By Spencer D Gear PhD
(image courtesy Pinterest)
Does this language grate on your sensitivities? Is there any sense that âsomething is wrongâ with this grammar in the following examples from everyday reading?
- âRadio shock jock Steve Price has revealed an intense rivalry between he and on-air rival John Laws almost ended in fisticuffsâ.
- âQueensland residents draws to the attention of the HouseâŠ.â
- â⊠heckler Mr S. has levelled a complaint against my pastor Campbell Markham and I through the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner here in Hobart âŠâ
(photo above courtesy Givelda State School)
Were you taught English grammar when you were at English-speaking primary and secondary schools? I was, when I attended Australian schools: Givelda State School, Qld, and Bundaberg State High School, Qld.
At the time I attended Givelda, it was a one-room school with about 6 classes in the room. Iâm grateful for my primary teachers who taught me the basics of English grammar.
Their names were Mr Eric Shaw and Mr William Robert David Spall. Mr Shaw was my first teacher.
However, that was back in the 1950s in the Queensland state school system.
The following are some examples of how English grammar is violated in general writings. I did not go searching for these grammatical errors but they were uncovered during my regular reading of everything from books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and even a government document.
For definitions and examples of correct English grammar, I will refer to grammar-monster.com[2], Grammar and Oxford Living Dictionaries: EnglishBook.com[3], Grammar A-Z,[4] unless otherwise indicated.
(image courtesy The Articulate CEO – Typepad)
Letâs get started with the types of grammatical errors that I have found in many types of writings in the last year or so.
A. Errors with use of prepositions
There are a couple uses of the preposition that are grammatical errors. The first is:
A.1 Objective case governs the preposition
The grammatical rule is: âThe object of a preposition is the noun or pronoun governed by a prepositionâŠ. The noun or pronoun governed by a preposition is always in the objective case. In English, this only affects pronouns (grammar-monster.com n.d. s.v. prepositions).[5]
What does âgovernedâ mean in this explanation? Another explanation is: âA preposition isn’t a preposition unless it goes with a related noun or pronoun, called the object of the prepositionâ (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. prepositions).[6]
So for nouns and pronouns to be governed by a preposition, the nouns and pronouns are related in some way to the preposition used. Here are some examples:
Prepositions are words or a set of words that indicate âlocation (in, near, beside, on top of) or some other relationship between a noun or pronoun and other parts of the sentence (about, after, besides, instead of, in accordance with)â.[7]
Grammar Monster explained:
A preposition is a word (usually a short word) that shows the relationship between two other nearby words. For example (prepositions highlighted):
· a boy from the ghetto
(Here, the preposition from tells us the relationship between ghetto and boy.)
· a bone for the dog
(Here, the preposition for tells us the relationship between dog and bone.)
The following are all examples of prepositions: in, on, at, around, above, near, underneath, alongside, of, and for.
Note: The word preposition means positioned before. A preposition will sit before a word (a noun or a pronoun) to show that word’s relationship to another nearby word.[8]âThe objective case is used for nouns and pronouns which function as objects of a sentence. What is an object? âAn object is a noun (or pronoun) that is governed by a verb or a prepositionâ (Grammar Monster 2018. s.v. What is an object? With examples).[9]
There are three types of object: a direct object, an indirect object, and an object of a prepositionâ (grammar-monster.com: What is the objective case (with examples)?â[10]
Direct object: âThe direct object of a verb is the thing being acted upon (i.e., the receiver of the action). You can find the direct object by finding the verb and asking “what?” or “whom?” For example:
- Please pass the butter.
(Q: pass what? A: the butter)
Indirect object: âThe indirect object is the recipient of the direct object. You can find the indirect object by finding the direct object (see above) and then asking who or what received it. In the examples below, the indirect objects are shaded, and the direct objects are in bold.
- Please pass Simon the butter.
(Q: pass what? A: the butter)
(Q: Who (or what) received the butter? A: Simon)Object of a preposition: âThe noun or pronoun after a preposition is known as the object of a preposition. In the examples below, the objects of prepositions are shaded, and prepositions are in bold.
- She lives near Brighton.
- She lives with him.
- You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans. (Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004).â[11]
In English, the objective case only affects changes in personal pronouns (e.g., I, he, she, we, they). For example, he becomes him, and they becomes them. âSome verbs have an object as well as a subject. The object is the person or thing affected by the verbâ (Oxford Living Dictionaries 2018. Subjects and objects).
Here is a list of subjective pronouns and objective pronouns:[12]
Subjective Pronoun | Objective Pronoun | Comment |
I | me | |
you | you | No change |
he | him | |
she | her | |
it | it | No change |
we | us | |
they | them | |
who | whom | More on who & whom |
whoever | whomever |
The following bold sections are violations of this rule:
1. I was reading the article, ‘Contend earnestly for the faith’, by Greg Koukl at bible.org when he stated, ‘Hereâs why those three elements of Judeâs admonition [Jude 1:3] are critical for you and I right now’ (Koukl 2013).
The object of the preposition âforâ is in the objective case, so it should read, âFor you and meâ.
What is the objective case? (see §2 below)
 Rewritten: ââŠare critical for you and me right now’
As an aside, the content of this article by Greg Koukl is excellent for those who want reasons to defend the Christian faith.
(Image courtesy Clker)
2. âRadio shock jock Steve Price has revealed an intense rivalry between he and on-air rival John Laws almost ended in fisticuffsâ.[13]
Rewritten: The correct grammar should be âbetween him and on-air rival John Lawsâ. It would be more courteous to put the other person first, âbetween on-air rival, John Laws, and himâ.
3. I made the same error myself when writing an email to my son on 2 August 2017. I wrote to a real estate agent: âWould it be possible for my son and I to see through the villa ⊠at noon tomorrow?â
Iâm ashamed of myself, a language policeman, for violating this fundamental.
 Rewritten: âfor my son and meâ.
4. âThis last two weeks have been quite a challenge for both my church and I. My regular heckler Mr S. has levelled a complaint against my pastor Campbell Markham and I through the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner here in Hobartâ (Cornerstone Church 2017).
The objective case after the preposition âagainstâ should read, âagainst my pastor Campbell Markham and meâ.
 Rewritten: âfor both my church and me ⊠against my pastor Campbell Markham and meâ.
There is a second prepositional error committed by many, especially in general conversation.
5. Australiaâs new Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, spoke at the Menzies Research Centre, Albury NSW (6 September 2018). He began: âThank you very much Sussan for the very warm welcome to Jenny and I, and to my senior colleagues here particularly my Deputy Leader here, Josh Frydenberg and I, the âScoJoâ teamâ (Morrison 2018).
Rewritten: âto Jenny and meâ and âto ⊠Josh Frydenberg and meâ.
A.2 Should a preposition be located at the end of a sentence?
Iâve heard and seen some school teachers almost have grammatical hysterics when a person or student ends a sentence with a presupposition. Do they have good reasons to object as grammar teachers?
In Latin grammar, the rule is that a preposition should always precede the prepositional object that it is linked with: it is never placed after it. According to a number of other authorities, it was the dramatist John Dryden in 1672 who was the first person to criticize a piece of English writing (by Ben Jonson) for placing a preposition at the end of a clause instead of before the noun or pronoun to which it was linked.
This prohibition was taken up by grammarians and teachers in the next two centuries and became very tenacious. English is not Latin, however, and contemporary authorities do not try to shoehorn it into the Latin model. Nevertheless, many people are still taught that ending a sentence or clause with a preposition should be avoided.[14]
A general rule in English grammar used to be that a sentence must not end with a preposition. One person went so far as to write: âDid You Know? The rule that a sentence cannot end with a preposition is regarded as one of the biggest grammar myths of all timeâ (Penlighten 2018).
image courtesy GrammarCheck.net)
However, Oxford Living Dictionaries (2018. s.v. preposition) disagree:
There is a traditional view, first set forth by the 17th-century poet and dramatist John Dryden, that it is incorrect to put a preposition at the end of a sentence, as in where do you come from? or she’s not a writer I’ve ever come across. The rule was formulated on the basis that, since in Latin a preposition cannot come after the word it governs or is linked with, the same should be true of English. The problem is that English is not like Latin in this respect, and in many cases (particularly in questions and with phrasal verbs) the attempt to move the preposition produces awkward, unnatural-sounding results. Winston Churchill famously objected to the rule, saying, âThis is the sort of English up with which I will not put.â In standard English the placing of a preposition at the end of a sentence is widely accepted, provided the use sounds natural and the meaning is clear.
So the preposition to conclude the sentence is widely accepted, provided the use sounds natural and the meaning is clearâ. That is a very subjective way to determine grammatical meaning, with which I do not agree. It is too influenced by personal opinion.
There are other grammatical sources that agree with the Oxford explanation:
At one time, schoolchildren were taught that a sentence should never end with a preposition. However, this is a rule from Latin grammar that was applied to English. While many aspects of Latin have made their way into the English language, this particular grammar rule is not suited for modern English usage.
There are times when trying to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition creates unnecessary and awkward phrasing. For example, Winston Churchill once allegedly exclaimed, “That is the sort of thing up with which I will not put!” to mock someone who criticized him for ending a sentence with a preposition. Since the purpose of writing is to clearly communicate your thoughts and ideas, itâs perfectly acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition if the alternative would create confusion or sound unnatural.
However, it may still be worth revising your sentences to avoid ending them with a preposition whenever possible if you wish to reduce the risk of controversy (Your Dictionary 1996-2018. Ending a Sentence with a Preposition).
That makes it a moot point to state that a sentence should not end with a preposition. The Collins Dictionary (2018. s.v. preposition) states:
The practice of ending a sentence with a preposition (Venice is a place I should like to go to) was formerly regarded as incorrect, but is now acceptable and is the preferred form in many contexts.
1. A Brisbane Times journalist wrote: âMisandry is hardly a word, never mind a thing men need defending fromâ (Holden 2018).
2. A friend sent me an email: âI know you’ve moved but I don’t know where toâ (email 11 December 2017).
Of both of these examples, it can be stated that âthe use sounds natural and the meaning is clearâ (Oxford Dictionaries), but that is determined by my subjective view.
