My grammer is constantly corrected!

I live in a rural area where the local dialect is fairly uniform throughout the population. I'm rather annoyed, because I am constantly corrected for my grammer by a select few of my co-workers. (Many guilty of the same grammatical errors.) The errors include correct use of did/done, went/gone, and saw/seen. Here is one of the most recent corrections:

(What I said) "We used the vocabulary that we went over the other day."

(The Correction) "We used the vocabulary that we had gone over the other day."

Which one is correct??

I guess I just feel that I am not at fault all of the time....but maybe I am :/
And if EVERYONE talks the same way, what is the big deal??

I think the second sentence is better, and I'm sure it's correct.

Not a teacher.

There is NO reason to use the past perfect when the order of events is clear.
We went over it. Then we used it. We used what we went over the other day.

Their version is equally correct, but no MORE correct.Only if what had been discussed had been subsequently changed would the "had gone over" be the only correct choice.

I used what we had gone over the other day, before Bob changed it.


Would that also insist on "I had eaten breakfast before I came to work" instead of "I ate breakfast before I came to work"?


I can't imagine how rude someone must be to correct other people's grammar!

Barb_D said:

I can't imagine how rude someone must be to correct other people's grammar!

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Many people are very rude here then ;-) But I agree, it's very upleasant to hear such things in a talk.
PS: it is true especially regarding these people who are afraid of making mistakes. I remember my first chats in English. I could not utter a word when I weren't sure if it was right. If people had tried to correct me every time I was (had been?) wrong I would probably have quit learning, because of the stress and shame.

As a British English speaker, I'll just add that I can't see anything wrong with 'that we went over' either and agree that you can use both forms. When the sequence of events is clear and there's no reason to emphasise it, the simple past is fine.

In some regional dialects in the UK, you hear things like I done where standard English would use I did, which is a thornier issue as it'll be marked as an error in exams but is used by many native speakers. Then, if dialects all followed the forms of standard English, they, er, wouldn't be dialects.

It's useful for someone who speaks a dialect to be aware of usage that could be seen as wrong in other variants of the language because people are judgmental about language- GB Shaw's claim that it is "impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him" has more than a grain of truth. But then, it's also useful for speakers of standard English to be aware of regional variations. In this case, however, there's nothing at all to correct. ;-)

mmasny said:

But I agree, it's very upleasant to hear such things in a talk.

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Your punctuation's rubbish. :-D :lol: :-D

Tdol said:

it is "impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him"

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The nature of man revealed

Tdol said:

Your punctuation's rubbish. :-D :lol: :-D

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It actually felt bad the first second after I read it

Those kind of corrections leave no room for local lingo (I don't know the right word and I don't care that I don't know, but would be happy to hear another). Rules to guide "perfect" english are fine, they give us some line to come back to when lost. Local places love to stray from the rules, from the norm, and it helps give them a sense of local community.

As your co-workers want to put their nose in the air thinking their english is perfect, so be it. Handle it as you like. The example you give is not even local lingo, its just a relaxed way to speak that is more efficient.

You see, I have no idea about the terminology like Bar D (I wish I did). You can use her description, print it, and say "Here! A placemat for you to eat your diner on, my friends."

Many thanks to all of you...at least now I feel somewhat better

I live in the Southeastern US, and do not deny that we have our faults when it comes to 'murdering' the English language. I have certainly uttered my fair share of I done's and I seen's. I work very hard to monitor myself for such errors, due to my profession.

I guess it just rubs me the wrong way that those around me feel the need to correct me when their speech production often leaves LOTS to be desired.

I'm not an English major by any means, but I'd like to think I didn't graduate from college a complete idiot! :loling:

If I may quote Humpty Dumpty (Alice In Wonderland): "When I use a word, it means exactly what I want it to mean, nothing more, nothing less."

Unregistered said:

I live in a rural area where the local dialect is fairly uniform throughout the population. I'm rather annoyed, because I am constantly corrected for my grammer by a select few of my co-workers. (Many guilty of the same grammatical errors.) The errors include correct use of did/done, went/gone, and saw/seen. Here is one of the most recent corrections:

(What I said) "We used the vocabulary that we went over the other day."

(The Correction) "We used the vocabulary that we had gone over the other day."

Which one is correct??

I guess I just feel that I am not at fault all of the time....but maybe I am :/
And if EVERYONE talks the same way, what is the big deal??

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***NOT A TEACHER***

Good morning.

(1) You might try the silent treatment. When they correct your English, say nothing. After meeting your silence enough times, some of your co-workers will probably have enough brains to realize that they are making fools of themselves.

(2) Or you might fight fire with fire. Listen very carefully to their speech. When you notice a serious error, check at this website to make sure it IS an error. Then the next time one of those people make that error, you can correct him/her in front of the others. Chances are that they will stop correcting you. Human beings are good at dishing it out (criticizing others) but they go to pieces (collapse emotionally) when they are criticized.

(3) Don't become depressed, angry, or bitter. Consider it a golden opportunity to become a stronger, wiser, and more confident person.