Possession "their" rules?

Rule “their” (Own):
I understand there is a rule when it comes to the word, “own.”

Example:
It is there own life. --------> It is their own life.

Possession “their” Rule:
I do not quite understand why a “possession their rule” does not exist. The word “there” and “their” are mixed up 95% of the time when it comes to possession.

The rules would probably be like:

there + object = their + object

to + there + place = to + their + place

verb + there = verb + their

there + person = their + person/creature

Examples:
It was there car. -------> It was their car. (their + object)
He went to there meeting. ---------> He went to their meeting. (to + their + place )
She envied there nice house. --------> She envied their nice house. (verb + their)
There car was destroyed in the accident. --------> Their car was destroyed in the accident. (their + object)
She yells at there son. -------> She yells at their son. (their + person/creature)
She yells at there dog. -------> She yells at their dog. (their + person/creature)
She yells at there germs. -------> She yells at their germs. (their + person/creature)

Note: If this is helpful, then let me know. I got more rule suggestions. I am okay at grammar, but make mistakes like everyone else.

Thanks for the ideas. Actually, all these examples are already detected, not by a pattern like “… + there”, but by statistics. You can try it on https://languagetool.org. To make this work locally, you’d need the ngram data, as documented at Finding errors using n-gram data - LanguageTool Wiki.

Although that is a great LanguageTool feature, most users of the offline tool do not make use of it and having n-gram data is not feasible with a standard HDD. Since the inception of the rule prioritization, this stopped being a problem.
We could create redundant sets of rules, and make the n-gram rules always take priority.

Whoa! The n-gram data 8.3 gb compressed!

It does not detect the following on the online checker. to/too

to + length measurement ------> too + length measurement

It was to long ago. --------> It was too long ago. (too + length measurement)
It was to distant in the past. --------> It was too distant in the past. (too + length measurement)

Although, it is detecting “to” when relating to a few words or words not related to length in measurement, but far works.

It was to far. ------------> It was too far.
He was to fast. ---------> He was too fast.
He was to fat. ------------ > He was too fat.

The reported to/too problem (It was to long ago. It was to distant in the past.) should now be fixed with this commit

1 Like

That was fast.

The online tool has problems with “you’re / you are” and “your”.

Example:

Did you know that your nice? --------------> Did you know that you’re nice? or Did you know that you are nice? (Depends on formal or informal writing.)

Your not a nice man. ---------------> You are / you’re not a nice man.

They obviously are not the definition of nice. This error happens a lot when someone types, “your gay.”

Hi @ezeric,

have just added another rule for the your/you’re errors you have found. The new rules should be effective tomorrow. Thanks!

The following errors are detected:
Your welcome!
Your beautiful.
Did you know that your beautiful?
Your not a nice man.
Your a great guy!
Your the nicest girl on earth!

1 Like

Added another rule for “there vs.their”. This turned out to be more difficult. Therefore, not all errors are detected.

2 Likes

This is excellent Knorr. Many thanks for the excellent additions. Best regards.

@tiagosantos Thank you! Glad that I could help

1 Like

@Knorr Wow! I will see what else I can find.

@Knorr

Quite a bit of “its/it’s/it is” rules work (I am super impressed!), but the following examples do not. I am not sure if this will help, but “its” can be interchanged with her/his. “its/his/her” are possessors (owners).

its/it’s/it is
0. I can see it’s eyes. --------> I can see its eyes.

  1. Its been raining for a week, and now its starting to snow
    ----> It’s been raining for a week, and now it’s starting to snow

  2. I’m astounded by people who want to know the universe when its so hard to find your way around Chinatown.
    — > I’m astounded by people who want to know the universe when it’s so hard to find your way around Chinatown.

  3. Constant company wears out it’s welcome. ----> Constant company wears out its welcome.

  4. The ghost of Kneller Hall? It’s a true story, I tell you. No one has ever seen it’s body, but, last Tuesday, one man heard it’s wailing voice all night long.
    ----> The ghost of Kneller Hall? It’s a true story, I tell you. No one has ever seen its body, but, last Tuesday, one man heard its wailing voice all night long.

