' car." Or is it "That is Charles's car." I believe it is "Charles' car", but I've seen it the other way in print (in books) which makes me doubt myself...
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@runsyellowlites: Ugh, who vs whom - I never figured this one out!
@cranberryapple: Same!
As for commas, I had a friend in college that would put a comma every time she had a pause in her thought. So she might be thinking a totally straight forward sentence, but if she paused while thinking it, she added a comma!
"Today, I got up for, work and I wasn't sure, what I wanted for breakfast."
She used to have me proof-read her papers and I was constantly removing all her random commas! Luckily, she's gotten a lot better and is now a pro with the commas!
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@Meridian: If it's one syllable, you add the s, if it's more, you don't. So for example: Hess's car is nicer than Charles' car. I BELIEVE that's the rule anyway - English majors please correct me!
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ie or ei confuses me. I never know. I mean I know the poem is "I before E except after C' But there are exceptions to the rule!
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toward/towards
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Oh, the other one that gets me is when to use "that" vs "which".
@indi: Semicolons! http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon
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@Adira: Seriously?! I have never heard of the syllable rule, but that helps immensely!!
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@Meridian: haha, now I just hope it's correct so I didn't just steer you totally wrong! That's my understanding of what the rule is though.
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Effect vs affect. After 30 years of not knowing which one to use, I give up.
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@MrsHotDog: Try to remember VANE - Verb: Affect, Noun: Effect
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