A big mistake I see a lot is we're vs. were, or were vs. where. When did they become the same?
I don't know if it's grammar so much as vocabulary choice and general retardation by copying what others say, but some of my students say "mines" instead of "mine". For example, Me- "Whose paper is this? There's no name on it." Student- "That's mines."
I always correct them and I'm the French teacher for heaven's sake. Depending on my mood I might add something snarky like, "It's mine, not mines. Mines are for extracting diamonds and coal."
Someone already mentioned another of mine, a lot. My MIL does "alot" in emails and it drives me up the wall. She even tried to tell me that it was acceptable. Ummm, no.
Also, just have to ask, but does anyone else(teachers or others) out there notice a severe lack of code-switching with the youth today? (man this makes me feel old) There was a way I spoke in front of my elders and a way I spoke in front of my friends. Some of my students don't seem to understand you don't just swear up a storm in front of your teacher, use the n word (which I don't allow at all) or other insults in front of your teachers. A good portion of them basically just act the way they act all the time in front of adults. Kind of scary.
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