  5. Looking at the weather, I think it’s the right time for the company to release it’s summer campaign - before its too late.
    ---->Looking at the weather, I think it’s the right time for the company to release its summer campaign - before it’s too late.

  6. Well, its got to be true. ------> Well, it’s got to be true.

Note: it’s - a contraction of “it is” or “it has.”

him/she

Errors for, “him/she.”

Look at she legs. --------> Look at her legs.
Look at him legs. --------> Look at his legs.
Her has him mind in she hands. --------> She has his mind in her hands.

1 Like

just a little nitpick: 0 could also be:
I can see it’s ‘eyes’. Which (if not referring to an eye-equivalent) is more properly put as: I can see that it’s ‘eyes’.

@ezeric: Thank you for your contribution. I have added several rules (+ addition): Except for “him mind” → “his mind” all errors are detected. The changes will be effective tomorrow and will be part of the next release.

W.r.t. “him mind” → “his mind”: The difficulty is that in some sentences this grammatical construction is correct: “She makes him do the dishes” / “The club has him second in the all-time goals”

1 Like

@Knorr You are the best!

Here are some more for you. I will be sending you errors over time.

To show possession:

dog’s toys = singular (one dog)
dogs’ toys = plural (more than one dog)

Sarahs’ cat jumped over a rainbow.
-----> Sarah’s cat jumped over a rainbow.

The five dog’s toys got trapped under a board.
----->The five dogs’ toys got trapped under a board.

In temporal (or time) expressions:
A days’ leave ------->A day’s leave

adverse vs averse:

This rule is detected well, but it does not detect the following.

Adverse = hostile
Averse = unwilling

Are you adverse to eating horse meat?
---->Are you averse to eating horse meat?

eludes vs alludes:

Half of the time this rule is detected. Here are the errors I found.

eludes = directly dodge
alludes = indirectly dodge

Peter Beardsley used to allude defenders with his trademark foot shuffle.
----->Peter Beardsley used to elude defenders with his trademark foot shuffle.

Her failure to allude the school bullies is evident.
----->Her failure to elude the school bullies is evident.

William alluded discovery by changing his name to Mark.
------>William eluded discovery by changing his name to Mark.

After running out the court room, he spent three years alluding the police.
------>After running out the court room, he spent three years eluding the police.

Alter vs altar:

Alter is corrected every time when mistaken with altar, but not the other way around. Language tool says alter is wrong, but does not suggest altar.

altar = religious statue
alter = to modify

He prayed at a alter. ------> He prayed at a altar.
He prayed at the alter. ------> He prayed at the altar.
He danced around the alter. -----> He danced around the altar
He worshiped the alter. ------> He worshiped the altar

We were married at the alter in St Paul’s Cathedral.
-------> We were married at the altar in St Paul’s Cathedral.

Have you seen the water damage to the alter in St. John’s Church?
------>Have you seen the water damage to the altar in St. John’s Church?

Take them to the alter and sharpen my knife.
------->Take them to the altar and sharpen my knife.

You cannot stand at the alter like that.
-------->You cannot stand at the altar like that.

Thank you again, @ezeric! I have added another set of rules:

  • adverse vs. averse: now detected
  • eludes vs alludes: now detected
  • alter vs. altar: It turned out we already had a rule for this pair of words - which was masked by another rule. (This means this grammatical error already raised an error in LT). I have modified the rules so that there is no overlap an the more specific error message appears.
  • A days’ leave: This very specific combination of words raises an error now.
  • To show possession: I could not come up with a satisfying set of rules. I always check new rules against 600.000 sample sentences: There are various exceptions (Seven Years’ War, a three weeks’ holiday, 20 dollars’ worth) Sorry!
1 Like

@Knorr That is okay. Possession rules are probably the hardest. You are still the best! The good news is that I found more errors for you.

coarse vs course

coarse = rough texture

course = Course has many meanings

Students who attend:

You have been an excellent coarse.
------>You have been an excellent course.

