English Matters

I haven't kept a log, but I was thinking about problems with English grammar and syntax. Here are two story leads I've seen from an allegedly reputable and professional local news service in the past year.

"Officials say the car had drove up an embankment and rolled over."
"Had drove"? Please, we may be the Appalacians but surely college-educated news writers can do better than that with verb tenses.

"Man drives over 60 foot embankment after he says he fell asleep at the wheel."

Now I've got to picture this. The man falls asleep at the wheel. He wakes up. He says to his passenger, "I fell asleep at the wheel." Then he drives over the embankment. Maybe he should have stepped on the brake pedal rather than saying what he was doing.

I suppose we all mess up our syntax now and then. But it bothers me when news services do it.

L8r
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com