<p>Has this ever happened to you:</p>
<p>So before I studied the SAT grammar I thought "Benny and Franny is friends" is perfectly well written grammar.. But after I learned the whole SAT grammar rules, I became so paranoid whenever I make a grammar mistake. Except now, I'm finding mistakes in teachers' tests, quizzes, and handouts!</p>
<p>Has this ever happened to you? SAT made you paranoid? xD</p>
<p>If you’re really that paranoid, you would know that it’s “teachers’ tests”, not “teacher’s tests”.</p>
<p>When you learn grammar, you should read some novels or something while paying particular attention to sentence structure so that the rules are solidified in your head and you gain fluency.</p>
<p>Many teachers have atrocious grammar. I would say most non-English teachers at my school do not know more than basic grammar. English and SS teachers do pretty well. My current English teacher knows his stuff (he teaches some SAT grammar as well as remedial summer classes for incoming freshmen, so that’s a good thing) but he doesn’t proofread anything he does… so his tests always have many mistakes.</p>
<p>OMG WOW. sorry! changing that grammar mistake right now.</p>
<p>And my HONORS world history teacher writes like she’s a gangster…</p>
<p>Read this, “Hammurabi, had his…” (don’t feel like typing the whole sentence. basically she added a bunch of commas everywhere for no reason</p>
<p>Haha :P. A bunch of my teachers have bad grammar and typos in their stuff, and I’ve learned to just ignore it as long as I can tell what they’re saying.</p>
<p>I never notice unless I try finding them lol.</p>
<p>I know right :D! I’m experiencing the same thing!!! </p>
<p>Everybody needs to bring their book to class next time … Grammar Fail.</p>
<p>*If I was you, I would not procrastinate … * Grammar Fail. </p>
<p>The use of “they” to refer to singular entities … Grammar Fail. </p>
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<p>Be careful about correcting your teachers.</p>
<p>My daughter, who is not known for her talent at spelling, pointed out to her 6th grade English teacher that the teacher had written “hier” instead of “heir” on the very first spelling list of the school year. She hated my D after that and I didn’t find out until my D had been so demoralized that she almost failed.</p>
<p>If you don’t already have a copy, I highly recommend that each of you obtain a copy of Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style,” along with a good grammar book, such as Harcourt-Brace-Jovanovich. Even if you have to find it in an old bookstore, the latter is an excellent guide. I have noticed in the past few years that teachers have begun using a comma after the last item in a series, before the word “and.” It makes me cringe… My favorite uncle, who was an English teacher, would never have stood for such a misuse of the comma.</p>
<p>My 8th grade science teacher was terrible. She doesn’t know science, and she doesn’t know English, even though she was born here. Every time she gave a worksheet, we could tell if it was from a book or if she made it - from the grammar and spelling!</p>
<p>@Joan52 - Actually, whether or not one chooses to use a serial comma (the comma before the final conjunction of a list) is a matter of style. It isn’t wrong to use one. Many newspapers have stopped using serial commas, but their reason for doing so was mainly to save space.</p>
<p>My history teacher is a ■■■■■■. All of her tests are so ambiguous. And she thought that the Yangtze river has the yellow silt…</p>
<p>^lol fail :)</p>
<p>I still can’t get over the fact that you didn’t learn the most basic subject-verb agreement until you started studying for the SAT.</p>
<p>I also find it quite ironic that you have a few grammatical errors in your original post.</p>
<p>“The use of ‘They’ to refer to singular entities” is not necessarily a “grammar fail.” It is actually a hotly debated topic. Some people find the use of “he” or “she” to be sexist. Some people find “he or she” to be too wordy. Some people find “(s)he” to be awkward. Although “they” is conventionally a plural pronoun, to these people, it is perfectly acceptable to use “they” to refer to a singular entity. It really depends on personal preference. A lot of people disagree on the proper pronoun to use in this situation.</p>
<p>OMG I’m sorry! It is pretty ironic… but I don’t really “follow” grammar rules when typing, ya know? Like when I’m in SAT testing mode, I am REALLY.</p>
<p>Pretty sure there are a lot of mistakes in my last few sentences. but whatever</p>
<p>@Joan 52. </p>
<p>The only people who seem to omit the comma before an ‘and’ in a series seem to be journalists. Almost every other American authorities say to use a comma before the ‘and’.</p>
<p>[The</a> Case of the Serial Comma–Solved!](<a href=“http://www.protrainco.com/essays/serial-comma.htm]The”>http://www.protrainco.com/essays/serial-comma.htm)</p>
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The series issue has been addressed by someone else, and they’re right - it’s about style. Notice the comma in that last sentence, too. You can have a comma before “and” if you are separating two independent clauses, like “The series issue has been . . . else” and “they’re right.”</p>
<p>In any remotely formal sense, you probably should not use “they” instead of “he or she,” but I can understand doing so in speech if you are really keen on avoiding wordiness and sexism (or if you just want to sound colloquial). But if a teacher makes a handout, then I see no excuse.</p>