Domino 3,168 #1 Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) Will update this as and when I have time. Please feel free to make suggestions/corrections. At work I'm an incredibly anal person when it comes to the right way of doing something, in particular with the English language. I'm not as fussed on 'zee interwebz', but I've learnt some very valuable tips and tricks over the years when it comes to essay writing and the correct use of terms and punctuation. I would like at this point to rule out two comments I hear a lot: 1) I'll never use it - bullshit, no matter what job you do, you'll always have to know the basics of grammar and spelling. You write a lot more than you realise. 2) It's too hard - nope. I had a friend growing up who said she could never do anything because she was dyslexic. Yeah well, guess what so am I, and I've never let that, or any other mental or physical disability get in the way of me striving to get what I set my mind to. No one is born fantastic at anything, it takes hard work and dedication to achieve it. This'll be split into use of various words, punctuation, and a walk through of how I was taught to write essays. Yes I know most of this is google-able, but if you love google so much, maybe you should marry it. Punctuation 1) Full stops 2) Commas 3) Colons 4) Semi Colons Commonly Misused Words i) She/He (Just for Ghost_Jor) She = Female He = Male 1) Less/Fewer Always remember, less cannot be counted. When I'm tired, I listen to less music - Less is correct as the amount of time is unknown, all we know is one is bigger than the other. Fewer students are taking Biology this year - The number of students can be counted, so it is fewer 2) Literally/Figuratively Literally is a description of something that actually happened - I literally just fell over, it was so humiliating Figuratively is a metaphor for something that didn't happen - I figuratively just had my head blown off by that gust of wind. 3) Were/Where Where is based upon locality I don't know where I left my hat. Were is past tense of be - We were supposed to be at the party by now, we are late. 4) Accept/Except Accept is to receive - She accepted the reward. Except is to exclude something. All the toys were pink, except the green ones. 5) Affect/Effect Affect meant to influence - My actions will affect other people Effect is a result. My actions have effected other people Can think of this is future and past. 6) Allusion/Illusion Allusion is an indirect reference to something. E.g. to make someone think of something without actually making a specific reference to it. An allusion to Shakespeare. Illusion is a false impression. The magician was good at creating illusions. 7) Capital/Capitol Capital - as in capital city. The capital of England is London Capitol - a building where lawmarkers meet. The capitol has undergone extensive renovations. 8) Emigrate/Immigrate Emigrate - You emigrate FROM somewhere - He emigrated from China Immigrate - You Immigrate TO somewhere - She immigrated to America 9) Principle/Principal Principal - Head of a school - He was the principal of the high school Principle - A basic truth or law - The principles of life 10) Than/Then Than - A comparison - Ice cream is better than chocolate Then - Ordering or something, giving it a perception in time - I'm going to eat pizza, then ice cream. 11) There/Their/They're There - means where something is - It's over there, next to the sink Their - belongs to - It was their toy They're - short for they are - if 'they are' doesn't make sense in your sentence, don't use this. They're always complaining about something. 12) To/Too/Two To is a preposition - I went from left to right. Too is when you're adding something. I have attached the letter too. Two is a number - There were two cats having sex on my lawn. 13) Your/You're Your - possessive pronoun - always use this if You're doesnt sound right - test by saying does 'You are' work in my sentence? If the answer is no, use Your. You're is an abbreviation of you are. You're going to catch a cold if you don't wear your coat. 14) Lie/Lay Lie means to recline or rest. I'm going to lie down. Lay means to put or place. She fell asleep in my arms, so I lay her down on the bed. 15) Supposed To - Lots of people incorrectly put suppose to. 16) Used to - Lots of people incorrectly put use to. 17) Toward - never has an s on the end, Towards is incorrect. 18) Anyway - never has an s on the end, Anyways is incorrect. 19) For all intents and purposes - Commonly mistaken to 'For all Intensive purposes'. 20) Advice/Advise Advice - Suggestion for a course of action - She couldn't take the advice given to her. Advise - To notify - He gave out some advise 21) Aisle/Isle Aisle - path between two rows - He walked down the aisle at the theatre Isle - An island - Think Isle of Mann 22) All Together / Altogether All Together - All in one place - Once Sarah arrived, the group were all together again. Altogether - Complete/Whole - The elastic band kept the paper altogether 23) Along/A long Along - movement - She moved along the road A long - measurement/length - He had a long piece of string 24) Aloud/Allowed Aloud - Out loud - She said her speech aloud Allowed - Can do something - He was allowed to go to the park on his own Commonly Misspelt words Accommodate - double C and double M Achieve - I before the E Across - single C, double S Albeit - Often written as 'all be it' - it's actually all one word Apparently - commonly pronouced apparantly Argument - commonly written as arguement Calendar - commonly spelt calender Definitely - commonly spelt definately Foreign - e before i Forty - the u is removed from four Knowledge - the d is often omitted - remember you need a LEDGE to store your books of knowLEDGE on Surprised - commonly spelt suprise Threshold - single h Truly - the e is removed from True How to write an essay and common issues with essay writing Edited July 22, 2014 