The one with all the grammar
My flatmate and I were just discussing grammar. Grammar is something I am very poor at. Its not something that was actually taught very much at the schools I went to. I have no idea why not. I remember some (very basic) instruction on what verbs, nouns etc are but don't really remember any instruction at all on the use of the comma. (ha! That's probably why I'm so bad with my comma usage! Yeah, I'll blame my education not myself. Good plan.) I'm pretty sure the majority of my 'English' instruction at primary school was spelling and the majority at college was analysis of texts. (By the time I left high school I was SO sick of looking for symbolism in everything I read.)
I could be wrong, it could be my memory failing me, but I think grammar (other than the basic) was left off the syllabus to a large degree at the schools I went to. Disappointing.
I know a lot of people rely on the grammar checker in Microsoft Word. I wouldn't recommend that. It gets it wrong a lot. I often have little green squiggles under my sentences (for those of you who don't use Word, the little green squiggles mean Word thinks you have made a grammatical error) and when I look at the suggestions they are preposterous. Sometimes I don't know and I always check a couple of other sources before making the suggested changes.
Yes, I am a writing geek. I'm sure we have established this many times over. Occasionally I will spend time surfing grammar websites to find out the answer to a grammatical question I have been pondering. A lot of the websites explain the rules so clearly that I am certain I was never taught them at school, I'm sure I wouldn't forget such simple rules. (The when to use who or whom, for instance, is ridiculously easy but until about a year ago I couldn't work out when the appropriate time to use each word was.)
My flatmate and I were discussing the use of the article (some of you may know it as 'noun-marker' rather than article) an as opposed to a. She is currently completing an extremely important assignment and had typed the word 'European'. She assumed (as would I) that an should go before European rather than a. However, Word did not agree and instructed her to use a. Word, in this case is correct. (I just looked it up.) I then mentioned the use of an in front of words beginning with the letter h. Kat had never heard this rule. I had heard it and use it but didn't know the actual rule, I just knew that an had to be used in front of certain h words (hospital, hysterectomy). I have now looked up the rule so I can explain it to you all. (I am so kind!)
You use the article an in front of any word that has a vowel-sound beginning. SO, you don't actually use it in front of any word that starts with a vowel. That is why you do not use it in front of European. European does start with a vowel but it doesn't start with a vowel sound. If you were spelling European phonetically then you would start it yoo, therefore no an.
As always there is an exception to the rule. That exception is if the word in question begins with an unstressed syllable (ie hospital, historical, hysterectomy). Apparently the use of an or a in these cases is a matter of personal taste as both are grammatically correct.
So, there you go. A grammar lesson for all of you. I hope you found it exciting and informative. (Ha, I'm guessing not. I must remember that not everyone finds grammar as interesting as I do!) share this: facebook
I could be wrong, it could be my memory failing me, but I think grammar (other than the basic) was left off the syllabus to a large degree at the schools I went to. Disappointing.
I know a lot of people rely on the grammar checker in Microsoft Word. I wouldn't recommend that. It gets it wrong a lot. I often have little green squiggles under my sentences (for those of you who don't use Word, the little green squiggles mean Word thinks you have made a grammatical error) and when I look at the suggestions they are preposterous. Sometimes I don't know and I always check a couple of other sources before making the suggested changes.
Yes, I am a writing geek. I'm sure we have established this many times over. Occasionally I will spend time surfing grammar websites to find out the answer to a grammatical question I have been pondering. A lot of the websites explain the rules so clearly that I am certain I was never taught them at school, I'm sure I wouldn't forget such simple rules. (The when to use who or whom, for instance, is ridiculously easy but until about a year ago I couldn't work out when the appropriate time to use each word was.)
My flatmate and I were discussing the use of the article (some of you may know it as 'noun-marker' rather than article) an as opposed to a. She is currently completing an extremely important assignment and had typed the word 'European'. She assumed (as would I) that an should go before European rather than a. However, Word did not agree and instructed her to use a. Word, in this case is correct. (I just looked it up.) I then mentioned the use of an in front of words beginning with the letter h. Kat had never heard this rule. I had heard it and use it but didn't know the actual rule, I just knew that an had to be used in front of certain h words (hospital, hysterectomy). I have now looked up the rule so I can explain it to you all. (I am so kind!)
You use the article an in front of any word that has a vowel-sound beginning. SO, you don't actually use it in front of any word that starts with a vowel. That is why you do not use it in front of European. European does start with a vowel but it doesn't start with a vowel sound. If you were spelling European phonetically then you would start it yoo, therefore no an.
As always there is an exception to the rule. That exception is if the word in question begins with an unstressed syllable (ie hospital, historical, hysterectomy). Apparently the use of an or a in these cases is a matter of personal taste as both are grammatically correct.
So, there you go. A grammar lesson for all of you. I hope you found it exciting and informative. (Ha, I'm guessing not. I must remember that not everyone finds grammar as interesting as I do!) share this: facebook
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on Sunday, October 07, 2007 at 4:10 PM.
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