Mechanics of English

[Anissa T]

Does anyone else find English an awfully hard language to learn? There are so many rules and such. I find no matter how hard I try, I always forget something.

[Colonel Carter]

Is English not your native language? I've heard that English is very hard to learn as a second language because we have so many more rules than many languages. And it seems that there are different rules to the English language depending on where you go - different countries seem to have variations on rules. For example, I know Canada and Great Britian well spell it colour instead of color and seem to use the letter s in place of the letter z a lot, like realise instead of realize. That always bugs me because to me it's wrong, but according to their version of English, it's right.

We also have a word which can have multiple meanings. For example, the word light. "Turn a light on." "He made light of the situation." Same word, two very different meanings.

But that says little about the mechanics of writing. There are certain words I can never seem to remember how to spell right. That's why I love spell check's. Separate is one of those words. I always write seperate. And many times I will feel uncertain about the use of apostrophe's, colons, and semi-colons. Rules regarding them are what I often forget.

One thing I've learned is that there is a difference between journalistic writing and non-journalistic writing.

Jornalistic Writing: He said he saw a cow, a horse and a pig.
Non-Journalistic Writing: He said he saw a cow, a horse, and a pig.

The difference is if there is a comma before the word and or not in the list. Maybe I'm not right on that, but that's what I got out of my writing classes in college.

[Dracus]

o.o English is my native language and I still think its messed up. Weve got so many... uneeded things in our language XD

Though, ironicly, playing online so much has further helped me master the language, per say...

Though now I cant learn a new one for **** XD

[Colonel Carter]

English is my native language and I still think it's messed up. We've got so many... unneeded things in our language. XD

Though, ironically, playing online so much has further helped me master the language, per say...

Though now I can't learn a new one for ****.
I bolded the changes I made in your comments to make it correct. ;)

I'm not sure how much my writing skills have improved as a result of being online. Not a lot if any since my writing skills before were good. However, my typing speed has increased greatly. Before I got the internet a few years ago, I typed using two fingers and it was rather slow. Now, I have a typing speed of about 72 wpm which is great when applying for jobs to be able to have that on your résumé.

[Anissa T]

I'm just kind of horrible all the way around. If I ever become a writer, I'll definately need to track down a really good editor.

I'm confused about almost everything. For instance, when do you use a colon as opposed to a semi-colon? In my head there should never be a comma before the word "and". Oh, does anyone know what the heck a dangling participle is and why does anyone care?

Oh and I once had a college professor tell me I am the queen of prepositional phrases.

I've had any teachers tell me I'm a really good writer, but my mechanics need a lot of work.

[PizzaMan]

Well fer me FERGETABOUTIT
PizzaMan, a newbee.

[Silk Pantera]

I'm learning Spanish and it is unbelievable how much...easier it is... I mean, it is hard, but it is also easier than I expected.

I'm in Australia and we spell the words, colour, specialise and all those other words... OH! And Jail.... America spells it Jail, Australia spells it Gaol. It is just weird! And the way that they two different countries pronounce z is the alphabet. America say "zee" and we say "zed" it is just weird!!

[Anissa T]

Don't you guys spell "check" differently as well?

[Colonel Carter]

Jail vs. Gaol - that is weird. Looking at the word Gaol, I wouldn't even pronounce it the same way. I would think to pronounce it Gay-'ol.

You guys use the same grammar as Canada. It's probably the same as England but I'm not sure. In Stargate Atlantis they made a joke in the series premiere when McKay, from Canada, called it a "Zed-PM."

For some reason, Zed to me sounds like it should be someone's name.

I notice your grammar replaces a lot of our z's with s's. Do you guys have any words with z's in them?

[Anissa T]

I would have pronounced it "Gail"

[colonel Mitchell]

what is this for

[Anissa T]

It is a discussion on the mechanics of english.

[colonel Mitchell]

what is machanics of english

[cb49747]

Help with grammer and other such writing problems.

[colonel Mitchell]

this could be the thread for me then huh

[Angelica Constantine]

Yeah, I'll just stay away from this one...LOL *walks away whistling*

~Anyone who knows me knows I am bad on Grammar and Spelling most times...not all the time...but most..LOL

[colonel Mitchell]

same here ac

[Anissa T]

It took me a very long time to get half decent. Now a days my problem is I'm in such a hurry, that even when I know what I'm doing, I'm rushing and don't have time to proof my work.

[colonel Mitchell]

i never proof my work maybe thats the problem

[Anissa T]

I took an extraordinary business writing class that taught me excellent proofing reading techniques and structure building techniques. I utilized those last semester writing my paper on management communications and got my first every A on a term paper.

I was also luckily enough to take a military legal writing course. Man alive, what 5 days of class does for you.

[colonel Mitchell]

your in school i thought you were out of school

[Anissa T]

I'm in college. But, right now I'm on a power break. LOL!

But the writing course I took 1 1/2 years ago. The military writing course, I took um, about 10 years ago.

Even if I wasn't in school, you could always take refresher courses at the local community colleges. They give them all the time.

[colonel Mitchell]

im still in middle school

[Anissa T]

So, you should be doing all kinds of english work. LOL!

[colonel Mitchell]

kinda

[Robin K]

Here is a very helpful website...

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp


This explains the basics of grammar and punctuation...the foundation of English mechanics. Of course, spelling is important, too. Posting replies in a forum isn't the same as sending a text message to a friend.

[Anissa T]

Very true!

Thanks for the link. I always got comma questions. LOL!

[Angelica Constantine]

Nice move, Robin....*thumbs up*

[DerekHalfhand]

The Google tool bar has a spell checker that works in any form you fill out, I found it very useful.

[colonel Mitchell]

the quick reply post thing has spell check but i never use that

[Anissa T]

The Google tool bar has a spell checker that works in any form you fill out, I found it very useful.


Problem is, "most" spell checks only check for spelling, not grammar. The mechanics of english require the proofing of both spelling and grammar. I also find that even when you have one that checks grammar, it often misses several items.



the quick reply post thing has spell check but i never use that

I don't find anything wrong with your spelling CM. As with me it's usually the mechanics of the sentence. :wink:

[Angelica Constantine]

Also that spell checker...it checks for American spelling...so no good for us Canadians.
Or those of other countries...Who's English is diffrent.

[Anissa T]

Never thought of that Ange. Your right. I remember thinking you were a horrible speller when I first began reading your fanfic. Then, I realized, no, that is probably the way you spell it in Canada.

[Angelica Constantine]

Never thought of that Ange. Your right. I remember thinking you were a horrible speller when I first began reading your fanfic. Then, I realized, no, that is probably the way you spell it in Canada.


Bingo...

[colonel Mitchell]

wow no nf it the way i speak sometimes

[wana_be_a_wraith]

Listen to my poem (idea from holes)

If only if only the young wraith cried the amour on humans were as soft as apple pies
And then we may feast on human and a little bit of yeast

[wana_be_a_wraith]

Thank you Thank you

[Angelica Constantine]

Ah...ok....:huh:

[colonel Mitchell]

odd

[wana_be_a_wraith]

It is pretty odd isnit just like me

[colonel Mitchell]

ok