Planetfurry BBS

[Osfer]

To lay = to put down.
To lie = to recline.
He lays the book on the table. It lies on the table. He decides to lie low for a while. He lays down the law.

Toward = in the direction of.
Towards = concerning.
He moves toward his target. He has romantic feelings towards her.

Forward = toward the front, in a positive direction.
Forwards = variant spelling. 'Forward' is preferred.

Their = something which belongs to them.
They're = they are.
There = in that place, in that direction.
They're coming from over there, I can see their swords.

[mwalimu]

[anthony]

Roll = To move forward by revolving around an axis, something rolled up, a registry...
A Role = A part in a play or a movie...

Life is but a stage, and we are all but actors playing a role...
(Probably using rolled up scripts )

[Osfer]

Off course = in te wrong direction, deviating from the planned direction.
Of course =naturally, without question.
I'm steering with my eyes closed, so of course we're driving off course.

Little = small, or a small amount of a non-countable substance.
Few = a small number.
Couple = to copulate, to bind, pair.
A couple = a pair.
A couple of = a number of countable objects.
A few = a small number of.
A little = a small amount of a non-countable substance.
It inspires little confidence that so few married persons couple. A couple should share a little love a few nights a year, or a couple of nights a month.

... and I
... and me
When using these constructions, you should be able to leave out the '... and' part to see whether you should use 'I' or 'me'.

David and I were going to the movies. I was going to the movies.
They came to visit David and me. They came to visit me.

[Osfer]

Wonder = to be curious about, a marvel.
Wander = to roam.
He wandered through the forest, and wondered what he'd find.

[mwalimu]

hanger = a device for hanging something, such as picture or an article of clothing.
hangar = a building for storing aircraft.
Here is a hanger for your jacket. There is a hangar for your airplane.

[PrincessB]

where-At or in what place: In what situation or position:
Wear-To carry or have on the person as covering, adornment, or protection
Were-Second person singular and plural and first and third person plural past indicative of be. Past subjunctive of be.
We're-Contraction of we are.

Where is my book? I'm going to wear the pink shirt. If I were to go, I would be late. We're going to be home late.

[mwalimu]

its - possessive form of "it"
it's - contraction of "it is" or "it has"
It's going to rain in the valley. Its farmers will be rejoicing.

[Cirrel]

Singular vs. Plural possessives - note the placement of the apostrophe.

His friend's car was fast. (singular friend)
All his friends' cars were fast. (plural friends - the apostrophe is after the last "s")
For Plural Posessives, an "s" after the apostrophe is not needed. "Friends's cars" is not considered correct - besides being hard to pronounce.

Also, even some singular nouns, especially names, that end in "s" will drop the final "s".
James' car was fast. (Not James's)


Multiple Subject Posessives.

If the subject of the sentence has two nouns or names, only the final one needs to be made posessive.

Joe and Harry's cars were fast.
The kids and adults' stomachs all growled with hunger.

[anthony]

[Nameless]

[mwalimu]

An apostrophe is almost never used for a simple plural. The only exception I know of is when the word in question is a single character, e.g. "There are three b's in bubble."

In informal speech, an 's can be added to the end of many nouns to form a contraction of the noun with "is" or "has". "Jenny's got a gun." "New York's the place to be." "The dog's running down the street." This construct, however, is considered nonstandard and should not be used in formal, proper English.

[Nameless]

To break = destroy something, shatter it into pieces
To brake = slow down, also the device

He braked too hard and broke the brake.

[shroom]

This is a pretty durned good site for reference and other purposes, especially when trying to explain an error to someone else.
Sometimes it's hard to find the right words to explain properly:

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

My favorite is probably quantum leap often use to mean 'huge jump' which, in reality, means the smallest amount of change possible on the subatomic level. It rather, signifies a radical shift with no middle ground.

Also they mention LCD Display as being a redundant acronym (Liquid Crystal Display Display). Some of these drive geeks nuts. NIC Card, DSL Line.. I've seen ISP Provider and CPU Unit before in extreeme cases

They have the more mundane ones as well. I mentioned single quotes for a quote inside of a quote to someone recently, it helps the readability.

And then there is thier entry on ignorance vs stupidity which is somewhat amusing.

[mwalimu]

Every day = each day; on all days
everyday = typical; ordinary

It's just an everyday squirrel, but I feed it every day.