WRITERS: LEARN TO ENGLISH

This thread (rather, one like it) has probably already been made elsewhere, but damn it, it needs to be made here, too.

Now. Something that drives me crazy in the Crossroads and BA is the fact that most people just do not understand the way that homophones work. I'm going to go ahead and lay out a few basic rules (and examples) for you all, hopefully you'll take them to heard. If you with to sticky this thread, be my guest. If you wish to lock&mock, whatever, it still needed to be said.

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'You're' and 'Your'

The words "your" and "yours" are the possessive cases of "you". What I mean by that is this: You have apples, and they belong to you. They are your apples. The apples are yours. The same goes for "their" and "theirs", which are the possessive cases of "they" and "them".

The word "You're" is actually a contraction of "you are", which is obviously a state of being, not a possessive case, just like "they're" is a contraction for "they are", rather than a possessive form of "them". I can't even count the number of times I've seen a post like, "DRAW YOU'RE SWORD, FIEND". Here's a general rule for "you're" and all other contractions-- take the contraction apart and separate it into its basic elements. That should remove a lot of confusion about them. For instance--

You're - you are (i.e. you're cool, you're interesting, you're grammatically incorrect)
We're - we are (i.e. we're going to the store)
He's - he is, he has (i.e. he's [HE IS] on fire, he's [HE HAS] been here before)
They're - they are (i.e. they're taking the hobbits to Isengard!)
They've - they have (i.e. they've heard this before, they've only so much money to give)
I've - I have (i.e. I've given you money already, go away)
I'm - I am (i.e. I'm a level 33 Paladin!)
etc.

Please, contribute more proper English tips to this thread so that the 1337 |\| () [] |3 5 of this section can prosper and blossom into an experienced adventurer.

Yes, I probably messed up a bit myself when I was trying to sound fancy, but it was worth it.

your dumb. we're words is fine. i no cause i Is a cawledge stoodent.

Forget you're and your.

THERE THEIR AND THEY'RE IS WHERE IT'S AT.

I find amusement in the (probably deliberate, but I choose to insinuate that you are a hypocrite and idiot) irony of your thread title. Perhaps you should "learn to English" yourself.

No, that isn't a metaphor for what you do while thinking of Power Shot.

Originally Posted by UZ!

Forget you're and your.

THERE THEIR AND THEY'RE IS WHERE IT'S AT.

True, but...

Originally Posted by UZ!

Forget you're and your.

THERE, THEIR AND THEY'RE ARE WHERE IT'S AT.

It needed fixing. :3



Oh, and I don't notice these mistakes often here; I see them far more often in the GCC and the rare times I visit the Zelda sections.

Originally Posted by Silver

No, that isn't a metaphor for what you do while thinking of Power Shot.

You mean... while I'm Power Shooting?

I'd like to think I'm not a complete idiot, but if I were, would I really be able to tell?

Yes, the truly horrible idiots are so idiotic that they are idiotic enough to label themselves as idiots of their own volition. It's sad, but true. You aren't that bad.

Well thank you for your seal of mild approval.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of homophones...

Sent
Cent
Scent
Cents
Sense
Scents

Your vs.You're 1: An English-Zone.Com Quiz

Wow, I didn't know people were such grammer nazi's! Hehe jk TB.

Everyone slips up on the internet. And they are typing in the BA, its not like they are writing a dissertation in grad school.

Still though, it's a great skill to have down-- and if you don't learn it while you're still young (which most of ZU is), you'll never nail it.

Yeah, most of ZU is still in middle school, barely in high school. Some of them either don't care or just haven't grasped it yet. At least now they'll learn.

I think people should get a 10/10 and sc it before being allowed to post in the BA and fanfiction sections.

I'd like to believe that at least four out of five participants in this forum have been speaking and writing the English language for at least ten years, and upwards of twenty years, before they come to write roleplays for their characters. This should be plenty of time to get the basics down. If you haven't, and you don't know how to spell check, grammar check, or proofread - or have someone else proofread for you - then I don't believe you shouldn't be here. Those are some pretty base skills. Or programs, for that matter.

Originally Posted by Drammor

then I don't believe you shouldn't be here.

What?

Avoiding double-negatives is also a pretty base skill, Drammor. You apparently don't have enough years of English under your belt.

It took me a while, but I got the mistake eventually. Wow, how ironic.

I think I might just add instead of argue.

THEN AND THAN
Of all grammatical flaws, this pisses me off the most. I spend a lot of my time cursing under my breath at writers when they write something along the lines of "he was more powerful then her." It should be 'than'. Then is used as a conjunctive, not a word of comparison. I know, some may slip up occasionally, but the 'e' and 'a' keys aren't that close together; I think you'd have to be pretty fat or clumsy to press 'e' in the stead of 'a'. Call me what you will, or say what you want, but the chance of making a typing error like this and then failing to pick it up in proofreading is small. Yet, I have seen many seniors of this forum make that error. To me, this seems as though many people have not learned this grammar. And that is why I have contributed.

Originally Posted by P.

I think I might just add instead of argue.

THEN AND THAN
Of all grammatical flaws, this pisses me off the most. I spend a lot of my time cursing under my breath at writers when they write something along the lines of "he was more powerful then her." It should be 'than'. Then is used as a conjunctive, not a word of comparison. I know, some may slip up occasionally, but the 'e' and 'a' keys aren't that close together; I think you'd have to be pretty fat or clumsy to press 'e' in the stead of 'a'. Call me what you will, or say what you want, but the chance of making a typing error like this and then failing to pick it up in proofreading is small. Yet, I have seen many seniors of this forum make that error. To me, this seems as though many people have not learned this grammar. And that is why I have contributed.

This is one of the ones I always pick up on...

It also reminds me of the word grey... or is it gray? I don't know. >_<