How to use an apostrophe

[Hatter The Mad]

Too many people struggle with the use of one of the most common mark's of punctuation in English - the apostrophe.

But no longer - we have a reference for idiot's: http://apostrophe.me/

Behold'

Let us clean up OcUK grammar.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

Almost everyone gets this wrong, probably including you reading this post:

http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/its.html

No, I don't get this wrong, and I don't think that this article describes a particularly difficult use case of an apostrophe I learned this in school.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

and yet you wrote:

Yeah, and I also wrote:

idiot's

Behold'

 

[Hatter The Mad]

I probably get it wrong a lot of the time admittedly..but why on earth would this bother you??? have you nothing better to worry about lol

Theres also a difference between idiots and people who can't be assed.

Because I feel strongly about the rapidly declining literacy of the majority of the public, as do lots of OcUKers (you'll see people correcting or mocking people in a lot of threads)

(and fyi - "a lot" isn't a word, it is "there's" and I'd really rather hear "arsed" than "assed", unless you are a yank )

 

[Hatter The Mad]

This is a backtick otherwise known as a grave accent `

They are NOT the same.

Goodness, I forgot about this. I sometimes wonder how the heck people can find that backtick - I struggle even on a PC keyboard, let alone on the Mac which I am using now.

I wish the only thing I had to worry about in my life was how other people use an apostrophe.

Oh, so do I... so do I....

 

[Hatter The Mad]

hehe i suppose that's fair enough! i do agree with you that it's declining. it wouldn't be such a bad thing as we know some people (like myself) just don't bother on the internet. If im writing a letter or a report at work for instance, i do bother to get it right..

But as dirtydog said - you talk about "not being bothered" on the Internet, yet you end up putting the effort in to add ANOTHER character to a word you are typing

 

[Hatter The Mad]

To be honest, who actually cares if the written text on this forums isn't 100% accurate.

I don't as long as the text is viable reading and the comments are understandable.

Firstly, why do you think people confine their bad literacy skills to the Internet

Secondly, why is that OK and how can you appreciate the (ill)logic behind doing it

Thirdly, unfortunately bad literacy isn't confined to the Internet, hence the number of awareness campaigns cropping up

 

[Hatter The Mad]

Look, I gave my opinion, there isn't any need to complain about MY LOGIC.

I didn't say anything about "[YOUR] LOGIC". I said "the logic in doing so", referring to people who reserve bad literacy for the Internets.

the odd error made when somebody puts a character wrong on a piece of text written on the web isn't the be-all and end-all of the forums is it.

It isn't an odd error - is it? The majority of the time it is consistent, which is why the author made that website, which is why there are literacy campaigns on the TV, radio and prints, which is why we never hear anything else except for the rapidly declining literacy rates of people.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

My irony-o-meter just exploded.

I don't get it, where did I slip up?

 

[Hatter The Mad]

I for one is not perfect.

I think I just urinated.

But seriously, I respect your opinion - but again, I think you're off this thread's mark. It isn't about "Queens English", it is not about "laziness" - it is about poor literacy in general.

Annoying people like me don't like it. Employers stress over it. The Government are embarrassed by it. Poor literacy is a problem, and it will only get bigger as this generations moves on one.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

I don't get it, where did I slip up?

My irony-o-meter just exploded.

I think he means where you typed "I learned this at school" he is commenting that the correct term should be "I learnt this at school"

Again, this is a minor error, this should not be dwelled upon.

Well, "learned" is a correct word to use here. Both learned and learnt can be use to describe "[x] acquired by learning", and "Learnt" is solely a (long standing) Britishism derived from "learned".

 

[Hatter The Mad]

now you're doing it yourself mate

quoted from http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/its.html

That doesn't mean that "it is" is unacceptable....

 

[Hatter The Mad]

So are you talking about OCUK forums grammar or usage externally of OCUK - eg. the work place? Because you have contradicted yourself.

Sorry, I have caused confusion - I was talking specifically about "using Queen's English" - I am not talking about accents or speaking, but about writing (and reading). I was referring to your comment about coming from Wolverhampton and not using Queen's English.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

Surely if you are so bothered about people using the wrong written language then the spoken language should also be as important for you? Anyway, I'm going to take a step back from the thread now.

Not really, because dialects and colloquialism are to be expected. We grow up in different places. However, this does not transcend into literacy - and we all learn the same literacy skills.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

(you learnt something previously, so you should be writing in Past tense context - Learnt is past tense, and learned is not)

Nah, this isn't true.

Learned and learnt describe "acquiring through learning". My use of the word "learned" there was fine.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

Really, who cares, more important things to worry about in life ?

Why are you posting in the thread, then? People have different interests - accept it.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

My comments were not meant to explain that whether it is correct or not

Ok, I took:

he is commenting that the correct term should be [...]

To mean you were saying what was correct and what was not. I understand you now!

 

[Hatter The Mad]

I started reading this thread, nodding in agreement. Then I got to here and realised that pretty much every post you've made has some sort of glaring grammatical error. If you're going to post threads about the declining standards of the English language, at least have the decency to learn how to speak and write in it yourself.

I never claimed to be an expert or write English perfectly (no one can, because there isn't an exhaustive English rule book). I make mistakes, everyone does, but I'd like to believe that I make far fewer than most people. I also take correcting them and learning proper grammar very seriously.

I'm also not sure why my grammatical mistakes would stop you agreeing with the sentiment of this thread or my original post.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

oh dear, get out more OP...

I am sat outside, actually