Grammar Peeves #1

Having spent some years doing various types of editing, I find that I'm far more distracted by grammar goofs than I used to be. Or could it be that writing and grammar has gotten worse recently? In any case, it's getting to me so much that I've decided to write a series of short blog posts featuring the writing errors I see every day. I spot them in books, advertising, letters, and articles published by teachers and other professionals. These are grammar no-nos that really bug me. Do you do this?

GRAMMAR PEEVE #1: Using an apostrophe with a plural noun. NO! Apostrophes are used with possessive nouns, not plurals.
WRONG: I have ten new follower's on Twitter.
Correct: I have ten new followers on Twitter.
Correct: My new follower's name is April. (singular possessive)
Correct: My followers' preference is science fiction. (plural possessive)

Thanks for letting me rant about my pet peeve!
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Published on February 19, 2017 08:59 • Tags: grammar, writing
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message 1: by Mariia (new)
Mar 06, 2017 08:13AM

Mariia Hello Rosemary, I am not English native speaker, so I believe I am doing a lot of grammar mistakes myself (articles are my shame). I am trying not to... But I think it is unacceptable when you see grammar/spelling mistakes while reading a book! I read such a book just recently and it was awful even for me!
Thanks for these peeves :0


message 2: by Rosemary (new)
Mar 06, 2017 10:36AM

Rosemary Cole You're very welcome, Mariia. I believe there are some people in this world who are very bothered by this stuff, and I'm one of them! I think almost everyone else just ignores it. I admire you for tackling the English language as a non-native speaker; it's not an easy language to learn. Here's another tip for you that I forgot to put in my Grammar Peeves blog: the possessive requires an apostrophe mark EXCEPT when you're talking about IT. Here's an example:
"The dog's fur is black."
"Its tail is curly."
Notice no apostrophe in ITS in the second sentence? Just one of those exceptions that drives one crazy!


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The Sweet Torture of Writing

Rosemary Cole
This is my blog about the experience of trying to become an author. Writing is something we aspiring authors are driven to do. We love it, and at times we hate it. It's painful and enjoyable all at on ...more
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