Nevertheless, major dictionaries and books of grammar now accept sentences ending with a presupposition. âDespite what you may have been taught, itâs a myth that ending a sentence or clause with a preposition is an errorâ (The Free Dictionary 2003-2018. Dangling prepositions).[15]
(image courtesy canvas.bham.ac.uk)
B. Object of sentence must be in objective case.
What is the objective case in a sentence? It applies to nouns, pronouns and relative pronouns that are objects of a sentence. However, what are objects of a sentence? See § A.1 above.
1. âMr Nuttall was jailed for seven years in 2009 for receiving more than $500,000 in corrupt payments from two businessmen who he then helped to secure lucrative government contractsâ (AAP 2016).
Rule. Use this he/him method to decide whether who or whom is correct:
he = who
him = whomExamples:
Who/Whom wrote the letter?
He wrote the letter. Therefore, who is correct.
Who/Whom should I vote for?
Should I vote for him? Therefore, whom is correct (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. who vs. whom).
Rewritten: âwhom he then helpedâ.
2. âThere are also his parents, Ian and Joan, who he visited recently at their home in southern WAâ (Baum 2016).
âWhoâ functions as the object of the verb, âvisitedâ, and should be in the objective case.
 Rewritten: âwhom he visitedâ.
3. Dr Michael Chamberlain: â”The case represents a gross injustice but also freedom of forensic science, which eventually saw Lindy and I exonerated in 1988,”
Rewritten: âsaw Lindy and me exoneratedâ.
4. âMITCHELL Starc believes the spotless form of âGenius Joshââ Hazlewood will allow he and Pat Cummins to unleash their inner-beasts at the Gabba next weekâ (Craddock 2017). This grammatical error was contained in the articleâs heading and an editor did not pick it up â at the time I accessed the article at 7.00am.
âHeâ is the object of the future tense verb, âwill allowâ, so it should be in the objective case.
 Rewritten: âwill allow him and Pat Cummins to unleashâŠ.â
5. In a comment on a Christian forum, Drew wrote: âWhile you guys [in the USA] are in a wall building mood, perhaps you could build one in the northern border and do all we Canadians a favourâ.[16]
âWe Canadiansâ functions as the object of âdoâ and the pronoun should be in the objective case, âus Canadiansâ.
Rewritten: âand do all us Canadians a favourâ.
6. I received this email from a friend: âIf for any reason you can not attend on Thursday 23rd advise Tony or I when you will be availableâ.
Rewritten: âAdvise Tony or meâ.
C. Plural subjects need plural verb; singular subject needs singular verb
The fundamental grammatical rules on this topic are:
Basic Rule. A singular subject (she, Bill, car) takes a singular verb (is, goes, shines), whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb.
Example: The list of items is/are on the desk.
If you know that list is the subject, then you will choose is for the verb (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. subject-verb agreement).
Other rules for this topic will be pursued below.
1. In the Centrelink form, MOD S, Separation details, it has this question no. 22, âHas there been any other changes to your income and assets?â[17]
This is a special example: âIn sentences beginning with here or there, the true subject follows the verbâ (GrammarBook.com 2018a)
 Rewritten: Therefore, the sentence should read: âHave there been any other changesâŠ?â
2. â”The water loss and settlement has slowed dramatically so that is why we are now ready to begin construction, because what is called your ‘primary settlement’ has occurred,” he saidâ (Moore 2017).
Rule 4. As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. subject-verb agreement).
 Rewritten: âThe water loss and settlement have slowedâŠ.â
3. âGriffin is really bad [with mosquitoes], so is Murrumba Downs station bus stopsâ (Jervis 2017).
 Rewritten: âso are Murrumba Downsâ bus stopsâ.
4. âSince before chalk and slate was invented, debates around barbecues have probed teacher claims of ‘working on holidays’, a phenomenon hardly isolated to just one occupation (Laming 2017).
The irony is in the fact that Andrew Lamingâs article was about teachers, lesson plans from home, and the influence of unions on education. Laming is a federal MP for the seat of Bowman, based in Cleveland, Qld.
 Rewritten: âSince before chalk and slate were inventedâŠ.â
5. An Aussie mother wrote about sending her children to school: â24 whiteboard markers PER student. So if there is 20 students in ONE class, thatâs a total of 480 whiteboard markers. Are you serious!?â (news.com.au 2017).
âRule 6. In sentences beginning with here or there, the true subject follows the verbâ (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. subject-verb agreement).
 Rewritten: âSo if there are 20 students in ONE classâŠ.â
6. This is from a post on a Christian forum that was addressed to me: âOz, what’s your thoughts about the ‘Reason for God” by Timothy Keller?â[18]
 Rewritten: âWhat are your thoughtsâŠ.â
7. Cricket commentator, Ian Chappell, wrote of the panel that chose the cricketers for the 2017 cricket tour of India: âEven though the panel have only chosen three fast bowlers, they have given themselves the option of adding to that number after the first two Testsâ (Chappell 2017).
The grammatical rule is: âAnyone who uses a plural verb with a collective noun must take care to be accurateâand also consistent.
The staff is deciding how they want to vote.
Careful speakers and writers would avoid assigning the singular is and the plural they to staff in the same sentence.
Consistent: The staff are deciding how they want to vote (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. subject-verb agreement).
My understanding: âEven though the panel [members] have only chosen three fast bowlers, they have given themselves the option of adding to that numberâŠ.â
8. Professor N T Wright, New Testament scholar, wrote: âReligious pluralism and syncretism was the order of the day right across the ancient world, with the notable exception of Judaism (and even that was contested in various ways)â (Wright 2017).
 Rewritten: âReligious pluralism and syncretism were the order of the dayâŠ.â
(courtesy Dreamstime.com)
9. As of 2009: âQueensland Baptists has decided that women will not be accepted as candidates for ordination’.[19]
 Rewritten: âQueensland Baptists have decidedâŠ.â
10. âNew car paint protection, rust proofing and fabric protection is often offered after you have signed the contractâ (NRMA Policy Team 2009).
 Rewritten: âNew car paint protection, rust proofing and fabric protection are often offered afterâŠ.â
11. âThe member for Buderim admitted he had “yelled a few things across the floor” since entering state politics in 2009, but said fighting and squabbling was not called forâ (Caldwell 2017).
 Rewritten: âbut said fighting and squabbling were not called forâ.
12. On a Christian forum a person wrote, âThe doctrines that Christianity has stood on since the resurrection of Christ, still stands.[20]
 Rewritten: âThe doctrines that Christianity have stood on since the resurrection of Christ, still standâ.
13. In a Brisbane Times article on speed cameras, it stated, âThe council’s $5 million portable speed warning signs programs was introduced and is designed to register a driver’s speed and issue them with a visual warning to slow down if they are exceeding the limit. November, 2013â (McCosker 2017).
The errors in this statement include: (a) Failure to use an apostrophe with the possessive case, âsignsâ and, (b) failure to follow subject and verb agreement.
The apostrophe rule is: The rule is: âDo not use an apostrophe + s to make a regular noun pluralâ (Grammar Monster 2018).[21] So âwarning signs programsâ should be âwarning signsâ programsâ.
 Rewritten: âThe council’s $5 million portable speed warning signsâ programs[22] were introduced and are designed to register a driver’s speed and issue the person with a visual warning to slow down if ⊠exceeding the limitâ.
14. In a Brisbane Times article dealing with university students denying the Holocaust, Dr Melanie OâBrien, an expert in genocide studies at the University of Qld school of law stated, âIt’s not very well written and the grammar and the punctuation is not greatâ (Clun 2017a).
For someone to complain about grammar and then use incorrect grammar herself is a contradiction.
 Rewritten: âIt’s not very well written and the grammar and the punctuation are not greatâ.
15. The article, âWomanâs leg degloved[23] in Whitsundays yacht accidentâ, Brisbane Times, stated, âThe company were working with water policeâ (Mitchell-Whittington 2017).
 Rewritten: â⊠in Whitsundaysâ yacht accidentâŠ. The company was working with water policeâ.
16. In the Brisbane Times story, âOther states dump 1 million tonnes of rubbish in Queenslandâ, there was this statement: âMs Meldrum-Hanna said because of the lack of monitoring hazardous liquids, asbestos and tonnes of building and construction waste was being dumped in Ipswichâ (Clun 2017b).
 Rewritten: âbecause of the lack of monitoring hazardous liquids, asbestos and tonnes of building and construction waste were being dumped in Ipswich
17. âThe Australian media and political landscape is now awash with goons seeking to exploit the sort of far-right tone the Donald Trump presidency has helped legitimise across the WestâŠ.â (OâMalley 2017).
 Rewritten: âThe Australian media and political landscape are now awash with goonsâŠâ[24]
18. The Courier-Mail reported on Malcolm Turnbullâs response to the energy crisis with this explanation by a journalist, âThe reports and correspondence to Government has raised serious concerns about prices and stabilityâ (Viellaris 2017).
 Rewritten: âThe reports and correspondence to government have raised serious concernsâŠ.â
19. Review of 2017 Kia Sportage Si, CarAdvice: âWarranty and capped-price servicing is compellingâŠ. Outside of the luxury European brands, thereâs more options in the medium SUV segment than you can poke a proverbial atâ.[25]
Rule 2. Two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor require a singular verbâŠ..
Rule 4. As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. subject-verb agreement).
The rule for âthereâ and âhereâ starting a sentence is at C 5.
 Rewritten: âWarranty and capped-price servicing are compellingâŠ. There are more optionsâŠ.â
(image courtesy Unique Teaching Resource)
20. âIn these challenging times, the next generation of leaders are absolutely vital to the health and posterity of our nationâ (Shelton 2017).
The grammatical rule is:
Rule 1. A subject will come before a phrase beginning with of. This is a key rule for understanding subjects. The word of is the culprit in many, perhaps most, subject-verb mistakes.
Hasty writers, speakers, readers, and listeners might miss the all-too-common mistake in the following sentence:Incorrect: A bouquet of yellow roses lend color and fragrance to the room.
Correct: A bouquet of yellow roses lends . . . (bouquet lends, not roses lend) [GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. subject-verb agreement).
Rewritten: âthe next generation of leaders is absolutely vital âŠâ
21. âKey changes to the Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Act 2003 include ⊠ensuring adequate emergency access and planning is in placeâ (Caxton legal centre inc 2017).
