Quick grammar question

H

hjrdee

Registered User
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160
A business in my town has just moved offices and has put a notice up on his window to tell customers the following:

We have moved:

400 Metres that way, just passed the xxxxxxxxx.

Should that read past??

Not a life saving query but just curious as I think they have it wrong.
 
hjrdee said:
Should that read past??
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Yes it should - unless of course they are in a constant state of flux and are continually passing various landmarks.

'Passed' instead of 'past' is a surprisingly common error - but not as bad as 'your' instead of 'you're', which is very common: I've seen a permanent shop sign that reads 'Now your talking'.
 
Not forgetting the quiet/quite conundrum either. Also often see to/too misused. God help people learning this as a second language.
 
Should that read 'Quick grammatical question' ? LOL.


Also licence/license. People saying 'I got' instead of 'I received' and 'lots' instead of 'many'. My old English teacher used to wince when presented with those.
 
teacher used to give out yards if someone used an excuse for missing school ' due to a cold/ flu etc' went mental and said it was ' owing' to a cold etc not 'due to'. personally can't really see much difference in 'owing' and 'due to.'
 
cuchulainn said:
'owing' to a cold etc not 'due to'.
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To me 'owing to' now sounds a bit dated. Surprisingly, grammar 'rules' are not always set in stone and some so-called 'rules 'are subject to revision.

E.g. 'Can' used for permission (e.g. can I have?) has been historically regarded as poor use of language, incorrect even. However, most modern grammar texts will now 'allow' the use of 'can' for permission as an acceptable alternative to 'may'.
 
elefantfresh said:
Not forgetting the quiet/quite conundrum either. Also often see to/too misused. God help people learning this as a second language.
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But didn't we all learn it as a second language (English not being our first official language)......
 
Vanilla said:
Should that read 'Quick grammatical question' ? LOL.


Also licence/license. People saying 'I got' instead of 'I received' and 'lots' instead of 'many'. My old English teacher used to wince when presented with those.
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Technically right perhaps, but I can't imagine a kid going into school and saying "I received many presents for my birthday". Sounds like Martin from The Simpsons. It's a short cut to a wedgie if you ask me.
 
The other favourite seems to be people loosing/looseing things when they can't find them.
 
It's not grammar related but the one that gets to me is when people say "Pacifically" rather than "specifically". Then there’s the whole “Chicago” “Chicargo” thing.
 
Purple said:
It's not grammar related but the one that gets to me is when people say "Pacifically" rather than "specifically". Then there’s the whole “Chicago” “Chicargo” thing.
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or people who pronounce Thai as 'thigh'...
 
What about 'fewer' and 'less'? Many shouts at the radio are owing to advertisements using 'less' when they ought to be using 'fewer'. Gosh, you have to be really careful in this thread...
 
They're are also people who mix up there use of the word "there" - their the worst IMO.
 
While I don't consider myself a grammar dunce (dear This post will be deleted if not edited immediately I hope I don't make any errors in this post!), I've always grappled with the following issue. Should one write:

1) ... please contact my colleague Jacinta or me.
2) ... please contact my colleague Jacinta or myself.
3) ... please contact my colleague Jacinta or I.
4) ... please contact me or my colleague Jacinta.

I'd usually go for 1 or 2 above (after some agonising). Number 3 sounds a bit Rastafarian/Jamaican, 4 just looks wrong because you are putting yourself first.
 
Go for number one, you wouldn’t say “Please contact I” or "Please contact myself", so don’t say, “Please contact Jacinta or I”.
 

I'm pretty sure 1 is correct.

I think 2 sounds as Irish as 3 sounds Jamaican (!) - but it sounds friendly and I would use it myself.

(Sorry - last remark sounds a bit calculating - I should perhaps say that I work in sales!)
 
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