So I am sure many people have noticed the back board in LA labeled "Unforgivables"...Lidia guessed that this is where I plan on hanging the student work that is so atrocious that the creation of it is an unforgivable act, one that must be made public so all can see the horror of it. She wasn't far from the truth. I will certainly not use the board to single out "unforgivable" work, but it will be a place where I can post those things that are unforgivable in our LA class. First on the agenda...Countable versus Mass Nouns
Knowing the difference between a countable and a mass noun helps the writer determine what "number" adjective to use in front of it. This is important for these cases...much, many, less, fewer.
You would never say "How much pens do you have in your bag?" This is because pens are a COUNTABLE noun. Countable nouns use the adjectives many and fewer.
For example:
How many pens do you have?
I have four pens. (pens are countable, see?)
Oh, you have fewer pens than I do. (again, pens can be counted)
Some nouns you can only determine MASS for. You would not tell me how MANY water is in the lake, you would tell me how much water there is....you can determine mass, not number.
Example:
How much money do you have? (money is mass not countable)
I have a lot.
Oh, I have less money than you then.
What gets confusing is that some things are mass nouns that can be made up of countable nouns...try this one:
How much money do you have? (mass)
I have five dollars. (countable)
I have fewer dollars than you (countable)
Then you also have less money than me. (mass)
Therefore our first unforgivable error as writers is the confusion of countable and mass nouns when it comes to counting...no finished piece will be accepted if it contains such an error.
19 comments:
Countable and mass nouns come easily to me when I'm not thinking about them, but become trickier when I try to explain or think about them. I've heard people say, "How much pencils do you have?" and it doesn't make them sound smart. I sometimes use "less" with countable nouns, like, "I have less pencils than you."
Thinking about an unforgivible makes me frightened, becauseif i do use an unforgivable i can get a zero on the asignment. Also at the same time i think that it will make my writing grammatically correct. Also it makes me sound smart which is always a good thing.
I like this unforgivable idea because it helps me with my grammer. Even if I get a zero, I will most definitely learn from my "unforgivable" mistake! Overall, this system may not be great for my grade, but it will make me a better writer.
This teaches me to not make those mistakes. There are many times that I almost make those mistakes. before it just didn't sound right now i know how to tell the diffrence
This unforgivable error idea is a great way to get peoples grammar better. I like this even if I get a zero. This will me me and everyone else better writers. Sometimes I hear people use less the wrong way. They will say something like "There is less peices of paper there". It sounds different than "There are fewer peices of paper". It sounds different because it is obviously wrong.
Like Bailey, I also use mass and countable nouns correctly when I'm not thinking about them. Once I started write my sentences with the right/wrong nouns, I second guessed myself and became very confused. I concluded that mass and countable nouns are easier when you don't think about them, or try to purposely use them incorrectly.
*grammar*
mr. horvath i dont really get the unforgivables if u can explane them in class that would be grate
Countable and mass nouns are good to know because then you won't sound stupid when you say the wrong sentence.
I like the unforgivables because it teaches us the right way to talk and write. It bothers me when I am somewhere and I here someone say the word in the wrong way. I think everbody should learn them. But it will take some time to get used to. Like you mite put it the wrong way. So if you do that in a story or something I don't think you should get a lot of points off maybe only some because they might not have ment to.
I think this is a good idea but it also nakes me very nervous when I hand in work or recieve it because i might have made and "Unforgivable" by mistake. But it will help me learn and become a better writer so i guess it will be worth it.
I completely agree with the anonymous right before me, and most of the other people who wrote prior to me. The unforgivable mistakes make me nervous but I am also thankful for them. I am scared that I will get a zero for something that I accidently missed when going over my work, but then having to fix it so I will receive a better grade will make me a better writer.
i like the unforgivables errors because i am not very good at grammer and this gives me a chance to improve my grammer errors. i dont want to make an unforgivable error on one of my papers so i always check to see if I have an unforgivable errors in my paper before i hand it in.
I think the unforgivable errors will be useful in the class. This is bcause if someone makes a mistake or even if they dont, they will always look over their work. If someone does make a mistake and doesnt correct it, they will learn to check over their answers.
This post is old so there are lot more unforgivable errors now then there were. Most are fair and some aren't. The Mass and Countable thing is okay because it's a bad mistake but it must be a pet peeve for Mr. Horvath otherwise he would have under something not by itself. Glaring spelling errors is good because it punishes the lazy people who just hit spell check and don't read over their work. Format is complete baloney and that's putting it nicely. We should be able to use what ever format we want. Okay it's fine to limit some text like symbols and sloppy cursive. There is no problem with normal letters in a different style. Personally I think Word Art adds a little life to the paper so it stinks that it’s banned.
I think being aware of the unforgivable errors will make us better writers. Sometimes we write things and they sound right but we don't always know the rule or why we do it. These will help prepare us for High School. I am nervous that I will make a mistake because old habits are hard to break. I will try my best not to commit one (unforgivable sounds so harsh!)
I think that some unforgivables are a little crazy and out there but most of them will help us improve your writing and make us a better writers’ also I don’t really like how if we commit one we get a zero but in another way I think that it makes us proofread our writing better and make us more aware.
I like having unforgivables. They help me learn to write better and correct myself. Some unforgivables though I never really noticed that I had been doing in my writing pieces, but now that they are brought to my attention, I have noticed that unforgivables really are essential for good writing.
The unforgivables are helping me hand in my work with less mistakes every time. They also make me proofread my work a couple times to makes sure I have no unforgivables in there.
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