 Rewritten: âKey changes ⊠include ⊠ensuring adequate emergency access and planning are in placeâ.
22. âHereâs all the teams for the semi-finalsâ (World Cup [Rugby League] Semi-Finals, 2017).
The subject of the sentence is after the verb and is âallâ, a plural pronoun, so requires a plural verb.
 Rewritten: âHere are all the teams âŠâ
23. âand only one of those three are still thereâ (Wright & Ellinghausen 2017).
âOnly oneâ is singular so requires a singular verb.
 Rewritten: âand only one of those three is still thereâ.
24. Barnaby Joyce stated, â”Obviously Twitter and social media has spent a lot of time just being completely defamatoryâ (Wroe 2017).
 Rewritten: âTwitter and social media have spent a lot of timeâŠ.â
25. âIâve heard Christians says that we shouldnât concern ourselves with what goes on in wider societyâ (Balogh 2017).
Rewritten: âIâve heard Christians sayâŠ.â
26. âBurpengary Doctors provides a professional after hours serviceâ (Burpengary Doctors 2017).
Here, however, âBurpengary Doctorsâ is the name of a business â a collective noun that is singular. There is a punctuation issue with the statement of âafter hours serviceâ in relation to the three words, âafter hours serviceâ. One of Monash Universityâs statements about the use of apostrophes is:
Plural nouns that end with s have an apostrophe added after the s.
the studentsâ work
the lecturersâ seminars (Monash University 2018).
Therefore, âafter hours serviceâ should be âafter hoursâ serviceâ.
However, USA grammar sometimes supports different punctuation for words ending in s (GrammarBook.com 2018).
 Rewritten: âBurpengary Doctors [as a business] provides a professional after hoursâ serviceâ.
(courtesy tekhnologic – WordPress.com)
27. âAnd itâs the 1,040 people (one percent) who were killed without their knowledge or consent and the 749 who never wanted to die early that should get us up in armsâ (Nertelt 2012).
âWere killedâ is a past tense verb, so âitâsâ needs to be the past tense, âit wasâ. Then it would read, âIt was the 1,040 peopleâŠ.â This is incorrect as âitâ is a neuter, singular pronoun that refers to things. Here it refers to â1,040 peopleâ, so the construction has to be remove it and use a modifier that is suitable for people.
The complement of the sentence refers to the number of the subject, so the correct construction is, âThere wereâ.
 Rewritten: âAnd there were the 1,040 people (one percent) who were killed without their knowledge or consentâŠ.â
28. cricket.com.au reported on the fifth Ashes cricket test, beginning 4 January 2018, âThe coin toss and play has been delayed due to showers in Sydney ahead of the fifth Magellan Ashes Test at the SCGâ (LIVE: Fifth Ashes Test, day one 2017-2018).[26]
 Rewritten: âThe coin toss and play have been delayedâŠ.â
29. In a lesson on grammar, the author wrote, âThen thereâs omissionsâ (Texas A&M University 2018).
 Rewritten: âThen there were omissionsâ.
30. âThe Coalition Government is listening and understand that electricity prices, unemployment and our national security are pressing on peoplesâ mindsâ (Luke Howarth MP for Petrie).[27]
 Rewritten: âThe Coalition Government is listening and understand that electricity prices, unemployment and our national security is pressing on peoplesâ mindsâ
31. âNot enough state school parents understand what religion instruction involves, secular advocates believes, with more parents pushing for transparency at their children’s schoolsâ (Remeikis 2016).
 Rewritten: âsecular advocates believeâŠâ
32 Reba wrote, âThe birth, death and Resurrection of Christ was not by chance.â[28]
 Rewritten: âThe birth, death and resurrection of Christ were not by chance.â
33. âCricket Australia are still determining whether Junction Oval would be available to host the Sheffield Shield finalâŠ. Cricket Australia is in discussions with Cricket Victoria regarding the Sheffield Shield finalâ (Cherny 2018).
The law of non-contradiction has been violated here. This states: âThe law of non-contradiction can be expressed simply as such: A cannot be both B and non-B at the same time and in the same senseâ (Josh 2008).
In the statement from Cricket Australia (CA), in the law of non-contradiction,
A = discussions where to conduct the Sheffield Shield final in Victoria.
B = âCricket Australia areâ;
Non-B = âCricket Australia isâ.
There is a contradiction with CA using âareâ one time and âisâ another. To avoid this contradiction, this should be the way it is âŠ
 Rewritten: âCricket Australia [as an organisation] is still determiningâŠ. Cricket Australia is in discussionsâŠ.â
34. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, âIf there is any particular details that people want investigated further we can have a look at those particular mattersâ (Kohlbacher 2018).
This deals with the subject of a clause where âthereâ is placed before the verb, but the subject, âdetails (plural)â follows the verb. So, it is âŠ
Rewritten: âIf there are any particular detailsâŠ.â
 (image courtesy Elon University, Elon NC, USA)
35. espncricinfo reported on the second cricket test between South Africa and Australia, 10 March 2018: âDay 2: South Africa lead by 20 runs with 3 wickets remaining in the inningsâ.[29]
âSouth Africaâ is regarded as a single team so takes a singular verb âleadsâ.
Rewritten: âSouth Africa leads by 20 runs âŠâ[
36. âRababa was again in the thick of the action on the fourth morning at St George’s Park, cutting short Australia’s resistance to collect match figures of 11-150 as Australia were bowled out for 239 in their second inningsâ (Barrett 2018a).
For âmatching verbs to collective nounsâ, see D. 9 below for the rule. Also see Oxford Dictionaries online (2018. s.v. matching verbs to collective nouns) for a further explanation. [30]
Another grammatical issue in this sentence from Barrett (2018a) is his use of the possessive pronoun âtheirâ. When Australia is regarded as a singular team, a singular possessive, neuter pronoun, âitâ, should be used.
The grammatical rule is explained in D. 11 in relation to my interaction with the New International Version (NIV) Bible translation committee.
 Rewritten: Australia was bowled out for 239 in its second inningsâ.
37. A Christian pastor sent me this email on 5 March 2018: âThere was only 13 there plus 3 childrenâ.
 Rewritten: âThere were only 13 there plus 3 childrenâ.
38. There was an incident of vandalism at the Strathpine Qld office of Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton MP. The news report stated that âthree people were inside the office at the time but none were injuredâ (Schwarten 2018).
âNoneâ means ânot oneâ, so is singular subject.
 Rewritten: âbut none was injuredâ.
‘But none of them were healed; the only one was Naaman‘ (Luke 4:27 ERV).
Rewritten: ‘But none of them was healed; the only one was Naaman’.
39. âBut itâs not as if thereâs many black players clamoring for selectionâ (Fourie 2012).
 Rewritten: âas if there are many black players clamouring for selectionâ.
40. Atheistic writer, David Fitzgerald, stated: âThe first gospel of Christianity appears to have been a literary allegory that were written decades after the time they portrayâ (in Gray 2015).
The direct object of âhave beenâ is the singular, âa literary allegoryâ. Therefore the following relative clause, beginning with âthatâ, should use a singular verb referrent, âwas writtenâ
 Rewritten: âThe first gospel ⊠appears to have been a literary allegory that was written decades after the time it portraysâ.
41. âThe length of the suspensions mean that the next major event that Warner and Smith could play in for Australia is the World Cup, followed by the Ashes, in England next yearâ (Barrett 2018b).
 Rewritten: âThe length (singular) of the suspensions means thatâŠ.â
42, In this online petition to the Queensland Parliament, it was stated:
âQueensland residents draws to the attention of the House that despite the Mackay-Whitsunday region’s proud record of hosting NRL games, and international fixtures, our region has been snubbed when it comes to staging NRL games in Mackay in recent yearsâ.
Plural subjects require a plural verb in agreement.
 Rewritten: âQueensland residents draw to the attention of the HouseâŠ.â
43. In the bible.org newsletter received by email from [email protected] on 31 March 2018, it stated:
It is God’s resurrection power that brings those dead in their sins to life in Christ (Ephesians 2:5; Romans 11:15). Knowing this give us confidence to proclaim Christ, certain that He is powerful to save (Reasons for Celebrating the Resurrection).
 Rewritten: âIt is Godâs resurrection power (singular) that brings those dead in sins to life in ChristâŠ. Knowing this gives us confidence to proclaim ChristâŠ.â
44. I received this email from my private medical insurance provider, Bupa, on Tuesday, 3 April 2018: âYour health and wellbeing is our priorityâ.[31]
 Rewritten: âYour health and wellbeing are our priorityâ.
45. âAkos Balogh from TGCA [The Gospel Coalition of Australia] recently spoke with Michael Kellahan, the Executive Director of the Christian Legal Think-Tank Freedom for Faith, about religious freedom here in Australiaâ. Concerning religious freedom, Kellahan stated: âSome of them say thereâs no challenges to religious freedom at allâ (Balogh 2018b).
This suffers from the âthereâ grammar rule as it relates to the subject and the tense of the verb. The subject of this clause, â[that] thereâs no challengesâ, is the plural, âchallengesâ. So it needs to be âŠ
 Rewritten: âthere are no challengesâ.
46. This was stated in On Line Opinion, Copyright and editorial matters, âWe also may edit the Contribution as we sees fitâŠ.â[32]
âWeâ is plural so needs to be in agreement with a plural verb.
 Rewritten: âWe also may edit the Contribution as we see fitâ.
47. In a comment about the article, âFolau, ball tampering, protection for religious belief â On Line Opinion, Comments, 12 April 2018, A J Phillips wrote, â,,,when itâs your side of politics that are making all the offensive and ignorant remarksâ.[33]
 Rewritten: âWhen itâs your side (singular) of politics that is (singular) making all the offensive and ignorant remarksâ.
48. â”It’s just a fact of life,” Professor Halsey told Fairfax Media. “Housing and conditions in some locations – and in some more than others – is a major issueââ (Koziol 2018).
 Rewritten: âHousing and conditions in some locations ⊠are major issuesâ.
(image courtesy abcteach)
49. The National Geographic published an article on a campaign to eliminate hell by evangelical scholars. The sub-heading was: âA new generation of evangelical scholars are challenging the idea that sinners are doomed to eternal tormentâbut traditionalists are pushing back (Strauss 2016).
