How to use There, Their and They're

[indygal]

Joanna, I figger yer either fer it or agin it (don't be smackin' me upside the head for that, either!)   I do catch myself saying "I'm fixin' to....." and "I reckon...."  

Tobina, it's hard for me to understand how "Where you at?" is a faster or better way of asking "Where are you?" It's the same number of syllables, and no pronunciation issues to speak of .... oh well.

For the longest time, it bothered me when someone would say "idear," "warsh" and "yeller" instead of "idea," "wash" and "yellow," but I found out it's actually a derivation of Scots-Irish that was spoken in the Appalachians and was considered correct pronunciation. Go figger.....

I say wanna and gonna a lot, but I rarely write them unless it's intentional.

[Wilma]

David, yes, I am loving this.  It is compulsive with me that everything is correct, spelling, grammar, etc.  I just cannot help but notice when a wrong word is used or a word is mispelled.  But what really irritates me is when a word is mispelled on a big sign or on TV.  I try to overlook it because nobody is perfect, not even me.  But I am close.

Mom, may I and can I were one of the things my mother drilled into us. 

Now you all might think that my mother was educated and maybe a teacher or such?  She had a seventh grade education, then had to quit to help with the babies at home.  She was born in Oklahoma and lived her first 18 years there.  Not that being born in Oklahoma has anything to do with it.  I do think that maybe the education there wasn't quite what it was in Kansas.  Her perseverence in teaching us to speak correctly was so we wouldn't seem trashy.  And because Daddy's family was educated.  His sisters were teachers and most of the family got to go to high school.  Mother didn't want us to seem any less educated than our cousins were.  "Were" isn't necessary at the end of that sentence, is it?  See how badly I have slipped since I married my Elk County hillbilly.

[dnalexander]

From my childhood when cartoons were great and we learned something from them. This is from the school house rock cartoons that used to run between all the Saturday cartoons when I was a kid.

http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/Grammar.html

Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.
Conjunction Junction, how's that function?
I got three favorite cars
That get most of my job done.
Conjunction Junction, what's their function?
I got "and", "but", and "or",
They'll get you pretty far.

[spoken] "And":
That's an additive, like "this and that".
"But":
That's sort of the opposite,
"Not this but that".
And then there's "or":
O-R, when you have a choice like
"This or that".
"And", "but", and "or",
Get you pretty far.

[sung] Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up two boxcars and making 'em run right.
Milk and honey, bread and butter, peas and rice.
Hey that's nice!
Dirty but happy, digging and scratching,
Losing your shoe and a button or two.
He's poor but honest, sad but true,
Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up two cars to one
When you say something like this choice:
"Either now or later"
Or no choice:
"Neither now nor ever"
Hey that's clever!
Eat this or that, grow thin or fat,
Never mind, I wouldn't do that,
I'm fat enough now!

Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up phrases and clauses that balance, like:
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
He cut loose the sandbags,
But the balloon wouldn't go any higher.
Let's go up to the mountains,
Or down to the seas.
You should always say "thank you",
Or at least say "please".

Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses
In complex sentences like:
[spoken] In the mornings, when I'm usually wide awake, I love to take a walk through the gardens and down by the lake, where I often see a duck and a drake, and I wonder, as I walk by, just what they'd say if they could speak, although I know that's an absurd thought.

Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up cars and making 'em function.
Conjunction Junction, how's that function?
I like tying up words and phrases and clauses.
Conjunction Junction, watch that function.
I'm going to get you there if you're very careful.
Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
I'm going to get you there if you're very careful.
Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
I'm going to get you there if you're very careful.

The video link for those of you my age.

Also, check out the other school house rock series at:

http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/index.html

[Mom70x7]

But what really irritates me is when a word is misspelled on a big sign or on TV

Jim noticed a newspaper headline:

Court puts the breaks on Chrysler sale. We're certain the writer meant brakes.

Oh well.

[Wilma]

Here is one for you grammar officionadoes.  (I hope that is spelled right.  I can't find it in my dictionary.) 

I typed a letter to a friend today in which I stated, "I feel as if --------".  I have seen this stated as, "I feel like -----".  Which is grammatically correct?

[flintauqua]

Here is one for you grammar officionadoes.  (I hope that is spelled right.  I can't find it in my dictionary.) 

aficionado

Websters New World Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1986

[sixdogsmom]

Wilma, I think that both are correct; as if would describe an idea, whereas like would be used as an actual description, (my stomach felt like a rock). Not a pretty example but ample I hope. 

[patyrn]

Either is acceptable in casual speech and/or writing.  However, I was taught that "like" is used when no verb is present in the group of words that follows.  "As if" is used when the next set of words includes a verb.  Strict grammarians can have a heyday with such peculiarities, but this one is usually considered correct either way.

I walked like a model.

I walked as if I were a model.

[Wilma]

Thank you, Flint.  Now let me see if I remember without looking again.  Aficianado.  Missed it.  Aficionado.  I wonder how long I can remember it.

[Rudy Taylor]

There once were rule books on such matters.
They're no longer in print.
Their pages are ignored, I'm afraid.

It's a sign of the times that a book rests quietly
with its pages unopened.