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The 'is' refers to the act of using, not the two things. It is certainly a complete sentence, it has a noun and a verb, along with several other things.

 

I am not that incredibly nitpicky, but when you can't even understand what someone is trying to say there is a problem. Because of the spelling and grammar issues, people can't figure out what redarrow is trying to do.

Umm, sorry to be anal, such and all, but I meant the other "is."

 

"This is why grammar and spelling are important."

 

And it still seems like an incomplete sentence.  Perhaps if you change "This" to "That," although, I think it's the lesser of the two evils.  It is more like the thought, rather than the sentence, makes it incomplete.  What you should have written was something like this (example to illustrate my point):

 

"Communication is very tricky; that is why grammar and spelling are important."

 

or

 

"Grammar and spelling are important because communication is very tricky."

 

or

 

"It is examples such as this that make grammar and spelling important."

 

or, etc..

 

 

 

 

You're not only anal, but pedantic. You're completely missing the point, however I must defend my sentence.

 

You're correct in that "This is why grammar and spelling are important."  is a grammatically correct sentence. But I didn't say "This is why grammar and spelling is important." I said "This is why using proper grammar and spelling is important."

 

The second IS which you keep replacing with ARE is referring to the ACT of USING. Not the two items which are being used.

Example:

"Bikes and horses are fun." <-- right

"Bikes and horses is fun" <-- wrong

"Riding bikes and horses are fun" <-- wrong

"Riding bikes and horses is fun" <-- right.

I'm not missing the point at all.  I understand the importance of using proper grammar and spelling to accurately communicate with people.  I just thought it a bit funny and ironic that you would jump down his case for improper grammar and spelling, when you yourself don't do it.

I didn't jump down anyone's case - I was trying to explain to Ted why most people think redarrow wants to host the site, not license it. I normally spell check my posts, and I do make an effort to write coherently. Yes, it's always ironic when someone says something like "Nice Grammer Moron" or something, and we all laugh at "Grammer". I didn't do that - what I wrote was spelled correctly and makes sense grammatically, as I showed in my posts, and you seem to be unwilling to admit it.

 

Where have I made a post so incoherent that people have to decipher it to figure out what I was asking? That would be ironic, if I made posts like the one redarrow did, and then made fun of him for it. I didn't make fun of anyone here, I tried to explain what I thought he was saying and point out why it was difficult for him to get help. If anyone's "jumping down someone's case" here, it's you.

 

This is off-topic now, so I'm done.

jesirose has requested that I explain to everybody that her sentence was in fact right, because she feels some of you may be too stupid to realize it, and therefore might actually believe my accusations against her sentence and somehow "look down" on her, or something. 

 

I was just having a bit of fun with jesirose. I honestly thought that that would have been pretty obvious to anybody who cares, but apparently jesirose was not amused, so I'm sorry for "poking" at you jesirose. 

 

I also thought that my little "exchange" between you and I would have helped you realize something: pointing out people's lack of grammar and spelling skills serves no purpose in life except for to make them feel bad and make you look anal, and well, all those other big words you called me. It doesn't really matter who is right.  Does it really solve the problem at hand?

 

I hope that you look at all the anger you have felt towards this little banter, and think about how it makes other people feel when you do it to them, because be honest, you do have a hangup about grammar and spelling. 

As I said before, I'm not angry. You can't tell what I'm feeling because all you can see is the words I type. You might interpret it as me being angry, just as many people would interpret your "poking fun" as genuine arguing. You told me you knew all along I was right and yet just wanted to start an argument - and that's what you got. Yet you seem surprised when people are angry or offended. I am simply no longer interested in chit-chatting with you over IM, as all you ever seem to do is try to insult me and anger me. You spend so much effort trying to upset people and you call it fun, yet you're telling me to think about how I make other people feel. When people get offended at things I say, it's normally an accident - there are some people who I don't like and might purposefully be mean to, but usually I'm simply trying to help them and I just lack tact. You on the other hand are purposefully "joking" in a manner which can easily be mistaken for genuine malice.

 

You can take what I said about redarrow's grammar to be an insult. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me, as I wasn't talking to you. If he was insulted, he can feel bad about it, or he can realize that I never said "Redarrow is a moron who can't spell", but that I said spelling correctly can make your point clearer. People often get offended by people pointing out their mistakes - that isn't what I was trying to do. When I correct someone's grammar, it's usually to try to figure out what they were saying. Or I think English isn't their first language and in that case, they just simply don't know. If someone corrected my Spanish or German, I would try to remember the correction, not get angry or offended. There is only one person on this forum I have purposefully insulted because of their grammar, but I insulted them for other things too.

 

Yes, I do think there are people here who might be too stupid to realize that I was right in the first place, just as there are some who are "too stupid" to realize your jokes are jokes. All of your "jokes" towards me involve insulting and what you call "poking fun", which isn't usually fun for both people. It's fun for you, but not for me, so I asked you to admit that you were joking.

 

You keep trying to act like you know so much about me, that you can somehow tell what my emotions are by my "big words". I don't know you, and you don't know me. I simply know the way you have talked to me recently isn't very friendly and never funny. I'm tired of it so I told you to f- off. Does that mean I'm "red in the face" and going to seriously go cry? No, it means I'm going to stop messaging you and ignore your "jokes", instead of considering you someone I enjoy talking to.

Not applicable to the recent posts, but still on-topic and humorous:

 

Seen in a mailing list:

 

greenrd's law:

        Evey post disparaging someone else's spelling or grammar, or lauding

        one's own spelling or grammar, will inevitably contain a spelling or

        grammatical error.

 

And, these words applicable to the recent posts:

 

A thread this long about the proper use of "is" and "are" is surely overkill.

A thread this long about the proper use of "is" and "are" is surely overkill.

Actually, it is are surely overkill.

 

:D

 

I hate to do it, but actually, the correct word is "is".

 

"is" is a linking verb, linking the subject (A thread this long) with the subject complement (overkill), which modifies the subject.

 

This sentence is the same as the original, but with the adjectival phrase "about the proper use of 'is' and 'are'" removed.

 

"A thread this long is surely overkill." It certainly doesn't work to use "are" in this situation - "A thread this long are surely overkill." See? :)

This thread is more than a year old. Please don't revive it unless you have something important to add.

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