Spelling, again...

[MercFanUk]

I've never felt comfortable with saying 'one' for some reason, it just doesn't seem to flow well within a sentence to me.

I never realised it was more often used to replace 'you' however - but then in the context it's used, I suppose 'I' could also be used. Is it correct that it would imply 'I' or 'You' in that case? (As in saying 'You or I').

 

[MOCAŠ]

I think using 'one' in place of 'I' would be seen as an affectation in all but the privileged few, whereas using it in place of the indefinite 'you' makes it clear that one is not using the second person singular - which can be useful in some contexts. Must admit that I normally make do with the indefinite you, though, as it sounds more natural.

 

[Benzowner]

One of my gripes is the growing use of an instead of a. At school we were always told an, was used before a vowel, but increasingly it is being used inapropriately. Is it a hotel or an hotel?

 

[jdrrco]

One of my gripes is the growing use of an instead of a. At school we were always told an, was used before a vowel, but increasingly it is being used inapropriately. Is it a hotel or an hotel?

On this occasion "an" is officially correct. Hotel being a French word, the H is silent, therefore "an 'otel" is proper. However, that tends to sound affected, so most people pronounce the H and use "a".

 

[jdrrco]

Similarly, we would say that it would take us it would take us less than five hours to complete a task, or that we were driving at less than 70 miles per hour (honest, officer!), or that we live less than 10 miles from the nearest aardvark rejunvenation facility.

Personally, I wouldn't say that I live less than 10 miles from the nearest aardvark rejuvenation facility...

 

[Deleted member 37751]

You lot really do seem to get easily irked by things!

The "I'm not being funny, but" one I can understand, it's just the way the uses of certain words change over time. Obviously it still means 'ha ha' funny, but can also mean out of sorts, straying from the normal, etc..

Language evolves constantly, everyone just needs to relax a little

Would I be right in thinking a lot of people here get annoyed when people say 'I' instead of 'one'?

The 'I'm not being funny, but' line annoys me because there is a high probability that they are going to say something offensive, but they haven't got the courage of conviction to say what they mean.

 

[MercFanUk]

I suppose that can be true, but I would normally use that line when trying to point out a error in someone's method of doing something, but without wanting to upset them by being too blunt to quickly.

 

[Michael G]

Few things that bug me:
People who say 'James and me.' Instead of 'James and I.'
And 'I've got you A apple,' instead of 'I've got you AN apple.'

 

[MOCAŠ]

Few things that bug me:
People who say 'James and me.' Instead of 'James and I.'

And equally, people who say 'James and I.' instead of 'James and me.'

 

[Michael G]

And equally, people who say 'James and I.' instead of 'James and me.'

'James and I' is grammatically correct unlike 'James and me.'

 

[Charles Morgan]

Would I be right in thinking a lot of people here get annoyed when people say 'I' instead of 'one'?

Not in the slightest, as one was never a common usage among even the educated. Even HMQ used my Husband and I rather than one's husband and one.

 

[Charles Morgan]

'James and I' is grammatically correct unlike 'James and me.'

Depends upon the context. In all but the nominative and genitive (or possessive) James and me would be correct.

 

[MOCAŠ]

'James and I' is grammatically correct unlike 'James and me.'

As CM says, it's context dependent. Easy way to get it right is to remember that if you mean "we", it's "James and I", but if you mean "us", it's "James and me." Having said that, a lot of people tend to use "us" when they really ought to use "we".

 

[MOCAŠ]

On this occasion "an" is officially correct. Hotel being a French word, the H is silent, therefore "an 'otel" is proper.

I think this is something akin to an urban myth. "Hotel" is derived from the French "hôtel", but the word has long since been anglicized, with the 'h' being aspirated in acrolect (or standard pronunciation). Besides, the French don't pronounce it as "otel", as the "o" sound is modified by the circumflex, so I regard the recent vogue for dropping the "h" as specious.

On a general point, though, the use of "a" or "an" is determined not so much by whether the following word starts with a vowel, but whether it starts with a vowel sound.

 

[Noodle-Pulp]

Having said that, a lot of people tend to use "us" when they really ought to use "we".

Except in West Yorkshire where a lot of people use "us" when they mean "our"....

 

[MOCAŠ]

Except in West Yorkshire where a lot of people use "us" when they mean "our"....

Let's not confuse grammar with dialect...

 

[Noodle-Pulp]

ok, another one for the book: incomplete sentences...

Does anyone actually really know what this means, or what it is supposed to mean?

 

[markjay]

I was taught that you should remove the other person to see which should be used, e.g. the example below.

James and I went to school as opposed to James and me went to school:

... I went to school sound fine
while
... Me went to school does not

So James and I it is....

Just wondering if this is correct, or is it one of those 'I after E, except after C' rules which are helpful in a way though not really grammatically valid...?

 

[MOCAŠ]

Just wondering if this is correct...

Yes, I'd stick my neck out and say that's a reliable approach. There may be some obscure exceptions, but I can't think of one off the top of my head.

In the example you've given, 'James and I' is correct, and you can confirm this by substituting the pronoun "we" ("We went to school") rather than "us".

On the other hand, you would say "The teacher gave James and me a severe reprimand." Again, this can be tested by the fact that we would say "The teacher gave us a severe reprimand.", or "The teacher gave me a severe reprimand." if James wasn't involved.

Politeness also dictates that we refer to ourselves last is such constructions, so it would be "James and me/I" rather than "me/I and James", but this is more a convention than a rule.

 

[markjay]

One of my gripes is the growing use of an instead of a. At school we were always told an, was used before a vowel, but increasingly it is being used inapropriately. Is it a hotel or an hotel?

So would you say 'an HP computer' or 'a HP computer'?