"there" or "their"

[fordman1]

My wife laughs at me because I pronounce "their" and it rhimes with "her"
"there" rhimes with "air" But I always use the right one in my posts.
Those rural Tennessee one room school houses for grades 1-2-3 really did it on this one.

Try that little trick before you type and you will get it right.

Just think of how smart I would be if I had went longer.

[Amyers]

I know I probably mess that up more than most thank you WV schools. If I sit back and think about it yeah I get it right most of the time unfortunately I'm capable of typing much faster than I can think LOL.

[RobLV1]

...and don't forget "they're"!

[fortheloveofbowling]

My wife laughs at me because I pronounce "their" and it rhimes with "her"
"there" rhimes with "air" But I always use the right one in my posts.
Those rural Tennessee one room school houses for grades 1-2-3 really did it on this one.

Try that little trick before you type and you will get it right.

Just think of how smart I would be if I had went longer.

Hey, i grew up in Kentucky so i understand you perfectly. Just like the 3 wise men were firemen....THEY TRAVELED FROM AFAR:)

[fordman1]

Others you will see mixed up frequently are Then and Than.

[Tony]

Your and You're

Don't forget ware wear and where or breaks and brakes.

As a car guy I'm amazed at all the people that put new breaks on their cars.

I'm not from the south so I wasn't aware of the story of the 3 firemen !

[billf]

I use to be part of the spelling and grammar police lol
I find it hard to let those easy mistakes go but have learned to do so. With auto-correct I can now blame that instead of thinking of people as either lazy or ignorant. Truth is, most of us were afforded the opportunity to learn all these words as young children but some were just too lazy to care. We all have some aspects of life that affect us that way but for me spelling always came easy.

[fordman1]

I agree Biff it just makes me laugh a little every time I see Their and There used wrong. Because of my one room school house learnin in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade I pronounce them differently. So never seem to get them wrong. English is a brutal language to learn.

I don't know a single person who has used Algebra since having to learn it in High School.
I know how to write in cursive. Which may be gone in a few years.

[larry mc]

im from jersey .. i drink cawfee in the morning sometimes tree cups lol

[larry mc]

oh and then i gotta use da terlit

[Midnight Cowboy66]

I believe it's the fault of the so called smart phones that use the words in the wrong context and causing people to go into a backwards learning curve. I know after I have typed it that it's wrong but just too damn lazy to correct it as a lot of others are too damn lazy also, Lol

[Tony]

I don't know a single person who has used Algebra since having to learn it in High School.


You must be joking ...?

I would be more willing to bet that every single person you know has used algebra.

Have you ever figured out your hourly and weekly pay, done landscaping, done painting, or figured out how much fertilizer to put on the lawn.

How about figuring out what you might earn on investments or interest.


Do you know anyone who is a bookkeeper, accountant, banker, engineer, worked in sales or marketing and many other jobs.

Then you know someone that has been using algebra ...

[fordman1]

Math into, and, times and take away.

[J Anderson]

You must be joking ...?

I would be more willing to bet that every single person you know has used algebra.

Have you ever figured out your hourly and weekly pay, done landscaping, done painting, or figured out how much fertilizer to put on the lawn.

How about figuring out what you might earn on investments or interest.


Do you know anyone who is a bookkeeper, accountant, banker, engineer, worked in sales or marketing and many other jobs.

Then you know someone that has been using algebra ...

Your first examples are basic arithmetic. As investment income or interest I would guess most just use an on-line calculator.

[Tony]

Your first examples are basic arithmetic. As investment income or interest I would guess most just use an on-line calculator.

I may not have included enough information, calculating payroll including taxes and withholding uses algebraic formula's.

When landscape architects design sites they typically use algebraic formula's.

Algebra, by the dictionary's definition, is essentially abstract arithmetic, letters and symbols representing relationships between groups, sets, matrices or fields. It's a way to find a piece to a puzzle using the pieces you already have in place.

Many of the basic problem solving skills people use are based on algebra. Breaking down a problem and looking at another way to solve it is an algebraic type function. Hence people use algebra without even know they were using it.
Probabilities is considered an algebra function, people use this all the time to decide things, even if all the calculations are done in their head.

[RobLV1]

When I was in school, I could never get how to figure out percentages until I took Algebra. To this day, I use algebra to figure out percentages and a lot of other things for that matter. To me, Algebra makes perfect sense of a lot of things. Now, Trigonometry.... that's a different animal! LOL

[fordman1]

Rob show me how to figure out percentages using algebra please. Isn't it just basic math? Don't they teach kids their multiplication tables anymore? I very seldom do any math that I can't do in my head. Or on a $5 Kmart calculator.

[AlexNC]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PzwnLzX4Z4A/VOH7nwzjCTI/AAAAAAAABiA/I4kJMsjEpBI/s1600/percentage.PNG

Even though we may not think of some of the daily tasks as algebra, they still are. The difference between algebra and arithmetic lies in the use of abstractions, like the symbols "x" or "p". This as opposed to writing out words and such.

