Comenly mispeled words and grametical erors

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“I had scarcely walked in the door than the commotion started.”

I must be reading this wrong....I think it should be: “I had scarcely walked in the door, then
the commotion started.”

And as for the IE-EI rule...
"I before E except after C", there is at least one exception to the rule: Wierd.

Other common homophone errors:

our, hour, are:
our: belonging to us [that is our house]
hour: 60 minutes [I am gointo the store in an hour]
are: [we are here]

Great Thread idea, David. I hope you don't get flamed for it. It is a very important issue that really needs addressed! Even the youngest poets on this site should already be able to grasp these basic grammar concepts.

I feel that most of the errors are done in haste... and because writer doesn't take the time to re-read thier words... and/or have someone else proofread it for them. I certainly am guilty of reading right over typos and mistakes because I read what I know it should say.

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I biggest grammatical problem i've ever had is the difference between lay and lie, along with the difference between who and whom.

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OKay hold on and let me look it up ;-)

Lie, Lay, Laid, Lain:

The big difference is in point of view. If the speaker is doing something without a direct object, he/she/it is lying. If the speaker is doing it to something else, he/she/it is laying. e.g. "I will go lie down." and "I will lay this pencil on the desk."

It actually gets worse. The past tense of lay is laid, but the past tense of lie is lay. Uh oh. But that isn't all. When used in a perfect tense, the past tense of lie is lain. e.g. "I lay down. (as in the past)" and "I have lain down for a nap every afternoon for years now." both use the verb "to lie." Wow.

Who and Whom:

-they work they same way he and him work.
who is to he as whom is to him.

e.g.

"Always remember WHOM you're speaking to."
"WHOM are you speaking to?"
"I am speaking to HIM."

or

"WHO is speaking?
"HE is speaking."

O.o
I was pretty confident about my ability grammer-wise but now i'm going back to edit my poems. Thanks all.
Aken Sol
P.S. I found the title very clever David :-P

lol, yes, I agree... the title is great... and OMG at the lie and lay thing... I'm sure I've done that wrong!!!! LOL

And I just thought you know, how people sometimes get mixed up whenever they use the past or present tense of the verbs. Sometimes they start off their poem in present tense and then conclude in past tense.

I don't really think this is a common mistake that people make but I just thought that it would be beneficial if we were aware of such a mistake.

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Affect/Effect

(From the Mirriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary)
Effect and affect are often confused because of their similar spelling and pronunciation.
The verb affect usually has to do with pretense
(she affected a cheery disposition despite feeling down).
The more common affect denotes having an effect or influence
(the weather affected everyone's mood).
The verb effect goes beyond mere influence;
it refers to actual achievement of a final result
(the new administration hopes to effect a peace settlement).
The uncommon noun affect, which has a meaning relating
to psychology, is also sometimes mistakenly used for
the very common effect.
In ordinary use, the noun you will want is effect
(waiting for the new law to take effect)
(the weather had an effect on my mood).

Accept/Except
Accept-receive willingly something given or offered (I accept your gift)
Except - Exclude (I like all vegetable except spinach)

That is a great one Ann Marie, I think a lot of people have trouble with that.

good ones Spark!

and thank you Sean, for your praise as well as the posting of the Who/Whom problem... I think I almost always just use who and never even think about whether or not it should be whom!

everyone does that sometime i do, not intentionally

Another thing that I've seen a lot of is the "double negative" I used to use them in talking a lot when I was young and Mom was constantly correcting me.

I think one of the most popular is:

I don't want none (or no, or nothing)
this needs to be "I don't want any" or "I want nothing"

I've also seen; "I can't never forget you"
this should be "I can (or could) never forget you" or
"I can't (or couldn't) ever forget you"

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Alright/ All right

this is a tough one...and even after reading what the Mirriam Webster Collegiate dictionary has to say, I'm still not 100% sure which to use when....

Alright: adverb or adjective
usage: The one-word spelling alright appeared some 75 years after all right itself had reappeared from a 400-year-long absence. Since the early 20th century some critics have insisted alright is wrong, but it has its defenders and its users. It is less frequent than all right but remains in common use especially in journalistic and business publications. It is quite common in fictional dialogue, and is used occasionally in other writing.
{the first two years of medical school were alright}

All right: adjective
Usage:
1 : SATISFACTORY, AGREEABLE {whatever you decide is all right with me}
2 : SAFE, WELL {he was ill but he's all right now}
3 : GOOD, PLEASING -- often used as a generalized term of approval {an all right guy}

Guys, what's the difference between Presume and Assume? I really don't get it with those two.

