10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

[Abeja de Almirante]

That seems nitpicking, Abeja. Language is as language does, and the word "good" has a variety of uses apart from the moral one.

I disagree, but JMHO. The next time someone asks you how you are, reply "I'm well, thank-you". It just sounds better than "I'm good".

Which sounds correct to you:
- I did good on my English test.
- I did well on my English test.

- He speaks good English.
- He speaks English well.

- We did very good.
- We did very well.

 

[paulbali]

But Abeja, the two cases are different. If someone asks you how you are *doing*, then yes, you should say "well" instead of "good".

But if the question is how you *are*, then I don't see why grammatically there should be a problem with replying "Good". In asking you how you are, a person is inquiring about the state of your being. Good is a possible state of being.

For similar reasons, there is nothing wrong with saying "He speaks good English". The state of his English is good.

 

[Abeja de Almirante]

But if the question is how you *are*, then I don't see why grammatically there should be a problem with replying "Good". In asking you how you are, a person is inquiring about the state of your being. Good is a possible state of being.

Perhaps if *are* is used it may work, but IMO, "well" just sounds nicer. Compare: she plays piano well vs. She plays piano good - the latter sounds like trailer trash talk.

How are you? I'm well. Just sounds better IMO than I'm good. The latter is just too low brow sounding to my ears. So, I'm an admitted language-sound elitist, guilty as charged. Now if I could just get my typing and spell check more accurate.

Don't get me started on people who use "...is because..."

 

[building babel]

There is nothing elitist about using the language correctly.

 

[paulbali]

"Compare: she plays piano well vs. She plays piano good - the latter sounds like trailer trash talk."


The proper comparison would actually be to "She plays good piano", which sounds just fine to my ears.

 

[Abeja de Almirante]

The proper comparison would actually be to "She plays good piano", which sounds just fine to my ears.

So the correct opposite to that would be "She plays bad piano"? I think not. "She plays piano badly" sounds much better.

 

[building babel]

"She plays good piano" begs the question, "Good piano what?"

 

[Sir Novelty Fashion]

I devoted my life to that instrument as soon as I realised that its proper name was the "softloud."

I've become a fairly proficient softloud player since then...

 

[andreapalladio]

My personal favourite peeve is the failure to use the right verb form for the subject. Idiotic people writing things like "There is" instead of "There are" when the subject is not singular.

 

[paulbali]

"My personal favourite peeve is the failure to use the right verb form for the subject. Idiotic people writing things like "There is" instead of "There are" when the subject is not singular."

Yesterday Allan Gregg was doing just that, ad nauseam, in his televised interview with the editor of The New Yorker.

 

[paulbali]

I agree that "She plays bad piano" sounds a bit odd. But it is still grammatically acceptable. It is analogous to "They're playing terrible hockey tonight".

 

[andreapalladio]

I don't think so. "Bad" is an adjective, so it implies the piano is bad in some way (out of tune, perhaps). "Badly" is an adverb which modifies "plays", which is correct in this case. Presumably her lack of musical skill is the point of the sentence.

Don't make me stand at the blackboard and start marking parts of speech.

 

[adma]

How about if there are multiple a's in "bad"?

 

[andreapalladio]

That's ok, so long as the subject of the sentence is the cheesetastic '90s band Color Me Baad.

 

[paulbali]

""Bad" is an adjective, so it implies the piano is bad in some way (out of tune, perhaps). "Badly" is an adverb which modifies "plays", which is correct in this case. Presumably her lack of musical skill is the point of the sentence."


I almost hate myself for continuing this, but I can't let it go.

Andrea, it is true that 'bad' modifies 'piano', and if we take the word 'piano' concretely, the sentence thus implies only that the piano is defective in some way. But of course in addition to the ebony and ivory "piano", there is the broader and more abstract "piano" which includes all acts of piano playing, its rich traditions and personalities, repertoire, etc.
Used in this sense, to say "She plays bad piano" is to say she provides us with a poor instantiantion of that instrument's sonic universe.

Admittedly, it is a somewhat folksy locution, and "She plays piano badly" is perhaps more precise, but I stand by my claim that grammatically, there is nothing at all wrong with "She plays bad piano". It and like locutions are a long-standing part of the English vernacular, and if the Grammarians can't keep up, so much the worse for Grammar.