[AlexNC]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PzwnLzX4Z4A/VOH7nwzjCTI/AAAAAAAABiA/I4kJMsjEpBI/s1600/percentage.PNG

Even though we may not think of some of the daily tasks as algebra, they still are. The difference between algebra and arithmetic lies in the use of abstractions, like the symbols "x" or "p". This as opposed to writing out words and such.

I should add, its not like I am thinking of solving for P when I find a percentage either.

[fordman1]

So if I have 3 quarters that is 75% of a dollar?
Use your alg. to figure this out
Tickets for a show are 1o cents for kids, 2 dollars for women and 5 dollars for men
How many men, women and kids went to the show if the ticket sales were $100?

If you have 50 coins in your pocket equal a dollar what are the coins? 2 answers.

[AlexNC]

So if I have 3 quarters that is 75% of a dollar?
Use your alg. to figure this out
Tickets for a show are 1o cents for kids, 2 dollars for women and 5 dollars for men
How many men, women and kids went to the show if the ticket sales were $100?

If you have 50 coins in your pocket equal a dollar what are the coins? 2 answers.

Tickets for a show are 1o cents for kids, 2 dollars for women and 5 dollars for men
How many men, women and kids went to the show if the ticket sales were $100?
a: I think there is a condition missing from this problem. There are multiple answers that would satisfy the question as written.


If you have 50 coins in your pocket equal a dollar what are the coins? 2 answers.
a: 45 pennies, a quarter, 2 dimes, 2 nickels -or- 40 pennies, 2 dimes, 8 nickels

[Tony]

Tickets for a show are 1o cents for kids, 2 dollars for women and 5 dollars for men
How many men, women and kids went to the show if the ticket sales were $100?
a: I think there is a condition missing from this problem. There are multiple answers that would satisfy the question as written.




If you have 50 coins in your pocket equal a dollar what are the coins? 2 answers.
a: 45 pennies, a quarter, 2 dimes, 2 nickels -or- 40 pennies, 2 dimes, 8 nickels


The total quantity of people attending the event must also be defined.

Then it leaves many possible solutions, so one of the other 3 quantities could be defined to limit the potential answers.

One way the solutions can be attained by using algebra.

Is today math riddle day at the bowling boards ?

[RobLV1]

To figure out the what percentage 25 is of 36, I would write the equation: 25/36 = X/100 and solve it to find the percentage.

[Tony]

Even if you feel there is no use for algebra, at least be glad that the fields of science and engineering have found it useful.

Without them, you might still be living in a cave, and hunting with a rock.

[Lt Tom]

Just found and read this thread. Two quick things;
Most of us do use Algebra and Geometry every day, even if we don't realize we're doing it.

I have pretty much learned to keep my hands off my keyboard on the there/their, your/you're thing, even though it is one of my pet peeves. The hardest one is one you see every day if you read many news or YouTube comments; "Your an idiot!" SO hard to resist that one.......

[NewToBowling]

There/their/they're and your/you're I can deal with

I have problems with effect/affect and then/than

[NewToBowling]

To figure out the what percentage 25 is of 36, I would write the equation: 25/36 = X/100 and solve it to find the percentage.

Too much thinking. I just take out my smartphone :)

[RobLV1]

Too much thinking. I just take out my smartphone :)

Too little thinking... the outcome is obvious!

[fordman1]

Alex got the coins correct.

The other is 70 kids $7.00
19 women $38.00
11 men $55.00
$100.00

[fordman1]

Got another question for the smart people on this site.
Why is it

Strong as "an" Ox?
and
Strong as "a" Bull?

[Tony]

Use a before words that start with a consonant sound and an before words that start with a vowel sound.

It's the sound, not the actual letter that determines it.

Source: Purdue OWL / rules of grammar

[fordman1]

Isn't the English (American) language confusing? Is the English they speak in England the same? I know watching a movie with British accents gives me a head ache.

[RobLV1]

Here's a question that I used to ask my middle school students in English class: we all know that the vowels are a,e,i,o,u, and sometimes Y. Here's the question: how many of you know when the letter Y is a vowel, and when it's not?

[Tony]

The English language is pretty complex and has some conflicting rules on certain items, being a native speaker probably helps considerably,
but many people still use some words incorrectly.
Other English speaking countries usually have some variations in syntax, pronunciation, and even words used, this is also the case in different regions within the same country. A person from the southern US has a distinctly different accent than someone from the Northeast who are a little different from the midwest or west coast.
Non native speakers often transfer the subject and verb as that's a common sentence structure in many other languages.

( reply to Fordman1's English comment )

[Tony]

Here's a question that I used to ask my middle school students in English class: we all know that the vowels are a,e,i,o,u, and sometimes Y. Here's the question: how many of you know when the letter Y is a vowel, and when it's not?

I know.

[fordman1]

I don't know. I do know that over the years the actual meaning of many words changed so much they would not make sense today.