by Domino 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+JB. 4,800 #2 Posted July 21, 2014 I never really had problems with stuff like than/then etc. I usually just don't care about my spelling on the internet enough and don't allways think before typing. In school related writing, I care a little more lol. What I do when using one of these words is thinking of the meaning of it in german, because the words are quite diffrent in german. Of course, if english is your first language you can't do that. few examples than -> als then -> dann your -> euer/dein you're -> ihr seid/du bist there -> dort their -> ihr they're -> sie sind Didn't know the diffrence betwen a few of the other ones though, definetly helpfull. thanks :3 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Domino 3,168 #3 Posted July 21, 2014 Thanks JB, thinking about this, it might be nice to utilise the very wide variety of languages spoken in Lotus - maybe people who have English as a second language post up a few choice phrases each week/day on a thread? Might be fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Se7en 10,762 #4 Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) At work I'm an incredibly anal person Well then. Edited July 21, 2014 by Fleur-de-Lis 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
luop90 4,400 #5 Posted July 21, 2014 wuts a grammer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghost_Jor 583 #6 Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) wuts a grammerWhat the heck is this!? Were you not listening to anything she said!?It should be "Wut's a grammer." You illiterate swine! Edited July 21, 2014 by Ghost_Jor 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Domino 3,168 #7 Posted July 21, 2014 What the heck is this!? Were you not listening to anything he said!? It should be "Wut's a grammer." You illiterate swine! She* Tut. To quote Mana: She = Female He = Male Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghost_Jor 583 #8 Posted July 21, 2014 She* Tut. To quote Mana: She = Female He = Male Goddamit I always get those two mixed up... 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Domino 3,168 #9 Posted July 21, 2014 I added it for you. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DutchKev 425 #10 Posted July 21, 2014 one of my personal faves from around these here parts bought / brought to many people around here say that they've "brought" a new car - when i ask where did they bring it from they look at me like i've pissed on their grandmother bought - to purchase with moneys brought - to bring with - possesion 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fever 9,884 #11 Posted July 21, 2014 When my age was in single digits I always got soldier and shoulder mixed up...I blame my ginger hair at the time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ruby 9,039 #12 Posted July 21, 2014 Isn't this a lesson in English spelling and grammar rather than in English literature? I expected links to great works of Shakespeare, Poe, Dickens, Orwell or Tolkien... 8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BloodRedWidow 3,508 #14 Posted July 21, 2014 Isn't this a lesson in English spelling and grammar rather than in English literature? I expected links to great works of Shakespeare, Poe, Dickens, Orwell or Tolkien... I was just thinking this.... =S 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Domino 3,168 #15 Posted July 21, 2014 Isn't this a lesson in English spelling and grammar rather than in English literature? I expected links to great works of Shakespeare, Poe, Dickens, Orwell or Tolkien... Not when I get on to paragraphs and story writing, no. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jesusfreak 312 #16 Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) Most of the notes you've made so far, did I already knew about. However there were also some which I now understands. Also, let's get naughty here. I'm an incredibly anal person This sentence is considered as an Allusion of her correcting other peoples mistakes of writing. Clever people wound understand her sentences. For less clever people, well, yeah... Edited July 21, 2014 by Jesusfreak Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Se7en 10,762 #17 Posted July 21, 2014 Clever people wound understand her sentences. For less clever people, well, yeah... 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ruby 9,039 #18 Posted July 21, 2014 Eight(╯°□°)╯︵ â”»â”â”» if you started counting at 7 this is more like 14 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Domino 3,168 #19 Posted July 21, 2014 What the actual fuck are you lot dribbling on about Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Se7en 10,762 #20 Posted July 21, 2014 (╯°□°)╯︵ â”»â”â”» if you started counting at 7 this is more like 14 Nah, I don't count, I ain't clever enough. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ruby 9,039 #21 Posted July 21, 2014 Nah, I don't count, I ain't clever enough.*merges accounts* 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Skaila 5,462 #22 Posted July 21, 2014 I got this t-shirt, because reasons: https://www.threadless.com/product/290/They%27re,_Their,_There GET IT BEST. SHIRT. EVER. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LjubicaZubica 5,610 #23 Posted July 21, 2014 I got this t-shirt, because reasons: https://www.threadless.com/product/290/They're,_Their,_There GET IT BEST. SHIRT. EVER. Gah threadless, so many great t-shirts Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fever 9,884 #24 Posted July 21, 2014 *merges accounts* PMSL Suddenly, one day... ...but breaking news 24 hours later... ...much mystery... ...keep it under the radar but... ...crowd be like... ...with a heavy dose of... 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D-Bee 3,448 #25 Posted July 22, 2014 H8ful Eight = lawls all around. Me encanta. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
