I saw this sign the other day and had to go back and make sure it said what I thought it said and to get a picture of it. For Sale Buy Owner? I don’t want to buy the owner, but surely someone is interested in the 4+ acres of property that would seem to be for sale if the sign were correct. Is the property for sale or the owner? It is definitely confusing.
I typically scroll right past most Facebook memes because they are full of grammar errors (and we all know that makes me crazy)! But this one was one of the worst I’ve seen, so I had to share.
I’ve circled the errors, just in case you weren’t quite sure. I’m fairly certain this is NOT related to Nike, even though it includes their patented trademark swoosh. So here is the explanation of the errors:
“Its” should be “It’s” because it is the contraction of “It Is” National Athlete Day.
“Your” should be “You’re” as the contraction of “You Are”
“A” should be “An” because it is before the word “athlete” which starts with a vowel sound.
So . . . the entire message SHOULD be “It’s National Athlete Day. Repost If You’re An Athlete.”
There now I feel better.
I saw this sign more than once at Disneyland (consistency is good!). I thought something was wrong with it, so snapped this picture vowing to do some research and figure out if I was correct. The problem is whether it should be “age” or “aged.”A friend send this one to me and I had to use it. While it is funny to me, I’m sure it was not so funny to the recipient.
Once again, I had to pause the local news, watch my husband roll his eyes, and snap a picture of this jewel. This is a common mistake because it kind of defies the rules. The possessive of “it” is “its.” The contraction of “it is” is “it’s.” I get that it is confusing, but it’s a concept that can be (and should be) learned. If you are tempted to use the apostrophe, check to make sure it is correct by substituting “it is” for “it’s.” If it doesn’t make sense (and it won’t if it’s supposed to be a possessive), then don’t use the apostrophe. An example is the sentence in this post “. . . but it’s a concept that can be . . ..” You can replace the “it’s” with “it is” in that sentence so it is correct–“. . . but it is a concept that can be . . ..”
A friend and I were recently discussing what our possibilities for recreation are for a trip to Sedona, Arizona, this summer. When I said “vortexes,” her response was “shouldn’t it be vortices?” I had never heard that word, but told her I would investigate and use it as a blog topic. So here we are.
According to the Gregg Reference Manual nouns of a foreign origin retain their foreign plurals while some now have English plurals and others have two plurals—both foreign and English. How confusing is that? When there are two plural forms, one form may be preferred to the other and you are instructed to check your dictionary to be sure of the correct plural form.
I will not quote the entire section from Gregg, but it is interesting indeed. It is in the Tribute (11th) edition starting on page 204. Here are select entries:
| WORDS ENDING IN US (the asterisk indicates the preferred form) | ||
| Singular | English Plural | Foreign Plural |
| cactus | cactuses | cacti* |
| focus | focuses* | foci |
| nucleus | nucleuses | nuclei* |
| stylus | styluses | styli* |
| thesaurus | thesauruses | thesauri* |
| WORDS ENDING IN A | ||
| Singular | English Plural | Foreign Plural |
| agenda | agendas | |
| dogma | dogmas* | dogmata |
| formula | formulas* | formulae |
| vertebra | vertebras | vertebrae* |
| WORDS ENDING IN UM | ||
| Singular | English Plural | Foreign Plural |
| addendum | addenda | |
| auditorium | auditoriums* | auditoria |
| consortium | consortiums* | consortia |
| curriculum vitae | curricula vitae | |
| erratum | errata | |
| maximum | maximums* | maxima |
| memorandum | memorandums* | memoranda |
| stadium | stadiums* | stadia |
| ultimatum | ultimatums* | ultimate |
| WORDS ENDING IN O | ||
| Singular | English Plural | Foreign Plural |
| crescendo | crescendos* | crescendo |
| tempo | tempos | tempi (in music) |
| WORDS ENDING IN ON | ||
| Singular | English Plural | Foreign Plural |
| criterion | criterions | criteria* |
| phenomenon | phenomenons | phenomena* |
| WORDS ENDING IN X | ||
| Singular | English Plural | Foreign Plural |
| appendix | appendixes* | appendices |
| crux | cruxes* | cruces |
| index | indexes (of books) | indices (math symbols) |
| matrix | matrixes | matrices* |
| vortex | vortexes | vortices* |
| WORDS ENDING IN IS | ||
| Singular | English Plural | Foreign Plural |
| analysis | analyses | |
| crisis | crises | |
| ellipsis | ellipses | |
| parenthesis | parentheses | |
| synopsis | synopses | |
| WORDS ENDING IN EU OR EAU | ||
| Singular | English Plural | Foreign Plural |
| Adieu | adieus* | adieux |
| Bureau | bureaus* | bureaux |
| Plateau | plateaus* | plateaux |
| COMPOUND WORDS | ||
| Singular | English Plural | Foreign Plural |
| chaise longue | chaise longues* | chaises longues |
| hors d’oeuvre | hors d’ouevres* | hors d’oeuvre |
| maître d’ | maître d’s | |
So did you learn anything from this taste of English and foreign pluralization of foreign nouns? I sure did! I was wrong and will forevermore refer to Sedona’s vortices correctly. Who knew?
I took this picture while I was in my favorite Starbucks drive-thru. I think I would prefer movers who were EXPERIENCED and honest or have a history of experience and HONESTY.
I saw this one on the freeway and just wondered why the random exclamation point was there. Yes, I’m sure 500 BBQ awards is pretty impressive, but put it at the end of the complete thought please!
I found this on a page that I was directed to for a case where the order mentions proofreading, but couldn’t get past the title. It is a hard state to spell, but it is correct in the same header. Everything matters.
Follow