A blog reader corrected a couple of posts I wrote. Upon review, yep, I did make some grammatical mistakes. Tee hee. Thanks, Darce, for spotting the errors!
Remember when I said that I'm so grateful I hired staff who are better than me? Well, that's why OK! magazine is fabulous. My features editor Joanna Mendoza is such a grammarian! She's taught me and the rest of the staff a lot! Yesterday, over merienda, she whipped out a style guide for all of us to refer to (yes, while we were eating and gossiping!). For example, did you know that it's always an 's when you refer to a singular possessive even if the noun ends in s? So in my last post, when I said, "photo from Chuvaness' blog," that is incorrect! It should be "Chuvaness's blog."
There's a host of other rules that I won't bore you with. I will confess that I did get bored at yesterday's grammar session and just flippantly told Joanna, "Well, my rule is if I like how it sounds, then that's what's correct!" Oh, such a beeyatch I can be! It's a good thing Joanna and my staff have taken to treating me like a spoiled brat (meaning they ignore me when I throw tantrums like that)!
To be fair to me, I'm quite a fabulous editor. I'm a better editor than writer actually. That means when I look over other people's work, I can spot very quickly what's wrong and what's right. But when it comes to my own work... well, let's just say I don't like looking at it too much! That's why I love having Joanna, Elaine and Lana on the OK! team.
So, to my dear readers, if you spot an error--spelling, grammar, fact, usage--do alert me. Truth is, this is my blog and I usually just type away without thinking, unlike when it's for work where I really focus. Why? Well, aside from the fact that it's work, our editorial director Jo-Ann Maglipon once barked at us, "If you have more than three mistakes in your magazine, just go kill yourself!" Since I don't plan to take my life anytime soon or ever, I do take extra care with my work!
My husband edits me sometimes when he deigns to drop by this blog of shallowness. He's also forever correcting my pronunciation. I'm Bisaya so my spoken English and Tagalog can be, uh, weird. For the longest time, for example, I thought it was blah-tant (blatant), jew-dorant (deodorant) and picha (pizza). Oh, the humiliation! I'm so glad Vince is so patient with me. I'm much better now!
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yikes, we have the same rule!!! if it sounds good, it's right LOL
ReplyDeleteI learned from school that if it ends with s, it should be like how you do it, not double s's, hmmm.
i researched haha.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.english-zone.com/spelling/possessives.html
the one without the s after the apostrophe is an acceptable alternative! and if it would sound weird, not adding an s after the apostrophe is allowed
I love the Visayan accent! I think it sounds adorable! Except when it's Manny or Mommy Dionisia who's talking. Kill me, people, but I can't help but chuckle once they speak!
ReplyDelete"it's always an 's when you refer to a singular possessive even if the noun ends in s"
ReplyDeleteAlways? Not really. I think it's the Chicago Manual of Style that recommends the use of -'s, but other style manuals allow the use of only the apostrophe.
I think being Visayan actually helps in spoken English, you know, with the e/i and o/u. My husband is Cebuano and his English is great. His Tagalog though is a different story. Hahaha! Not quite tangent thought: MW.com helps me a lot with my pronunciation.
This is a very long comment na. First time here, I think.
And if, by chance, you drop by my blog, no need to edit the English. It's where I let my hair down after work, so to speak, and rarely correct errors. Hahahaha!
frances, this blog post is so entertaining! =) thank you for making me smile today.
ReplyDeleteOh, I didn't know you're Bisaya! I must've missed that in your old entries. I used to pronounce deodorant as jew-dorant too just because my parents do! LOL. But oh well, we learn as we go along.
ReplyDeleteOoh which style manual are you using? The rules kind of vary depending on the manual. (I'm a fan of CMS but it's a lot to take in.) The main rule I learned in my last job: Just be consistent!:)
ReplyDeleteRe: 's, the rule I've been following pretty much since I was a kid is that if a noun ends in s and it's two syllables or less, the singular possessive is 's (the exception, based on a manual I read before is "Jesus." How about that?). So it's Jonas's but Massachusetts'. Odd. I prefer reading fun books like "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" over reading style manuals though!
Re: 's, well, ya, depends on the style guide you follow and, ya, it's not ALWAYS 's because there are exceptions, like Jesus', Moses' and what Tisha pointed out!
ReplyDeleteEnglish is so hard!!!
As for the style guide that OK! follows, well, we reviewed AP and NYT and Strunk & White and we kinda just picked what rules we liked =P
As for Visayans not speaking English well, again please don't get offended, people! I'm not making fun of Visayans, ha, especially since I think it's cute. It's like when Latinas speak English--it's adorable. In my experience kasi, ganun ang mga Bisaya magsalita ng Ingles. Unless the Visayan in question is mayaman, then their English is fabulous.
Kaith, my family is from Leyte so we're Waray. But I was born and raised here so I can't speak it. I used to think I can understand Cebuano but hindi pala! Iba pala ang Cebuano sa Waray!
Like Tisha, I always thought that it depended on the number of syllables for words ending in s, but I was taught that for one syllable, it's *'s*, but for more two or more syllables, it's just an apostrophe.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
English is so hard, I agree! :) I still have a lot of guidebooks in my table to this day for reference {Strunk and White included} and I still have so much to learn! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't really follow strict rules with the 's, I am always without it but I agree the rules can get so varied, too.
And I didn't realize you're Bisaya! Cute! :)
Dea and Tee, ya, in school, I was also taught that 's is never used if the noun is singular so when I write here sa blog ko, I write without it. Pag sa magazine, I write with it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, here in this blog I use ain't, y'all, and double negatives. Pero sa magazine, mas strict.
I dunno. Should I be consistent everywhere? The reader who corrected me pointed out that I should be consistent because I'm an editor. Me, I'm like, "It's just a stupid blog!" =D
I've been taught that you have the option of just putting the apostrophe after a noun that ends with s. So I think both you and your friend are correct.
ReplyDeleteTwo words. Frances: Nobody's perfect.
ReplyDeleteStill, it doesn't hurt to keep trying to be. =)
hahaha jew-dorant, so cute!
ReplyDeleteI use y'all, ain't, gotta, wanna, hafta when it's informal writing (e.g., my blog). It reflects the way I talk. But I cannot imagine using those words in my magazine. Haha
ReplyDeleteOnly in the Philippines, huh? where english is THE measure of intelligence. that's sad =(.
ReplyDeleteOh, Ava, that's not true at all. I speak English very well but I'm not rich and powerful or influential. It's actually the Chinese who own this country so that makes them very very smart. And I won't comment on their English.
ReplyDeletethis is a funny post and i kinda relate to it. my boyfriend is also always and forever correcting my pronunciation harkhark! but in a nice way naman not just to make fun of me. on the other hand, he has trouble with spelling so ako naman ang taga correct nya :-)
ReplyDelete