 Rewritten: ââA new generation (singular) of evangelical scholars is (singular verb) challenging the idea that sinners are doomed to eternal tormentâ.
50. âAnyone who knows of the familyâs whereabouts were urged to contact policeâ (Mitchell-Whittington 2018).
 Rewritten: âAnyone (singular) who knows of the familyâs whereabouts was urged (singular verb) to contact policeâ.
51. This is an example of a violation of grammar in an online tutorial on âexamples of the objective caseâ. It stated: âThe objective case are the nouns or pronouns that function as an object in a sentenceâ (Socratic English Grammar 2017).
 Rewritten: âThe objective case (singular) includes (singular verb) the nouns or pronouns that function as an object in a sentenceâ. I considered that âincludesâ was a more appropriate singular verb than âisâ to make sense of the sentence.
52. On a Christian forum, one of the moderators stated: âThere’s no reason for anyone to troll a Christian forum demanding Christians engage in proving their faith when there’s so many good books to exploreâ.[34]
 Rewritten: â… there are so many good books to exploreâ.
53. âThe councilâs waste and resource recovery services manager, Arron Lee, said escalating landfill levies and glass was impacting Australiaâs recycling industryâ (McCosker 2018).
 Rewritten: â⊠escalating landfill levies and glass were impacting Australiaâs recycling industryâ.
54. âDebate and division is not conducive to our visionâ.[35]
 Rewritten: âDebate and division are not conducive to our visionâ.
55 This is from a Queensland Government document: âFor many people, care at the end of life and palliative care is provided in their homeâ.[36]
 Rewritten: For many people, care at the end of life and palliative care is provided in their homeâ.
56. This is from the Liberal Democrat Partyâs website on values: âThe Liberal Democrats believe government have neither the expertise, nor the rights to tell people how to run their livesâ (Liberal Democrats n.d.).
 Rewritten: âThe Liberal Democrats (as a singular political party) believe government has neither the expertise, nor the rightsâ.
57. âAustralia are sweating on yet another injury scare that could affect their Test XI, with Shaun Marsh sent for scans after hurting his shoulder in the UKâ (AAP 2018a).
 Rewritten: âAustralia (singular cricket team) are sweating on yet another injury scare that could affect its Test XIâ,
58. âAgain the National Party have tried stealing another One Nation policyâ (National Party Steals Another One Nation Policy â Coal Fired Power Stations, 6 July 2018).[37]
 Rewritten: âAgain the National Party has tried stealing another One Nation policyâ
59. âThis is the cessation of the electrical impulse that drives (singular) the heartbeatâ (Perry 2017).
 Rewritten: âThis is the cessation (singular) of the electrical impulse that drive the heartbeatâ
60. âAn embarrassing leak of internal records show Labor candidate Susan Lamb had been planning for an election Âcampaign in April, before the High Courtâs decision in Mayâ (Hadley/Dutton 2018).
 Rewritten: âAn embarrassing leak (singular) of internal records shows (singular) Labor candidate Susan Lamb had been planningâŠ.â
61. âNinety-eight per cent of NSW and around two-thirds of Queensland is in drought or drought-affected, with pastures turned to rubble and the cost of freight and feed skyrocketingâ (ABC regional reporters 2018).
 Rewritten: âNinety-eight per cent of NSW and around two-thirds of Queensland are in drought or drought-affectedâŠ.â
62. In The Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, researchers wrote: âMore education and debate is needed to disentangle in these situations which acts should be regarded as euthanasia and which should notâ (Rietjens et al 2009).
 Rewritten: âMore education and debate are needed to disentangle in these situations which acts should be regarded as euthanasia and which should notâ.
63. In an emailer from Family Voice Australia (16 August 2018) it stated: âYour support and action is vital to assisting political leaders understand the wisdom needed for such important mattersâ (Newington 2018).
 Rewritten: âYour support and action are vitalâŠ.â
64. âDutton’s office have denied the arrangement would put him in breach of section 44, citing legal adviceâ (Koziol 2018a).
 Rewritten: âDuttonâs office(singular) has (singular) deniedâŠ.â
65. In an e-Petition to the Queensland Government, it began with: âQueensland citizens draws to the attention of the House that section 234 of the Local Government Regulation 2012 provides that a local government may enter into a contract for goods and services without first inviting written quotes or tenders if the contract is entered into under an LGA arrangementâ (Queensland Parliament 2018a).
 Rewritten: â: âQueensland citizens (singular) draw (singular) to the attention of the HouseâŠ.â
66. âThis is the few threads that I read entirelyâ.[38]
 Rewritten: âThese are the few threads that I read entirelyâ.
67. I received this emailer on 5 September 2018 with the heading, âGas prices must fall if Australian manufacturing, industry and business is to surviveâ (News Weekly [email protected] ).
 Rewritten: âGas prices must fall if Australian manufacturing, industry and business are to surviveâ.
68. In an e-petition to the Queensland Parliament, it was stated: âQueensland citizens draws to the attention of the House the absence of legislation allowing for hunting of feral game in Queensland’s State Forestsâ.[39]
 Rewritten: âQueensland citizens draw to the attention of the HouseâŠ.â
69. This is from an e-Petition sent by email from the Queensland Government: âQueensland residents draws to the attention of the House the evidence that the compulsory wearing of bicycle helmets can and have saved livesâ.[40]
 Rewritten: âQueensland residents draw to the attention of the House the evidence that the compulsory wearing (singular) of bicycle helmets can save (singular) and have saved (singular) livesâ
70. Aaron Finch, Australiaâs T20 cricket captain stated after India won the game: âI think there’s still a fair bit of work to do but there’s positive signsâ.[41]
 Rewritten: âbut there are positive signsâ.
71. In speaking about a school âJesus banâ, a Fairfax electorate MP was reported: âMr O’Brien, a practising Christian, said the crackdown was the actions of a “totalitarian, communist government“âŠ.â (Sawyer 2017).
 Rewritten: âthe crackdown was the action of a “totalitarian, communist government“âŠ.â
72. This was a heading in the article, ‘Why would a loving God allow death and suffering‘, by Dr Jonathan Sarfati of Creation Ministries International: ‘Death and suffering is everywhere!’. The subject is plural, ‘death AND suffering’, because it refers to more than one. Plural subjects require a plural verb.
Rewritten. The heading should read, ‘Death and suffering are everywhere!’
73. Latika Bourke, a journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald / The Age wrote ‘The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age has learned that up to a dozen members of the public, including teachers and a principal from local schools….’ (Bourke 2019).
Rewritten. ‘The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have learned that up to a dozen members of the public….’
This was written by a journalist who had her article published in two major Australian newspapers (online), yet she broke a fundamental rule of grammar that plural subjects must be used with a plural verb.
(image courtesy Phillip Martin Clip Art)
D. Plural pronouns associated with singular nouns
The grammatical rule is:
The use of they and their with singular pronouns is frowned upon by many traditionalists. To be consistent, it is a good practice to try to avoid they and its variants (e.g., them, their, themselves) with previously singular nouns or pronouns.
Not consistent: Someone has to do it, and they have to do it well.
The problem is that someone is singular, but they is plural. If we change they to he or she, we get a rather clumsy sentence, even if it is technically correct.
Technically correct: Someone has to do it, and he or she has to do it well.
Replacing an inconsistent sentence with a poorly written one is a bad bargain. The better option is to rewrite.
Rewritten: Someone has to do it, and has to do it well ( (GrammarBook.com 2018. Pronouns).[42]
1. Peter Wellington MP stated,
âBut I think in 2017, people if they’re going out in public, need to have their face identifiable.
We need to be able to continue to walk down the street without fear of intimidation, without having to look over our shoulders, and look at people who have their whole face coveredâŠ.
The premier says Queensland adheres to a series of national procedures and policies requiring people to show their full face when entering government buildingsâ (AAP 2017).
 Rewritten: âPeople ⊠need to have their faces identifiableâŠ. Requiring people to show their full faces âŠ.â
2. Postmortem refers to âa medical examination of a dead person’s body in order to find out how they diedâ (Collins English Dictionary 2017. s. v. postmortem).
 Rewritten: âa dead personâs body in order to find out how that person diedâ.
3. âThe feminist organization promotes feminism and can require their leader to be a feministâŠ. The schoolâs own website states in its mission that âevery single Hawkeye learns how to build their own path and bravely go wherever it leadsââ (Estell 2017).[43]
 Rewritten: âThe feminist organisation[44] (singular)⊠can require its leader to be a feministâŠ. âevery single Hawkeye ⊠its own pathâ.
(photograph Jacob Estell, courtesy Des Moines Register, 14 December 2017).
4. Retired MP, former Howard government minister and regular columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald, Amanda Vanstone, wrote: âThe plain English interpretation of this is that they [the Australian Democrats] would hold a government to their promisesâ (Vanstone 2018).
 Rewritten: âwould hold a government to its promisesâ.
5. The Queensland Courts wrote this about autopsies: âDuring the autopsy, the deceased is treated with respect and great care to preserve their dignityâ [The State of Queensland (Queensland Courts) 2011â2018].
 Rewritten: âThe deceased is treated with respect ⊠to preserve that personâs dignityâ
6. âSection 22 of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act currently means that any Queenslander who has undergone sex reassignment surgery has to divorce their partner to have their gender legally recognisedâ (Caldwell 2018).
 Rewritten: âAny Queenslander ⊠to divorce that personâs partner to have the new gender legally recognisedâ.
7. âQueensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has promised to find out if a person received a government job after their resume was sent to Labor front-bencher Mark Bailey’s private email accountâ (Kohlbacher 2018).
 Rewritten: âconsider the humanity of the unborn child and that childâs inherent human rightsâ.
8. In the petition on the Queensland Government website, Reject the campaign to remove all restraint on abortion in Queensland (online), one of the statements was: âconsider the humanity of the unborn child and their inherent human rightsâ.[45]
Rewritten: âconsider the humanity of the unborn child and that childâs inherent human rightsâ.
9. âA fine all-round performance from Ellyse Perry has helped Australia wrap-up their one day series against India in Vadodaraâ (AAP 2018).
