Sir, – Vanessa Fitz-Simon touches on a cause dear to “pedantic grammar” me in her letter about the number of Lotto balls (Letters, September 29th). As a freelance copy editor/proofreader, I have to grit my teeth every time I see “less” and “fewer” misused. It is misused in papers and magazines and by TV and radio commentators.
Other misuses include the past tenses of “do” and “see”. How often do we hear “I done” and “I seen” on the national airwaves? There are some basic rules of grammar that need to be taught irrespective of whether the general approach to teaching English is to be creative. – Yours, etc,
SIOBHÁN DENHAM,
Mount Merrion Avenue,
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Blackrock,
Dublin.
