I've tried to put up an explanation of this before and failed, because, while I know the rule, it's really hard to explain for some reason... But I see it written incorrectly in GOOD fic all the time!

So, anyway, today I found this site, Common errors in English, which offers a much better explanation:

Past vs Passed
If you are referring to a period of time before now or a distance, use “past”: “the team performed well in the past,” “the police car drove past the suspect’s house.” If you are referring to the action of passing, however, you need to use “passed“: “when John passed the gravy, he spilled it on his lap,” “the teacher was astonished that none of the students had passed the test.” Remember that no matter however you have ”passed the time” you have never “past the time,” not even in the distant past.

So, there we go. Just thought I'd share. :)

Oh, just found another one... this one is for me, because I get confused at times:

lie vs lay:
You lay down the book you’ve been reading, but you lie down when you go to bed. In the present tense, if the subject is acting on some other object, it’s “lay.” If the subject is lying down, then it’s “lie.” This distinction is often not made in informal speech, partly because in the past tense the words sound much more alike: “He lay down for a nap,” but “He laid down the law.” If the subject is already at rest, you might “let it lie.” If a helping verb is involved, you need the past participle forms. “Lie” becomes “lain” and “lay” becomes “laid”: “He had just lain down for a nap,” and “His daughter had laid the gerbil on his nose."

Also, this is why the song "Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol" is at once loved and hated by me. "If I lay here/ If I just lay here..." What an egg? Then: "Would you lie with me?" showing he does know the other form of the word, but is choosing to be incorrect! Grr!

From: [identity profile] kellifer-fic.livejournal.com


Hahahaa... awesome! This is the one that always stumps me and I think I was contemplating *exactly* the time one just the other day.

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Yay!! A lot of my fave authors get this one muddled and I seem to pick up on it every time. :)

From: [identity profile] charis-kalos.livejournal.com


Wow! This is one of those things that I know instinctively, and notice when it's wrong, but I could never for the life of me have explained the rule.

Now, go for the less/fewer distinction: less rice, fewer eggs. I always need to make hand gestures to myself to work that one out.

And - no tags, I get notified. How frustrating is this whole thing!

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


I don't think I've ever thought about that one. Confusing, man.
But the site covers it. linky! (http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/amount.html) Awesome!

LJ get your act together, please!! Pfft!

From: [identity profile] ljmckay.livejournal.com


So, but..."lay" can be past tense of "lie", right? So like, "The rose lay on the pillow" not "The rose lied on the pillow".

lay/lie is one of my biggest troubles. also the yours and theres but only in typing, not understanding. ;)

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


I believe that's correct:
The rose lay on the pillow (past tense... where the rose is the subject )
He laid the rose on the pillow (past... where the rose is the object)

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


I almost never use farther. I think they're considered interchangeable for the most part these days. I always think of farther as an old-world sort of word and I'm not sure when you're even meant to use it. *shrug* Something to think about though.

The site I linked in the post seems to say much the same thing, so that's comforting. Every now and then I find I am so badly wrong in what I've been doing, but I had no idea.

From: [identity profile] inkscribe.livejournal.com


One of my readers, one whom I suspect is both more astute and more anal than I am re: grammar, actually cottoned on to the fact that no one ever does anything but recline or otherwise splay themselves about in my NC-17 scenes. The reason? No matter how often I've read explanations on the distinction, I just can't figure out which is correct, so I avoid lie/lay at all costs, unless someone is telling an untruth. ;-)

Also, this is why the song "Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol" is at once loved and hated by me. "If I lay here/ If I just lay here..." What an egg? Then: "Would you lie with me?" showing he does know the other form of the word, but is choosing to be incorrect! Grr!

I'm not familiar with the song, but I was actually teaching a college-level grammar course when I discovered the reason The Talking Heads had what had always sounded (to me) an entirely wrong line in the song Dream Operator.

(wow ... and yes, that is a convoluted sentence above ... I'm waaaayyyy too tired tonight, LOL! My apologies).

The lines went:
You wish you were me,
I wish I were you,


... and this drove me crazy for years. I thought it should be "I wish I was you," ... until I finally learned nope, the line is spoken in the subjunctive ("what if"), and therefore is absolutely correct.