What is the grammatical rule for collective names like âAustraliaâ, meaning âthe Australian teamâ?
Do you use a singular or plural verb to match a collective noun such as team or staff? The answer is, It depends. If these nouns are acting as a unit, use a singular verb.
Example: The team is heading for practice this afternoon.
If the sentence indicates more individuality, use a plural verb.
Example: The team are eating with their families tonight (GrammarBook.com 2018. Subject and verb agreement with collective nouns).[46]
 Rewritten: âEllyse Perry has helped Australia wrap-up its one day series against Indiaâ.
10. Brydon Coverdale, in his report on the second day of the third cricket test between South Africa and Australia wrote: âWhat Australia wanted from one of their openers was the kind of innings provided by Elgar, who had finished unbeaten on 141 after he and Rabada frustrated the Australians with a 50-run ninth-wicket standâ (Coverdale 2018).
Rewritten: â: âWhat Australia (as a singular team) wanted from one of its openers was the kind of innings provided by ElgarâŠ.â
(image courtesy Wikipedia)
11. The New International Version (NIV) of the Bible in 1 Corinthians 14:3 states, âAnyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselvesâ. This grammatical error is perpetrated throughout both Old and New Testaments of this English translation of the Bible. The grammatical rule is âsingular indefinite pronoun antecedents take singular pronoun referentsâ:
SINGULAR: each, either, neither, one, no-one, nobody, nothing, anyone, anybody, anything, someone, somebody, something, everyone, everybody, everything (Towson University 2017).
When I contacted the NIV translation committee about this anomaly, this was the explanation I received by email on 27 March 2018:
Dear Dr. Gear,
Thank you for your grammatical question about the NIV.
As you certainly know from your study of Greek, languages vary in what words exist for what parts of speechânot only to the level of pronouns, but even down to reflexive pronouns. Also, language changes over time as certain forms fall out of favor and others gain acceptance. From my study of the subject, the singular they has existed in English since the 14th century. And a singular use of âthemselvesâ has developed as a generic symbol for any singular reflexive referent.
A lot of this comes down to the descriptive vs. prescriptive debate. You are exhibiting something closer to the prescriptive (âWhy doesnât this text follow the rules?â), whereas the descriptive says, âHere is a convention that may not be recognized by all as conventional, but it (sic) useful for communication.â In some corners of the English-speaking world, people try to hew to the singular somewhat by saying, âAnyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselfââusing the generic singular they but adding the singular-looking form of the reflexive. That seemingly was a bridge too far for the Committee for Bible Translation. In their deep research on English usage through the Collins Word Bank, they found that âthemselvesâ is commonly enough used as to be acceptable.
I will say that the CBT [Committee on Bible Translation] is passionate to translate the ancient languages into global English as she is generally spoken today (thus, their significant investment in the Collins Word Bank research). They have been accused of a lot of things, but I assure you that their only agenda is to provide a Bible text that is accurate to the originals and accurate to contemporary English. There will be disagreement on that âaccurate to contemporary English,â as you have brought up, but their heart is for a text that is elegant in a church setting and colloquial enough to use in outreach. Whether they have achieved these goals can be judged by every reader, but I can vouch for their intention.
Grace and peace to you as you pursue our Savior through Godâs Word!
Partner Relations Team, Biblica
1-800-497-1121
So, what I requested was sticking to the grammatical rules in Bible translation, but that was regarded as prescriptive (stipulating, imposing) the rules of grammar on the text versus descriptive. The CBT for the NIV chose the descriptive model where ââthemselvesâ is commonly enough used as to be acceptableâ. Therefore, ‘commonly enough used’ was the arbitration standard for determining ‘themselves’ instead of ‘oneself’ or ‘himself/herself’.
The CBT is so fixed in its ‘descriptive’ agenda that I don’t think it is worthy of further communication with the Partner Relations Team Will any one of the broken grammatical rules (prescriptive) outlined in this ‘Grammar Police’ article be acceptable in future NIV editions? Because people regularly use singular subjects with plural verbs and plural subjects with singular verbs, will that be an accommodation accepted by contemporary NIV Bible translators?
Who gave the NIV translators authority to choose descriptive grammar over prescriptive grammar? Is that what a dynamic equivalence translation[47] (such as the NIV) of Scripture requires? Does that also mean that when common people continue to use plural subjects with a singular verb (and vice versa), that will become acceptable in descriptive writing?
The examples could go on ad infinitum of discarding prescriptive grammar for descriptive grammar.
(image courtesy Bonlac Foods)
12. âIn Kingston in 2008-09, England were dismissed for 51 in their second inningsâ (Lynch 2018).
 Rewritten: âEngland (singular team) was dismissed for 51 in its second inningsâ
13. This was a statement in a question posed to Christian apologist, William Lane Craig, âI leave home and go to work, I serve a customer and they leaveâ (Craig 2018).
 Rewritten: âI serve a customer (singular) and that person leavesâ.
14. I was shocked with this definition of narcissist in Oxford Dictionaries Online: âA person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselvesâ (Oxford Dictionaries Online 2018. s.v. narcissist). âA personâ is singular but the pronoun that refers back to âa personâ is a reflexive pronoun, âthemselvesâ (plural) when it should be âherself, himself or oneselfâ. That a prestigious dictionary should resort to using what is colloquially becoming a common practice is an accommodation to the downturn in correct grammar.
The grammatical rule is: âReflexive pronouns are used when both the subject and the object of a verb are the same person or thingâ (GrammerBook.com 2018. s.v. pronouns).
In the example above, the subject is âsingular, âa personâ, but the reflexive pronoun used is âthemselvesâ. It should be âoneselfâ.
 Rewritten: âA person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of oneselfâ.
15. âEveryone is right, in their own mind, and only the narcissist believes that he is without errorâ.[48]
 Rewritten: âEveryone is right, in oneâs own mind, and only the narcissist believes that he or she is without errorâ Or, âAll are right in their own minds and only narcissists believe that they are without errorâ.
16. â⊠attacks on religious freedom that was not even considered at the time of passing this Billâ.[49]
 Rewritten: âattacks on religious freedom that were not even considered at the time of passing this Billâ.
17. This statement is in âOur Missionâ of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia: âThe message which ignited the Wesleyan revival was the announcement that God through Christ can forgive a person their sinsâŠ.â[50]
 Rewritten: âthat God through Christ can forgive a person his or her sinsâŠ.â
Even better would be to rephrase: âthat God through Christ can forgive all people their sinsâ.
(image courtesy YouTube)
18. This dictionaryâs definition of adult is: âAn adult has reached the age when they are legally responsible for their actionsâ (Collins Dictionary 2018. s.v. adult). A concern is that this is a description from a world-renowned dictionary.
 Rewritten: : âAn adult has reached the age when that person is legally responsible for their actionsâ.
Another option could be: âAn adult has reached the age when he or she is legally responsible for his or her actionsâ. That is clumsy and verbose. The first option is preferred by this grammar policeman.
19. âAnd the accumulated weight of a culture of sexism, racism and homophobia isnât simply erased because someone declares on their website that weâre all individuals and should be judged as suchâ (Edwards 2018).
 Rewritten: âbecause someone declares on that personâs website that weâre all individuals and should be judged as suchâ.
20. In writing about the Longman by-election on 28 July 2018, a Brisbane Times journalist stated: âIt comes in the same week that we hear One Nation is giving their preferences to the LNP’s Trevor Ruthenbergâ (Brown 2018).
 Rewritten: âwe hear One Nation (singular party) is giving its preferences to the LNP’s Trevor Ruthenberg.
21. âAnyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbelieverâ (1 Tim 5:8 NIV).
 Rewritten: âEveryone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbelieverâ.
A more clumsy way would be: âAnyone who does not provide for his or her relatives, and especially for his or her own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbelieverâ.
The New Living Translation of this verse is: âBut those who wonât care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelieversâ.
22. Another journalist has practised descriptive grammar instead of prescriptive grammar: âThe individual came forward to claim their prize 175 days after purchasing their unregistered ticketâŠ. The winner â who has decided to remain anonymous â took their lucky ticket to the Tatts office in Melbourne on Wednesday, seven days before the whopping $55 million prize was due to be transferred to the Victorian State Revenue Officeâ (Koob 2018).
 Rewritten: : âThe individual came forward to claim that personâs prize 175 days after purchasing the unregistered ticketâŠ. The winner â who has decided to remain anonymous â took the lucky ticket to the Tatts office in Melbourne on WednesdayâŠ.â
(image courtesy studibahasainggris.com)
23. A comment from On Line Opinion, âEveryone is chosen to play their partâ.[51]
Rewritten: âEveryone is chosen to play his or her partâ.
I prefer this option: âAll are chosen to play their partsâ.
24. In attempting to connect to my homepage, Truth Challenge, I received this message from my Firefox/Mozilla web browser:
Your connection is not secure.
The owner of spencer.gear.dyndns.org has configured their website improperly. To protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to this website.
 Rewritten: âThe owner ⊠configured that personâs website improperlyâ.
By the way, the new address of this website , Truth Challenge, is: truthchallenge.one/
25. In updating its Terms and Conditions for Internet Banking â effective 5 September 2018, Suncorp Bank wrote:
These Conditions apply to Internet Banking and your use of it. You must accept them:
· if you are reading this conditions within Internet BankingâŠ.[52]
Rewritten: âYou must accept them ⊠if you are reading these conditions within Internet Bankingâ. This would appear to be a typographical error by Suncorp Bank.
26. âIt means a child, born in 2011 in some western parts of Queensland, is in year 2 â and they have never seen rain. Theyâve never witnessed the skies darken, and the heavens open. Theyâve never heard the sound of water hitting a tin roof. And theyâre seven years oldâ (King 2018).
 Rewritten: âIt means a child, born in 2011 in some western parts of Queensland, is in year 2 â and that child has never seen rain. The child never witnessed the skies darken, and the heavens open. He or she has never heard the sound of water hitting a tin roof. And the child is seven years oldâ.
27. âLike the candidate for school captain who is a hero among their classmates but a teacher’s nightmare, Dutton has long had a bifurcated appealâ (Knott 2018).
