I don't know about you, but personally I can get quite anal when it comes to grammar and spelling. Although my grammar is by no means perfect, I do like to make the effort when posting, for the benefit of my fellow forum users.

In this thread I would like to compile a list of common mistakes, made by those whose native language isn't English, or those who simply have trouble with their grammar. The objective of this is to help any of you who would like to improve your writing of the English language!

Although I do try to take care when writing a post, I don't deny that I make many mistakes myself, so please correct me if you see anything .

Note: any advice that I give in this post will be based on the original English grammar and spelling, not the American variants.


Common spelling mistakes; red is incorrect, green is correct!

alot - a lot
aswell - as well
curb - kerb
[Curb is the American spelling, kerb is the English spelling.]
definate - definite
definately - definitely
garantee - guarantee
garanteed - guaranteed
Nordershliefe - Nordschleife
Nurembergring - Nürburgring
posessed - possessed
thankyou - thank you
tire - tyre
[Tire is the American spelling, tyre is the English spelling.]


Common grammatical mistakes; red is incorrect, green is correct!

Joshs thread sucks - Josh's thread sucks
Scawens code is great - Scawen's code is great
I cant race tonight - I can't race tonight
I won race tonight - I won't race tonight
He want's to race - He wants to race
Hes going to race - He's going to race
[Apostrophes should be used to indicate when a letter or letters are omitted from a word, or when something is possessed by someone or something else. They should not be used just because a word is plural and ends with an s!]
Its cold outside - It's cold outside
The plane crashed because it's wings fell off - The plane crashed because its wings fell off
[It's is an abbreviation of 'it is'. If something belongs to an 'it', e.g. wheels belonging to a car, one should use 'its' without any apostrophes. The car crashed because its wheel fell off.]
The admins decisions are final - The admins' decisions are final
The developers names are Scawen, Eric and Victor - The developers' names are Scawen, Eric and Victor
[If something is possessed by a group of people, or a group of things, then after the name of the group an apostrophe should be added. e.g. All the different teams' drivers were very evenly matched.]

I have brought a new wheel - I have bought a new wheel
I bought my son along - I brought my son along
[Brought is the past tense of bring. Bought is the past tense of buy.

I have the platinum STCC license - I have the platinum STCC license
I am S2 licenced - I am S2 licensed
[Licence is the noun, license is the verb.]

My wheel became lose - My wheel became loose
You will loose the race - You will lose the race
[Loose is the opposite of tight, to lose is the opposite of to win.]

I should of taken it seriously - I should have taken it seriously
I should of taken it seriously - I should've taken it seriously

There a great team - They're a great team
They're server is cool - Their server is cool
Their is a website - There is a website
[They're is an abbreviation of 'they are'. Their indicates that something belongs to a group or individual.]

You are to good - You are too good
I will race to - I will race too
One, to, three, ... - One, two, three, ...
I am going too the server - I am going to the server
[Too can be used to replace 'as well' or 'very', there are also other uses of the word.]

Were going online now - We're going online now
Were are you going? - Where are you going?
Where you talking to me? - Were you talking to me?
[Were is the past indicative of are. We're is the abbreviation of 'we are'.]

Your going to win - You're going to win
You're car is damaged - Your car is damaged
[Your indicates that something belongs to you, or to the person who you are talking to. You're is an abbreviation of 'you are'.]


Please feel free to make corrections or suggest additions. I haven't got much here at the moment and my explanations are certainly pretty vague, but I hope I can at least help some people out with their basic use of the English language.

Good thread, it will educate alot of members (if they want to learn).
I actually kept making the same spelling error over and over, I always said till instead of 'til... thanks for that!

Quote from joshdifabio :

tire - tyre

You're right in a way, some of the spelling I see around makes me have to read twice to understand it.
But also keep in mind that it's not everyone's mother language. Some words may be American spelling, but hey some people can't help being an american
But people could at least make an effort, you're right about that. I always try to anyway.

What really annoys me though are sentences ThaT R wRitTeN iN STuPid WaYZZ lIkE ThIs 4 InStaNzzE!!!!!111oneeleven:

Quote :

alot - a lot
aswell - as well

I mix up those quite alot I believe.

Quote from (SaM) :

Good thread, it will educate alot of members (if they want to learn).
I actually kept making the same spelling error over and over, I always said till instead of 'til... thanks for that!

Great first reply. It should be a lot .

I found this website helpful, though it is American, thus has some bad spelling (the whole "u" deal), some interesting facts and such.

Nurembergring - Nürburgring
[This track isn't located in Nuremberg, but around the Nürburg castle. There is a temporary city track in Nuremberg, but this one is called Norisring.]

Quote from joen :

But I use Evostar, and it says "Evostar tyres" on them!

You're right in a way, some of the spelling I see around makes me have to read twice to understand it.
But also keep in mind that it's not everyone's mother language. Some words may be American spelling, but hey some people can't help being an american
But people could at least make an effort, you're right about that. I always try to anyway.

