Friday, November 30, 2012

Grammar

I know I am not always grammatically correct, indeed I have been told I need help before, but there are certain instances where I have to cringe and hold my tongue where I see others write, or even hear them speak, and mutilate the rules I have been taught.

For instance; when to use “I” and “Me”. The common speech I hear is, for example, “The store stocks the bagels requested by Amber and I.” (Jeez, it hurts even writing it thusly)

The correct way to use these same pronouns would be, “The store stocks the bagels Amber and I requested.” If one wanted to not change the order of it, one would have to say, “The store stocks the bagels requested by Amber and me.”

A simple rule speaks clearly in my mind: “When using multiple pronouns, use each in it’s own sentence. If the sentence still makes sense, the correct pronouns are being used.” Or something to that effect.

Now, as I’ve said, I am not always correct in my usage, in fact, there are probably errors in this very post, but, doggone it, at least make an effort to use the American language correctly. (I know most of us Americans do not use the English language properly.)

I won’t get into other issues I have with how words are spoken and/or written. That would take near an entire book, and within would be even more mistakes on my own part to make the Grammar Girl lash me with a cat-o-nine tails. So, I’ll just leave this post as is, and hope at least one person takes a hint and alters their selection of pronouns. Maybe they can, in their own way, change someone else’s damage, and one by one, some grammar healing can come about. Is that too much to hope for?

No comments:

Post a Comment