Funny List of Grammar Goofs

This is an easy post for me.

Each item is an example of the error it describes. I’ll show you the first couple, then click the link to get them all. I confess I edited the example list. (the original number 2 is incorrect. Those are adverbs, not prepositions.. and you have permission to end sentences with them. Actually, you also have permission to split an infinitive, but I left that one in.)

1. Remember to never split an infinitive.

2. The passive voice should never be used.

3. Avoid run-on sentences they are hard to read.

The site has some fluff at the top, but the list is easy to find.

https://www.listsofnote.com/p/avoid-commas-that-are-not-necessary

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Two examples of two in a row in the cartoon; second and third panels:

You might know that technically, the word that looks like a preposition is really an adverb when you have a separable verb (such as “put up” and “stress out.”) And these adverbs can go at the end of a sentence, such as “put ’em up” and “Don’t stress me out.”

But what about when you have more than one? The kid’s “up with” feels like an adverb, but the teacher’s “over” feels like a preposition. After all, she could have ended the sentence with “over this.” That gives “over” an object. Maybe we have some flexibility here. The longest series of prepositions I know of is five:

Come on up to over by the picnic table.

Where would you say the adverbs stop and the prepositions begin? Can you come up with a longer series? Feel free to put something in the comments.

He should still get basic grammar correct! First line, in case you don’t notice it [emphasis is mine]. I included the whole paragraph so you can click the links in case you’re interested in the chemistry…

The trick to getting compound prepositional objects correct is to take out the objects one at a time and see how the construction sounds. The writer has “to you and I” so take out the “and I” and you get “to you,” which sounds fine. But take out the “you” and you get “to I” which is easy to see as incorrect.

“Forever” is an adverb. Objects of prepositions need to be nouns, pronouns, or noun clauses, not adverbs.

So the humor is misdirection. You expect the gal in the third panel to correct the mistaken object of the preposition “in,” instead of express an opinion about baseball.

Look at the last panel:

Should it be “bite” or “bites”?

I’ll make the correct answer more obvious:

• of those old ladies who bite
• one …who bites

Yes! the correct verb is “bites”! The plural “ladies” goes with the preposition, and the noun clause (who bites) refers to the singular noun, “one.”

The plural is closer, hence the mistake. This error is called “attraction.”