4 ms·

this would also seem to discriminate against people who aren't native english speakers (or w/e other language).

cturner 15y ago
It might discriminate in their favour. On average, foreign students I studied with had much better basic grammar than native English speakers.
cryptoz 15y ago
In my personal experience, non-native English speaks are far more well-versed in grammar than native speakers.
dchest 15y ago
I think native English speakers are more likely to make such mistakes. Non-native speakers usually know the difference between those words, because they have the ability to translate the words back into their native language to see the difference.
pygy_ 15y ago
Not necessarily especially if you've learned the language at school, analytically rather than organically. These words/phrases are wildly different in other languages, and thus well distinct in the mind of non-native folks. For example, in French: were -> étais; etions, etiez, étaient (2nd person, singular; 1st, 2nd and 3rd person, plural) we're -> nous sommes where -> où
cabalamat 15y ago
These people often have better written grammar, because they've had to take the trouble to learn it as a foreign language.
darklajid 15y ago
Reminds me of a common beginner's problem if you're starting with German: Who is 'Wer' in German Where is 'Wo' in German Trivial, but I see lots of people (and sometimes myself) falling for this trap.
- drv 15y ago
  It happens the other way around too (German to English), and sometimes you end up with non-words like "somewhen". It's an interesting exercise to determine a writer's native language by the oddities of their writing.
alecbenzer 15y ago
I was talking about people who just don't really know English very well (but well enough to communicate on some level)
nraynaud 15y ago
I've the feeling that when you're speaking in a foreign language, you are more careful than in your own language. Maybe it's language thing, but I make ton of typos in French (double consonants, en/an, or/hors), and I can correct native English speaking people on stuff like your/you're.
ZoFreX 15y ago
Exactly. I now live by the credos that someone making these mistakes may actually just not know better, or be struggling with a foreign language. So far (on HN at least) this assumption has held in many cases. It also makes me far less angry when reading the internet, regardless of whether the assumption is true that's hardly a bad thing.

It might discriminate in their favour. On average, foreign students I studied with had much better basic grammar than native English speakers.

cryptoz 15y ago

In my personal experience, non-native English speaks are far more well-versed in grammar than native speakers.

dchest 15y ago

I think native English speakers are more likely to make such mistakes. Non-native speakers usually know the difference between those words, because they have the ability to translate the words back into their native language to see the difference.

pygy_ 15y ago

Not necessarily especially if you've learned the language at school, analytically rather than organically. These words/phrases are wildly different in other languages, and thus well distinct in the mind of non-native folks. For example, in French: were -> étais; etions, etiez, étaient (2nd person, singular; 1st, 2nd and 3rd person, plural) we're -> nous sommes where -> où

cabalamat 15y ago

These people often have better written grammar, because they've had to take the trouble to learn it as a foreign language.

darklajid 15y ago

Reminds me of a common beginner's problem if you're starting with German: Who is 'Wer' in German Where is 'Wo' in German Trivial, but I see lots of people (and sometimes myself) falling for this trap.

drv 15y ago
It happens the other way around too (German to English), and sometimes you end up with non-words like "somewhen". It's an interesting exercise to determine a writer's native language by the oddities of their writing.

alecbenzer 15y ago

I was talking about people who just don't really know English very well (but well enough to communicate on some level)

nraynaud 15y ago

I've the feeling that when you're speaking in a foreign language, you are more careful than in your own language. Maybe it's language thing, but I make ton of typos in French (double consonants, en/an, or/hors), and I can correct native English speaking people on stuff like your/you're.

ZoFreX 15y ago

Exactly. I now live by the credos that someone making these mistakes may actually just not know better, or be struggling with a foreign language. So far (on HN at least) this assumption has held in many cases. It also makes me far less angry when reading the internet, regardless of whether the assumption is true that's hardly a bad thing.