Is anyone here really good with grammar? In my Honors Language Arts class, I'm not doing so hot with it. I have a hard time grasping the concept of just about everything. I was wondering if anyone else is really sucky with it (like me) or if you are excellant. I just got a 71% (with a curve) on a bit grammar/vocab test we had. It kinda sucks =P And my grade was a 49% in the class before I took it, so it will bring it up some, but not a whole lot. Then I'm doing an extra credit assignment which should bring it up a 1/2 grade and there is also an essay paper that we are working on that is worth 100 points that we are turning in today. So I'm guessing my grade will be around a C- at the end of the marking period (I hope!)

There is nothing like Latin to teach you proper grammar.

Unfortunately, few schools here teach it these days.

Gallia est omnes divisa in partes tres - or something like that.

My grammar is quite good, I reckon. Your posts are generally okay, Adras. Does it all go pear shaped when you're under pressure?

Well, I like to think that my grammar is rather good, as far as practice is concerned. But I don't know any theory. Anyway, in my opinion, practice is much more useful then theory while learning a foreign language.

Oh yeah. My grammar improved when I started writing in forums, but I still have problems using correct tenses.

Well, I pretty much use grammar okay, but what I mean is like setting a worksheet down in front of me with 20 sentences, then telling me to find the subject, predicate, predicate nomitave, directobject, indirect object and what kind of sentence it is (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex). Its rather a pain for me. And same here, typing on forums have improved my grammer and spelling. I tend to use capitals and few shortcuts (ex. You = u, I = i, later = l8r). When I talk to people on an instant messanger, I dont always use capitals, but I keep up the proper grammar. Anyways, if you think you might be able to help me, I would greatly appreciate it since my exams are coming up in about 3 weeks.

my gramer = good kthxbyelol

There is always a vast difference between using correct grammar, and knowing exactly what and why you are using it.
While the first part may seem the more important one to some, the latter is the key to actually understanding how language works (and thus a crucial requirement for learning new languages).
I can only stress what Theta said, to get a really good grasp of grammar, learn Latin or, if you like a special challenge, Ancient Greek (nothing beats the irregular verb forms in that language ... well, nothing I know about).
Generally speaking, learning grammar is very probably much harder for someone who knows only English because English makes nearly no differentiations between many grammatical phenomena and regulates most things via the heavily restricted word order (which makes it easier to learn and use than other languages, but is a strong disadvantage as far as grammatical clarity is concerned - I'd have absolutely no idea how to explain the difference between accusative and dativ object (i.e. direct and indirect object) to someone who knows no other language than English.

Peregrine, what you're referring to is eloquence and orthography, not grammar

"my gramer" - Bad spelling

"=" - comparisian (I never said I could spell perfect)

"good" - Bad grammar; should be well

"kthxbyelol" - Just plain silly on his part =)

He was right about the 'good' because that should be well (like I said). I do better with grammar in Spanish then I do in english. Such as (any spanish/mexican/spanish-speaking-in-general people correct me if I am wrong) 'bien' in spanish is well, bueno is good. There are times you use one or the other. (I might have those two mixed up, but you get the point). My main thing is that I can use proper grammar just fine, but I have a horrible time analyzing it. I cant find the freekin predicate but I have find the predicate nomitave, and you are supposed to find the pred. before the P.N. I do OK with prepisitions (once again bad spelling), and I also do OK with finding hrases, but thats about it. My life sucks... =P

Your grammar is well? Aww - has the poor thing been ill?

Perhaps if you want help you'd better give an example and see which of the forum experts can break it into its constituent parts. How are you on split infinitives and dangling participles?

One problem is that in spoken English (I suspect any language) we use abbreviated formats and ignore grammar. We don't need to speak in sentences and, because the thought process is taking place while we are speaking, what we say constantly changes direction and gets modified.

We use a similar, although slightly more formal, approach when 'talking' on msn etc. In consequence we very rarely need the rules of grammar. This makes it harder to understand them or apply them to written English.

As an English native speaker I found the concept of the subjunctive tense very difficult in other languages. (Knowing when to use it, I mean). The English subjunctive has vanished in all but about three circumstances. ('Britannia rule the waves' is the only one I can remember). English has more words than any other language and is highly flexible. Its rules are hard to learn by those who don't have it as a first language AND by those who do.

One common error is to forget that even in written English many words are omitted and assumed by the reader. It means that the 'sentences' are not formally correct but they are still used and that needs to be recognised. We have to be careful not to become grammatical pedants!

me got good grammer im tellin j00!

Dagoth vs. Fargoth's post deleted. Thread necromancy. Please don't post in threads more than 1 month old unless you have something relevant to add that will continue the discussion, thanks.

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