 Rewritten: âLike the candidate for school captain who is a hero among his classmates but a teacher’s nightmare, Dutton has long had a bifurcated appealâ
28. In the Queensland abortion debate, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad stated, â”Ensuring that every single member of the Queensland Parliament has the right to exercise their conscience on this matter is critical to whether this legislation gets up,” she saidâ (Caldwell 2018).
 Rewritten: âEnsuring that every single member of the Queensland Parliament has the right to exercise that memberâs conscience on this matter is criticalâŠ.â
29. â”Itâs a hellscape,” said one of the workers [of Amazon Australia], who spoke directly to Fairfax Media but declined to be identified for fear of losing their current jobs or damaging future work opportunities with labour hire firmsâ (Hatch 2018).
 Rewritten: â”Itâs a hellscape,” said one of the workers [of Amazon Australia], who spoke directly to Fairfax Media but declined to be identified for fear of losing the workerâs current jobs or damaging future work opportunitiesâŠ.â
30. finder.com, in explaining details about the RACQ Bank wrote: âWhile RACQ Bank does provide online banking, they have not introduced an app that lets you bank on the goâ (finder.com 2018).
 Rewritten: âWhile RACQ Bank does provide online banking, it has not introduced an app that lets you bank on the goâ.
31. âLet’s respect that each has their own understanding and we are not going to change itâ.[53]
 Rewritten: âLet’s respect that all have their own understandings and we are not going to change themâ.
32. Jason sent this question to leading Christian apologist, William Lane Craig, ‘But why should one assume such a scenario if they affirm a beginning but reject a cause?’ (Craig 2018a)
Rewritten ‘But why should one assume such a scenario if one affirms a beginning but rejects a cause?
‘After the high priest dies, that person (singular) can go back to their (plural) own land‘ (Num 35:28b ERV).
Rewritten: ‘After the high priest dies, that person (singular) can go back to his (singular) own land’. All Jewish high priests were males, so it is appropriate to write, ‘… his own land’ and not ‘his or her own land’.
OR
 After the high priest dies, those people (plural) can go back to their (plural) own land’.
‘Each (singular) Israelite will keep the land that belonged to their (plural) own ancestors‘ (Num 36:9b ERV).
Rewritten: ‘All Israelites (plural) will keep the land that belonged to their (plural) own ancestors
(courtesy Re:word Communications)
E. Subject of sentence is in the nominative case
Grammar Monster[(n.d. s.v. What is the nominative case? (with Examples)] provided the rule:
The nominative case is the case used for a noun or pronoun which is the subject of a verb. For example (nominative case shaded):
· Mark eats cakes.
(The noun Mark is the subject of the verb eats. Mark is in the nominative case.)
· He eats cakes.
(The pronoun He is the subject of the verb eats. He is in the nominative case.)
· They eat cakes.
(The pronoun They is the subject of the verb eats. They is in the nominative case.)
The nominative case is also used for a subject complement. For example:
· Mark is a businessman.
(Here, Mark is in the nominative case because it’s the subject of is, and businessman is in the nominative case because it’s a subject complement; i.e., it renames the subject.)
· It was I.
(Here, It is in the nominative case because it’s the subject of was, and I is in the nominative case because it’s a subject complement; i.e., it renames the subject.)
The nominative case is also known as the subjective case.
1. A Roman catholic priest speaking of boating tragedy and death of two of his parishoners: âMavis was a lovely lady and her and jack were good family friendsâ (Clark 2017).
 Rewritten: âMavis was a lovely lady and she and Jack were good family friendsâ.
2. First Home Buyers Australia spokesman Daniel Cohen told The New Daily, âI think it shows how him and many of the other ministers in the government are out of touch with the struggles that first home buyers faceâ (Gomes 2018).
Rewritten: âI think it shows how he and many of the other ministers in the government are out of touch with the struggles that first home buyers faceâ.
3. The new managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Martyn Iles, was interviewed by Eternity, the newspaper of the Bible Society. Iles is recorded as saying, âUs kids would do things like sing and entertain the old people thereâ (Delbridge 2018).
 Rewritten: âWe[54] kids would do things like sing and entertain the old people thereâ.
F. Words left out or added
1. Iâm guilty of this one. I sent an email to Ben Davis of 4BC on the subject of why newspapers are losing money on 4 May 2017. Part of what I wrote was: âI’ve developing a story for my homepage of grammatical errorsâŠâ I should have written either âI am developingâ or âIâve been developingâ. It was a matter of lack of grammar check for me. I was not careful with my grammar.[55]
 Rewritten: â: âIâm developing a story for my homepage of grammatical errorsâ.
2. âThe National Party is right behind me,” the Mr McCormack told Sky News, adding he would not stand aside for Mr Joyce and urging colleagues to stop focusing[56]on themselvesâ (Shields 2018).
 Rewritten: âMr McCormack told Sky Newsâ. There is no need for the definite article, âtheâ, as there is only one Mr McCormack leading the National Party in the federal parliament of Australia.
(courtesy Kids World Fun)
F. Incorrect words or tenses
1. In stating why no other NRL clubs wanted Jarryd Hayne, the journalist wrote: âBut since returning to the NRL last year, where he gives every indication the game is too small for him, Hayne has brick by brick began to dismantle that reputation (Kent 2017).
âBeganâ is the simple past tense of the verb âto beginâ. It would be correct to say âHayne ⊠began to dismantleâ. However, âbeganâ is not used with auxiliary verbs such as âhasâ or âwould haveâ. âBegunâ is a past participle of âbeginâ.
The word âbegunâ is the past participle of âbeginâ. âBegunâ is used in the perfect tense sentences. It is, therefore, incorrect to write âI begunâ, as âbegunâ can never be used without an auxiliary verb (âhasâ, âhaveâ or âhadâ). Thus, we must say that something âhas begunâ or âhad begunâ.
The auxiliary verb used with âbegunâ affects the tense of the sentence. When combined with âhasâ or âhaveâ, it is part of the present perfect tense. Typically, this shows that something started in the past and continues in the present:
I have begun writing my novel (ProofreadMyEssay/Writing Tips n.d. s.v. Word choice: Began vs. Begun).[57]
 Rewritten: âHayne has brick by brick begun to dismantle that reputationâŠ.â
2. A church explained its ministry: âWe also have an accredited Bible Training Center[58] that assist different churches in Queensland with students doing their Cert IV in Christian Ministry and ministerial theological studiesâ (Lifebuildersâ Wesleyan Church: About Us).[59]
âCenterâ is singular so in the accompanying relative clause, a singular verb is needed with âassistsâ.
 Rewritten: âWe also have an accredited Bible Training Center[60] that assists different churches in QueenslandâŠâ
3. I was stunned to find this example in a universityâs writing centre that presented the correct grammar for apostrophes:
âThe dog at the firmâs paperwork.â
In each case, we add an apostrophe-s to show that something possesses something else. Jim possess the dog, or at least he use to until Jack lost it. And the paperwork belongs to the firm. Simple (Texas A&M 2018).
 Rewritten: Was this meant to state: âThe dog ate the firmâs paperworkâ and âatâ was a typographical error. Or, does it refer to, âThe dog at the firmâs paperworkâs businessâ?
âJim possesses (owns) the dog, or at least he used to until Jack lost itâ.
4. In this article about the Broncos win over the Rabbitohs, it was stated: âMcGuire’s exit preceded Haas’ introduction minutes later as he barrelled his way for 78 metres and made 18 tackles in an powerhouse 21-minute NRL bowâ (Pengilly 2018).
How does one decide to use the indefinite article âaâ and not âanâ? The rule is:
We ⊠use an instead of a when the word following begins with a vowel sound: an egg, an omelet, an institute, an honor. A will always be followed by a word that starts with a consonant sound: a box, a trampoline, a hero, a unique opportunity (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. A/An vs. The).
 Rewritten: ââŠas he barrelled his way for 78 metres and made 18 tackles in a powerhouse 21-minute NRL bowâ
5. âWade was brought back into the Australia team in the home 2016 series against South Africa to add some aggression to a team that had lost their five previous TestsâŠ. But after underperforming with the bat, Wade was cut from the Australia team ahead of last summer, axed for his childhood friend and state teammate Tim Paineâ (Cricket Network 2018).
What is wrong with âAustralia teamâ? We need to note three definitions:
(1) A noun âis a word for a person, place, or thing. (You might like to think of nouns as “naming” words.) Everything we can see or talk about is represented by a word that names it. That “naming” word is called a noun (grammar-monster.com/nouns). So the word âteamâ in this quotation is a noun.
(2) A proper noun âis the given name of a person, place or thing, i.e., its own name (e.g., Michael, New York, Rover). (Note: A proper noun always starts with a capital letter) [grammar-monster.com/common nouns and proper nouns]. So, the word, âAustraliaâ, is a proper noun.
What is the function of âAustraliaâ in those sentences? It is a word that describes the âteamâ. It functions as an adjective in the sentences and qualifies the noun, âteamâ.
(3) âAdjectives are describing words. Large, grey, and friendly are all examples of adjectivesâ (grammar-monster.com/adjectives)..
Since âAustraliaâ functions as a describing word (an adjective) in these sentences, what is the adjective for âAustraliaâ? It is Australian (Oxford living dictionaries online 2018. s.v. Australian).
Rewritten: âWade was brought back into the Australian team in the home 2016 series against South AfricaâŠ. But after underperforming with the bat, Wade was cut from the Australian team ahead of last summerâ.
(Image courtesy A Word With Traci)
6. âNeither police or the ATSB were expected to be involved in the investigation into what went wrongâ (Crockford 2018).
Grammatical rules for this error are:
Rule 2. Two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor require a singular verb (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. subject-verb agreement).
We use either⊠or⊠to connect items which are the same grammatical type, e.g. words, phrases, clausesâŠ.
The opposite of either⊠or⊠is neither⊠norâŠ. We use it to make negative statements connecting items (Cambridge English Dictionary/Grammar 2018. s.v. Either ⊠or âŠ).
Grammar rules forbid the joining of âneitherâ with âorâ. It is âneither ⊠nor âŠâ
Rewritten: âNeither police nor the ATSB was expected to be involved in the investigation into what went wrongâ.
7. news.com.au used an incorrect tense of the verb in its sub-heading to this article, âTHE first four of the schoolboys trapped in the Thai cave have beat the odds to make it through an unfathomably risky journeyâ (Reynolds 2018).