Presume:
transitive verb
1 : to undertake without leave or clear justification : DARE
2 : to expect or assume especially with confidence
3 : to suppose to be true without proof {presumed innocent until proved guilty}
4 : to take for granted : IMPLY
intransitive verb
1 : to act or proceed presumptuously or on a presumption
2 : to go beyond what is right or proper

Assume
1 a : to take up or in : RECEIVE b : to take into partnership, employment, or use
2 a : to take to or upon oneself : UNDERTAKE {assume responsibility} b : PUT ON c : to place oneself in {assume a position}
3 : SEIZE, USURP {assume control}
4 : to pretend to have or be : FEIGN {assumed an air of confidence in spite of her dismay}
5 : to take as granted or true : SUPPOSE {I assume he'll be there}
6 : to take over (the debts of another) as one's own

wow! you guys are so smart...lol. I notice the whom/who and have been trying to correct that lately, and the their/there/they're is a big problem to that I sometimes mistake when in a hurry. I promise I know what they mean, I just dont notice I'm doing it!!! I'm going to bookmark this page and look into it whenever I write a new poem now!! Thanx again guys!!

ooh ooh!! I just got one!!! I made the mistake in my last post-and wont correct it just to prove that it's commonly mistaken!!!

TO:
1. In a direction toward so as to reach: went to the city.
1b. Towards: turned to me.
2. Reaching as far as: The ocean water was clear all the way to the bottom.
2b. To the extent or degree of: loved him to distraction.
2c. With the resultant condition of: nursed her back to health.
(okay there are a lot of those, I'm not going to put them all)
TOO:
1. In addition; also: He's coming along too.
2. More than enough; excessively: She worries too much.
3. To a regrettable degree: My error was all too apparent.
4. Very; extremely; immensely: He's only too willing to be of service.
5. Informal. Indeed; so: You will too do it!
(basically, it means also or excessive ie: too much)
TWO: the number!!

Okay that isn't as detailed as everyone else's, but it works!!

lol Zy--that's exactly what this thread is for... so people can see the common errors and maybe learn how to do it right. :o)

Yes, Vin, he made those errors in the title on purpose

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there's another one I come across a lot... and it's REALLY annoying...

when people use "of" rather than"'ve"

example:
wrong: You could of done better.
right: You could've done better.

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Can you vote on my poems so I know how they are and feel free to coment. thanks bye

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that's not necessarily a misspelling/typo.... Americans have taken the "u" out of a lot of words like that:

Honor, color, savior...I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind.

These words originally had a "u" in them... so when you see "honour, colour, etc...check to see if the author is European (or pretty much anything other than American, I think--please correct me if I'm wrong) the spelling is still the same there.

You're right Ann =)

I agree roise...you were the one to point out:

"honor/honour look out sometime we just get lazy
proof read your work"

making it seem like you thought one or the other was wrong.... although it is unclear which....

The only word I routinely misuse is the word TO / TOO. I think it's mostly because of carelessness though. If I stop to think about it, I know which one to use. But that's if I stop to think...

I say Tomato you say no thanks

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I'm sorry that I didn't have the patience to read this whole thing just to see what everyone has written but die realls gives me a lot of trouble when you go to add ing to it. I should just look it up once so that I know for sure how it goes and will forever but I just haven't and now that I've said all this I really don't know why I don't....:P Suppose I'm just lazy...but anyhow. If it's like dieing or dying or something else, I don't really know. I couldn't resist but I did happen to see an earlier post of:

“I had scarcely walked in the door than the commotion started.”

If you really wanted to get all technical on the grammar then wouldn't it be:

"I had scarcely walked through the door than the commotion started."

I just think it is and I know it's no big deal but I just noticed that and thought I'd be a dork and point it out :P hehe.

well, I guess if we want to be REALLY technical, it would be "...walked through the doorway..." I think it's generally accepted to say either walked in or walked through the door. If in doubt, say this: "I had scarcely entered the room (or house or whatever)...." no question about that.... I think!!!

as for die+ing it is "dying" same with tying, lying, and vying. (by the way, dying would also be the -ing form of dye)

Thanks a lot for clearing that up.

And yeah hehe like I said I thought I'd just be a dork about that one...hope I didn't really cause an issue w/that :P

it was actually a good question lovestruck... I am actually going to ask my sister-in-law (an english teacher) if it should be "in" or "through" and "door" or "doorway"...

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Comenly mispeled words and grametical erors

revived!

Why do people confuse "your" and "you're" ?

Please check over your poems and look for these
"Comenly mispeled words and grametical erors" posted here.