Legal Law

The most common grammar mistake made by highly intelligent people

The most common grammar mistake made by highly educated people

Even highly educated and high-profile personalities make this grammatical mistake frequently, especially in oral communications. In fact, very few people get it right.

What is this common mistake? See if you can find it in the following four appointments:

“… there is a possibility that we will change the way we do business in Washington.”

Senator John McCain (quoted in The New York Times)

“These goals can be achieved without us increasing troop levels.”

President Barrack Obama (in a Fox News interview)

“Thanks for the call. I appreciate you being with us.”

Sean Hannity (on his radio show)

“And in this case, spending a little more time on things became part of that.”

David Plouffe, former adviser to President Obama (quoted in the New York Times magazine)

Did you identify the error?

All four quotes incorrectly use participles instead of gerunds. This is what they should have said:

Senator McCain: “… there is a possibility of our Changing … “

President Obama: “… without our increasing troop levels. “

Sean Hannity: “I appreciate you be with us.

David Plouffe: “…me spending a little more time .. “

To understand why the grammar used by these high-profile people is wrong, remember what your seventh grade English teacher taught you about participles and gerunds.

TO present participle is a word that ends in ing that is formed from a verb and is used as an adjective. Examples: working woman, swimming coach.

TO gerund is a present participle used as a noun. Example: your favorite hobby is sleeping.

The four quotes above contain gerunds, not participles. One way to test a gerund is to see if you can substitute a noun for it and retain the meaning.

For example, in the quote from President Obama above, suppose we replaced the gerund “increased troop levels” with the equivalent noun “reinforcements.” That would make President Obama say “… without us backup,” which would certainly provoke laughter.

Of course, the proper expression is “… without our reinforcements.” And because a gerund works like a noun, President Obama should have said, “… without our increased troop levels.”

This is the rule:

Gerunds must be preceded by possessive pronouns (his service, my going, your having, etc.), not objective pronouns (him serving, we going, I having, etc.).

If you follow this rule, you will have better grammar than most (other) famous people.

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