Annoying Grammar Mistakes 2

Welcome to another edition of "Annoying Grammar Mistakes."

I'd like to start off by saying that I am fully aware that many grammar rules are pointless and, especially for non-native speakers, sometimes utterly stupid. When an ESL student comes into the Writing Center for tutoring and asks why a certain grammar rule is the way it is, the most common answer I give is, "that's just the way it is." I would really hate to have to learn English as a second language because, honestly, there are some really difficult things to learn.

For example, there are words that sound similar but have very different meanings:

1. Accept vs. Except

Dictionary.com defintions: Accept means "to take or receive" or "to agree or consent to." Except means "with the exclusion of" or "otherwise than."
*I accept your challenge. I accept your payment.
*Your paper is good except for the conclusion. I would like to go to England except I don't have enough money.


2. Expense vs. Expanse

Dictionary.com definitions: Expense is "a cost or charge." Expanse is "an uninterrupted space or area; a wide extent of anything."
*My monthly expenses are quite a burden. The expense of the hotel was too much for my budget.
*We crossed the great expanse of land to reach our destination.
*The explorers crossed the vast expanse of the ocean to reach America.

3. Affect vs. Effect

Affect usually is used as a verb and means "to influence" or "to change." Effect
is usually used as a noun and means "a result." (Taken from Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.)
*The rain affected my driving. The rain affected my plans to go to the river.
*The rain had no effect on my driving. The rain had no effect on my plans to go
to the river.

Then, there are words that are spelled completely different from how they sound.
Shouldn't "enough" be "enuf" or "through" be "thru"? I've actually put a lot of thought into this (sadly enough! or...enuf :). Shouldn't words be spelled the way they sound? And why so many different forms of (essentially) the same word? Such as:

*To, Too, Two
-To can have many meanings, but it commonly means "toward a point, person, place, or thing, implied or understood." I.e., "We went to the store."
-Too means "also." I.e., "Ross wanted to go to the store, too."
-Two is a number

*Your, You're
-Your is the possesive form of "you" ("We're going to your house.")
-You're means "you are."

*There, Their, They're
-There is a place ("We're there, now," "We went there," "He stopped there in the book.")
-Their is a possesive form of "they"; usually used as an adjective ("Their house," "We're going to their campsite.")
-They're means "they are"

*Capital, Capitol
-Capital refers to a city ("Austin is the capital of Texas" or "the barbeque capital of the world"), an uppercase letter, or wealth.
-A capitol is a building.

*Complement, Compliment
-Things that go together complement each other ("This sauce complements the steak.")
-A compliment is praise ("Lucy complimented Sarah's dress.")

In conclusion, it's really hard to learn the English language because of all of our silly rules. We have to remember how difficult it is to learn English and be more patient with non-native speakers...even for us grammar gurus who wince at any and all grammatical errors.

Last tidbit: Grammatical error on the front of A&M's Writing Center Newsletter: "The C's have arrived!"

Can you catch the error??? :D