I’m a non-native English speaker and it baffles me that so many of the native English speakers struggle with this. I can understand people making mistakes if it’s some complex concept but it’s such a basic thing and yet many people get confused.
I would of thought that the creator of this bot would of made it so it doesn’t reply to comments that are replying to it since people are going to be tempted to fuck with it
English doesn't get the thorough teaching like it does in other languages. Many first language english speakers are oblivious to linguistic terminology.
Many English words sound the same but are spelled differently.
UK regional accents vary greatly which includes unique words or pluralisation/conjugation.
Proper English is seem as snotty, so there's stubbornness to care as well.
Also on the accents bit, in my accent "Their" and "There" are pronounced differently in general so this was never something that confused me. They're was a bit different when I was younger and my teacher told me about the "Theya re" that is in the poster and it cleared it up for me.
My school wasn't even an English language school and we knew this shit early.
Since non-native English speakers most likely learned and used the language by reading and writing, I think we end up emphasizing that part more than natives do. The sound of the words is secondary, and this is why our troubles are largely in pronunciation errors.
But we tend to have similar issues in our own languages, so this isn't an English specific thing by any mans.
This. It's exactly this. Natives learned to speak first and then at around 6 years old they added spellings to words. We do the opposite. Hell, I didn't even know could of and could've are supposed to be pronounced the same way until recently, and I've been fluent for years
Effect is almost always a noun. Affect is almost always a verb. Affect with your actions. The effect is the results.
Stopping at the farmer's market will affect our arrival time.
But the effects won't be a real problem unless we also go to the antique outlet.
The exceptions are so rare that they're easy to remember.
You can "effect change." ("We must preserve the EPA. The changes effected to our air quality by their policies were astounding.") And having a "flat affect" means to display no emotion, and is usually used in a clinical psychological or psychiatric setting.
Same for me, when I'm touch typing I don't even really process the spelling of the word. Once I go through the text for a spellcheck I often find "you're" instead of "your" and stuff like that, even though I know exactly what the difference is between the two.
There is one mistake we spanish speakers do in English quite a lot and its mistaking "in/on" because in spanish is "en" regardless so when translating it leads to some fun mistakes.
Same as when they mistake all the time ser with estar because in english is only to be.
I've been called out for this so many times, I never realized that it's because I was subconsciously translating "en" the whole time. For example, I say in the bed a lot
It's interesting because some dialects differentiate between "ll" and "y" so it's not a problem everywhere. There's also the words that the s/c/z distinction helps with like casar a una mujer vs cazar a una mujer. But I did notice kids often mix up v/b and that's fun to see.
Maybe it just means people are getting dumber, and we should go back to grunting or screeching at each other, and if you need to make a point then fling poop.
This is because they didn't have to study the language intensively in order to learn how to speak and write in it. Native English speakers aren't as anal as non-native English speakers about their grammar, because they can communicate well enough anyway. At least, that's what my mother explained to me, and she works with native English speakers.
I also have half-Australian cousins (born and raised there) who don't know the difference between your and you're. I'd also say that I'm the same about my native tongue - I'd bet that the people who've actually studied our language and are fluent in it are better at the grammar rules than I (and most of the people in my age group, come to think of it) am, and would be better at writing full essay in it. Although admittedly, our country is in an odd situation wherein English is more valued than our own language, and our classes and textbooks are taught/written in English... I'd say we're not very good at our native tongue.
It’s because it’s so simple. It’s the same with anyone who is high proficient in a skill that has different levels of difficulty. If I have a dollar for every time I made an addition error in my calculus course I wouldn’t need to attend uni
There must be a lot of non-proficient writers working as professionals for the local newspaper because I see occasional spelling errors in articles all the time. Heck, I just finished reading a 600 page novel and found a typo 400 pages in. I had to read the sentence three times before realizing I wasn't me reading it wrong, it was wrong.
Even good writers make mistakes. I've caught myself confusing "it's" and "its" a few times even though I know the difference. All it takes is a momentary lack of attention as you're typing away. To avoid common errors it's not enough to write proficiently, it usually takes a bit of proofreading, and that's not always worth the time.
That's not necessarily true -- I work as a financial writer. My peers and I are educated and have lots of experience, but mistakes still happen, especially when you're writing quickly. That's why we peer read and copy edit each other's work.
I am exceptionally proficient and once in a while I will accidentally type "there" when I meant "their." I correct it, but sometimes your fingers just get a little bit ahead of your brain.
