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lets vs let's


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what is the phrasal verb for knife? | Just me and English
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lets vs let's Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:12 pm  lets vs let's
 

I've noticed that quite a few native speakers write "lets" when they mean "let's" in forum discussions. Is this due to sloppiness or are they not aware of the difference between "lets" and "let's"?
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lets vs let's Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:57 pm  lets vs let's
 

.
I don't know which of the 'quite a few native speakers' you're referring to, Tortsten, but the difference is clear to me. Wink
.
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lets vs let's Fri Apr 11, 2008 13:11 pm  lets vs let's
 

Though not the same, maybe the use of apostrophe is declining over all:

Quote:
The Possessive Apostrophe: The Development and Decline of a Crooked Mark

Sklar, Elizabeth S.


Abstract: Contends that the genitive apostrophe is losing its grammatical significance and its utility and will eventually be dropped. (DD)

Interesting to note also, from the same book, that in 1835, William Cobbet (A Grammar of the English Language.) said that the apostrophe of contraction was not "a mark of ellison but of laziness and vulgarity".

http://www.jstor.org/pss/376342

Times and language preferences, change.
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lets vs let's Fri Apr 11, 2008 13:36 pm  lets vs let's
 

All languages are bound to change. We just have to accept the fact and come to terms with it. There's no use being captious and denying the change outright.

This is probably the same feeling that some people might have had in the past when they realized that 'Did you eat yet?' started becoming popular. Some of them might have denounced it, but couldn't probably post it to a forum like this, and disdained people who used it. But now, such a usage is as natural as it gets (in the US, at least).

This might also be the same kind of feeling that some Latin scholars had when Bible was translated into English.

The SMS lingo would probably become the standard language in the future, not far from now. Dictionaries would probably call 'you' an archaic term for 'u'.
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lets vs let's Fri Apr 11, 2008 20:48 pm  lets vs let's
 

Hi Daemon,

Writing "lets" instead of "let's" or "wont" instead of "won't, "u" instead of "you" aren't examples of innovation but of sloppiness or laziness. None of these chatroom language errors will enter the dictionaries or become standard forms.
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lets vs let's Fri Apr 11, 2008 20:56 pm  lets vs let's
 

Hello,

Let's not forget this is a forum that lets non-native speakers' mistakes be eliminated.

Regards
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lets vs let's Sat Apr 12, 2008 0:55 am  lets vs let's
 

Torsten wrote:
Hi Daemon,

Writing "lets" instead of "let's" or "wont" instead of "won't, "u" instead of "you" aren't examples of innovation but of sloppiness or laziness. None of these chatroom language errors will enter the dictionaries or become standard forms.

I can't understand why you rant on so much about other people's mistakes, laziness, etc., Torsten. I've noticed, and pointed out, quite a few errors in your posts, but never seem you go back and edit them?
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lets vs let's Sun Apr 13, 2008 17:50 pm  lets vs let's
 

Hi Torsten,
Quote:
Hi Daemon,

Writing "lets" instead of "let's" or "wont" instead of "won't, "u" instead of "you" aren't examples of innovation but of sloppiness or laziness. None of these chatroom language errors will enter the dictionaries or become standard forms.

And what exactly would you call using 'color' instead of 'colour'? Why did it find its way into almost all the standard dictionaries?

What you call sloppiness or laziness might be convenience and ease of use for others. I know it's hard to accept, but lets see if these words will become standard forms or not.
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lets vs let's Mon Apr 14, 2008 15:12 pm  lets vs let's
 

I've seen Torsten-type people say that the English dialect forms below "aren't examples of innovation but of sloppiness or laziness":

He teached history at university.
He seed him in the market yesterday.
We buyed a new car last week.

But... the regularising of irregular verbs is common, and somewhat logical, for many dialect speakers.
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lets vs let's Mon Apr 14, 2008 17:35 pm  lets vs let's
 

Molly wrote:
He seed him in the market yesterday.
.

Frankly speaking, I had a hard time figuring what "seed" meant in the above sentence Smile . Tampering with English in this way is not welcomed, at least by me, because it puts up barriers on the way of the reader. (well, and if you start saying "siid" in leu of "sow", it would make it even harder for the listener to grasp the sense).
All in all, I don't understand why on eath it is so hard for some people to pound into their heads some 200 irregular verbs. Instead they start inventing dialects, just to wriggle out of learning proper English Wink
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lets vs let's Tue Apr 15, 2008 0:28 am  lets vs let's
 

Quote:
Frankly speaking, I had a hard time figuring what "seed" meant in the above sentence .

Not so for those who use it? I had a hard time figuring out what "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" meant till I had dinner with a bunch of lexicographers. Laughing

Quote:
Instead they start inventing dialects, just to wriggle out of learning proper English

Yeah, some even learned/t a dialect called Standard English just to be different. Razz

So, I guess you think we should all still be using "holp" and "holpen", right?
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lets vs let's Tue Apr 15, 2008 7:09 am  lets vs let's
 

Can we not use it interchangeably?
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lets vs let's Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:54 am  lets vs let's
 

Molly wrote:
So, I guess you think we should all still be using "holp" and "holpen", right?

Well, I wouldn't be against the idea. I hate it when things are too simple. Where's the challenge ? Wink
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lets vs let's Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:07 am  lets vs let's
 

Quote:
Where's the challenge?

In learning phrasal verbs, modal auxiliary use, etc. Wink
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lets vs let's Tue Jun 10, 2008 18:32 pm  lets vs let's
 

Actually, we aren't angels;evrybody makes mistakes ,but to insist on doing that is sloppiness or laziness. I agree with Torsten.If such sloppiness come from native speakers, who is the genuine reference to back to?
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