Vampyr Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 From BT Yahoo Movie blog: This part of the speech lead many to speculate she had just announced her retirement This is the second time I have seen this sort of thing in mass media in recent weeks. The writers must have learnt their English on these forums! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 What a bunch of loosers. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billw55 Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 The second time in weeks? You must not read yahoo stories much. They frequently have spelling or grammar errors and I routinely find several per day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffy Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 I don't see the mistake :( BTW I remind all posters that they are wellcome to send me PMs pointing out grammar and spelling mistakes, I make a lot of typing mistakes also, but there is no need to PM me about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinidad Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 The small difference, of course, is that those are professional writers, writing in their native language. We are a bunch of amateurs with many of us writing in our second (or third) language. There can only be one conclusion. They must be correct. Rik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 The small difference, of course, is that those are professional writers, writing in their native language. We are a bunch of amateurs with many of us writing in our second (or third) language. There can only be one conclusion. They must be correct. Well, quite. That is why non-native English speakers are doomed to learning incorrect spelling and grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 I don't see the mistake :( The word "lead" was substituted for "led". This error is particularly disconcerting to me as a reader, since the pronunciation is different; it sort of stops me in my tracks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 The second time in weeks? You must not read yahoo stories much. They frequently have spelling or grammar errors and I routinely find several per day. It was the second time in weeks I saw this error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 It was the second time in weeks I saw this error. "this sort of thing" implies a more general class of errors, not just this particular one. Don't make wording errors when you're complaining about someone else's writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 "this sort of thing" implies a more general class of errors, not just this particular one. Don't make wording errors when you're complaining about someone else's writing. Yes, you are right. Of course I meant the substitution of "lead" for "led"; I do not know why I phrased it in such a general way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellSpyder Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 The word "lead" was substituted for "led". This error is particularly disconcerting to me as a reader, since the pronunciation is different; it sort of stops me in my tracks.The pronunciation depends on the context, of course. The metal "lead" is indeed pronouced in the same way as the past participle "led", and I think this is the reason why it is so common to see the present tense of the verb "lead" incorrectly used in place of "led". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinidad Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 Well, quite. That is why non-native English speakers are doomed to learning incorrect spelling and grammar.One slight problem for non-native speakers is that the native speakers can't even agree on spelling or grammar. Rik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 The pronunciation depends on the context, of course. The metal "lead" is indeed pronouced in the same way as the past participle "led", and I think this is the reason why it is so common to see the present tense of the verb "lead" incorrectly used in place of "led".It may also be related to the more common word "read". Its past tense is pronounced "red", but it's spelled "read", just like the present tense. This formation may bleed over in the mind to "lead". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 The pronunciation depends on the context, of course. The metal "lead" is indeed pronouced in the same way as the past participle "led", and I think this is the reason why it is so common to see the present tense of the verb "lead" incorrectly used in place of "led".It may also be related to the more common word "read". Its past tense is pronounced "red", but it's spelled "read", just like the present tense. This formation may bleed over in the mind to "lead". But how curious that a (native English-speaking) person could have heard of lead or any other element without having attended school... no, it's probably more that teaching spelling and grammar is no longer considered important, because it takes time away from teaching things like "empowerment" and "self-actualisation". One slight problem for non-native speakers is that the native speakers can't even agree on spelling or grammar. That's not true. There is a right way and there are wrong ways. Unfortunately, sources like newspapers, which non-native speakers would tend to trust, do not always use the right way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyberyeti Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 One slight problem for non-native speakers is that the native speakers can't even agree on spelling or grammar. Rik Many Brits know that if you want to get a higher quality of English spelling and grammar, you ask a Dutchman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 Many Brits know that if you want to get a higher quality of English spelling and grammar, you ask a Dutchman. Surely a Scandinavian! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellSpyder Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 One slight problem for non-native speakers is that the native speakers can't even agree on spelling or grammar.RikMany Brits know that if you want to get a higher quality of English spelling and grammar, you ask a Dutchman.Surely a Scandinavian!Oh dear! We can't even agree on that..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherdano Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 One slight problem for non-native speakers is that the native speakers can't even agree on spelling or grammar. That's not true. There is a right way and there are wrong ways. BullshitRubbish! There are two flavours of spelling. And native-speakers can't even agree whether they use a cart or a trolley to bring the prescriptions for theird cold their menthol sweets and bags of herbal tea from the drugstorechemist across the parking lotcar park to their station wagonestate car. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 BullshitRubbish! There are two flavours of spelling. And native-speakers can't even agree whether they use a cart or a trolley to bring the prescriptions for theird cold their menthol sweets and bags of herbal tea from the drugstorechemist across the parking lotcar park to their station wagonestate car. Yes, that much is true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbradley62 Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 But how curious that a (native English-speaking) person could have heard of lead or any other element without having attended school... Every 5-year-old who has played CLUE knows about lead pipes :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinidad Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 BullshitRubbish! There are two flavours of spelling. And native-speakers can't even agree whether they use a cart or a trolley to bring the prescriptions for theird cold their menthol sweets and bags of herbal tea from the drugstorechemist across the parking lotcar park to their station wagonestate car.STOP! I am laughing so loud I am wetting my err my err... well.. pick one! Rik 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinidad Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 Many Brits know that if you want to get a higher quality of English spelling and grammar, you ask a Dutchman.Surely a Scandinavian!I'm not sure whether you are referring to me, but I consider myself to be somewhat of both. ;) Rik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 If you trust a Dutchman's English too much you're bound to be disappointed eventually. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinidad Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 If you trust a Dutchman's English too much you're bound to be disappointed eventually.I agree. The Netherlands is probably one of the countries -without an English history- with the largest density of people who can speak English as a second language. On the other hand, The Netherlands is probably also the country with the largest density of people who think they know English. "Ent sum prominent dutsj fooks (pollitisjuns kum toe majnt) aar riel bet eksempuls et inglisj." Rik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 But how curious that a (native English-speaking) person could have heard of lead or any other element without having attended school... no, it's probably more that teaching spelling and grammar is no longer considered important, because it takes time away from teaching things like "empowerment" and "self-actualisation". It is certainly true that learning spelling and grammar is not considered important — by the students, at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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