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From the headline on better.dev it says "Hey I'm Chris Sev. Here's My Courses", shouldn't it be "Here are my courses"?
by archerx 5y ago
From the headline on better.dev it says "Hey I'm Chris Sev. Here's My Courses", shouldn't it be "Here are my courses"?
- DaltonCoffee 5y agoHorses
- nlarew 5y ago"here are my courses" is definitely more grammatically correct for written English but "here is my courses" sounds like something you'd say informally in conversation when you're not overthinking grammar. Maybe the goal is to sound more personable/folksy?
- hunter2_ 5y agoI'm guilty of the occasional are->'s contraction when speaking quickly, but I'd never just substitute are->is because that doesn't save a syllable.
- benmanns 5y ago's short for "is the list of"
- gtirloni 5y agoI'd love to read more about that. Is that a new idiom?
- emsixteen 5y agothere's a lot there are a lot
- hunter2_ 5y agoThere's no way "there's a lot" is a contraction of "there is a list of a lot" which is what you're implying based on the way this particular thread has evolved. Also, your example is ambiguous because "lot" is a singular noun (you wouldn't use "are" if the object is a parking lot, for example) but if you're truncating a longer phrase like "a lot of widgets" then "a lot" is modifying a plural noun (you'd definitely use "are" for that, or the informal apostrophe+s we're discussing).
- emsixteen 5y agoPlease tell me what else it's a contraction of. :)
- mcdonje 5y agoFrom a prescriptive grammar standpoint, you're correct. From a descriptive standpoint, I'm not sure how common that contraction is, but I've heard it before and offhand it seems like it gets used in some regions. Phonologically, it makes sense that it would gain traction as it's a means of avoiding the effort of the 'ere are' vowel combination. It's an addition rather than an elision, but the underlying motivation of saving effort is the same.
- jonny_eh 5y agoOne could even argue that "here's" is now an accepted conjugation of "here are".
- OJFord 5y agoEr, I'll happily take you up on that argument!
- efdee 5y agoThese kinds of arguments literally kill me.
- jonny_eh 5y ago
- DwnVoteHoneyPot 5y agoSince we're discussing grammer, when you say "literally", you mean figuratively?
- remedan 5y agoThey are using the phrase "literally kill me" as a hyperbole. It is a form of exaggeration. They are not in fact being killed, they are just annoyed. It is a rhetorical device used for emphasis. The word "literally" has been commonly used for hyperbole in English for hundreds of years. There is nothing grammatically wrong here.
- jorvi 5y agoIf it is the possessive article (‘my courses’) then you are correct. If it is a name for the product ‘My Courses’, then Chris is correct.
- reaperducer 5y agoFrom the headline on better.dev it says "Hey I'm Chris Sev. Here's My Courses", shouldn't it be "Here are my courses"? It's the difference between written English and spoken English. In conversation, it's not unusual for someone to use "here's" in this context. To be correct, especially for display in print or on a screen, the correct words are "here are." I think that people use "here's" instead of "here are" because "here are" can be difficult to say quickly in conversation, and can sound like "herere," which is indistinct and unpleasant-sounding. The internet has popularized the use of spoken English online because most English speakers speak English well enough, but fewer English speakers write English well.
- tetsusaiga 5y agoThe real answer is that its copywriting, which means grammar is nearly irrelevant. He starts with "Hey I'm Chris Sev" because it's a better headline, which is defined as something that is more likely to make people read the rest of the page. (Defined specifically because I see lots of complaints here that headlines should be descriptive of the actual content, which isn't really what matters, functionally. (I get the impulse though, really.))
- jacobmischka 5y agoShould also say "... person who can make cool stuff". Grammar isn't his strong point it seems.
- pdevr 5y agoInformal usage, as others have pointed out. Since it is informal, it can be read as "Hey I'm Chris Sev. Here's My [Collection/Set/List of] Courses", which is grammatically correct.
- devjam 5y agoYes, agree - if it were the "My Courses" page/section, it could definitely be read as such.
- AlchemistCamp 5y agoMy internal compiler rejects that syntax. It's not uncommon but reading a headline like that does tend to make me less confident that whatever is in the page is worthwhile. If he doesn't even proofread his headline, how sloppy will the rest of the site be?
- infogulch 5y agoI feel like I'd use "These are my courses" just to work around the awkwardness.