Things I'll never learn

[amari_z]

When I was a kid I had the hardest time distinguishing between 'b' and 'd' and between 'p' and 'q.' It gave me fits and many tears were shed. Although it took me a while, I've pretty much gotten those straight, but there are still a number of words or rules of grammar that I can never, ever keep in my head. The top contenders:

lie, lay--I often get it right by chance, but if I have to be sure, I must look it up. Every single damn time.

loose/lose and choose/chose--for some reason I can't get these right, even though I know which one to say--I just can't seem to spell the one I want.

breathe/breath--same as above.

effect/affect--I know the rule, but I still get it wrong sometimes when I don't think about it.

like/as--I've pretty much surrendered on this one. I'm sure I use 'like' incorrectly all the time. I blame my California upbringing.

Not to say, of course, that I don't have many, many other problems. Feel free to point them out.

Comments

[park-ave-pirate.livejournal.com]

Okay, I am totally new to your blog (found it in a blog of a blog of a blog) and I am totally going to make a nerd of myself right away.
Your grammar frustrations are very normal and common. My grand career right now is as a Business Writer/Technical Editor. I spend all day looking at various documents (often dull as tombs) and editing misspellings, punctuation mishaps and spacing drama.
Needless to say: I should know what I am doing, right? In fact, I find myself sending emails that have a bunch of "...'s", capital letters to show I am excited and italics to show sarcasm.
Being a grown-up sucks!

J

[amari-z.livejournal.com]

Hey welcome--and I love grammar nerdiness, although I don't really have the type of mind to really aspire to be grammar stickler myself. Way too careless and I think I goofed off too much in elementary school and never really learned the finer points.

And isn't e-mail really a grammar free zone? I think there's a law or something. ; )

[park-ave-pirate.livejournal.com]

As a certified Grammar Geek I have a protocol to follow and an image to uphold. Nothing is sacred in the world o'grammar, a sad but true fact of life. Although, I haven't crossed the line to judging others. That would be mean/beatchy.

Thanks for having a funny blog. Mine is a mindless wander through my lame world.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/park_ave_pirate

J

[amari-z.livejournal.com]

LOL. Mind if I friend you? I'd love to have a grammar geek to consult--and I'm sure you're not boring.

[park-ave-pirate.livejournal.com]

You can totally "friend" me. I will do the same. Look at the can of worms you opened regarding grammar. Eek!

[amari-z.livejournal.com]

The lovely thing about language is that it's constantly changing. As a non-stickler I can accept that--unless of course it's just wrong. ; )

[starry-diadem.livejournal.com]

I find that the lie/lay one is quite common with US writers. You (generic!) often write "lay" when it should be "lie". I find I have to restrain myself from leaping up and down and screaming things like "Lay what? Eggs?" at the monitor - which may give you a somewhat irreverant method of remembering which to use!

The one I have most difficulty with is who/whom. That often takes some head-in-hands thinking about and I'm never confident I've got it right.

[amari-z.livejournal.com]

Yes, I will freely admit that I have no natural ear for lay/lie. It always sends me to the grammar book (or slips by). It probably is an American thing--we so often use it incorrectly when we speak that we don't have any idea what we're doing anymore.

Surprisingly, who/whom doesn't bother me as much (not to say I always use it correctly). I took some Latin at some point, and it made me appreciate the who/whom business a bit more. (Although I had fits when I started the language--dative? what the hell is dative? And ablative?--are these even words?). Grammar was not formally taught at my very American elementary school--the nice British graduate student teaching the the Latin class was pretty appalled with us American college students.

[cloudednine.livejournal.com]

Ugh, grammar. I find generally that if I don't think about grammar and spelling I get it right. It's when I start thinking about the rules that I confuse myself and end up writing gobbledygook.

See, now you've got me thinking about lie/lay and I CAN'T REMEMBER THE DIFFERENCE. Ahhh! Help! Where's my dictionary?

[amari-z.livejournal.com]

It can drive you mad. Mad I say!

I think I got the lie/lay thing down correctly below.

[far-mountain.livejournal.com]

Okay, I give up. Is there an easy way (such as a pneumonic device or ditty) to determine when to use lay and when to use lie?

Thanks for the assistance.

[amari-z.livejournal.com]

You're asking the wrong girl, as was the point of my little post. : ) Anna points out that hens lay eggs--which is probably a good way to remember. Lay takes a direct object, lie (not to fib, but to recline) does not.

I don't really have a problem remembering that part--it's the conjugation. Lie, lies, lay, has lain. Lay, lays, laid, has laid. Lie (fib), lies, lied, has lied. I have to run though it every time I'm using anything but the present tense when someone is either reclining or something is being placed. For me, it's something like a mental block at this point.