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Tue 13 Oct, 2009 07:45 pm
Mo was having problems with his spelling homework and I was trying to help him.
Many of the words were things like "happier" or "sillier" and "sorriest".
I told him to think about the root word -- happy, silly, sorry -- to listen for the long e sound and to think about if it was spelled with an "e" or a "y".
If it was a "y", you change the "y" to "i" and add an "er" or an "est".
I know that all rules of English grammar and spelling are broken (i before e, except after c or when it sounds like an a like in neighbor or weigh or some weird **** like that).
While taking my shower I tried to come up with words that broke the rule but my mind is crappy, crappier, crappiest, this time of night.
I know there has to be a word that breaks the rule!
Please tell me what it/they is/are!
Thanks!
gay, gayer, gayest?
gray, grayer, grayest?
Those seem to work.
This is driving me nuts.
play, player...... no such thing as playest....
fray, frayer..... rats......
@boomerang,
I think the ...er and ...est works only for adjectives that's why play (is a verb), player (is a noun)... and playest doesn't exist.
gay, gayer, gayest are all adjectives.
@tsarstepan,
Can you think of any others?
Seriously, it took me an hour to come up with "gay" and "gray".
Is there any reason that they are treated differently -- why it isn't gaier and graiest?
How does anyone ever learn English!?
player and grayer don't work because they end in a vowel-y combo instead of a consonant-y combo.
@boomerang,
But gay and Gray don't end in a long e sound.
@littlek,
So if there is a vowel before the "y" then the rule isn't the rule?
Baby, you're the ginchiest.
I gave up on the English language long ago.
@boomerang,
many - there is no "ier" or "est" in it.
How about merry - as in be merry, carry, reply are other words.
BREAK THE RULE of non-fonetic spelling!
Stand up for Mo 's right to spell foneticly,
as he woud if he were a Spaniard.
David
@CalamityJane,
But merrier observes the rule.
@contrex,
Por que it makes life easier.
@OmSigDAVID,
Quote:Por que it makes life easier.
Some people find complication stimulating and challenging; dumbing down to the LCD may have bad as well as good consequences.
@contrex,
contrex wrote:
Quote:Por que it makes life easier.
Some people find complication stimulating and challenging; dumbing down to the LCD may have bad as well as good consequences.
By that reassoning, for the benefit of those people,
we shoud interfere with smoothly organized systems
to introduce unnecessary troubles n inconveniences.
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