You guys should get this book. If you have a grammar or usage question, it's very likely answered in there.

There's also a "you better" which should be "you had better" or "you'd better."

The missing question marks annoyed me the most.

These are probably the easiest to recognize.


Good job. Always nice to read well thought-out posts like this.
I agree that a lot of the stuff there are up for debate on whether they are actual errors and by what/whose definition.


This I actually hadn't noticed. Keen observational skills, sir.
I think this is something that is easy to miss because it might not be the most obvious mistake and it is a small mistake in the first place.


Hehe. I think it's weird that there are a lot of sentences with question marks and a lot of sentences without them. The rarity of dots and commas is something worth noticing as well.



It's a good to have a grammar training thread like this since English is not my first language and it's been over four years since my last English lesson.
People get rusty without practice.

Anyone bored enough to do a bit of proof reading and touching up on this? Sorry if this isn't cool...



I am applying for the scholarship student exchange scheme because it offers a unique opportunity for the development and enhancement of my civil engineering studies at University College, Cork.

Civil engineering is a subject about which I am passionate, and I fully engage with every academic aspect of my course in college. I have a strong, consistent academic work ethic and record, which is reflected in the grade I received in my first year college examination results, (H1).

My academic results at Leaving Cert level also show my commitment to and success in the Civil Engineering area; I received an A1 in physics, an A2 in Technical Graphics , and a B1 in Mathematics.

I have heard that the University of California’s courses are largely based around ongoing continuous assessments and tests. This suits me perfectly because I like my energy for study to be engaged consistently. I am the sort of person who will work hard on assignments or any problem, until it is complete or resolved. In other words, I am a finisher. I also think that completing a year at an American university is something from which I can draw in the future, when I build my career in engineering after completing my degree at UCC.

However, I am not only committed to the academic side of college life; I fully avail of the sporting and social opportunities offered by UCC and would hope to engage in a similar way, if I was granted a place in an American university.

Throughout my secondary school education, I played underage soccer as part of my local club, attending regular training sessions and participating in fund-raising activities. This year I attempted to make a college soccer team and succeeded, and am now currently captain of that team.
I am First Year Officer for the UCC squash club, and, at present, organising the Fresher’s squash tournament. Last year I participated in UCC’s Squash Intervarsity tournament, in which my team won its category. I believe I would appreciate the American university ethos of taking sport seriously.

I have good organisational skills and use these to facilitate my interests. For example, I visited Calcutta on a charitable trip while at secondary school, for which I had to raise 3,500 Euro. This necessitated a considerable amount of organisation, commitment and drive.

I come from a close, loving and supportive family, all of whom have an appetite for travel and the new experiences that this offers. I have travelled extensively in Europe and am adaptable and resourceful. I would enjoy learning about a new culture and have no doubts about my ability to integrate into a new community and also contribute to it. My parents are very supportive of my application.

To sum up, I am sporty, sociable, academically committed and resourceful, with a very positive disposition and upbeat outlook. I hope you will consider me as a well-rounded applicant, suitable for the scholarship scheme.

Thank you, name.

Many of these are arguably stylistic.

Edit: If you want to use "avail," I think it has to be reflexive: "I fully avail myself of . . . "

A few others:

I find it interesting that "I could care less" is used in American English. In British English it's "I couldn't care less".

Which one makes more sense?

That would depend on what kind of English he was speaking.

Seriously though, I think that they are both equally sensible.
My reasoning behind this is that you can not measure the amount of "caring" scientifically.

But, let's assume we can measure it; caring values at zero (0) in this case.
Now if you multiply that by a defined factor of "I could care less", call it 1.1 for 10% more caring, it still remains at zero.
Then again if you "couldn't care less" and we measure that with the same amount (times -1.1), it also remains at zero.

Thanks a million, helped a lot. Just one addition that I'm too ******ed to get across, if you could rephrase it for me that'd be great:

"This year I made a college soccer team and after two months I have been made captain of that team."

Also, is the "In other words, I'm a finisher." line a bit much?

I don't think it's too much.

Ok final draft, any suggestions? I've added bits here and there. Don't quite know what to write instead of fully avail.

The caring continuum explains it well:

Seems reasonable, but he did not actually care a lot to begin with (because he "left"), and depending on how you measure the increase/decrease in caring, you could end up with a negative number if you simply subtract from it, which is impossible if we take a scientific approach to this matter in the first place.

That's why I think you have to measure it by a value that is a decimal number, thus multipliable, to avoid having to deal with a "negative care".

@ finnianp: one really small thing - you finish the application with your name, but you don't introduce yourself with your name; is this common where you're from/common in the states?

Others (most of this is probably excessive nitpicking):

2nd paragraph: why are you passionate about it? Maybe put a personal goal or something that influenced you into getting into your subject here.

4th paragraph: the first sentence seems unnecessary to me. Why not scratch it and link the 2nd and 3rd sentence, as in: "US News and World Report rank Berkeley . . . therefore, I would jump at the chance . . ." Also, "literally jump" sounds a bit too colloquial for my taste, but again, it's a culture thing - you know this better than I do.

5th paragraph: Would change "but" back to "however".

8th paragraph: Does the information about your family really belong here? Seems somewhat inappropriate to me. Again, cultural thing - you know better. Also, I would change

"my ability to integrate into a new community and also contribute to it"

into

"my ability to integrate myself into a new community and contributing to it"

Last paragraph: I'd scratch the "to sum up".

I don't personally believe language can be accurately measured in scientific equations. If I think about it logically I think:

I could care less - I care at least somewhat, could definitely care a lot less.

I couldn't care less- I do not care at all, this is nothing to me.

Considering what the phrase means, or at least, is commonly used to mean (In British English at least) logically 'I couldn't care less' makes more sense.

Is any maths or science really necessary?

You can explain language scientifically on many levels. What you're referring to is just math, or, more clearly, grammatical negation.

I could care less means that you care some amount not equal to zero.

I could not care less means that you care zero.

I couldn't care less not only makes more sense; I could care less makes no sense at all in the context that it is often used. It has merely become somewhat accepted, just like double negatives, as in "I don't want no chicken for dinner".

Are we really having the I could care less discussion again?

"I could care less" is common in the US, but is considered incorrect by many people and thus best avoided in formal speech or if you are concerned about people thinking you're stupid.

I think "I could care less" stems from sarcastic phrases such as "as if I could care less".

We have had this discussion. There are few who claim that, but most of us believe it stems from stupidity, not sarcasm

I was just reading another thread and someone typed "segway" to describe some topical transition.

I was unaware of the correct "segue" but the picture of 2 people on Segways that followed prompted me to investigate. I feel rather dumb for never learning or realizing the error.

Well, just a matter of opinion really.
Just thought I'd try and see how it might compare. The British and the US people sometimes have these things going on because they have differences over a language thing.


I guess sarcasm was the vague point here in the first place.

Re: "Grammar" and "Punctuation" nit's unite! You're "head" will literally explode!

Was this intentional? The incorrect use of literally is far more annoying then grandma/spelling eras.

Um, yeah. I suppose they could have called the thread "'Grammar' and 'Punctuation' and 'Correct adverb usage' nit's unite..." to make that clearer, but it would have been a bit unweildy.

It's spelled "Grammer" imo.