May I just say that as a grammar nerd who is trying to stop hammering others... today I am fuming over how many otherwise educated folx (especially on news outlets) who cannot grasp that a group equals one single entity? So a group of x does not equal they. Ever. #grammar
@wolfwoman Can you explain this? I'm genuinely confused. If I was giving a donation to an organization, I would say "they" need it and I'm giving it to "them". On the other hand, I'm in the US and often see British people say things like, "[Company name] have..." It's confusing for me because I'm used to it being, "[Company name] has..."
@weirdfizz So... if we think about a non-profit org as a whole, to say "it needs" is right. But oddly enough I could hear "they need" and but feel disturbed because "they" are the collective group of "those who need"
@weirdfizz LOL! And I just contradicted myself! So don't mind me 🙃
@wolfwoman At least I know I'm not alone in being confused by these things! I was always very good at it in school, and I think that's because of my hyperlexia. Life has taught me "the English language" is misleading. It sometimes feels like there are multiple English languages that are all just very closely related.
@weirdfizz Many years ago, I was an instructional aide at an elementary school, and my job was teaching groups of ESL kids. The Spanish speakers often asked me questions about why English had so many exceptions and all I could tell them is because it's weird. LOL
@weirdfizz And now I'm revisiting learning Spanish via #Duolingo and am constantly frustrated by some rules that I think I've grasped, only to find they've been switched!🙃
@weirdfizz Hi Fizzy! I've been wrestling with how to answer this because tbh I was mediocre in English classes. I have an instinctive grasp of both grammar & spelling that I think I absorbed through my parents' singular devotion to education.
I've always used memory aids for things like stationery (er like paper).
Others are just how they sound. Mom taught me "the ear is the best editor" so I read stuff out loud. And sometimes things just sound wrong! 1/2