Crossposted from riters_r_us

'A' and 'an' are something I regularly see mixed up, usually with people erring on the side of 'an' and giving us an vampire when we really should have a vampire.

'A' is used in reference to one of something, unless that particular something starts with a vowel sound...so in order to get an 'an' it doesn't have to be a vowel, just a vowel sound.
For example: we would have an hour because, although hour starts with h, it is silent so the word starts with a vowel sound.

And of course, because we all come from different parts of the world and have different accents, it can't always be that nice and simple--which words are preceded by 'a' or 'an' will vary in some cases depending upon where you come from and how the words are pronounced. One example of this (and I'm sure there will be others, this was the only one I could think of) is herb. For those of us who pronounce the 'h' it would be a herb, for those who use a silent 'h' it would be an herb.

ETA:  As pointed out by gillo: And "u" when pronounced as "you" doesn't count as a vowel sound - so I would never say
an unicorn
.

Hee! Couldn't take it anymore, huh? :)

Thanks^^.

Your next lesson should be on 'then' and 'than'. I see that more often than you would think and it drives me round the bend! I simply never occurred to me that folks would confuse the two.

The one I see the most is when people use your and you're wrong, it drives me crazy.  And for some reason, a lot of people have a hard time spelling definitely right.  You won't believe all the different versions I've seen.  Also, putting too when it should be to, or the other way around.  I'm really picky about that stuff...lol!

One of the things I see often is people mixing up 'site' with 'sight', this is one that drives me crazy.

LOL Yep, all those (and many others) drive me nuts too...but I am pretty sure that Slaymesoftly has covered them all a few times, both here and on Riters_r_us, I don't think we'd ever covered the a/an thing before and I have been seeing it misused more and more lately.

LOL - I was just going to say that. If they aren't here, in the homophone list, they are definitely on RRU. Those are all common mistakes, so not only are they in the memories, but they've been in the Daily Doozies numerous times.  Maybe I should start cross posting the DD here? LOL

My personal peeve is the use of "silently" when an author obviously means "quietly," as in:

Buffy leaned into Spike and said to him silently, "You wanna ditch these losers and go kill something?"

Which would only be okay if they were talking with telepathy.  Usually they're not.

ROFL - that's a good one, BreathesStory. I'll be using that as a DD on RRU. Thanks!

LOL, yes, all good points.  I see the site/sight one a lot as well, and another is putting quite when it should be quiet.

Another thing that bothers me is when there is fighting outside, and someone falls to the 'floor' instead of the 'ground'. If you are inside it is the floor, if you are outside it is the ground. It is a small thing, but it bugs me.

Oh YES! I emphatically concur.  I HATE the floor/ground thing. 

How in the world does this stuff happen? Typo brain misfires are one thing (then/than), but two totally different words with two completely different meanings...?!

Does anyone else ever feel the pressing need to copy a otherwise engrossing fic and edit the hell out of it from grammar to punctuation just so that you know it's right somewhere even if it's only on your computer?

Didn't say I did it, just that I feel the call...  I'd never get to read the Spuffy if I did that.  (Well, maybe just once.  Or twice.  *sigh* I'm weird. *hangs head in embarrassment*)

Typo brain misfires are one thing (then/than)

Believe it or not, it's not always a typo--I know people who, no matter how many times you explain the difference to them, just cannot get which of those words to use where. I don't understand how anyone can get them mixed up, but some people genuinely do.

Um, I'm surprised Always didn't mention this, but the "floor" thing seems to be British. The only time I've heard it used in this country (US) is by a soccer coach who used many British terms when he was coaching -presumably because that's what he learned from his trainers.  I've always associated it with Brits and just figured it was one of those "two countries separated by one language" things.  So, are we saying it isn't? That it's just coincidence that I only have noticed it from Brits?

LOL We don't use floor when we mean ground here (Australia), and I can't say I've ever noticed the poms  English saying it--maybe it was just that coach? Or it could just be something I've not taken any notice of. *shrugs*

Does anyone else ever feel the pressing need to copy a otherwise engrossing fic and edit the hell out of it from grammar to punctuation just so that you know it's right somewhere even if it's only on your computer? Didn't say I did it, just that I feel the call... I'd never get to read the Spuffy if I did that. (Well, maybe just once. Or twice. *sigh* I'm weird. *hangs head in embarrassment*)


LOL, I do that too! So you aren't the only one, and I'm sure there are many others who do it as well.

Hmmm  well, the coach was American, he just used a lot of British terminology when coaching so I assumed calling the ground the floor was another one.  Maybe it's my imagination that I only see it from British authors. I'm going to do a RRU post and see what our British friends have to say about it. :)

a otherwise engrossing fic

Question (since this thread started with a vs an):
In this case, the a goes to fic, so it seems right, but since the next word starts with a vowel, should it be an?

It's an honest question; I believe I usually get which to use where, but cases such as this confuse me.

It should actually be an, because the word following it starts with a vowel.

Sotia, my Star Wars-verse friend, whose first language isn't English, has troubles with this one, too.

Thanks, Abby!

It seems clear to me which one to use while speaking, but this is the only case where it confuses me in written form. (when the subject starts with a consonant, but there is another word in between that starts with a vowel) 

Sotia, the decision of which one to use isn't based on the word being referred to (ie: fic), but to the one following the article. When in doubt, say it out loud and see which is easier to say. That's actually the key - it's much easier to say "an otherwise..." than it is to say "a otherwise..." :)  This particular rule isn't about matching anything (verbs to singular/plural subjects, for instance); it's all about what makes the spoken phrase flow well.

Thank you, Slaymesoftly. I believe I've got it now :)

I'm British and I would not call the ground outside the floor. Ground is definitely the muddy, grassy stuff outside and floor is the wooden, stoney etc. stuff inside.
 
Maybe it's just that someone forgot where their scene was taking place? That's happened to me a few times and there has been a floor or a ground in the wrong place. :) Oops.

According to a new study, "definitely" is the most misspelled word in English. (This might be the Queen's English, and not American English though, since "manoeuvre" also made the list.)

Also on the list were broccoli, phlegm, bureaucracy, indict, consensus, unnecessary, sacrilegious and prejudice.

This particular rule isn't about matching anything (verbs to singular/plural subjects, for instance); it's all about what makes the spoke phrase flow well.

It's not just English that uses a rule such as this, either.  In French, the is le (or la), but when it's proceeded by a vowel, the e (or a) is dropped to make the words easier to say.  L'amour, for example, verses le amour.

It might be a different technical word, but this is the same thing as a versus an.  An apple instead of a apple.

yep, Abby. The same idea exactly.  I'm sure there's a technical name for it, but I have no idea what it is.
ya_lublyu_tebya, no, the use of floor instead of ground for outdoor surfaces isn't just a fanfic thing. It's something people say, and something that appears in many places. So far, I've found one English person who says she uses it occasionally and thinks it may be regional.

So far, I've found one English person who says she uses it occasionally and thinks it may be regional.

I stand corrected! Curiouser and curiouser... must definitely be a regional thing :-)

Okay - hard as it may be to believe, but if writers would use their spelling/grammar checkers, they would catch this error.  I just tested Word (old version) on "a apple" and "a otherwise" and it tagged both as errors.

(not so reliable on its/it's, I admit.)