The Narrow Path Ministries

Here are just a few ubiquitous grammar errors I have encountered rather frequently. Please feel free to add any which you have come across.

1. Misplace of the negative.

“All that glitters is not gold.” What is meant is “Not all that glitters is gold.” The first sentence means that every single glittering object or substance is not gold.

2. Misplace of “only”.

“Tom only had soup for lunch.” What is meant is “Tom had only soup for lunch. The first sentence means that Tom only and not Dick, Harry, or anyone else had soup for lunch.

3. People think expressions such as “My wife and I” must be used regardless of case.

“Sarah gave a beautiful clock to my wife and I.” Objects of prepositions must be in the obective case. It should be, “Sarah gave a beautiful clock to my wife and me.” Just omit “my wife” and no one would say, Sarah gave a clock to I.”

4. Using “me” as a subjective completion.

“Who's there?”
“It is me!”

It should be “It is I.” For “is” is a copula verb which links “It” and “I”. The subjective case is used for both words which are linked.

5. Using “badly” as an adjective.

“I feel badly about this.” It should be, “I feel bad about this.”

“Badly” is an adverb. All adverbs modify either a verb or another adverb.”
The word “feel” is one of those verbs which can either be a copula verb or an action verb. In this case it is copula, and therefore “bad” is an adjective modifying “I.” Using “feel” as an action verb, “I feel badly,” would be correct, and would indicate that there is something amiss concerning my tactile sense.

6. Confusion of “lie” and “lay.”
Concerning this, I will not give examples of incorrect use. Rather I will give examples only of correct use.

The verb “lie” does not take an object.
Present tense “lie.” Past tense “lay.” Past participle “lain.” Present participle “lying.”

Examples:
I will lie on the couch. Yesterday, I lay on the couch. Before that, I had lain on the couch. I am now lying on the couch.

The verb “lay” always takes a direct object.
Present tense “lay.” Past tense “laid.” Past participle “laid.” Present participle “laying.”

Examples: (the direct object in each sentence is “book.”)
I will lay the book down. Yesterday, I laid the book down. Before that I had laid the book down. I am now laying the book down.

Some of these are just stylistically unclear I think? I mean language is a flexible thing. For example I remember reading that something like "It is I" is trending toward "It's me" in common usage. A phrase like "All that glisters is not gold," originally used in a lyrical format, when taken in a wooden literal manner becomes nonsensical, but immediately seems obvious in what it means. If we take it algebraically, such that "all X is not Y," it depends on whether we are seeing "all X" as a single set, or seeing the all as separately describing each individual X. For example no one misunderstands "All cars are not Ferraris." "Badly"—I've read the same thing, but some people seem to find a rationale for it, since badly can seem like a pretty broad word not only meaning "not working well." I mean we can say "I feel badly in need of a drink" or "I feel strongly about the issue." The problem is the huge range of meaning that "bad" and "feel" carry. I think people instinctively shy away from "I feel bad" because they are specifically wanting to describe, not themselves, but their feelings, something like "My feelings feel bad." And the placement of only seems mainly for clarity, or whether it's contextual to the question. Like if I ask "Didn't Tom eat a double whopper super-sized combo?" and then the reply "Tom only had soup for lunch" seems to fit the emphasis of the question. However without the question it would be unclear. I'm probably wrong on this, sadly, I've always done badly at grammar but loved to argue.

Okay, I'll give you 20% for grammar usage, and 90% for argumentative ability!

I'll take it.

It is very common for people to write "lead" when they mean "led." The two words sound alike when the former is a reference to a chemical element. However, when it is a verb, it is pronounced as if it were spelled "leed," and the past tense is "led."

I often read people saying, "I felt lead to do such and such" when they mean "I felt led..." The only way you are likely to "feel lead" is if you sit down on the point of a pencil (but, of course, that is graphite, not lead).

The only way you are likely to "feel lead" is if you sit down on the point of a pencil (but, of course, that is graphite, not lead).

I guess one would feel lead, if a bullet entered one's body.

True!

The most common error is the misuse or non-use of the apostrophe. Its very annoying! You`re mileage may vary however.

"Their" and "they're" are often hopelessly confused online. As are "your" and "you're."

Verbally, the most abused word I encounter is "literally," which is often stated to mean its exact opposite. Even among smart folks, I often hear the phrase "very unique" and cringe every time. Smart people are also fond of using the phrase "begs the question" when they actually mean "raises the question." The former is a logical fallacy and does not mean "one statement leads us to another."

Ian wrote:The most common error is the misuse or non-use of the apostrophe. Its very annoying! You`re mileage may vary however.

Your right. I agree.