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Name:
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jawjagal
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Subject:
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Buffoon
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Date:
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4/20/2006 12:38:16 PM
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Learn - (aka JimYouIdiot) -
You are correct with my error:
"Well, I guess my original example would be a good one:
I am a English teacher.
I am a teacher. What kind? English
"A" modifies teacher - not English.
Therefore,"a" would be correct...but doesn't it SOUND better to say AN ENGLISH teacher? ( I guess because AN is so close to ENGLISH and not teacher)"
I have been searching (and only went by the only rule I ever found until today) for the rule to prove my statement above. According to ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE, Introductory course, Holt, Austin, Texas, 2004, pg. 520, the book I was going by as well as WOE IS I, The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English, O'Conner, Patricia; Riverhead Books, New York, 1996, pgs. 205 - 206, the only rule I had to go by was :
"Use 'a' before words beginning with a consonant sound; use 'an' before words beginning with a vowel sound. Keep in mind that the sound, not the actual letter, that a word begins with tells you whether 'a' or 'an' should be used."
This makes my lesson correct. But......
Both books said NOTHING about an adjective before a noun. So by my 'midget mental capacity' you were correct. I tried, as a teacher, to avoid that scenario I presented above, because I just didn't think it was correct - as you see from my last statement - "doesn't sound correct." Well, it wasn't. I would use, instead, definite and indefinite articles to get around it
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It made me search. I am not above making mistakes. So, on line at : www.learn4good.com/languages/evrd_grammar/articles.htm
I saw this:
" If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between 'a' and 'an' depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the article:
* a broken egg
* an unusual problem
* a European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant 'y' sound)"
So, again you are correct on the 'a' and 'an', and now you even know WHY. And so do I.
And then you wrote,
"So getting one letter of one word wrong is worse than multiple errors? Not much logic in that statement; perhaps you need to examine your own stupidity before talking about others."
No, that's not the reason I pointed out your mistake. I pointed it out because I was offended by your choice of words, like idiot, stupidity when talking about a member of this board, when YOUR WERE NOT 100% CORRECT IN your post...and that's what I wanted to point out. See below:
" If I was going to make fun of another university, I would make sure that I didn't come across as a totally illiterate bufoon while doing so."
Excuse me....it's BUFFOON - not bufoon.
Get your spelling correct, first, buddy, and then YOU might come off seeming literate.
You, too, made a mistake, which we are all prone to do, or don't you agree?
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