Direction:

A southerly coarse.
----->A southerly course

Events:

A coarse of action.
------>A course of action

Hunting:

To coarse after hares.
-------> To course after hares.

Sports land area:

Skiing coarse
----> Skiing course

Other:

A badger’s fur is more course than it looks.
------> A badger’s fur is more coarse than it looks.

The coarse of true love never did run smooth.
------> The course of true love never did run smooth.

defuse vs diffuse

defuse - means to deactivate a bomb and figuratively to dsarm or to pacify.

diffuse - to spread out or circulate.

How long did it take you to diffuse the bomb?
-----> How long did it take you to defuse the bomb?

Paul, go back in the meeting and diffuse all the arguing.
-----> Paul, go back in the meeting and defuse all the arguing.

I need speakers that will defuse my music around the whole arena.
—> I need speakers that will diffuse my music around the whole arena.

imply vs infer

imply - state indirectly

infer - to deduce

His speech on transitioning to today’s needs strongly infers that the typist pool will be made redundant.
------>His speech on transitioning to today’s needs strongly implies that the typist pool will be made redundant.

Would I like a pack of mints? What are you inferring? I don’t have bad breath, do I?
------>Would I like a pack of mints? What are you implying? I don’t have bad breath, do I?

The reader can easily imply that Sarah needs the money but is too proud to ask for charity.
-----> The reader can easily infer that Sarah needs the money but is too proud to ask for charity.

Am I right to imply you think my team removed the safety valve? Is that what you’re inferring?
----->Am I right to infer you think my team removed the safety valve? Is that what you’re implying?

hi, @ezeric: It’s getting more and more difficult :slight_smile:. I have added some rules (commit 1 and commit 2)
Most of the “diffuse vs. defuse” and “coarse vs. course” should be detected. However, I could not come up with good rules for the “infer vs. imply”-problem.
To understand this, you have to understand how LT works. In LT, a rule consists of a group of words or part of speech (noun, adjective, etc.) that LT then marks as an error.
In the case of “diffuse vs. defuse”, it is easy to write a rule that searches for "diffuse" followed by “bomb(s)”. Of course, more complicated rules are possible. In the “infer vs. imply”-case, I could not identify a general pattern.

1 Like

@Knorr I was thinking the same thing with “infer vs imply.” I thought it would be difficult to detect or make rules for that. I am mostly just reporting the most common errors that are made grammar wise. Maybe a future LT could make use of them.

I discovered more errors and these might be the trickier ones.

Apostrophes to Show Possession

The fairies wings glistened in the moonlight.
----> The fairies’ wings glistened in the moonlight.

The horses hay is damp.
----> The horses’ hay is damp.

The ladies toilets are out of bounds.
----> The ladies’ toilets are out of bounds.

Plural exception rules:

My watch was stolen from the men changing room.
----> My watch was stolen from the men’s changing room.

All television is childrens television.
----> All television is children’s television.

Singular exception to the Rule:

Singular words like Charles, Wales, Paris, Dickens can end with ’ or 's when showing possession. (My God English! Why are you so mean when it comes to possession?!?!)

It is Charles birthday. ----> It is Charle’s birthday. or It is Charles’ birthday.

Phrases - singular or plural

A box of nails are under the stairs.
----> A box of nails is under the stairs.

(box is singular)

The boxes of nails is under the stairs.
-----> The boxes of nails are under the stairs.

(boxes = plural)

A combination of factors were the cause of the crash.
----> A combination of factors was the cause of the crash.

(combination is singular)

A combination of factors are the cause of the crash.
----> A combination of factors is the cause of the crash.

(is/are and was/were can be interchanged)

principal vs principle

principal = teacher/head/main/key

principle = belief/theory/code/law

The principle objective is to make a profit.
------> The principal objective is to make a profit.

The inspector highlighted my principle concern in his opening sentence.