What really annoys me though are sentences ThaT R wRitTeN iN STuPid WaYZZ lIkE ThIs 4 InStaNzzE!!!!!111oneelevenillepall


I mix up those quite alot I believe.

Yes, I stated below that tire is the american spelling, some people seem to correct each other when one uses tyre and another uses tire, so I just thought I would add that both are correct really.

Also, I am only trying to be helpful with this thread, please don't get offended . As I said; it is supposed to educate those whose mother language is not english. On the whole you lot certainly do an amazing job of speaking / writing our language, I must say.

Josh

Quote from joshdifabio :

Yes, I stated below that tire is the american spelling, some people seem to correct each other when one uses tyre and another uses tire, so I just thought I would add that both are correct really.

I realised that after posting you actually meant what I was trying to say, so I removed it

zOMGWTFHAX w00t?
i cant raed wat u said ne1 haelp me out pls

---

On the serious side: I can't be bothered by small mistakes like missing apostrophes or smaller grammatical/spelling mistakes, because there are non-native speakers here, especially the young ones, which simply aren't as good in english as others. They can use your post as guideline though
I'm much more annoyed by people, who don't even try to form a sentence, and I usually ignore requests and questions by them. Sometimes I wonder if they even went to school

edit:

Quote from GP4Flo :

Nurembergring - Nürburgring
[This track isn't located in Nuremberg, but around the Nürburg castle.]

while we're at it:
Nordershliefe - Nordschleife

Well... I dont use the " ' " because im really lazy xD.


Very good thread

Shouldn't American and English be capitalised ?

I should of driven faster - I should've (=should have) driven faster

[EDIT]
gurl - girl
He dun can drive of ma mother his car - He can't drive my mother's car ROFL

what about curb / kerb? oO
and "it has been taken serious" - "it has been taken seriously"?

Quote from Bean0 :

Shouldn't American and English be capitalised ?

Of course, thank you .

I have brought a new wheel. - I have bought a new wheel.

What are we in grade 3? The people who don't spell properly don't care so it's pointless really. If Engish is your second language then you're allowed to make mistakes.

Quote from Davo :

What are we in grade 3? The people who don't spell properly don't care so it's pointless really. If Engish is your second language then you're allowed to make mistakes.

Does it count if all of my english is from games?
I learned all from my games and internet stuff.

taken from another thread:
posh - Porsche

what about political correctess? I just remembered:
dead - life challenged


(Yeah, "life challenged" is stolen, I don't remember who exactly posted it before :shy


edit:

Quote from Davo :

What are we in grade 3? The people who don't spell properly don't care so it's pointless really. If Engish is your second language then you're allowed to make mistakes.

which doesn't mean you have to / should make mistakes. Maybe somebody wants to improve his/her English? Ever thought of that?
Oh, just remembered a very common mistake: Forgetting the "s" after he/she/it or the "n" of "a" (e.g. "a elephant" instead of "an elephant")

Quote from Davo :

What are we in grade 3? The people who don't spell properly don't care so it's pointless really. If Engish is your second language then you're allowed to make mistakes.

As I said previously, I am trying to be helpful. I think you will find that the vast majority of people who speak English as a second language would like to improve it. I know that when I try and speak other languages I want people to correct my mistakes, not just let me speak incorrectly.

Josh

On the subject of "until", "till" and "'til":

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-unt1.htm

Quote from NotAnIllusion :

On the subject of "until", "till" and "'til":

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-unt1.htm

Well well, I'll have to get rid of that one then!

Thanks NAI

TBH I was really surprised at just how well non native english speaking people on the forum write perfectly fine englilsh. In fact it's 100x better than the 14 year olds of native english speaking countries. Most of the mistakes you describe are made by the 'script kiddies' who just don't give a damn to proper speling. I know my spelling and especially grammar is lacking, I put it down to not reading enough books, everyone knows books are uncool. Guess all the foreigners train their english on the forums reading posts and replying. Great way to learn.

Am I the only one to be suprised by the content of this thread, in regard to the thread title?

Quote from danowat :

Am I the only one to be suprised by the content of this thread, in regard to the thread title?

Well, I was expecting something else than grammar but not what the title could suggest...like you were

To get more serious. Interesting thread. I'm always trying to find ways to improve my English. I have to say that this forum has done a lot since I've been active, and please feel free to correct my mistakes

YEAH BABY YEAH


Pcs are expensive.

PC's are expensive.

PCs are expensive.


When using acronyms you may only write them in capitals, so that the plural, plural possesive and singular possesive forms can be accurately identified.

'ACRONYM' < an acronym.

ACRONYM's < plural : i have many CD's. <- NO. NEVER.

ACRONYMs < plural :

i have many CDs.
My CDs are destroyed.
I have lost many CDs.

ACRONYM's < possesive:

My PC's graphics card is fast.
The CD's capacity is 700MB.

ACRONYMs' < PLURAL possesive

All of my PCs' CPUs are AMD's XPs.

If you are really sad and want to make a clear distinction between American English and British English, here is a list of common words in both the dialects:

http://xpdnc.com/moreinfo/orlabour.html