Active Users:1494 Time:16/12/2025 08:48:58 AM
Doesn't matter. Sareitha Sedai Send a noteboard - 07/10/2011 03:12:14 PM
What, exactly, makes them "different sets" of words? Different genitive declensions? :P


It doesn't matter what makes them different; it doesn't even matter if the only thing that makes them different is the way they are made possessive. The rules are clear even if why they are rules (or should be) isn't. What is equally clear is that you are not following the rule(s), which means you are not only not right, but wrong.

If I convince a majority of the public and scholars to spell "fly" with "ie" when referring to the insect, is it a legitimate rule? ;)


Well, yes :P That's kind of the whole point. So until you convince the majority of the public and scholars to adopt your treatment of possessives, you'll remain wrong. Furthermore, your readers will have to spend extra time (negligible though it may be for each individual instance) deciding from context whether you mean a word to be plural, possessive, or whether you've simply made an error. And you'll give the appearance of someone who doesn't know how to write properly, which you're obviously fine with. ;)

If you are from Betelgeuse, please have one of your Earth friends read what I've written before you respond. Or try concentrating harder.

"The trophy problem has become extreme."
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Grammar junkies - 05/10/2011 06:46:31 PM 1126 Views
I'm not always sure that I'm correct, but.... - 05/10/2011 07:04:13 PM 819 Views
I didn't see any errors - 05/10/2011 07:24:27 PM 804 Views
Re: I didn't see any errors - 06/10/2011 03:14:07 PM 681 Views
You mean ... - 06/10/2011 03:58:32 PM 764 Views
Must ... have ... grammar. - 05/10/2011 07:53:34 PM 999 Views
For you and Tom as well, the same question about question eight. - 05/10/2011 08:33:39 PM 1277 Views
Tom can probably give you actual terms and correct rules, but here's my take on it. - 05/10/2011 08:43:47 PM 768 Views
That makes sense as far as it goes. - 05/10/2011 09:02:42 PM 809 Views
But do you actually regard them that way? - 05/10/2011 09:08:36 PM 790 Views
Yeah, pretty much. - 05/10/2011 09:25:18 PM 750 Views
Re: Yeah, pretty much. - 05/10/2011 09:29:33 PM 625 Views
OK then. - 05/10/2011 09:59:50 PM 791 Views
You bring up a point that I was researching the other day - 05/10/2011 08:53:40 PM 841 Views
You guys mean a hyphen, not a dash. - 05/10/2011 09:00:25 PM 803 Views
You're right of course! - 05/10/2011 09:13:44 PM 867 Views
I frequently am. - 05/10/2011 09:16:38 PM 868 Views
So I've noticed. - 05/10/2011 09:19:38 PM 787 Views
I like telling people, too. - 05/10/2011 09:34:50 PM 780 Views
You can use charmap. - 05/10/2011 10:21:32 PM 827 Views
Re: You guys mean a hyphen, not a dash. - 06/10/2011 01:15:02 PM 733 Views
Mmm, dashing. - 05/10/2011 09:02:53 PM 783 Views
Emdashing is an entirely different form of punctuation. - 05/10/2011 09:07:36 PM 848 Views
Achtung! Grammatik! :insert Nazi-saluting smiley as the Wehrmacht marches by: - 05/10/2011 08:10:45 PM 895 Views
I love this bit. - 05/10/2011 08:26:52 PM 882 Views
Bring back the BSG! - 05/10/2011 08:55:32 PM 812 Views
Re: your 2nd irritating error for question 2 - 06/10/2011 04:12:49 PM 747 Views
Good poll, especially for this site. - 05/10/2011 08:11:10 PM 903 Views
Re: serial comma. - 05/10/2011 08:31:58 PM 779 Views
Maybe I was being a little anal there. - 05/10/2011 08:35:33 PM 756 Views
Same here - 05/10/2011 08:43:34 PM 665 Views
I think it's conventional to use a comma before "etc". - 05/10/2011 08:55:11 PM 740 Views
Re: Grammar junkies - 05/10/2011 08:33:06 PM 799 Views
Re: Grammar junkies - 05/10/2011 08:49:43 PM 851 Views
People should talk in a way that can be understood, else they are not communicating. - 05/10/2011 09:17:37 PM 843 Views
Re: "everyone's". ~winky~ *NM* - 05/10/2011 09:22:18 PM 390 Views
Is it time for my lecture on superfluous apostrophes again? - 05/10/2011 09:43:47 PM 751 Views
You mean your lecture on "superfluous" apostrophes. - 05/10/2011 09:53:31 PM 694 Views
As have I. Multiple times. *NM* - 05/10/2011 09:55:08 PM 373 Views
I am not stubborn, just true to my convictions. - 05/10/2011 09:56:39 PM 950 Views
Unsurprisingly, I don't really agree with you at all on this point. :p - 05/10/2011 10:29:59 PM 838 Views
I do not really think I am "right" on this one so much as "not wrong." - 06/10/2011 12:01:36 AM 756 Views
But contradictions are inherent in the entire English language! - 06/10/2011 01:25:39 AM 751 Views
Sure, but not deliberate ones created by grammarians who know better. - 06/10/2011 05:40:58 AM 760 Views
I'm going to listen to the others. - 06/10/2011 06:17:18 AM 770 Views
Like I say, I appreciate exceptions when justified (and again, only claiming to be "not wrong." ) - 06/10/2011 07:26:18 AM 659 Views
But you are wrong - 06/10/2011 02:17:40 PM 792 Views
that is OK he is very good at being wrong *NM* - 06/10/2011 03:43:23 PM 404 Views
I disagree. - 07/10/2011 12:15:14 AM 734 Views
How utterly unsurprising - 07/10/2011 02:21:38 PM 716 Views
"We want to be nothing if not persistent." - 07/10/2011 02:39:19 PM 761 Views
Doesn't matter. - 07/10/2011 03:12:14 PM 776 Views
What. - 06/10/2011 06:17:41 PM 838 Views
You called? - 05/10/2011 08:53:54 PM 834 Views
Grammar schmammar! - 05/10/2011 09:01:47 PM 870 Views
Wongy tip #77 - 05/10/2011 11:15:12 PM 733 Views
#1) I do not use NetSpeak while playing games, texting or using social media. - 05/10/2011 11:34:12 PM 738 Views
What about NateSpeak? *NM* - 06/10/2011 04:01:08 PM 360 Views
I did use that once to tell the story of you and CNRedDragon going to see Ice Princess. *NM* - 07/10/2011 01:46:50 AM 375 Views
A timeless classic. - 07/10/2011 01:53:36 AM 706 Views
Re: Grammar junkies - 06/10/2011 01:17:28 AM 759 Views
Yes. - 06/10/2011 06:53:46 AM 696 Views
I forgot about "of" for "have." - 06/10/2011 07:31:11 AM 739 Views
I try - 06/10/2011 09:18:29 AM 790 Views
I freebase split infinitives on a regular basis. - 06/10/2011 01:53:36 PM 665 Views
The split infinitive is not grammatically incorrect. - 06/10/2011 02:04:34 PM 742 Views
I wish more people knew this. - 06/10/2011 07:38:46 PM 693 Views
Junky Grammar. - 06/10/2011 04:24:01 PM 685 Views

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