# Non English Grammar Pet Peeves **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 18, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800 "2019-02-18T22:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/1 "2019-02-18T22:45:22Z")
Grammar nerds who speak other languages, What are the things that people say or write that annoy you, in your own language? Do you really wish people would use the subjunctive or put nouns in the proper case? Misspelled words that grate on you? Feel free to vent about any and all grammar bugaboos…as long as they don’t involve English ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/2 "2019-02-18T22:54:30Z")
Tangentially related - I hate it when people don’t have the respect to learn how to pronounce people’s names correctly, or at least a reasonable approximation if there are difficult phonemes. There’s no excuse now when it takes a few seconds to check on the internet. And worse, to make a joke of it if someone’s name sounds a bit like some funny word in English. It’s not funny, it incredibly disrespectful, and it makes you look like a parochial ignoramus. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/3 "2019-02-19T18:52:36Z")
Norwegian: The possessive does not use an apostrophe! Å and og are different words, with different meanings, and it’s not that difficult to use the right one. “I forhold til” means “compared to”, people using it all over the place as an, often entirely unnecessary, “with regards to” are idiots. Never split up a noun! “stekepanne” means “(a) frying pan”, “steke panne” means “frying (a) pan”. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/4 "2019-02-20T14:28:26Z")
> [@](#): > > The possessive does not use an apostrophe! I would guess that it is interference from English ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/5 "2019-02-20T18:53:10Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Norwegian: > > The possessive does not use an apostrophe! Same for German (see my username). We call it the “Deppenapostroph” or "idiot’s apostrophe, as in “Gaby’s Nagelstudio” (Gaby’s nail salon) or “Hugo’s Imbiss” (Hugo’s takeaway). Shudder, I hate it. [There’s even a website fighting it](http://www.deppenapostroph.info/). Another grating error 50% of the people make: correct: “größer als” (bigger than) and “so groß wie” (as big as), NOT “größer wie” or “so groß als”. Aaargh, I even hate to type these monstrosities. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/6 "2019-02-20T19:08:25Z")
Spanish: _hay_: verbal form. “There is”. _ay_: either I’m hurting or I’m singing flamenco. _ahí_: over there. Any other version: wrong, wrong, wrong. _haber_: verb of which _hay_ is a conjugated form. “To have”, both by itself and as an auxiliary verb. If you can switch it with _tener que_ (must) or if removing makes the phrase sound like it got shot by a 45 at close range, it’s this one. _a ver_: let’s see. If you can switch it with _veamos_ (we’ll see), it’s this. _Dequeísmo_: an error which involves using “_de que_” where “_de_” or “_que_” would actually be the correct form. Thankfully it’s a relatively recent development which appears to have been short-lived, probably due to how many people would react violently upon encountering it in the wild. “_De que_” is actually correct when the “_que_” plus everything it carries on its back can be switched by “_algo_” (something). _Me informaron de que vendrías_: I was told that you would come. _Me informaron de algo_: I was told something. Correct. _Creo de que esta comida está muy buena_: I reckon that of this here meal is real good. _Creo de algo_: I was asleep during class. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/7 "2019-02-20T20:30:08Z")
Not sure if it’s a grammar issue but redundant statements like : “Hace 20 años atras” Which could be translated as “20 years ago back” I suppose. It is “Hace 20 años” or “20 años atras” nothing can have happened “20 años adelante”!. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/8 "2019-02-20T21:06:05Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > I would guess that it is interference from English Yup. I think splitting up nouns is influenced by English as well. Although to be fair, we do use the apostrophe the same way as in English for the possessive form of nouns ending in s, but that is almost exclusively names, since we don’t have a plural s and form definite forms with suffixes -en, -et, -a, -ene. ---
**Author:** ![HeiLo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@HeiLo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeiLo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/9 "2019-02-20T21:53:55Z")
I am somewhat irritated when people construct a subordinate clause after "weil“ as if they where using "denn“, i.e. not putting the verb at the end. And I’m really, really annoyed whenever I see or hear "In (Jahreszahl)“. The correct way is "Im Jahr(e) (Jahreszahl)“! Possibly interference from English as well. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/10 "2019-02-22T18:14:52Z")
Another German one that seems to be exploding lately: double participles. “Ich habe es _gesehen gehabt_.” Argh! Lit. “I have had seen it”. Sounds like some process of creolization to this linguistically aware individual. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/11 "2019-02-22T18:49:22Z")
In French : confusing the **-é / - ée / -er / -ez** endings. Yes, I know, they all sound the same. But getting them wrong when you write results in something that is either meaningless or misleading. No matter what, it’s always a sign of unforgivable carelessness in my opinion. Case in point around 2001, I was walking past a bar on the window of which the owner had plastered a note that said : “_La direction se réserve le droit d’entr **er** _” instead of the correct “_La direction se réserve le droit d’entr **ée** _” (The management reserves the right of admission). It went nuts as soon as I saw it. Until I paused and realized that, as it was written, it could be understood as “The management reserves the right of coming in” and I burst out laughing imagining the owner standing in front of the entrance, shuffling their feet and muttering “Watch out : I may allow myself to enter my own bar !” Also awful, using the conditional after “si” (if) : “Si je serais riche” (= If I would be rich) :mad: or using the wrong auxilliary with motion verbs “J’ai tombé” (no real equivalent in English but “I am falled” instead of “I have fallen” gives you an approximation of that horror) :mad: . ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/12 "2019-02-22T21:01:27Z")
> [@](#): > > or using the wrong auxilliary with motion verbs “J’ai tombé” (no real equivalent in English but “I am falled” instead of “I have fallen” gives you an approximation of that horror) . A few times I have heard native French speakers say “J’ai allé”, which sounds strange even to me, with my middling knowledge of the language. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-grammar-pet-peeves/829800/13 "2019-02-23T08:13:27Z")
Well, then your knowledge of French isn’t “middling” but quite sound actually 😉 . “J’ai allé”, like “J’ai tombé” isn’t just strange, it’s pure cringe. I must admit I don’t remember hearing the former. However, “J’ai tombé” is surprisingly frequent among native speakers. Just horrendous.