I’ve been interested in the way people speak for years. I’ve done my fair share of correcting ridiculously horrendous speaking patterns and tried my best to stomp out those awful fad terms such as "gay" and "like." There are some speaking habits, however, that die hard. Next time you catch yourself using these follies, think of what your fourth-grade English teacher would say. 1. Borrow vs. lend – My ultimate grammatical pet peeve! There is a distinct difference between the two words and they should never be used interchangeably. You borrow a pen from someone. Someone lends you a pen. Never do you "borrow" someone a pen. I’ve heard this used by kids and adults, so no one is safe from the lecture. Shame! 2. Good vs. well – This one makes my ears bleed! However, I will give you lucky readers the five-second scoop on how to use these two words correctly. Anything done is done well. "Well" is used as an adverb, a word that describes verbs. "Good" is used as an adjective, a word that describes nouns. An example of each: Those cookies were good. She speaks very well. No one, under any circumstances, speaks "good." That is ironic in itself. Also, when someone asks how you are, the answer is "well," not "good." 3. Saw vs. seen – Technically, this isn’t a case of one word being correct and the other incorrect, but they are still used incorrectly. Both words are past tense. "Saw" is used right after the subject whereas "seen" is used as a past participle and connected with "has" or "have." Correct examples of the two: I saw that movie last week. I have seen that movie before. These little nuggets of information should be stored away for future reference. Try hard to correct these now instead of waiting until it is too late. Together we can make Annandale a more intelligent sounding community.
Morgan Quinn is working as an intern this summer at the Advocate.
