Last week, I rounded up 10 of my favorite Twitter accounts for Word Nerds; this week, I'm rounding up something else: my five biggest grammatical pet peeves. (Speaking of which, my fourth-grade teacher used to call those little plastic straw wrappers--you know, the ones that came with juice boxes?--her "pet peeve." Until I was about 15, I thought that's just what plastic straw wrappers were called....)
Many grammar geeks shudder at the misspelling of your/you're or their/there/they're, while others flinch at the sight of two spaces following a period. Tell us—what are your language-related pet peeves?
Here are my top five:
1. Improper use of the correlative conjunction "not only...but also"
A correlative conjunction links elements like words, phrases, and clauses (usually parallel in structure) in a sentence. Examples: either...or, neither...nor, but...and, and my personal favorite, not only...but also. The pairings go together like peanut butter and jelly. (Note: inserting the word "also" is necessary for parallelism.) Here are five tips for fixing "not only...but also" errors.
2. Fewer than vs. less than
"Fewer than" should be used when referring to countable items or concepts, whereas "less than" should be used when referring to things that can't be counted, or to measures of amount, distance, or time. (You know those signs at the grocery store that say "15 items or less"? They should really say "15 or fewer items"....)
3. Should of
The phrase is actually "should have," not "should of," but the difference is tricky to hear. The words aren't spelled like they sound; for instance, one would say, "I should've gone to the show," not "I should of gone to the show."
4. For all intensive purposes
Here's another instance of a phrase that sounds different than it looks. The saying is really "for all intents and purposes," but speech often makes "intents and" sound like "intensive." Here are 24 other commonly used phrases you might be saying wrong. (I know I sure was!)
5. Using "I's" instead of "my"
If you're a fan of reality TV (The Bachelorette, anyone?) you'll know what I'm talking about. How many times does someone say, "John and I's relationship is amazing" or "Her and I are a perfect match!" Looks like they're focused on the wrong kind of possessive on these shows...
Image via pauliewoll on Flickr
