June 9, 2005
Unwilling to use "will"
I think a colleague of mine has this thing against the word "will". I don't know what "will" did to her such that she never uses it when it's supposed to be used.
E.g. We would be organising a family outing on XX Month 2005.
She does this ALL the time, and I must admit, it's slightly grating on this editor's eyes. But of course, I'm not about to march up to her or send an email to correct her grammar.
But I just heard one of my colleagues (who's also an editor) express irritation at her constant incorrect usage of "would". I heard him say to another editor that he's going to tell her about it! Hmm...whether he's really going to do it or not I wouldn't know until the next email comes along! haha.
Posted by DSD at June 9, 2005 4:24 PM
I bet I know your editor colleague who is thinking of remonstrating! I would too. I hate this wrong use of "would", avoidance of "will". It's everywhere.
I agree. I had a few students in my writing classes who did that. Lots of circling. And nagging - Never use "would" unless you're describing a habitual action in the past, or a hypothetical situation.
LOL. At first, I thought you meant that your colleague has something against the idea of 'free will'.
Btw, I find it really annoying, too. A lot of my students at the coaching college I used to work at had a problem distinguishing 'will' from 'would'. There's a real value in learning the basics of grammar...but Australian schools aren't really interested in teaching them. They sort of assume that students learn this stuff by osmosis, as if they just passively absorb the rules of grammar. This works for some students, but not for everybody.
Barney: I think the whole editorial department is irritated but everyone's just keeping quiet about it! haha!
monoceros: Yeah, drum it into their heads!
Adrian: Indeed, i think there's value in learning the basics of grammar. You know, this could spark a big debate here...at least for the people who have commented in this post, seeing that we're all involved in education in some way or another. haha.
I think it was in the ST forum recently that schools in Singapore don't teach grammar anymore. They teach English via sentence patterns. I wish I could be the grammar advocate in Singapore. I also want to be the reading advocate! =)
It should be easier to teach grammar now. There're all these well written books that make grammar interesting and actually cool. I'm sure I've got a list of them somewhere.
yeah, i don't think they do so anymore, unlike our time. Yes, let's be the grammar and reading advocate!