What is correct or wrong with the tense of the verb, âHave beatâ? This is USA vs British grammar.
The grammatical rule is:
The past tense of beat is beat. The past participle, which changes the verb to an adverb, is beaten. The adjective form is also beaten.
Sometimes it is heard in the construction got beat. This is incorrect grammatically, but is firmly established in slang, especially in North America (Grammarist 2009-2014. s.v. Beat or beaten).
 Rewritten: âfirst four of the schoolboys trapped in the Thai cave have beaten the oddsâŠ.â
8. Barna Research conducted a survey in the USA of the state of the Bible. One of the main conclusions was, âSix in 10 Americans Believe the Bible Has Transformed Their Lifeâ (Barna Group Inc. 2018).
 Rewritten: â, âSix in 10 Americans Believe the Bible Have Transformed Their Livesâ.
9. finder.com (2018), in its article on the RACQ Bank, had a heading, âWho is RACQ Bank?â Is this correct phrasing of the question, using the relative pronoun, âwhoâ?
The grammatical rules are:
The interrogative pronouns who, whom, and whose are used only for reference to people. The interrogative pronouns which and what are used for reference to things (Collins English Dictionary/Grammar 2018. s.v. Interrogative pronouns).
 Rewritten: âWhat is RACQ Bank?â
10. Veteran ABC presenter, Phillip Adams, said of ABC CEO, Michelle Guthrie, after her dismissal: âThe only time we ever saw her is if there was a command performanceâ (Duke et al 2018).
Consistency of tenses throughout this sentence requires the use of the past tense, âwasâ to replace âisâ.
 Rewritten: âThe only time we ever saw her was if there was a command performanceâ
11. âNew South Wales will now the only Australian jurisdiction where abortion remains a criminal offenceâ (Caldwell 2018a).
 Rewritten: âNew South Wales will now be the only Australian jurisdictionâŠ.â
12. I received this email on 28 November 2018 with the heading, âWho is Alinta Energy?â The same question is asked on the Mozo website.
Alinta Energy is âa provider of multiple energy related productsâ in Australia.[61] It is a power generation and distribution business.
 Rewritten: âWhat is Alinta Energy?â
13. A short article on âForgive us our debtsâ by R. Albert Mohler Jr. included this statement: âIf this does not shock us, then we have grown fare too familiar with the gospel and the glory of Godâs graceâ.
 Rewritten: âIf this does not shock us, then we have grown far too familiar with the gospel and the glory of Godâs graceâ.
(courtesy Communities Digital News)
G. Incorrect use of the apostrophe
The rule is:
âDo not use an apostrophe + s to make a regular noun pluralâ (Grammar Monster 2018).[62] Another explanation of this grammatical rule was:
Rule 1b. Many common nouns end in the letter s (lens, cactus, bus, etc.). So do a lot of proper nouns (Mr. Jones, Texas, Christmas). There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when writing such nouns. There is no right answer; the best advice is to choose a formula and stay consistent (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. apostrophes).
(image courtesy Grammar Monster)
1. On the site of a building and pest control business, it stated: âYou must verify that the quality of the structure is top notch and ensure your getting the best value for your moneyâ.[63]
Here âyourâ means âyou areâ and the abbreviation is âyouâreâ.
 Rewritten: âand ensure youâre getting the best value for your moneyâ.
2. In a friendly international football (soccer) match between England and The Netherlands in Amsterdam, the heading of the article was: âEngland fans behaviour ‘appalling’: police chiefâ (Reuters 2018).
 Rewritten: âEngland fansâ behaviour âappallingâ: police chiefâ
3. âNow if something is seen as harmful, then it wonât be long before there are calls for itâs regulation â whether itâs drugs, or speechâ (Balogh 2018a).
âItâsâ means âit isâ. Here the possessive pronoun should be used, âits regulationâ and âthey are drugs or speechâ. Drugs is a plural noun, so requires a plural verb âto beâ, i.e. âareâ.
 Rewritten: â⊠long before there are calls for its regulation â whether they are drugs, or speechâ.
4. In a report on changes to the ABC radio presenters, it was stated: âA woman will earn a hosting guernsey on breakfast for the first time in years as weekends presenter Rebecca Levingston joins Craig Zonca at the start of the dayâ (Branco 2017).
 Rewritten: â⊠breakfast for the first time in years as weekendsâ presenter Rebecca Levingston joins Craig Zoncaâ.
5. âThis is the third incident this month for Australia’s biggest telecommunications companyâŠ.â (Duke 2018).
 Rewritten: month for Australia’s biggest telecommunicationsâ companyâŠ.â
6. âTo read the article in itâs original context please go to the website of The Gospel Coalition Australiaâ (Millar 2018:6).[64] Following this rule for the apostrophe for plural nouns, it should read, âtelecommunicationsâ companyâ
 Rewritten: âTo read the article in its original context please go to the website âŠâ
7. âWhether you are planning for a loved ones funeral, or future proofing your funeral plans, let us take care of it for youâ (Academy Funerals n.d.).
âRule 1a. Use the apostrophe to show possession. To show possession with a singular noun, add an apostrophe plus the letter sâ (GrammarBook.com 2018. s.v. apostrophes).
 Rewritten: âWhether you are planning for a loved oneâs funeral, or âŠâ
8. âThe collapse of one of this Queensland cityâs biggest businesses has put hundreds of jobs in jeopardy, and its a situation that even has MPs from both sides of politics in agreementâ.[65]
 Rewritten: ââŠand itâs a situation that even has MPs from both sides of politics in agreementâ
9. The Australia Christian Lobby wrote: âThe changes pushed by Labor and the Greens [in Tasmaniaâs lower house of parliament] mean that gender will become opt-in for all Tasmanianâs – a move which 95% of 44,000 respondents to a news poll did not agree withâ (Iles 2018).
In this context âTasmanianâsâ is supposed to be the plural noun for more than one Tasmanian, so the correct spelling is the plural, âTasmaniansâ.
 Rewritten: â ⊠gender will become opt-in for all Tasmanians âŠâ
H. Word order
Frankfurt International School explains the importance of word order in English:
Most English sentences (clauses) conform to the SVO word order. This means that the Subject comes before the Verb, which comes before the Object. Examples: Frankfurt International School
· I (S) bought (V) a new computer (O).
· She (S) doesn’t like (V) dogs (O).
· Why did you (S) do (V) that (O)? [Frankfurt International School n.d.]
This is an example of how the word order in these two Bible versions is contrary to that recommended for English.
1. The New King James Version of the Bible (NKJV) provides this translation of Acts 5:30-31:
30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
The King James Version (KJV) follows the same word order for Acts 5:31, âHim hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviourâ. Even my MS Word auto spellchecker has underlined âHimâ to indicate something is incorrect with the spelling or grammar of âhimâ at the beginning of the sentence. What is the problem?
The English Standard Version translates these two verses as:
30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
A literal translation from the NT Greek of verse 31 is: âThis (man) God a ruler and a saviour, exalted to the right (hand) of himâŠ.â
The Greek translated âhimâ (NKJV) and âhimâ in the ESV of verse 31 is touton. Grammatically, it is masculine gender, singular number, and accusative case. Accusative is parallel with the English objective case, so this word is not the subject of the sentence, but functions as the object of the sentence.
The NKJV uses correct grammar in translating touton as âhimâ but places it at the beginning of the sentence because the Greek places it there to give emphasis to âhimâ, i.e. to Jesus as Ruler and Saviour. However, the English word order is more appropriate with the ESV, âGod exalted himâ and the NLT, âThen God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgivenâ.
 Rewritten NKJV: Acts 5:31 should read, âGod has exalted Him to His right hand to be Prince and Saviorâ.
(courtesy Neuroscience News)
I. Conclusion
Are you persuaded the English language is demonstrating a downgrade in the importance of grammar?
It is a sad state of affairs when Australiaâs national broadcaster, the ABC, did not use an apostrophe with the adjective in this phrase, âweekends presenterâ. Professor of Divinity, Dr N T Wright, wrote, ââReligious pluralism and syncretism was the order of the day right across the ancient worldâ.
Heâs an outstanding NT scholar but I found this grammatical anomaly somewhat paradoxical. This statement on his homepage is based on a lecture he gave at Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church (Monroe, Louisiana).
Everyday Christian forum posters present writings that often contain grammatical errors. They donât seem to take grammatical rules, including punctuation and forming paragraphs, seriously. This was one example from above: âWhat’s your thoughts about the ‘Reason for Godâ by Timothy Keller?
This has been an ad hoc gathering of examples collected from my everyday reading, demonstrating the demise of English grammar, identified in writings from around the world at various levels of learning.
Personally, I cringe when I hear these grammatical errors committed verbally and in writing by people from a wide range of backgrounds.
However, I am a voluntary member of the language police force. Grammar was important for me in Grade 1 at primary school. It is critical for me now that I have a university earned PhD in New Testament (University of Pretoria, South Africa).
J. Works consulted
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Reuters 2018. England fans behaviour ‘appalling’: police chief. Brisbane Times (online), 25 March. Available at: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/england-fans-behaviour-appalling-police-chief-20180325-p4z63t.html (Accessed 25 March 2018).
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Shields, B 2018. ‘They have lost their minds’: Government fuming over growing push to topple Deputy Prime Minister. Brisbane Times (online), 17 October. Available at: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/they-have-lost-their-minds-government-fuming-over-growing-push-to-topple-deputy-prime-minister-20181017-p50aax.html (Accessed 18 October 2018).
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(courtesy Just Publishing Advice)
K. Notes
[1] âLanguage policeâ is a term designed to get rid of the pejorative connotations of âgrammar Naziâ. This person is a stickler for grammatical correctness in books, articles, blogs, online posts, email, texts, etc. See the article at Sentence First (online), âLanguage police: check your privilege and prioritiesâ. Available at: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/language-police-check-your-privilege-and-priorities/ (Accessed 18 March 2018).
[2] Available at: www.grammar-monster.com (Accessed 28 April 2018).
[3] Available at: https://www.grammarbook.com/ (Accessed 26 November 2018).
[4] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/grammar-a-z (Accessed 28 April 2018).
