'knacks
This week's topic: 'One small step and one little grammar mistake'
July 14 - 20, 1996
(c)1996 by Nicholas E. Miller
**************************************** Vol. 1 No. 27 ***
This week, 27 years ago, a famous American made a grammar mistake that will go down in history. He forgot (but I heard he says he didnıt!) one little aı. Well, we all make little mistakes, but we all donıt become the first human ever to set foot on another heavenly body.
Thatıs one small step for ___ man, one giant leap for mankind.
The actual sentence used by Neil Armstrong. Here man = mankind, so this is illogical. This means one small step for mankind = one giant leap for mankind.ı
Thatıs one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.
This is what he should have said. This means one small step for Neil Armstrong, one big jump for all us poor people back on earth.
Thatıs one small step for an man, one giant leap for mankind.
This is completely wrong in any and every case. Anı is used before a vowel sound (usually a, e, i, o, and u and sometimes y and h).
Thatıs one small step for the man, one giant leap for mankind.
This is OK grammatically, but WHICH man? This one (and only) man vs. this one (or more) woman (women)? A special man, usually used to mean someone like the president, or a symbol of the establishment (a police officer, politician, etc.)
Back to English Students' Index | Back to Nick Knack Index | Feedback |
See notes for information on navigating, links, copyright (my own as well as any possible inadvertant infringement on my part) and photo usage, etc.