what is your plea? (the grammar nazi - part i)
There is nothing like studying another language to sharpen your awareness of the subtleties found in your own native tongue. The only problem with this increased awareness is the is the potentiality of finding elements within your own language or dialect that drives you nuts...
More and more I find myself cringing every time I hear the someone use "pleaded" as the past participle form of the verb "to plea." This word is used all the time, especially when you are listening to the news, and it makes absolutely no sense to me. I say this because the verbs "to plea" and "to lead" come from the same word family. No one would say, "he leaded the horse around the field yesterday." That would be absurd, rather "he led" is the appropriate form of the verb. In the same way if someone has made a plea, the past tense form of the verb should be - in my opinion - "he pled" not "he pleaded."
If you start listening for it, you will hear it everywhere. Call me a grammar-Nazi, but it drives me nuts.
More and more I find myself cringing every time I hear the someone use "pleaded" as the past participle form of the verb "to plea." This word is used all the time, especially when you are listening to the news, and it makes absolutely no sense to me. I say this because the verbs "to plea" and "to lead" come from the same word family. No one would say, "he leaded the horse around the field yesterday." That would be absurd, rather "he led" is the appropriate form of the verb. In the same way if someone has made a plea, the past tense form of the verb should be - in my opinion - "he pled" not "he pleaded."
If you start listening for it, you will hear it everywhere. Call me a grammar-Nazi, but it drives me nuts.
posted by Jason at 3:02 p.m.
7 Comments:
Is the subject of the verb "drives" in the second sentence a] potentiality or b] elements?
If a] then the form "drives" would appear to be correct. As in, the potentiality drives you nuts. If however, the subject of the clause is the plural form "elements", then that would require the verb to be parsed as "drive". As in, the elements drive you nuts.
It drive me nuts!! :^)
The ones that really get under my skin are the pronunciations along the lines of nuke-u-ler (for nu-cle-ar) and jew-ler-ry (for jew-el-ry).
being married to someone who teaches english doesn't help matters for me.
Joe,
Good call, I have a tendency to mess up my subject/verb agreement because my sentences tend to be long and convoluted... The number one comment I get on all my papers is “too wordy!”
For me, proper grammar is the enemy of creative speaking...heh
Hey Jason, remember when I used to make up words in bible college and put them in my papers? I don't think one was ever caught, in fact, some of them turned out to be bona fide words. Didn't we wager on one? Can't remember...
cheers
Jayson,
Religiousity. I couldn't believe that was an actual word...
Oh my, it's all coming back to me now, lol!
Now I have started to use non-words on my blog and in my sermons. Cept this one guy keeps catching them, another grammar nazi.
"proper grammar is the enemy of creative speaking"
I'm going to use that one!
Here's an exciting tidbit: You know all that German grammar you've been desperately struggling to master? In Saarlandisch, it's perfectly OK to say "Icb habe gewunscht seit gestern, dass.."
All this effort to learn German grammar, and the Germans don't use it!
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