Wrong verbs

Sally in Scotland · Joined: 24 Mar 2007 Posts: 58

I recently finished reading all six of PB Ryan's Nell Sweeny books. I loved all of them and how forensics helped solve the cases. I thought Will was a wonderful flawed hero and Nell a great heroine overcoming her adversity.

I am not an expert on the English language but I was really annoyed at the wrong usage of verbs such as bring/take and lay/lie. I don't think there was a single instance of the correct verb being used. It really did spoil my total enjoyment as I wanted to throw my Kindle against the wall. This is also occuring in British publications.

I know this has been discussed many times on these boards but I am finding many books with the same problem. Have publishers totally done away with proof readers or is it a case that the authors and proof readers don't know the correct usage? I am now reading more digital books than paperbacks and find many weird errors in digital books.

LeeB. · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 1221 Location: Seattle, WA

Sometimes I do think the errors make it through the final copy because people don't know the correct usage of certain words. And don't get me started on spelling!!!!

I'd be more than happy to volunteer to proofread authors' books before publication. But when I nicely suggested it to a few authors in the past, I never received a response.
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Eliza · Joined: 21 Aug 2011 Posts: 719

Sally, since you know the difference between "bring/take and lay/lie," you are an English expert in my book. Smile

Editing has been eroding for some time now. First publishers cut back on full-time, in-house copy editors and proofreaders to switch to part-time free-lancers, and more recently I've read of authors hiring their own copy editors because of even further cutbacks at publishers. With self publishing coming to the fore, it now will depend on the individual author I guess.

Diana · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 1044 Location: Washington DC

I just came across "smart as a tack." Made me laugh.
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Lillian Sulivan · Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 233

Editing in the modern era is an allusion upon which I have given. I have seen less and less books edited thoroughly. Publishers have decided apparently the public is disinterested in correct language utilization. Even tortuous English passages will spell check correct.

CharlotteJ · Joined: 30 Jul 2010 Posts: 75

It seems like ever since ebooks took off, the overall quality of print books has gone down. My copy of Karen Robards' Justice has very poor print quality- it looks like it was done on a 1940s Underwood typewriter LOL.

And the proofreader missed this line-

"Wearing only his boxers - tonight's were blue- he stopped in the doorway to stare at her, all broad shoulders and long, hard-muscled legs."

Suddenly I had a mental picture of the heroine looking like a line-backer Smile

Elizabeth Rolls · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 1026 Location: Australia

dick · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 2255

It's a very poorly placed modifier in my opinion.

Tee · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 4053 Location: Detroit Metro

Lillian Sulivan · Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 233

limagal · Joined: 17 Jul 2010 Posts: 88 Location: lima, peru

A lot of times, I find the words that spell check doesn't get because they are really words as well - just not the ones that are needed. I remember one where the hero grabbed the girl by her "waste", for instance and another where he felt something in his "lions".

I also cringe when authors get important detaails wrong. Several times I have seen it written that Arabian horses are large - even 17 hands once. Large and powerful - that is not an Arabian, which is a rather small horse. The Scottish hero in one of them- one of those big brutes, 6 1/2 feet tall was riding one recently in a story. He must have looked pretty silly with his legs hanging down.

dick · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 2255

One that's almost endemic is the confusion of "tact" with "tack"; as, e.g., "she decided to take a different tack" written as "she decided to take a different tact." Often it's pluralized as "tacts." I can't pronounce either word in such a way as to explain the confusion. And the meanings are not even close.

dick · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 2255

All those contributing to or reading this thread might find the essay over at Dear Author interesting.

limagal · Joined: 17 Jul 2010 Posts: 88 Location: lima, peru

Dick, where is that essay exactly?

Eggletina · Joined: 06 Jul 2010 Posts: 343

I think this is the one Dick is referring to:

http://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/its-not-all-about-taste/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dearauthor+%28Dear+Author%3A+Romance+Novel+Reviews%2C+Industry+News%2C+and+Commentary%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Re the OP: I read the Nell Sweeney series, and I don't remember those problems being persistent. I do remember one instance of the bring/take error, but I don't remember it being consistently misused. I probably glazed over lay/lie since that one gives me problems myself (I sometimes have to look up usage examples when I'm editing to remember which is correct). There may have been some errors, but the overall editing fell into the acceptable range for me and didn't seem to be as sloppy as many other ebooks I've read.

I think even with grammar, we all have our push-button issues. Some mistakes I can easily overlook while others will bug me right out of a story. There's no way of predicting what may set off a reader.