English Grammar

[Subedai]

IIRC a Victorian clergyman decided to 'standardise' spelling and grammar at some point in the 19th Century and so have been saddled with his whims ever since. When I was at school in the 70s grammar was not fashionable and so we were only taught the basics. I find many of my Austrian friends have a better grasp of English grammar than I!!!

IIRC!!! Ha, I rest my case!

My sister-in-law who was at junior school in the early 70's learnt reading under what was known as the ITA System. In a nutshell the books were written using a phonetic alphabet rather than 'correct' English. Her spelling and grammer have suffered terribly ever since.

Me, I was brought up on a healthier diet of Janet and John with a healthy smattering of Enid Blyton.

[O Dinas Powys]

IIRC a Victorian clergyman decided to 'standardise' spelling and grammar at some point in the 19th Century and so have been saddled with his whims ever since. When I was at school in the 70s grammar was not fashionable and so we were only taught the basics. I find many of my Austrian friends have a better grasp of English grammar than I!!!

Too true!  In my old lab the researchers would get the German post-doc to check their grammar prior to submitting papers... 

[paulr]

IIRC a Victorian clergyman decided to 'standardise' spelling and grammar at some point in the 19th Century and so have been saddled with his whims ever since. When I was at school in the 70s grammar was not fashionable and so we were only taught the basics. I find many of my Austrian friends have a better grasp of English grammar than I!!!

Most of the grammar I know I learnt in German and French classes in High school.

The language teachers hated the English department as they had to explain so much grammar that we hadn't learnt for English 

[Ithoriel]

[Fenton]

My English teacher told us that grammar and punctuation were a waste of time and that understanding the meaning of Shakespeares plays  was far more important

[Leman]

I was at grammar school in the sixties. We learnt to parse sentences in the first year and we also did Latin. This provided a good foundation for understanding basic grammar. I really don't get why people have difficulty with apostrophes when their use is so logical. I suppose it also helps that in primary school we learnt how to do different plurals and things like masculine, feminine and young, e.g. fox, vixen and cub. My son has a graduate friend who did not know that apples grew in an orchard because he had always pronounced it orchid.

[getagrip]

I really don't see the point of getting in a twizzle over grammar and spelling but it's a nice goal 

It's important but not as important as those who are good at it suggest 

[Leman]

To reiterate earlier, "Today I helped my uncle jack off a horse."

Carrot's 60p. Well you'd better give it back to Carrot then.

Dogs home
Dog's home
Dogs' home

They each mean something different. It's not the spoken word that's the problem; it's that when people write the meaning needs to be clear.

[Subedai]

I really don't see the point of getting in a twizzle over grammar and spelling but it's a nice goal 

It's important but not as important as those who are good at it suggest 

It's bl**dy important if you are trying to get a job.

Ever since I left school back in the dark mists of 1972, employers have been bemoaning the fact that it is pointless taking on school leavers as a lot of them have to be educated in Maths and English!

[FierceKitty]

[FierceKitty]

I wish a few people here would have a go at living in a country where locals really don't pay any attention to grammar. The debate about whether it's necessary is rapidly concluded under those circumstances.

[getagrip]

It's bl**dy important if you are trying to get a job.

Ever since I left school back in the dark mists of 1972, employers have been bemoaning the fact that it is pointless taking on school leavers as a lot of them have to be educated in Maths and English!

That's because the qualifications are bloated; we need a functional maths and English GCSE.  Alongside that we should have a pure maths GCSE and English literature for those who have the aptitude.

There is the ridiculous idea in this country that everyone needs to be able to solve surds and discuss the finer points of a Shakespearean sonnet; ridiculous and, for some students,  downright cruel.

[Leman]

What's a surd?

[getagrip]

What's a surd?

Lemmey can explain that better than me

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

wiki says/
Surd may be:

A voiceless consonant
Surd, Hungary, a village in Zala county, Hungary
Surd evil is another term for Natural evil, a type of random and unexplainable evil without meaning[citation needed]
Jeremiah Surd is a quadriplegic hacker and antagonist from the television series The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
A Sikh (colloquial and possibly derogatory)[citation needed]
Mathematics (mostly obsolete)Edit

An irrational nth root or a sum of nth roots
An irrational number in general

So it depends on the context...