[5] Throughout this article, I will use the abbreviation s.v. when referring to dictionary terms, encyclopaedia articles and explanations from grammar books. S.v. means:â(in textual references) under the given word or heading. âthe dictionary lists ârural policemanâ s.v. âruralââ. The origin of the abbreviation is: âFrom Latin sub voce or sub verbo, literally âunder the word or voiceââ (Oxford Dictionaries online 2018. Definitions, s.v.).
[6] Available at: https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/probPrep.asp (Accessed 27 November 2018).
[7] Ibid.
[8] Grammar Monster n.d. What are Prepositions? (online). Available at: http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/prepositions.htm (Accessed 27 November 2018).
[9] Available at: http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/object.htm (Accessed 27 November 2018).
[10] Ibid.
[11] All of the above definitions of various objects and examples given are from Grammar Monster.com. 2018. What is an object? (with examples), online. Available at: http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/object.htm (Accessed 27 November 2018).
[12] ââSubjective pronounsâ function as a subject of a sentence. Objective pronounsâ are pronouns functioning as objects of verbs or prepositions. This table is from Grammar Monster [2018. s.v. What is a preposition? (with examples)].
[13] Brisbane Times 2017. Steve Price, John Laws and the day their feud turned ugly (online), 3 February. Available at: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/steve-price-john-laws-and-the-day-their-feud-turned-ugly-20170203-gu4sk0.html (Accessed 3 February 2017).
[14] Oxford dictionaries 2018. Can you end a sentence with a preposition? (online). Available at: https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/11/28/grammar-myths-prepositions/ (Accessed 27 November 2018).
[15] Available at: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Dangling-Prepositions.htm (Accessed 27 November 2018).
[16] Christian Forums.net 2018. Millennials desire socialism instead of capitalism (online), Drew#182, 25 March. Available at: https://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/millennials-desire-socialism-instead-of-capitalism.74662/page-10#post-1444682 (Accessed 25 March 2018).
[17] Australian Government, Department of Human Services, Centrelink. The form is available at: https://www.humanservices.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/mods-1403en.pdf (Accessed 16 January 2017).
[18] Christian Forums.net 2017. Questions for Christians (Q&A). Couple of Questions. Wrg1405#12, Available at: http://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/couple-of-questions.68199/#post-1292970 (Accessed 21 January 2017).
[19] Available at: Registration and Ordination Guidelines, Adopted by the Board of Queensland Baptists, 25 June 2009, section 5.4, Assembly 22.05.2009. (Accessed 18 June 2018).
[20] Christian Forums.com 2017. Bible translations (online), DeaconDean#162, 25 March. This person is a seminary student. Available at: https://www.christianforums.com/threads/bible-translations.7978355/page-9 (Accessed 25 April 2017).
[21] Available at: https://twitter.com/grammarmonster/status/1066783676128772096 (Accessed 27 November wo18).
[22] This is the USA spelling. The Australian/British spelling is programmes.
[23] âA degloving injury is a type of avulsion in which an extensive section of skin is completely torn off the underlying tissue, severing its blood supply. It is named by analogy to the process of removing a glove. Typically, degloving injuries affect the extremities and limbsâ (Wikipedia 2017. s v degloving). âAvulsion in general refers to a tearing awayâ (Wikipedia 2016. s v avulsion).
[24] A âgoonâ is âa silly, foolish, or eccentric personâŠ.â (Oxford Dictionaries Online 2018. s.v. goon).
[25] Available at: http://www.caradvice.com.au/557362/2017-kia-sportage-si-premium-review/ (Accessed 16 October 2017).
[26] Available at: http://www.cricket.com.au/news/match-report/australia-england-fifth-test-scg-match-report-highlights-day-one-toss-teams/2018-01-04 (Accessed 4 January 2018).
[27] Emailer sent, titled, âWhat a week! School started back, the PM came to answer your questions and the nbn are here to helpâ. Sent from email: [email protected], 3.17pm, 26 January 2018.
[28] Christian Forums.net 2018. Maryâs Choice (online). Reba #5. Available at: http://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/marys-choice.74323/ (Accessed 17 February 2018).
[29] Available at: http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/10908/scorecard/1075983/south-africa-vs-australia-2nd-test-aus-tour-sa-2017-18 (Accessed 11 March 2018).
[30] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/matching-verbs-to-collective-nouns (Accessed 29 November 2018).
[31] Sent from [email protected] (Accessed 3 April 2018).
[32] Available at: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/display.asp?page=contributors (Accessed 12 April 2018). I advised the editor of this grammatical error, so by the time this article is published, a correction of the grammar may have taken place.
[33] Available at: http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=19678&page=5 (Accessed 12 April 2018).
[34] Christian Forums.net 2017. The question thread (online), Papa Zoom#3, 5 November. Available at: https://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/the-question-thread.71648/#post-1458121 (Accessed 25 April 2018).
[35] Christian Forums.net 2018. How can the Trinity be one God? (online), StoveBolts #25, 23 May.. Available at:. https://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/how-can-the-trinity-be-one-god.76082/page-13#post-1463884 (Accessed 24 May 2018).
[36] Queensland Government 1995-2005. Care at Home (online). Available at: https://www.qld.gov.au/health/support/end-of-life/care/care-at-home (Accessed 30 June 2018).
[37] Pauline Hansonâs One Nation 2018. Available at: https://www.onenation.org.au/category/pauline-hanson/ (Accessed 10 July 2018).
[38] Christian Forums.com 2018. Do Modern Christians undervalue Christian History? (online), The Times#97, 4 September. Available at: https://www.christianforums.com/threads/do-modern-christians-undervalue-christian-history.8079709/page-5#post-73133170 (Accessed 4 September 2018).
[39] Queensland Parliament 2018. Proposed 3-year trial of conservation hunting in Queensland State Forests (e-petition online). Available at: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/petition-details?id=3003 (Accessed 7 September 2018).
[40] Queensland Parliament 2018. Retain the current law in relation to compulsory wearing of bicycle helmets (e-petition online), posting date 5/11/2018. Available at: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/petition-details?id=3039 (Accessed 11 November 2018).
[41] espncricinfo 2018. India tour of Australia at Sydney, 25 November. Available at: http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/18693/commentary/1144992/australia-vs-india-3rd-t20i-india-in-aus-2018-19 (Accessed 26 November 2018.
[42] Available at: https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/pronoun.asp (Accessed 27 November 2018).
[43] The article from which this quote is gleaned, in my understanding, has provided a brilliant expose of how the University of Iowa has demonstrated discrimination against a Christian group.
[44] This is the spelling for an Australian readership.
[45] Available at: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/petition-details?id=2856 (Accessed 14 March 2018).
[46] Available at: https://data.grammarbook.com/blog/singular-vs-plural/subject-and-verb-agreement-with-collective-nouns/ (Accessed 27 November 2018).
[47] âDynamic and formal equivalence are two methods or styles used to convert source text (e.g. Hebrew or Greek) into another language (e.g. English). The Dynamic (also known as functional) method attempts to convey the THOUGHT expressed in the source text using equivalent expressions from a contemporary language like English (‘thought for thought’ translating). The formal equivalence method (also known as a literal translation) attempts to translate the source text WORD for WORD into another languageâ (BibleStudy.org n.d. s.v. Dynamic and Formal Equivalence Definitions).
[48] Christian Forums.net 2018. Is limiting free speech becoming acceptable? (online), 19 April, JohnDB#16. Available at: https://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/is-limiting-free-speech-becoming-acceptable.75637/#post-1456611 (Accessed 19 April 2018).
[49] Parliament of Australia 2018. E-petition number EN0522 (online). Available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Petitions/House_of_Representatives_Petitions/Petitions_General/Petitions_List?id=EN0522 (Accessed 21 April 2018).
[50] The Wesleyan Methodist Church 2018. Who we are (online)l. Available at: https://wesleyan.org.au/about/ (Accessed 18 June 2018).
[51] Yuyutsu 2018. What is your view for one to worship humans? Online Opinion. 6 July., p. 22. Available at: http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=8313&page=22 (Accessed 6 July 2018).
[52] Available at: https://www.suncorp.com.au/banking/help-support/ways-to-bank/online/terms/terms.html (Accessed 7 August 2018).
[53] Christian Forums.net 2018. Are all people infected by sin? (online), WIP#178. Available at: https://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/are-all-people-infected-by-sin.77892/page-9#post-1488726 (Accessed 24 October 2018).
[54] âWeâ, being the subject of the sentence and in the nominative case, replaces âusâ, which is objective case.
[55] I received this message back as a feedback email on 4 May 2017: âWe have received your feedback email – (3696918734016757457)â, http://www.4bc.com.au/show/brisbane-live-with-ben-davis/#. I used the feedback icon to respond to Ben Davis at: http://www.4bc.com.au/show/brisbane-live-with-ben-davis/# (Accessed 4 May 2017).
[56] In British [and Australian] English, focussing is the present participle of the verb, focus (Cambridge English Dictionary 2018. s.v. focussing).
[57] Available at: https://proofreadmyessay.co.uk/writing-tips/common-mistakes-began-vs-begun/ (Accessed 28 November 2018).
[58] The Australian spelling is âcentreâ and not âcenterâ.
[59] Available at: http://lifebuilders.com.au/about-us-1/ (Accessed 5 March 2018).
[60] The Australian spelling is âcentreâ and not âcenterâ.
[61] Mozo 2008-2018. Alinta Energy Electricity (online). Available at: https://mozo.com.au/energy/providers/alinta-energy/electricity (Accessed 28 November 2018).
[62] Available at: https://twitter.com/grammarmonster/status/1066783676128772096 (Accessed 27 November wo18).
[63] Caboolture Building & Pest Inspections 2017. Available at: http://caboolturebuildingandpestinspections.com.au/ (Accessed 6 September 2017).
[64] The incorrect grammar is not in the online edition but only in the acknowledgement of the source of the article at the beginning of the print version.
[65] This is a front page story with a sub-heading in The Courier-Mail 2018. Builder collapse gravely concerningâ for region (online), 18 October. Available at: https://www.couriermail.com.au/ (Accessed 18 October 2018). I was unable to access the exact URL because it is for account-only subscribers.
Copyright © 2018 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 1 December 2018.