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If you could change one grammar or punctuation rule, what would it be?

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XemaSab Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-02-05 05:21 PM
Original message
If you could change one grammar or punctuation rule, what would it be?
Personally, I'd make "their" legit in phrases such as "Someone has lost their handkerchief."

"His or her" is clunky.

You?
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yurbud Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-02-05 05:31 PM
Response to Original message
1. People who don't use that have lost their mind
I posted about that a couple of days ago.

Another one would be adding "then" as a conjunction:

"I ate a big dinner, then I fell asleep."

I teach English, and so many of my students use "then" like this, that it would be easier to change the rule than correct them.
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Robb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-02-05 05:32 PM
Response to Original message
2. Put punctuation anywhere the hell you want
...in relationship to quotation marks, that is.

"Which one of you is 'Ace'?" is so unwieldy. :eyes:
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tjwmason Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-02-05 06:51 PM
Response to Original message
3. I think that it would be better to have a new pronoun.
They does have a use - using it as a singular is only really a compromise to overcome a problem. A new singluar without gender-bias would be a good idea.
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Dave Reynolds Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-02-05 06:56 PM
Response to Original message
4. I would lose that silly rule
about words beginning with "h" having to be preceded with the word "an", like "she is an historian".

Drives me nuts, and no one says it that way.
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gollygee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-02-05 06:56 PM
Response to Original message
5. That was EXACTLY what I was thinking
I ignore that rule because "their" is IMO less awkward than his/her, etc.
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ashling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-02-05 07:34 PM
Response to Original message
6. You mean their is rules for this stuff?
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