Good Grammar is Important 1.. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects. 2.. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. 3.. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. 4.. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. 5.. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat.) 6.. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration. 7.. Be more or less specific. 8.. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary. 9.. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies. 10.. No sentence fragments. 11.. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used. 12.. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. 13.. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous. 14.. One should NEVER generalize. 15.. Comparisons are as bad as clichés. 16.. Don't use no double negatives. 17.. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. 18.. One-word sentences? Eliminate. 19.. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. 20.. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. 21.. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas. 22.. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice. 23.. Kill all exclamation points!!! 24.. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them. 25.. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth-shaking ideas. 26.. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed. 27.. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” 28.. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a million times: Resist hyperbole. Not one writer in a million can use it correctly. 29.. Who needs rhetorical questions? 30.. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. 31.. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. 32.. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out. __________ English Language Lunacy We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes, But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes. One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese, Yet the plural of moose should never be meese. You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice, Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice. If the plural of man is always called men, Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen? If I speak of my foot and show you my feet, And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet? If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth? Then one may be that, and three would be those, Yet hat in the plural would never be hose, And the plural of cat is cats, not cose. We speak of a brother and also of brethren, But though we say mother, we never say methren. Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him, But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim! Let’s face it – English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; Neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England. We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, Grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? If teachers taught, why don’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think that all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what other language do people: Recite at a play and play at a recital? We ship by truck but send cargo by ship. We have noses that run and feet that smell. We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway. And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on. And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother’s not Mop?

I notice all of the time and make judgements about them because of it. I know that is not fair, but it is the truth. I *never* correct them. That would be rude. (Unless they are one of my kids)

i almost always notice. i used to correct people when i was little, but it annoyed all of my friends and family, so i quit. lol.

If it's something that i don't understand I will ask them to re-phrase it. Most of the people i talk to don't use correct grammar, so I usually don't even bother with correcting them.

I notice; correction depends on the situation though. Speaking to my Hubby, alone, I sometimes correct him (sometimes, bcs I don't want him to get offended). I even try to correct myself when I err.

I used to be a publication editor, so I almost always notice, but I'm usually too polite to correct.

It's one of the things I'm most guilty of on here. I always notice and probably poke fun more often than I should but really, how can you not with gems like this?;) http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/683939

I do notice but I almost always ignore it. I decided long ago that understanding was much more important than spelling, grammar, syntax, and punctuation. Therefore, I don't bother correcting strangers. However, when it comes to selecting a mate, I'd like her to be educated. So it depends on the situation.

I do notice. I stopped correcting them because they think you are picking on them and there are many ABers who's native language is not English.

I always notice! The first thought that pops into my head is whether or not they have a high school diploma. It is very surprising that many people with college degrees don't speak as though they have one. I occasionally correct when it is repeated too many times. Sometimes they don't believe that double negatives exist. I just love "I'll see if I can't do it". How about you see if you CAN do it.

Yes, I do notice, and yes, I do correct them.

Hell no. It's a detail, not a point.