Grammar Gaffe: Broke vs. Broken

Okay, this grammar gaffe really annoys me (as opposed to slightly annoys me): when people say "broke" when they really mean "broken."

First, we need to talk about two different forms of "broke."

1. Broke (verb): past tense of "to break."
1. Broke (adjective): without money; penniless

Only people can be broke. An inanimate object cannot have money, an inanimate object doesn't need money, therefore it cannot be "broke." 

If you're talking about something breaking in the past, then you can can say the item broke, but it is not broke. It is "broken." Please, allow me to say it again, the item is broken!

Incorrect:
The table is broke.

Correct:
The table is broken.

Incorrect:
My car is broke. 

Correct:
My car is broken.

Correct:
My car broke.

Correct:
My brother was broken when he found out he was broke.

Lesson given, and hopefully lesson received.

The Big Bang Theory Discusses Verb Tense

I love it when characters discuss grammar in television and movies. It doesn't happen often, but it can be very funny when it does.



You can stop watching around the 2:30 mark, because even though The Big Bang Theory can be very funny, it can also be very crude - and I hate that.

Grammar Gaffe: The Wrong Word

This may not be a grammar gaffe, but one of my pet peeves is when people use the wrong word in print. Some words that are commonly used in the wrong context are then instead of than, and sense instead of since.

I assume it’s because of the way they pronounce the words.

Incorrect:

I like him better then I like her.

The correct word is “than.” Some people will write it “then” because that’s the way they pronounce the word.

Incorrect:

It’s been quiet sense you’ve been gone.

The correct word is “since,” but again, some people may use the incorrect word because they pronounce the word “sense.”

Are there other similar instances that you can think of?

Grammar Gaffe: Lay vs. Lie

The misuse of lay and lie is one of the grammar gaffes that really bugs me. However, I shouldn't get so upset about it, because I don't think many people are really taught the correct usage. So, this is my attempt to educate the masses.

If you don't remember anything else from this post, please remember this: When you go to bed, you LIE down.

Now let's get a little more technical, or grammar geeky.

Lie: something you do to yourself. For example, "I'm going to lie (myself) down."
Lay: something you do to something else. For example, "Lay the book on the table."

The past tense can get a little more complicated.

Past tense of Lie: Lay
For example, "When she got home, she lay down."

Past tense of Lay: Laid
For example, "Our chickens laid six eggs."

I know, crazy, right?

Here are a couple of ways you can remember which is correct.

"People lie, chickens lay [eggs]."
"Let sleeping dogs lie."

Now that you know which word is correct for which situation, if someone says, "I'm going to lay down," you can respond by saying, "people lie."

Grammar Gaffe: I Feel Bad

The title of this post is correct - when you're upset about something, you feel "bad," you don't feel "badly."

Think of other adverbs you use with feel:

I feel sad. (not I feel sadly)
I feel happy. (not I feel happily)
I feel pretty. (not I feel prettily)

I feel bad and I feel badly mean two different things. If you feel badly you're saying that your sense of touch has been damaged and you have a hard time feeling things physically.

If you have been saying "I feel badly," don't feel bad, just correct yourself.

Grammar Gaffe of the Week: A Whole Other Problem

In last week's episode of Awake, a character used a word that many people use that really isn't a word.

The coroner said, "tonight I do a whole nother workup."

"Nother" not a word!

"Another" is a word. The two words that make up "another" are "an" and "other," not "a" and "nother." So if you put "whole" between those words, "an" changes to "a," and "other" stays "other." A whole OTHER workup.

Okay, that's a lot of explanation just to make my point again that "nother" is not a word!

Big Bang Theory: Grammar Lesson

This one's for you, Zaissa.

Sheldon gives a lesson on the subjunctive while playing the bongos.

Go to about 1:15, or better still, watch from the begininng because Sheldon's bongo playing is hilarious.



I love it when they teach correct grammar on TV. You know it's a grammar rule the writer is passionate about. And don't we all have a grammar rule we're passionate about?

Grammar Gaffe: I and Me

One of the grammar gaffes committed most often is the incorrect use of the first-person pronouns: “I” and “me” when used with another pronoun or a proper noun. (e.g., you and I, Frank and me, etc.)

My mother taught me the easiest way to remember which pronoun to use. Just remove the other pronoun so you’re left with either “I” or “me,” and you will usually know which sounds correct.

