re: What grammar error bugs you the most?

quote:

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-The use of the word “I” as something other than the subject pronoun it is instead of me, usually as part of a prepositional phrase or a compound direct object.
The book is for John and me - correct. The book is for John and I - WRONG. The pit bull licked my sister and me - correct. The pit bull licked my sister and I - WRONG
Might as well say using me (an object pronoun) as a subject when “I” is correct. Joe and I are intelligent rascals. - correct. Joe and me (me and Joe) are intelligent rascals- WRONG

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THIS, THIS, THIS... all day long.

The improper use of "and I" drives me crazy.

People who put apostrophes in their last name on signs and mailboxes and such

Example: The Smith's

Dominate/Dominant

I think the worst is the people that revel in getting to wrong, as if the people pointing it out are the problem - the grammar police, etc.

Is it tacky to correct someone’s grammar? Sure. But if your dumb arse didn’t need correcting on something you should have learned in middle school, it wouldn’t happen.

I try to explain this in more polite terms to my students, all of whom are adults. Being able to write is about credibility. The quality of the content doesn’t matter if the presentation doesn’t make it believable.

Yes, I know that everyday life isn’t a classroom, but the English language is a part of our cultural heritage. It matters when you frick it up.

The oxford comma is not a rule.

Oxford Comma explained.

My pet peeve is the use of the unnecessary "at".

When Can't You End a Sentence with a Preposition?
But, you can't always end sentences with prepositions. When you could leave off the preposition and it wouldn't change the meaning, you should leave it off. Here is a cell phone commercial that gets on my nerves.

\[Where you at?]\

For the purposes of today’s discussion, let’s ignore the fact that they left out the verb “are” because I’ve definitely heard people ask, “Where are you at?”

The problem is that “Where are you at?” doesn't need the preposition at the end. If you say “Where are you?” it means the same thing. So the "at" is unnecessary. You should leave it off.

Not using the Oxford comma and insure/ensure

Not adding an “s” for the plural form of a word ending in “st”.

Her dad saw 3 cardiologist.

There were several guest who complained about the food.

For me, it's when people dont use a possessive before a gerund:


I appreciate you (your) taking the time to read our year-end report.


The revised plan would result in the family(family's) paying for services that previously would have been covered by the public insurance program.


All child safety seats must be properly installed to reduce the risk of a chil(child's) being injured.

A significant majority of the population don't even know what a possessive and gerund are.

using apart instead of a part