I learned English as a second language (native is Finnish). The emphasis in school was on vocabulary and very basic grammar; we did not to my recollection deal with stuff like passive voice etc. So in terms of writing in English, much of my "voice" has developed simply from what sounds right inside my head. However, I've been told that the way I write is overly complicated. Is this so?
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posted by Unhyper
on May 22, 2013 -
46 answers
Alright all your grammar masters. My wife is foreign and she announced "It work." when I rubbed her shoulder and fixed her pain. I corrected her by saying "It works." to teach her well. She then proceeded to explain to me the English of "plural" with adding an "s" to the verb. Is this correct?
posted by usermac
on Feb 25, 2013 -
17 answers
I need to address a formal letter to five recipients of different rank and gender at once. How?
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posted by Nameless
on Sep 14, 2012 -
22 answers
Poor understanding of grammar might cost me my job. Can anyone help an audio-typist fight back?
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posted by anonymous
on Jun 28, 2012 -
29 answers
Sources explaining why you shouldn't put a comma after the year when a date is used as an adjective?
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posted by flod logic
on May 16, 2012 -
18 answers
Can you help me explain how and when to use articles (a/an/the) to a non-native English speaker?
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posted by shortyJBot
on Nov 7, 2011 -
9 answers
So, this is a a little embarrassing. Apparently, I know nothing about the rules of grammar and English composition. Obviously, I have some of the basics of writing down (you can read this right?), but I don't know any of the terminology and nitty-gritty details about how sentences are constructed in English. I need help with resources to quickly catch me up to all the other kids in my Advanced Composition class.
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posted by runcibleshaw
on Sep 7, 2011 -
28 answers
Taxonomy (or just a list) of English grammatical constructs suitable for use as a checklist for a second language learner?
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posted by amtho
on Apr 26, 2011 -
11 answers
I'm a native speaker of English and I feel like my poor English grammar is degrading me.
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posted by sanskrtam
on Apr 3, 2011 -
25 answers
Why is the sentence "Let's read,
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen." incorrectly punctuated?
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posted by rinosaur
on Feb 9, 2011 -
35 answers
I'm teaching a humanities course at an open-admission college. The students are extremely poor writers, and have almost zero knowledge of English grammar. This semester, I want to help them avoid comma splices, since that's one of the top three issues I see in their papers (spelling errors and sentence fragments being the other two). Can you help me design a lesson/activity to help them?
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posted by philosophygeek
on Jan 11, 2011 -
16 answers
When a sentence uses more than one object, how are objective pronouns used with them? Common sense would say that they are only relevant to the direct object, but what if I want to refer to the indirect object? Hardcore grammar-mining ahead!
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posted by Senza Volto
on Jan 8, 2011 -
21 answers
Is there any graduate program that emphasizes writing skills (in English) while providing a rigorous education in grammar, literature, and related languages (i.e. Latin), without focusing on literary criticism, but rather on writing itself? More after the jump.
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posted by Nebula
on Jan 8, 2011 -
17 answers
English language filter: Do all nouns have a plural form? If not what is an example of a noun with no plural form?
posted by West of House
on Dec 16, 2010 -
46 answers
"Best" and "worst" experiences involving grammar and learning grammar? I think we were asked to write this to increase empathy, but I can't think of anything with any emotional weight, so I thought I'd ask for your experiences. Please answer especially if you had a difficult time with grammar.
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posted by amtho
on Jun 8, 2010 -
31 answers
What's the term for the use of a product name as a singular noun (like iPod), and why do companies do this?
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posted by tmcw
on Apr 4, 2010 -
9 answers
Why do we precede acronyms starting with the letter U with 'a' instead of 'an', e.g. "a USB key" or "a UFO"? Acronyms starting with a consonant are frequently preceded by "an" because consonants' names have a different spelling than the letters themselves, e.g. M as em and H as aitch, therefore "an HIV outbreak" or "an MRI". However, U's name is spelled u, and acronyms that start with other vowels are preceded by 'an', e.g. "an ABC license".
What's the deal?
posted by BigSky
on Feb 12, 2010 -
31 answers
GrammarFilter: Is the phrase "I will trade you.." often misused, or is it a perfectly valid usage that drives me crazy?
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posted by mikeh
on Jan 11, 2010 -
24 answers
Can I use "Me either" in place of "Me too" in response to this statement..."I can't wait to see you!"? Please explain.
posted by likeapen
on Jan 8, 2010 -
19 answers
Yet Another English Grammar Question: Which is correct?
Based on my facial expression right now, you would think I [were/was] excited. The former sounds wrong, but reading about subjunctive moods makes me think it's right. Does it matter whether I intend to imply that I was not in fact excited?
posted by phrontist
on Nov 23, 2009 -
27 answers
GrammarFilter: A friend and I have been discussing this construction: "would have had to go" vs. "would have had to have gone." It seems they are both correct and are almost always interchangeable, so it would seem the former, simpler version is preferable. Thoughts, explanations, examples otherwise? Are they both correct?
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posted by Badasscommy
on Oct 26, 2009 -
10 answers
Tell me everything you know about this sentence construction:
"Are you finished your lunch?"
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posted by peep
on Oct 22, 2009 -
91 answers
Grammarians: Is it OK to take liberties with the word "win" when publicizing a contest or draw?
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posted by wackybrit
on Oct 5, 2009 -
15 answers
Please hope me with this seemingly-basic English grammar/spelling question! Which is correct: "long-sleeve t-shirt" or "long-sleeved t-shirt"? Is there supposed to be a hyphen between "long" and "sleeve(d)?
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posted by radioamy
on Oct 2, 2009 -
38 answers
So which sentence is proper English grammar:
"If you eat like Bob and me, you will be healthy."
or
"If you eat like Bob and I, you will be healthy."
posted by 256
on Aug 14, 2009 -
73 answers
In
There Will Be Blood, Daniel Plainview delivers the line: "I have a competition in me." Could this be described as grammatically correct, strictly speaking? Or is it idiomatic, but not strictly correct? Is Plainview saying, essentially, "I have a [sense of] competition in me," a sentence that, were it to be spelled out as such, would lose its rhetorical punch? Could it be argued as a case of poetic metonymy or something of the kind?
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posted by Busoni
on Aug 8, 2009 -
27 answers
I want to ask several questions in a row in a research proposal. What is the grammatically correct way of doing this?
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posted by hiteleven
on Jul 23, 2009 -
15 answers
In
Return of the King, Aragorn says: "I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me." What precisely does he mean by this? My confusion is with the phrase "take the heart of me." Is this a standard idiom?
posted by Busoni
on Jul 15, 2009 -
15 answers
Genuinely dumb question to waste on the brain trust here but: when nouns end in x, do you indicate possession with just a quotation mark or do you need to include the s?
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posted by christhelongtimelurker
on Jul 13, 2009 -
23 answers
Good examples of intercultural communications based on ideograms or common concepts?
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posted by Bio11
on Feb 22, 2009 -
13 answers
When should I use "instructive" and when should I use "instructional"?
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posted by gmm
on Jan 21, 2009 -
7 answers
I need help with a pronoun issue. In the following sentences, what noun is the word
it replacing?
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posted by amyms
on Dec 5, 2008 -
11 answers
In a sentence such as "When I was younger, I would swim a mile before going to work every day," what grammatical tense is in play?
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posted by woodblock100
on Nov 18, 2008 -
14 answers
In French, the singular of eye is "oiel" and the plural is "yeux." Are there any nouns in English that have completely different spellings of the singular and plural like this?
posted by Crosius
on Sep 26, 2008 -
27 answers
