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Thread ID: 149068	2020-06-09 22:38:00	Grammar Update	Roscoe (6288)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1469481	2020-06-12 08:47:00	You could include just about any MP for that test and half the general population for that matter . It's worth a trial . . . ;)	R2x1 (4628)
1469482	2020-06-12 10:50:00	I am no English scholar but I use 'an' when the word sounds of a vowel. Like an hour versus a hour, the 'h' seems silent and it just sounds better to me. I assume you could pronounce it with the 'h' sound? You're on to it ... "just remember it is the sound that governs whether you use “a” or “an,” not the actual first letter of the word" :thumbs: In your example, the "h" in hour is silent, and yes, you would use "an". :D	WalOne (4202)
1469483	2020-06-12 11:08:00	I used to have a Sergeant Major in OCTU whose favourite barb (sometimes even to moi) was "you horrible little man". But with his Cockney accent, he left the "h" out so it became "you 'orrible little man". So in this case, we could talk about "a horrible little man", but when the "h" was left out, we could say "an 'orrible little man". Note though the rules of grammar have required an apostrophe before "'orrible" to show it's a contraction. Again, I'd hate to be someone from another country where English is not their native language having to cope with all this. :groan:	WalOne (4202)
1469484	2020-06-12 20:49:00	Again, I'd hate to be someone from another country where English is not their native language having to cope with all this. :groan: Try some of the South East Asian languages Wal where there can be 5 different ways of pronouncing the same word with completely different meanings each time. You think you are asking for a glass of water and he is wondering why you want to spend the night with his mother.	CliveM (6007)
1469485	2020-06-12 21:32:00	Interesting that in this thread entitled Grammar Update that just about every poster has made basic errors by confusing the possessive and contraction forms of "it" ... And I am aware of it when I do it. Smack on wrist.... My standards have slipped since school.	piroska (17583)
1469486	2020-06-12 22:12:00	And I am aware of it when I do it. Smack on wrist.... My standards have slipped since school. Consider yourself smacked ... with a wet bus ticket :lol::lol:	WalOne (4202)
1469487	2020-06-16 05:06:00	Iceberg, "I'm about to end this ships whole career." re The Titanic. There should be an apostrophe on "ship's"	zqwerty (97)
1469488	2020-06-18 09:32:00	A Midsummer Night's Dream. William Shakespeare can't be wrong.	zqwerty (97)
1469489	2020-06-18 23:35:00	I think what makes English grammar so easy to forget the finer details of is the tendency to have rules with multiple exceptions. I used to be quite good at it, but over the years I have slipped and forgotten a lot and wouldn't consider myself particularly good these days. My recollection of how to use the apostrophe to indicate possession is to distinguish between singular or multiple possessors, so "Dave's hats" are the hats belonging to Dave and "Daves' hats" are the hats belonging to anyone named Dave. The whole "its" vs "it's" thing is a special case like his or theirs etc but it makes sense because "its" is always singular and it avoids confusion with "it is". Interestingly the grammar checker on this forum doesn't like Daves' which is to be expected.	dugimodo (138)
1469490	2020-06-19 03:05:00	A Midsummer Night's Dream. William Shakespeare can't be wrong. Not necessarily. Don't forget the original work was penned around 1595 or so, so there's been centuries of typesetters, people like Noah Webster (one of whose main ambitions was to sabotage the language), not to mention the advent of things like spell check, social media, and things like Wikipedia - all conspiring to have us do it their way. But that title is correct ... a dream attached to or spawned from the night. Still doesn't alter the fact that "it's" is a contraction of it is. ;)	WalOne (4202)
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