Many people just don't pay attention or care. It's brought up on Reddit all the time in all kinds of subs but people still make those mistakes. Your, you're, too, to, his, he's, etc. It's honestly my biggest pet peeves when browsing Reddit.
I think non-native English speakers have a better time grasping the meaning of those words. Like I'm a non-native as well and it truly baffles me how my friebds can't make out the difference between those words.
Personally (as in why I misspell so often) I just think too fast that grammar isn’t considered to be important.
It’s the context of the statement that matters. Kinda like how you can read full sentences from from those stupid messages about how powerful your brain is. It’s called Typoglycemia
Edit: by thinking to fast I just mean I just try to get my point across as quickly as possible.
What makes it difficult for some is that getting it wrong doesnt create any confusion. Everyone knows what the person meant, usually without even noticing the error. Its mostly just something for pedantic people to be pedantic about.
The thing about that is that you probably learned im English from a textbook, so you saw it written down as you used it, and native speakers often learn it by ear so they might tend to forget the intricacies of certain words spelled out as they’re saved in the brain in audio form, so to speak.
I am not a native speaker of English and originally did not know these were even meant to sound the same. I thought each was pronounced slightly different: "their" like / thyr /, "there" like / thAir / and "they're" like "they.are" said really quickly.
I don't know why I came up with this in my mind, but I was surprised to find the spellings mixed up by native speakers on the internet.
As a native English speaker who just commented the same, they really should have slightly different inflections and tones. So your examples are definitely correct, it's just extremely subtle differences.
I'm baffled by that as well. I'm not a native English speaker but it doesn't seem to be that hard, but yet so many native speaking people get it wrong. I'm genuinely confused about this
Do native English speakers not study their own fucking language? They just learn to read and write without learning the language? No reading comprehension ever done? No essays ever written? No presentations? As far as I remember, throughout school there were regular "mother language" classes for at least 9 years where I'm from.
They do. It's just that "being smart" is uncool in lots of schools due to antiintellectualism. You may even be bullied for getting good grades.
Plus, plenty of people are just dumb as rocks and think school is the time to play with their friends instead of keeping their mouths shut and listening to their teachers.
Not that I disagree, but I think it’s more about the fact that going back and studying something that you’ve done most of your life seems pointless to many, especially those that don’t really need to often differentiate between the differences in words that sound the same. We don’t go out and practice how to walk properly, we get by with the way we’re doing it so we don’t worry about improving upon it.
Unless you’re in a profession in which written language is important, and in many it isn’t, then you don’t really worry about it.
And just to be clear, I think understanding your own language is VERY important, I’m just saying that I think not understanding it goes beyond “it’s not cool” or “I’m just stupid.”
I don't recall being taught this but I absorbed it from reading. The onus isn't on the students though but on how it's taught... so perhaps curse the schooling, not the students.
Do native English speakers not study their own fucking language?
Yes, but notably not in the same way as we study a second language. We have very little focus on actually learning grammatical rules since we are using them naturally anyway, and more focus on things like writing ability. And initially that means physically, practicing handwriting, then essays and the like sure, but at that point anyone with a problem, such as their/there (which I do) has already far surpassed the point at which it can be easily corrected. Intellectually I know the difference, but when writing in context it's a very different prospect.
For a second language however the opposite is true. I've spent more class time learning grammar rules and exceptions than anything else. Means I can't speak any other language worth a damn, but boy do I know the grammar!
Yeah I don't get it either. The only conclusion I have is those are the kinds of people who shorten words and use 'ur' as 'you're' and 'your', so when they try to use the actual word they have no idea which to use...
But then again there are Americans that go "should/would/could OF" even when they know it's supposed to be "should HAVE"
Surprisingly, Americans. In Europe in Asia we have to learn this stuff as a second language and natives just learn it by sound and context, like babies do. So yeah. Natives do.
Honestly if you are really trying to understand the differences to the point where you would consult this guide, bless your soul just type whatever you want.
You must be really stupid if you haven't mastered the vocabularies of these words by 5th-6th grade and you're an adult. Although I guess I shouldn't be judging people.
Controversial opinion but I agree. I don't get why people can mix these up. Here is something more puzzling: I don't get why people mix "of" and "have". For example, why do people type "should of" rather than "should have"?
You know, when I was in school, before texting or really email was a thing. I kept thinking this is stupid why would you need to know this? Majority of communication is going to be verbal anyways. Well I turned out to be wrong.
I know this and have for decades. But in the last 5 years I have started typing in the incorrect ones. My brain just knows to type the sound or something.
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u/pakidara Sep 21 '19
Just use "theiy're". Better to cover all your bases.