A Memento

Infinitives

     Have you ever been told not to split infinitives? 

     An infinitive is defined by Grammar in English (http://www.grammarinenglish.com/infinitives/) as follows:

When a verb is in its infinitive state, it has no subject or object. It is used to define the action of the verb without tying it to a specific person. It is a verb acting without a subject. The infinitive is the verb in its purest form. An infinitive should be treated as a single word with a single meaning.

     Splitting an infinitive means to put a word between the two words of an infinitive. I have seen situations in which the split infinitive was less awkward than the corrected form. This is rare. In the example above, the split infinitive could easily be corrected by moving "not" before the word "to." 

Arkansas Traveler's Concession Sign

"If they don't" should be if they do. 

Typos in School Letter

Student Makes Correction

The error is in the handwritten portion of this sign. "Rath" should be spelled wrath. Thanks to Talia for this picture. She's the one who used her eyeliner pencil to write in the correction. The sign is laminated, so they could wipe it off, she says. She's making her English teacher proud!

Struggling to Use English

The comma outside of the quotation mark is correct in British English, I believe. The remaining errors are incorrect in American and British English. 

1. It is considered incorrect to end with a preposition in formal writing. Re-word it. 

2. Use a comma after an introductory prepositional phrase of four or more words. 

3. "Are" has as its subject the word "one." It is correct to say one is. 

4. Double quotation marks seem appropriate unless the entire article is a quotation. 

5. "The Times" should be italicized or underlined. 

6. "Their" should be singular since "a school leader" is singular. 

Sell and Sale

He made an attempt to sell the furniture, not "sale" the furniture. 

There are two subject-verb agreement errors in this post. "Majority" is singular and should have tips as its verb. "Habits" is plural and should have as its verb have changed. 

"Injuries" is the object of the preposition "of." "Extent" is the subject of the verb "are," which should be is.

I saved this picture several months ago. I have marked two glaring errors. "There's," which means there is, is incorrect. The subject is "decisions." It is incorrect to say, "No decisions is there." The sentence should read, "There are no decisions...." There will no usually be the subject. (It is in that sentence, though.) There usually works as an adverb. 

"Got" should be have. 

Except and Accept

The county names should be capitalized. Some of the other words should not. "Fictures" is likely supposed to be fixtures. "Excepted" means left out; likely, this writer means accepted. 

Level Up Your Grammar

No apostrophe needed in "level's." This game was in Branson, Missouri. 

Black Smoke Responds

The underlined error is comical. I get this image of black smoke running to the scene or driving the fire truck. I wonder how people reacted when they saw black smoke responding. Okay, okay, I understand the intention of the writer. I'm just having a little fun. I appreciate the great police and fire departments and the difficult work they do. 

Don't Install an Apostrophe

The apostrophe is unnecessary. 

News Broadcast Bloopers

This list is not parallel. The first and last are sentences. The middle one is not. The most glaring errors are in the middle group of words. "Wraping" should be wrapping. "Nice" should be nicely because it is an adverb which tells how. "Nice" is an adjective. "Nicely" is an adverb. 

As for the third line, I'm not sure that "temps" can plan anything. The personification seems ridiculous in this context. 

I found this sign at a gas station in Searcy, Arkansas. The period after "attendance" should be a comma since "If you think they need attendance" is not a complete sentence. It's a dependent/subordinate clause that should be with its independent clause that follows it. While the word "attendance" may technically be correct, it seems that the more appropriate word might be attention. 

The food is delicious at Pasta Jack's. The apostrophe in "pizza's" is unnecessary. 

The Bryant Police page's author often uses apostrophes incorrectly. Generally, the Benton Police page's author uses correct grammar. Here, though, there should be an apostrophe in "PUBLIC'S."

Spread Apostrophe Awareness, Too

Ugh! This whole page is titled incorrectly. The "Person's" don't possess anything; therefore, the apostrophe is incorrect. 

No apostrophe is needed to create a plural. 

"Your child" is singular; therefore, "they need" should be "he needs." I realize this may be offensive to females since they may feel left out. In that case, "your child" could be made "children."

More snow is on ITS way. 

Wal-Mart

There were many of these posted throughout the checkout lanes. 

No apostrophe needed. Thanks, Brianne. 

No More Apostrophes

Both apostrophes are incorrect. Apostrophes do not a plural make. 

Choose Words Carefully

"Head here" could have been much more tastefully written. 

Quirky Quip

"They" and "their" do not agree with their singular antecedent "a step parent." The best way to correct this error would be to make "step parent" plural. There is some unnecessary capitalization. The shift from present tense in the first sentence to past tense in the second sentence is incorrect, too. This quip could be corrected as follows: 

Step parents are truly amazing people. They make a choice to love another's child as their own. 

Selfie

They were just added to the dictionary. Maybe it'll take some time to spell selfie correctly. 

Hocus Pocus

What will I lose if I fail to repost? My ability to spot glaring errors? 

If you're reading this, repost and receive a large amount of money in 25 minutes! If you fail to repost, you'll lose something worth keeping. 

But, you'll keep your dignity for at least 25 minutes if you don't repost. 

It's a Question

This adorns the envelopes for school pictures. There should be a question mark, not an exclamation point, at the end of this question. 

Errors in the Background

The picture quality is poor, I know. I'm not certain where to start. The first sign could be corrected as follows:

Attention: You are being recorded on the entire property using audio and video surveillance!

The second sign has an unnecessary apostrophe. 

Another Sheriff's Race Error

The first sentence should be corrected as follows:

In 2011, I was one of the two Arkansans who was invited....

People should be referred to as who, not  that. Remove the prepositional phrase "of the two Arkansans" to more clearly see that the subject "one" should be used with the verb was not "were."

Apostrophes

Thanks to Brianne for this one. The apostrophe is not needed to make a plural. 

Politically Correct, Grammatically Incorrect

Once again, the pronoun-antecedent agreement problem plagues a newscaster's post. The pronoun "their" is plural and has as its antecedent the word "parent." "Parent" is singular. The most logical way to correct this error is to use his/her instead of "their." The grammatically correct way is to use his. 

Grammar Sherrif

I contacted the candidate concerning this sign. Someone had already alerted him. He showed me that his original copy had included the correct spelling of sheriff. 

Coordinating Conjunctions and Conjunctive Adverbs

This sentence is a comma splice. Two independent clauses may be joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction. These two independent clauses are joined by a comma and a conjunctive adverb. A conjunctive adverb does not have the power of a coordinating conjunction. The simple fix for this sentence is to add a semicolon before the conjunctive adverb, however. 

This is from the Bryant Cafe in Bryant, Arkansas. 

Ha! Grammar matters. 

Misplaced Modifer

This is a case of a misplaced modifier. The sign maker likely means to say that one may only enter this storage facility if one is a tenant. Actually, this sign communicates that if a tenant enters, he may not leave. It's like Hotel California. 

Errors Abound!

Thanks to Lana for this one. The errors are numerous in this one:

"Babtist" should be Baptist,

"Heatlh" should be Health,

"Clinc" should be Clinic,

and there should be no comma after "Rd."

Allowed/Aloud

The Lady Hornets ALLOWED one run.