13-07-2010, 11:54 PM
I decided that since there were many people who deemed it damaging to one's reputation to type with poor grammar, I would write a guide discussing some of the most obscure tidbits of grammar; some which, unlike most of those in the original guide, are used incorrectly not as a means of convenience, but because people truly do not know the difference.
Please note that I do not believe the use of perfect grammar is necessary; however, those who mock poor grammar should master these aspects of our language before criticizing the grammar of others.
1. Mass/ uncountable nouns versus countable nouns
Before reading any further, please read the following sentence.
Can you see any error? There is one. People, being used in this sense as the plural form of person, is a countable noun. Therefore, the grammatical way to show that there is a lower quantity of people is to use the word fewer. However,
is grammatically correct, because water is not a countable object. You cannot have more than one water. Here is a useful guide for those who cannot make heads or tails of it.
2. Ending sentences with prepositions
In proper English, sentences may not be ended with prepositions. Although the consensus among grammarians is that it does not really make much of a difference, should one wish to correct the grammar of another, they must be able to follow many of the unnecessary rules of English. Trust me, there are many of those.
Rephrasing sentences which end with prepositions
The word ‘which’ is vital to the rephrasing of grammatically incorrect sentences. You simply remove the preposition from the end of most of the problem sentences, and then re-insert it in front of the action, but add the word ‘which’ after the preposition, unless any of the words ‘which’, ‘who’, or ‘whom’ are already representative of the affected noun. Here are some examples.
3. Who versus whom
When you ask, Who are you talking to?, you are actually making TWO grammatical errors. The first was discussed above. However, To who are you talking? is also grammatically incorrect. You should be saying To whom are you talking?, believe it or not.
Whom is used whenever the word who becomes the object of the sentence. Although the most common usage of who is in an interrogative (question) sense, it can also be used in statements. I will get into that later.
In the question sense, take the question Who killed him?. The one who is referred to as who is the one doing the killing, thus the subject form, who, is used.
However, let us flip the question. What if you had been asked Whom did he kill? In this case, the one whose identity is unknown and thus replaced by who is actually the one being killed. This makes them the object, and therefore whom is used, similarly to how one would use I killed him but He killed me. Who is used where I, he, she, we, and they would be, while whom is used where me, him, her (in the object sense), us, and them would be.
Now, who can also be used as a connector, showing that an already stated person has done something. For example, The old doctor, who had already suffered two heart attacks, decided to treat himself to some French fries. Unless the word is affected by a preposition or acting as the object, who is always the correct word in this sense.
Conversely, if there is indeed a preposition affecting the noun, or if it is the object of the sentence, whom will always be the correct answer. For example, The old doctor, of whom I have many signed pictures, became very famous.
To recap,
It should finally be noted that the possessive of who is whose, not who’s.
4. To be and pronouns
Although this point is very simple, it is ignored all the time. When using the verb to be, the subject form of a pronoun is always used, even if the pronoun is serving as the object. For example, when picking up a telephone, a woman would answer when being asked “are you [insert name here]?”:
So when you knock on the door to your friend’s door and they ask “Who’s there?”, you answer
instead of
These are only the beginning. I am quite bored after writing this guide, but I may update it in the future. This guide serves one main purpose, however, and that is that in order to tell others not to ‘tiep liek dis’, you should first master these grammar rules.
Please note that I do not believe the use of perfect grammar is necessary; however, those who mock poor grammar should master these aspects of our language before criticizing the grammar of others.
1. Mass/ uncountable nouns versus countable nouns
Before reading any further, please read the following sentence.
Quote:There were less people in the room than there had been last week.
Can you see any error? There is one. People, being used in this sense as the plural form of person, is a countable noun. Therefore, the grammatical way to show that there is a lower quantity of people is to use the word fewer. However,
Quote:There was less water left in the tank than there had been last week.
is grammatically correct, because water is not a countable object. You cannot have more than one water. Here is a useful guide for those who cannot make heads or tails of it.
Quote:a person, some water
some people, some water
fewer people, less water
more people, more water
many people, much water
few people, little water
the most people, the most water
the fewest people, the least water
most people, most water
2. Ending sentences with prepositions
In proper English, sentences may not be ended with prepositions. Although the consensus among grammarians is that it does not really make much of a difference, should one wish to correct the grammar of another, they must be able to follow many of the unnecessary rules of English. Trust me, there are many of those.
Rephrasing sentences which end with prepositions
The word ‘which’ is vital to the rephrasing of grammatically incorrect sentences. You simply remove the preposition from the end of most of the problem sentences, and then re-insert it in front of the action, but add the word ‘which’ after the preposition, unless any of the words ‘which’, ‘who’, or ‘whom’ are already representative of the affected noun. Here are some examples.
Quote:I need some silverware to eat with.
I need some silverware with which to eat.
Whom have you been working for?
For whom have you been working?
Which charity is the money being donated to?
To which charity is the money being donated?
I have found an island which I would like to dig underneath.
I have found an island, underneath which I would like to dig.
Which witness have you already heard from?
From which witness have you already heard?
These are the prizes he must choose between.
Between these prizes he must choose / These are the prizes between which he must choose.
3. Who versus whom
When you ask, Who are you talking to?, you are actually making TWO grammatical errors. The first was discussed above. However, To who are you talking? is also grammatically incorrect. You should be saying To whom are you talking?, believe it or not.
Whom is used whenever the word who becomes the object of the sentence. Although the most common usage of who is in an interrogative (question) sense, it can also be used in statements. I will get into that later.
In the question sense, take the question Who killed him?. The one who is referred to as who is the one doing the killing, thus the subject form, who, is used.
However, let us flip the question. What if you had been asked Whom did he kill? In this case, the one whose identity is unknown and thus replaced by who is actually the one being killed. This makes them the object, and therefore whom is used, similarly to how one would use I killed him but He killed me. Who is used where I, he, she, we, and they would be, while whom is used where me, him, her (in the object sense), us, and them would be.
Now, who can also be used as a connector, showing that an already stated person has done something. For example, The old doctor, who had already suffered two heart attacks, decided to treat himself to some French fries. Unless the word is affected by a preposition or acting as the object, who is always the correct word in this sense.
Conversely, if there is indeed a preposition affecting the noun, or if it is the object of the sentence, whom will always be the correct answer. For example, The old doctor, of whom I have many signed pictures, became very famous.
To recap,
Quote:Who is the killer?
Whom did he kill?
The killer, who already had a long criminal history, turned himself in.
The killer, against whom there was much evidence, confessed his crime.
It should finally be noted that the possessive of who is whose, not who’s.
4. To be and pronouns
Although this point is very simple, it is ignored all the time. When using the verb to be, the subject form of a pronoun is always used, even if the pronoun is serving as the object. For example, when picking up a telephone, a woman would answer when being asked “are you [insert name here]?”:
Quote:This is she.
So when you knock on the door to your friend’s door and they ask “Who’s there?”, you answer
Quote:It is I
instead of
Quote:It is me
These are only the beginning. I am quite bored after writing this guide, but I may update it in the future. This guide serves one main purpose, however, and that is that in order to tell others not to ‘tiep liek dis’, you should first master these grammar rules.