----> The inspector highlighted my principal concern in his opening sentence.

Here comes the principle.
-----> Here comes the principal.

The allegations against the former principle were that he not only allowed the cage fights to take place, but he also he egged on the participants.
-----> The allegations against the former principal were that he not only allowed the cage fights to take place, but he also he egged on the participants.

No! It is against my principals!
---->No! It is against my principles!

Those are my principal. If you don’t like them, I have others.
---->Those are my principle. If you don’t like them, I have others.

You are the principle culprit behind these misdemeanors. Go and stand outside Principle Beckett’s office. You need to re-evaluate your principals.
------>You are the principal culprit behind these misdemeanors. Go and stand outside Principal Beckett’s office. You need to re-evaluate your principles.

Your low profile and out-of-touch principals are the principal areas for us to develop.
----->Your low profile and out-of-touch principles are the principal areas for us to develop.

precede vs proceed

To precede means to come before (usually in time).
To proceed means to go forwards or to continue.

King George VI proceeded Queen Elizabeth II.
---->King George VI preceded Queen Elizabeth II.

The professor will proceed the first lecture with his opening remarks.
---->The professor will precede the first lecture with his opening remarks.

The flight simulator is unable to replicate the airframe shudder that proceeds the stall.
---->The flight simulator is unable to replicate the airframe shudder that precedes the stall.

Strong convictions always proceed great actions.
------>Strong convictions always precede great actions.

When proceeds = profit:

Have you spent the precede from the disco already?
----->Have you spent the proceeds from the disco already?

Colon vs Semicolon

semicolon - New ideas are introduced by a new sentence or, if you want a smooth transition between the sentences, a semicolon.

Colon - A colon can be used to introduce some more information about something mentioned earlier in the sentence.

He wanted just one thing; revenge.
------>He wanted just one thing: revenge.

He knew what his wish would be; the ability to turn stones into gold.
-----> He knew what his wish would be: the ability to turn stones into gold.

(A colon is not used to introduce a new idea to a sentence.)

He wanted just one thing: he wanted it since he was boy.
----> He wanted just one thing; he wanted it since he was boy.
or
----> He wanted just one thing. He wanted it since he was boy.

The cat’s fur was found in two rooms; the bedroom and the kitchen.
His success is attributed to one thing; determination.
------>The cat’s fur was found in two rooms: the bedroom and the kitchen. His success is attributed to one thing: determination.

It is by the fortune of God that we have three benefits; freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and the wisdom never to use either.
------>It is by the fortune of God that we have three benefits: freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and the wisdom never to use either.

He will be the winner of Loughborough’s oldest award; the Arthur Scotland Trophy.
------>He will be the winner of Loughborough’s oldest award: the Arthur Scotland Trophy.

Ian had caught 3 fish; a perch and 2 gudgeon.
------>Ian had caught 3 fish: a perch and 2 gudgeon.

Ian had caught 3 fish: this was the first time he had been fishing.
(You cannot use a colon to introduce a new idea.)
----->Ian had caught 3 fish; this was the first time he had been fishing.

Janice liked to talk: she often exaggerated.
----->Janice liked to talk; she often exaggerated.
or
----->Janice liked to talk. She often exaggerated

I have made an important discovery; alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication.
—>I have made an important discovery: alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication.

In this world, there are only two tragedies; one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
----->In this world, there are only two tragedies: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.

Dot arrived late at Roger’s dinner party: she was determined to punish him for scoffing at her when she said, “she had nothing to wear.”
----> Dot arrived late at Roger’s dinner party; she was determined to punish him for scoffing at her when she said, “she had nothing to wear.”

or
-----> Dot arrived late at Roger’s dinner party. She was determined to punish him for scoffing at her when she said, “she had nothing to wear.”

Sorry, @ezeric! This time i have not been very successful: Except for the “principal vs principle”-problem I could not come up with satisfying rules. The “singular or plural”-problem is not new to me: A few months ago I tried writing rules but i failed.

1 Like