Grammar Nerdz Unite! ;-)

(Though please take pity on the exhausted person tonight and let my effusive use of commas and elipses stand uncorrected. *begs*)

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


haha! *hugs* There's something out there to throw everyone, even the grammar Nazi's! :P

From: [identity profile] inkscribe.livejournal.com


Oh definitely! Some things just don't/won't stick ... and I have no idea why!

Now, hand in something to me with a split infinitive and I'll roundly mock you (yes, I know this is a controversy in English grammar but it's fun to give the students something to consider grammatical bloodsport, because on the first day of class they never believe that you could possibly hold strong opinions over grammar *evil grin*).



From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


I was going to say...those are rather controversial though...but you said it already. lol

So, you're teaching now? Last I think we really chatted, you were still going balmy over the evil studies! Glad you're out of that. :)

From: [identity profile] inkscribe.livejournal.com


Erm, since this is an unlocked post I'll just go with "my studies are complete." ;-) And I am likewise glad I'm out of the balmy-ness. *g*

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


hehe! Sorry, didn't think of that. I'll ask you later. lol
Perfect icon! :)

From: [identity profile] inkscribe.livejournal.com


PS: I think that the term "pastimes" (hobbies) sometimes adds to the confusion of the first example. "My pastimes include writing pron, eating day-old bread, and watching reruns of political debates."

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Really? Do people write it as passed times or something? I've never seen that.

From: [identity profile] inkscribe.livejournal.com


I googled it because come to think of it, I hear it often enough but have no idea how to spell it, and neither does google. Seems to be fairly uncommon. Found a couple of antique places with Pastimes in the title. It's entirely possible this is local-ish terminology for hobbies. Heh heh heh.

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Nah, we use the word to mean hobbies. I just wasn't sure what the confusion was over it. :)

From: [identity profile] inkscribe.livejournal.com


Oh, I suspect the fact that the term is essentially "pastimes" adds to the confusion of "passed the time" and "past the time." Just my theory. ;-)

From: [identity profile] yokiem.livejournal.com


"If I lay here/ If I just lay here..." What an egg?
*snickers*

What about effect/affect?? Especially effected/affected! I think I know how to use it in normal conversation but the other day someone in the lab said that his supervisor changed all his "affected"s to "effected"s. Maybe it's specifically science-related. ie. you can't affect the expression of a protein...???

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Urgh! I'm terrible with that one too. Especially in science stuff. Sometimes I think the people who correct it, don't really know either, so they make it worse.

When you affect a situation, you have an effect on it is what I tend to remember.

According to the site there are actually five different meanings for affect/effect. (http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/affect.html) No wonder it's easily confused. lol How awesome is that site though??

From: [identity profile] charis-kalos.livejournal.com


I use the mnemonic RAVEN:

Remember
Affect
Verb
Effect
Noun

Seems to work. At least, I hope it works and I haven't been madly getting affect/effect wrong all these years!

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Then I have to remember what a verb and a noun is and that always confuses me. lol. We learnt them as action/doing word, etc. when I was at school.

But mnemonic's rock in general. I have some quite rude ones for some of my uni studies! Teehee!

From: [identity profile] inkscribe.livejournal.com


Oooh, yes ... affect/effect is tricky a lot of the time. If I don't think about it I can do it correctly more times than not, or, if worse comes to worst, rephrase entirely. *g* I like the mnemonic above.

Oh, and before I forget, the grammar!time icon is hysterical. *sniggers*

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Oh, and before I forget, the grammar!time icon is hysterical. *sniggers*
Isn't it da bomb!? I giggled my head off for about 5 minutes the first time I saw it!! :)
I really want to know who made it, but of the people I've seen use it, none of them seem to know. :(

From: [identity profile] inkscribe.livejournal.com


Yeah, I think I need to grab a copy. Not sure I'll upload but at least have it on file. *g* And that damn little bit of earworm music that went with the dance keeps %$##@$% playing through my head. Evil, evil evil.

*g*

From: [identity profile] missyvortexdv.livejournal.com


The lay/lie is helpful, I always confuse those, though I doubt I'm gonna remember the rules for when to use either.

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Yeah, I find it confusing, especially in the past tense! *nods*
.

Profile

starrylizard: Headshot of Ruby from Demons smiling (Default)
starrylizard

Most Popular Tags

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags