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[mare]

LOL I think everyone realizes that Steph! No worries there!

The same is true for people where english isn't their first language. The English language is really complex!

People who have lived here their whole lives and have gone to school for 13 years should know some of these rules though lol especially if they choose (not chose) to write. (not right)

[Carter-Orange]

Phew, that's OK then!

And I agree about people who have gone all through (not threw) school, they should know!  I don't know how kids are taught these days, but in the 80s and 90s (when I was in school) we were taught these things.

[RokofAges75]

Good point, Steph, and no worries!  I think most people are aware.

And Mare, that's true too.  My Grammar Nazi stuff doesn't apply to people who write in English when it's not their first language.  Usually I can tell the difference between someone who learned English as a second/third/whatever language and someone who should have learned English as their first language and just... didn't.  The mistakes are different.

I admire those of you who speak other languages natively, but know English well enough to write in it.  That is not easy to do!!  English is a tough language to learn, and I'm sure it's even harder to be creative and write in a foreign language.  I took four years of German in high school, and I would never be able to write in it... and if I did, my grammar would be terrible, so I'm not judging anyone there LOL.

[A-RokzStalker]

Julie, I love you forever for creating this thread. LOL

[RokofAges75]

LOL thanks!

I know I'm anal, and I also know this comes easier to some people than others.  I definitely understand about learning disabilities and other such conditions that make writing tough for people.  That said, everything I've posted so far should be easy to get.  The rules are right there.  Grammar's the same as spelling:  it's not easy for everyone, but if you're a poor speller, you learn how to use spell check or a dictionary; if you're not good at grammar, you need to put the same extra time and effort into looking up the rules.  Everyone who posts their stories on AC wants them to be read, but if they're chock full of grammar errors, few people are going to take them seriously.  Editing is an important part of the writing process.

[Carter-Orange]

That is very true about people for whom English isn't their first language.  I admire them for being able to write in a language not their own because I know for sure that I couldn't write in another language.  I did three years of French and Welsh when I was in school, but it wasn't enough to be able to write a story!

[carterkid]

LOL, My sister wrote that stuff and now she's mad cause she doesn't use 'to' right.

[TheDistantHeart]

Thank you for starting this topic! It’s got my name written all over it! Not in a way that I suck at grammar and spelling, but more like ‘cause I am a grammar nazi as well. I also love this topic 'cause then I can check my own stories. I know the rules that are posted now, but I bet I will discover and learn a lot more things that I didn't know before! And I'm always willing to learn more when it comes to English!

I admire those of you who speak other languages natively, but know English well enough to write in it.  That is not easy to do!!  English is a tough language to learn, and I'm sure it's even harder to be creative and write in a foreign language.  I took four years of German in high school, and I would never be able to write in it... and if I did, my grammar would be terrible, so I'm not judging anyone there LOL.

That is very true about people for whom English isn't their first language.  I admire them for being able to write in a language not their own because I know for sure that I couldn't write in another language.  I did three years of French and Welsh when I was in school, but it wasn't enough to be able to write a story!

I'm super glad to (not too or two) read this, so thank you very much!
If I didn't love the English language so much, I wouldn't write stories in English.
To be honest, I can't write a story in Dutch! Only when I translate an English story to Dutch but if I have to start a brand new story in Dutch? My mind will be a complete blank. Guess I just love English more than my own language. Ha! 

But, as I said, I'm a grammar nazi too, both with Dutch and English. The day before yesterday I busted myself on a grammar mistake in one of my Tumblr posts. I wrote "you're" instead of "your". I didn't realize it at first, only 2 hours later. I was like "AHHHH WHAT HAVE YOU DONE??!?!". I was frustrated lmao! But, as you said, for me it's not that bad 'cause English isn't my native language. But it did bother me for the entire day!

Something that I sometimes see (and annoys the fork out of me) is e.g. this:
I didn't KNEW you were doing that! - I didn't SAW that coming. - We didn't WALKED to the cinema.
I don't know if any people from the USA or UK make a mistake like this, but Dutch people do a lot, and it's making me cringe. Of course, it’s not their native language but I can’t help it!
I’m like “Can’t you hear it sounds incorrect?”. Well, apparently they can’t. And some people just aren’t that good at learning other languages so I’m not the one to blame them (it doesn’t make me cringe less anyway).

Does punctuation count in this topic too? ‘Cause I’m always thinking if that comma should be there or not. I know things like: AJ, what have you done? – I didn’t do anything, Brian.
That’s no problem, but in other situations I’m doubting a lot. Eventually, ( <-- should the comma be there or not? lol) I will double check everything and try to decide what would look best and just hope it’s correct.

I also have another question. I have a problem with past tense sometimes.
Like with the verb ‘to step’. I know the present tense (is present tense correct? Another complication of mine lol) is: he steps inside. Is it ‘he stepped inside’ in past tense?

Oh! One of the things I’m not so good at when it comes to English are the prepositions (I have to admit, I hate them with a passion). On, to, at… You see, I always thought it was ‘I look at you’. But my best friend (who’s from Sweden and whose native language isn’t English either) said it can also be ‘I look to you’. Wtf? ‘I look to you’ sounds odd to me. But the words ‘on’ and ‘at’ confuse me the most.

