tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post6553977091111481484..comments2023-09-05T12:51:25.656-05:00Comments on edittorrent: That is an impertinence up with which I shall not putEdittorrenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-82103295097769561122009-11-01T14:19:01.382-06:002009-11-01T14:19:01.382-06:00Woops, a kitten just died.
(I pluralized with an...Woops, a kitten just died. <br /><br />(I pluralized with an apostrophe)Eva Galehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08834856467514439544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-31285461147635633472009-11-01T14:17:30.965-06:002009-11-01T14:17:30.965-06:00Way back when Ann Peach (RIP) was on the Romantic ...Way back when Ann Peach (RIP) was on the Romantic Times boards she gave a long lesson on prepostions and used two of the same examples-how she wouldn't answer her nephew's when they ended thier sentences with them (Aunt Ann, where you at?) and W. Churchill's famous line. <br /><br />And, another homeschooler here. I just told my 11 yo son the squirrel sentence and *Eureka* he totally got it. *g*Eva Galehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08834856467514439544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-59175847814163305302009-11-01T10:03:18.841-06:002009-11-01T10:03:18.841-06:00Oh hecksafus, does "The squirrel peed ____ th...Oh hecksafus, does "The squirrel peed ____ the tree" ever want to make me teach writing again! I'm imagining taking my most recalcitrant student and making him the tree, while I, a.k.a. Professor Squirrel, prepositionalize him. <br /><br />And it's probably just the absurdist in me, but "The squirrel peed of the tree" is my favorite construction of them all.JohnOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04761555703224981053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-42317455203847928702009-10-31T16:25:47.465-05:002009-10-31T16:25:47.465-05:00Alicia,
Thanks for this. I knew there was a reas...Alicia,<br /><br />Thanks for this. I knew there was a reason that I was ignoring my word processor's complaint about how I'd ended with a preposition. It's always a good feeling when I know more than the computer program. :) *thumbing my nose at it* "It's an adverb there, so nya!" LOL!<br /><br />Jami G.Jami Goldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00957122956518765455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-51589636303648751042009-10-31T15:25:05.232-05:002009-10-31T15:25:05.232-05:00"Where are you at?" is so inefficient. ..."Where are you at?" is so inefficient. In SC, it's "Where you at?" Of course, that's at least 5 syllables when pronounced correctly, and 6 syllables will earn bonus points. 8-)Dave Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00773380114295267509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-49654401554101572382009-10-31T11:52:24.874-05:002009-10-31T11:52:24.874-05:00Kathleen, yes, those take on the role of adverbs w...Kathleen, yes, those take on the role of adverbs when used in a compound predicate like "look up". And it's okay to end a sentence on an adverb, right? :) Life is good. It's like they're prepositions, but become adverbs. I think they're sort of like zombies. Hey, if verbs can be vampires, why not? (The Transitive Vampire.)<br />AliciaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-48152482449395852082009-10-31T11:28:09.573-05:002009-10-31T11:28:09.573-05:00Apparently, my comment didn't post :( Thanks a...Apparently, my comment didn't post :( Thanks again for this timely post. One of the things my MIL pointed out when editing one of my stories is that I tend to leave prepostitions dangling at the end and I'm not supposed to.<br /><br />Sometimes, I fixed them, but others, I left them. I didn't have this nice little post then to help guide me on what to fix. <br /><br /><br />I don't know about Oklahoma, but in Washington, it is perfectly normal to say, "Where are you at?" I hadn't thought of it as being bad grammar before. LOL<br /><br />I'll be re-reading this post offten, I'm sure!Leonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11786326364037397675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-83222588256187474522009-10-31T09:05:21.356-05:002009-10-31T09:05:21.356-05:00I am teaching the squirrel pee test to Danger Boy ...I am teaching the squirrel pee test to Danger Boy the instant he gets home from basketball practice. If ever there was a rule that child needs to learn, that's it right there.<br /><br />Speaking of Oklahomans' "Where are you at?" construction, Chicagoans have a regional compoundism, too. My friends used to tease me about this one when I live in Indy. "I'm going to the movies. You want to go with?" Outsiders hear that as elliptical. <br /><br />Kathleen, I think that you can diagram these as adverbs. Nothing wrong with the teaching method in your homeschool materials. Alicia is just providing another way to think about these little words.Edittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-86906312339292836612009-10-31T09:05:09.241-05:002009-10-31T09:05:09.241-05:00Thanks for this very informative post. I've b...Thanks for this very informative post. I've been wondering when I need to fix up my darned prepositional phrases versus when they're okay. I love the blog, by the way! Thanks so much for all the beginning/middle/advanced lessons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-47389749472682671932009-10-31T08:37:41.518-05:002009-10-31T08:37:41.518-05:00My mother taught me a handy-dandy rule for spottin...My mother taught me a handy-dandy rule for spotting prepositions when I was ten:<br /><br />The squirrel peed ________ the tree.<br /><br />The words that fill the blank (upon, around, over, up, behind, at) are prepositions. <br /><br />Although now I've noticed that it doesn't work for "of" - oh no! Another childhood truth, destroyed.Sylviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05925593802209715440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-70147404327659191462009-10-31T08:09:39.072-05:002009-10-31T08:09:39.072-05:00I found this very interesting, because the curricu...I found this very interesting, because the curriculum that I'm homeschooling my kids with (which is used nationwide my thousands of schools), teaches that those words, like up, down, by, etc. which are prepositions, can also be adverbs. And that's what it teaches that they are in those sentences. Look where? Look down! So down modifies look.<br /><br />But apparently this isn't the way that everyone explains/teaches this usage. Hmmmm... I wonder if I should teach my kids differently.Kathleen MacIverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16445884398825552734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-14157478190935809412009-10-31T00:50:33.333-05:002009-10-31T00:50:33.333-05:00I know-- there's a wonderfulness when this is ...I know-- there's a wonderfulness when this is violated in the right way!!!<br />AEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-87585923554589609732009-10-31T00:12:49.169-05:002009-10-31T00:12:49.169-05:00From my half-assed Google search, the general vibe...From my half-assed Google search, the general vibeliness of the posts I read indicates that this rule too is a hangover from the Latin. (It's like a red wine hangover, but your head hurts worse from the declension.)<br /><br />But you're right, it is a case where you have to have an ear for the English as she is more beautifuller, as otherwise you end up with the truly ganky "Where is he at?" (they say this in Oklahoma). <br /><br />Or, if you're A.A. Milne, you break the rule to come up with something truly sublime, as when Pooh says, "Would you be so kind as to tow me to a muddy place of which I know, of?"JohnOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04761555703224981053noreply@blogger.com