4 ms·

This was a fun read. Yet: > A guy who writes I could of been a contender can't spell, sure, he knows how to say grammatically that he could've been a contender

This was a fun read. Yet: > A guy who writes I could of been a contender can't spell, sure, he knows how to say grammatically that he could've been a contender (and who knows, perhaps in some realm other than writing he could've been). Is it just me, or is this sentence ungrammatical?

epochwolf 17y ago
It's ungrammatical.
jrockway 17y ago
Conversational grammar and written grammar are a little different; this sentence makes sense if you consider the author to be having a chat with you.
- RyanMcGreal 17y ago
  If he put a period after "...can't spell" I'd agree with you: >A guy who writes I could of been a contender can't spell. Sure, he knows how to say grammatically that he could've been a contender (and who knows, perhaps in some realm other than writing he could've been). Conversational and grammatical.
pvg 17y ago
It is. The error, though, is one of spelling.
briansmith 17y ago
I believe it is just a simple typo. He meant to have "but" before "he knows."
- RyanMcGreal 17y ago
  That makes more sense.
- electromagnetic 17y ago
  Agreed, it sounds like he mistakenly let the 'but' go silent because of a comma, however when the comma is part of a parenthesis (the 'sure') this rule doesn't apply. He could have resolved it with any of the following: can't spell, sure. He knows can't spell, sure; he knows can't spell, sure, but he knows It requires that extra pause that the parenthesis removed. How he wrote it should read more akin to this: can't spell (sure) he knows A parenthesis can, usually, be removed without an effect on the readability of the sentence, as the 'usually' in this sentence can. However, his can't because the two ends around the parenthesis aren't contiguous. I'd let this pass to a simple case of writing fast and being unable to catch the error on a proof read (if he did one). I've worked as a writer, and I can say honestly that it's surprisingly easy to miss errors when you know exactly what you mean and hence why all good authors have good editors between their manuscript and the book you buy.

epochwolf 17y ago

It's ungrammatical.

jrockway 17y ago

Conversational grammar and written grammar are a little different; this sentence makes sense if you consider the author to be having a chat with you.

RyanMcGreal 17y ago
If he put a period after "...can't spell" I'd agree with you: >A guy who writes I could of been a contender can't spell. Sure, he knows how to say grammatically that he could've been a contender (and who knows, perhaps in some realm other than writing he could've been). Conversational and grammatical.

pvg 17y ago

It is. The error, though, is one of spelling.

briansmith 17y ago

I believe it is just a simple typo. He meant to have "but" before "he knows."

RyanMcGreal 17y ago
That makes more sense.
electromagnetic 17y ago
Agreed, it sounds like he mistakenly let the 'but' go silent because of a comma, however when the comma is part of a parenthesis (the 'sure') this rule doesn't apply. He could have resolved it with any of the following: can't spell, sure. He knows can't spell, sure; he knows can't spell, sure, but he knows It requires that extra pause that the parenthesis removed. How he wrote it should read more akin to this: can't spell (sure) he knows A parenthesis can, usually, be removed without an effect on the readability of the sentence, as the 'usually' in this sentence can. However, his can't because the two ends around the parenthesis aren't contiguous. I'd let this pass to a simple case of writing fast and being unable to catch the error on a proof read (if he did one). I've worked as a writer, and I can say honestly that it's surprisingly easy to miss errors when you know exactly what you mean and hence why all good authors have good editors between their manuscript and the book you buy.