I just thought of something else I used to do wrong a long time ago! You see, in Dutch when we write a dialogue we put the sentences between ‘ and ’. I used to write my older fanfics like that too. Until I was more alert of fanfics of others and saw they put the sentences between “ and ” . I was like, “oh well damn me” lmao! Just wanted to say that ‘cause I still think it’s funny when I think back to that moment.

Anyway, I love this topic! Will definitely think of more things I’m having trouble with.
(And I’m sorry for my king size post)

[A-RokzStalker]

Julie, you should post some linkage to your Mechanics of Writing.

btw, is it "good AT grammar" or "good WITH grammar"? or can it be either one? I've always wondered.

[RokofAges75]

I think the "I didn't KNEW" / "I didn't SAW" kind of mistake is more one that someone who learned English as a second language would make, rather than a native English speaker.  You're right; it just sounds wrong!  But if you didn't grow up hearing English all the time, you wouldn't necessarily think so.  Then again, there are mistakes people here make that also sound wrong; a big one is saying "I seen" instead of "I saw," but that is a dialect thing.  People in certain parts of the country grow up speaking that way and don't always realize it's incorrect grammar.  (Per Mare's request, I'll get to seen and saw one of these days!)

Punctuation is a big one!  I will probably do punctuation after I finish homophones; I LOVE punctuation, especially commas!  You were right with the comma when you said "Eventually, I will double check everything..."  "Eventually" is a transition word, and you always use a comma after those (or before, if it comes at the end of the sentence - "I will double check everything, eventually.")

"Stepped" is right as the past tense of "step," yes.    That can be tough because, while the general rule is to add "ed" to the end, there are so many verbs that break the rule.  Sometimes I even come across a word I'm not sure about and have to check.  One that came up recently was "grit," as in gritting one's teeth.  I wasn't sure if the past tense was "grit" or "gritted."  For some reason, "he grit his teeth" sounded better to me than "he gritted," but I looked it up on dictionary.com, and "gritted" is the right past tense.  So that one did follow the rules; it just sounded odd to me LOL.

I can see how prepositions would be confusing.  To me, "I look at you" and "I look to you" mean different things.  They are both correct, depending on your meaning.  "I look at you" means, literally, I'm looking at you; I see you.  "I look to you" usually means something like "I'm going to let you handle this."  Like in a Backstreet Boys interview, the other guys used to "look to Kevin" to take the lead in answering questions.  They might literally look AT him to give him that cue, too LOL.  It would sound odd to say "I look to you" just to mean looking in someone's direction.  You're right that "at" is better there.   This is why English is so confusing!!

The quotation marks (" " vs. ' ') thing doesn't bother me because that seems to vary even among English-speaking countries.  Here in the U.S., we use the double quotation marks (" "), but I guess in the U.K., they only use single (' ')?  I never knew that until I studied abroad in Scotland, and I got the 6th Harry Potter book there when it came out, and I didn't even notice until probably halfway through the book, but all the dialogue in it only uses single quotation marks.  Oddly enough, it never bothered me because, like I said, I didn't even notice for a long time LOL.  As long as you're using SOMETHING to separate your dialogue from the narration, you're fine.

And Amy, as far as I know, it can be either one.  Again, that's why prepositions are confusing LOL.  They both sound right to me, but I don't know.

[RokofAges75]

Btw, this is the page Amy mentioned.  I wrote this tutorial I don't know how many years ago out of frustration about the grammar in stories people were submitting to be hosted on my site.  It just covers some basics.

http://www.dreamers-sanctuary.com/mechanics.html

[Carter-Orange]

I've always used " " for quotation marks, it's the way we learned in school.  But as you say, as long as there is either " " or ' ' it doesn't matter.

[RokofAges75]

I've always used " " for quotation marks, it's the way we learned in school.  But as you say, as long as there is either " " or ' ' it doesn't matter.

That's interesting... I wonder why some books published in the UK only use one.  Are all of them that way, or is it just certain ones?  Because you're right; I haven't noticed it in fanfics; you do use the double quotations.  It really doesn't matter; I'm just curious.

[mare]

I have to admit when I start reading a story and come across, "I seen this!" I usually stop reading instantly! Even if someone posts something and uses "I seen," I just think it sounds ignorant. I had no idea there were parts of the country where all they do is say that! I would be stabbing my ears! lmao

It's bad enough I live in a place where they say Mayan instead of mine!

[RokofAges75]

It does sound ignorant.  The town I teach in is very "white trash" (no offense to anyone), and some of my students say "I seen" because their parents say it.  It hurts my ears.  To me, it's bad enough to talk that way, but when you really don't know any better and WRITE it that way... that's definitely ignorant.  We all make grammar mistakes when we speak; I will say things like "Me and so-and-so are going to do this," but I would never WRITE that (and even when I say it, I can hear my grandma going "She and I are going to do this..." (I come from a family of teachers; I'm a Grammar Nazi for a reason LOL.)  Another example would be using text-speak when texting compared to when writing a story.  When you're limited to a number of characters or don't have a QWERTY keyboard, I can totally understand shortening things up, but when you don't realize that's unacceptable to do in formal writing, that's a problem.