For example, is it “Me and you went to the store,” or “You and I went to the store”? Just take out “you,” and you know that “I went to the store” is correct, not “Me went to the store.” So, “You and I went to the store is correct.”

What about “He gave the money to you and I,” or “He gave the money to you and me”? Of course it’s “He gave the money to you and me,” because you wouldn’t say, “He gave the money to I.”

Other easy ways to remember which is correct (there are always exceptions to these first two rules):

• If the pronoun comes before a verb, it's usually "I" (Sallie and I went to the theatre, he and I cooked dinner, she and I are siblings)
  
• If the pronoun comes after a preposition, it's usually "me" (e.g., between you and me, with Lance and me, to him and me, from her and me, about Sallie and me, etc.
  
• If you can replace the pronouns with "us," it's "me" (e.g., It's about us – It's about you and me)
  
• If you can replace the pronouns (or pronoun and noun) with “we,” it’s “I” (e.g., We went to the store – You and I went to the store)

If you start to use these rules when you’re using the first person pronouns, then after a while the correct usage will sound right to your ear.

The following are examples of "I" and "me" used incorrectly and correctly (see if you can recognize why they are wrong or right):

Incorrect:

Will me and my brothers get to go to foster care? (Radio - girl interviewed in NPR story)

He’s joining Mercedes and Sam and I to go to prom. (TV - Glee)

I want Hannah and I to be at the end of this. (Overheard)

It means a new start for my husband and I. (Overheard)

It’s fine for your father and I to disagree (Movie – Midnight in Paris)

It’s about the connection between Ashley and I. (TV - The Bachelorette)

Correct:

They’re owned by my sister and me (TV - Antiques Roadshow)

It’s so nice to spend time – just you and me. (commercial)

I hope you’re not doing this because of you and me. (TV - Big Bang Theory)

This isn’t between you and me. (Grimm)

I hope that this post is helpful to those of you who struggle with knowing when to use “I” and when to use “me.”

Just between you and me, I know you and I are on the same page.

Grammar Gaffe of the Week: Myself

Many times people use myself when they should use me or I. They usually use it because they're unsure if they should use I or me, so they end up using myself instead.

Myself is a reflexive pronoun, which means you use it primarily when you are referring to something you do to yourself.

Correct:
I looked at myself in the mirror.
I gave myself a good talking to.

Correct:
The book was written by Jane, and me.

Incorrect:
The book was written by Jane, and myself.

Correct:
Bob, Jane and I went to the movie.

Incorrect:
Bob, Jane and myself went to the movie.

An easy way to remember which pronoun to use is to take out Bob and Jane. You wouldn't say, The book was written by myself, or Myself went to the movies.

The big thing is to not be afraid of me, it's not always the wrong word.

Now, just between you and me, I'm going to give myself a little break.

Grammar Gaffe of the Week: Nauseated/Nauseous

I love grammar. And I love to speak and hear correct grammar. It concerns me that many grammar mistakes are becoming commonplace. (**Note: No, it isn't incorrect to start a sentence with a conjunction.)

I want to help people learn correct grammar usage and use this blog as my platform to teach it. I’m not always going to explain the rules, which can often be confusing and hard to remember, but I’d like to give simple ways to remember the correct usage.

I’m not grammatically correct 100% of the time, but I usually know what “sounds right” more than I remember each rule. It helps me to hear the correct usage over and over.

Each week I hope to have a new grammar gaffe with examples of correct or incorrect usage overheard in real life, in a movie, on the television, or read in a book, etc.

My first grammar gaffe post is neaseated vs. nauseaous. This isn't so much a lesson in grammar as it is in learning to use the right word to describe feeling like you want to throw up and describing the thing that makes you feel like you want to throw up.

At the weigh-in on the first episode of the new season of the Biggest Loser, one of the contestants spoke about his initial workout on the Biggest Loser Ranch. He said he felt "nauseous. "

When you feel like you want to throw up, you are nauseated. Something that makes you feel nauseated is nauseous (e.g., The nauseous meat made me nauseated.).

One of my favorite examples of the correct usage of nauseated and nauseous is from the song, "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch."

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch
With a nauseous super nos

It's nice to know we can learn correct grammar from an animated holiday classic.