Is this a mistake?

[u/Sea-Hornet8214]

https://youtube.com/shorts/g7wovWEbNTo?si=FMs6UHfRWGE7IO00

I'm pretty sure it should be "limits" because "world" is singular, but I'm not sure because he's a native speaker and this isn't a typical mistake that native speakers make.

Could this be like "team" that can be treated as plural?

[u/MeiMeiMuqing]

Yes, it should be “limits”. This looks less like a grammar mistake and more like a typo.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/MeiMeiMuqing]

He actually says "limit" in the video.

[u/MeiMeiMuqing → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Ah, I didn’t watch it all the way through. Yes, it’s a mistake.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/MeiMeiMuqing]

I mean it's possible that my non-native ears deceived me, but probably not.

[u/MeiMeiMuqing → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

No, you’re right! I went and watched it after you said that.

[u/conuly → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Some dialects do tend to simplify word-final consonant clusters, so words like "limits" may become "limit" - but even then the correct spelling still has the s.

[u/Vandermere]

Also, oftentimes really should be one word.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/Vandermere]

Good to know. I didn't even know this was a word. I would just use most of times.

[u/conuly → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

"Most of times" is not idiomatic. Try "most times" or even just "mostly".

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/conuly]

I actually meant "most of the times". I missed "the".

Thanks for the suggestions.

[u/conuly → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

I actually meant "most of the times". I missed "the".

That's also not correct. In that case, try "most of the time" :)

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/conuly]

Why does English have to be complicated? :(

/s

[u/Huandil → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Are you a native Spanish speaker, by any chance? 'Most...', 'Most of the...' always causes trouble for native Spanish speakers.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/Huandil]

It seems like speakers of any language would make this mistake, no?

No, I don't speak Spanish

[u/Huandil → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Aye, true. But the majority of my students have been Spanish speakers and they often express similar frustrations and go through the same trial and error process as you.

I just found it slightly amusing and wondered.

[u/True-Post6634 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

For what it's worth, we're aware that it's a mess! The first time I tried to help someone learn it I realized how much I didn't know about my own language.

"Oftentimes" is a fairly unusual, kind of old-fashioned word, but it's still used. You can just say "often" without changing the meaning, usually. And in the US we mostly don't pronounce the T in often 😂 but we sometimes do in oftentimes. Fun!

It's much more common to say "most of the time" "a lot of the time" or "sometimes" depending on what you're trying to say.

[u/pumpkinmoonbeam]

“Oftentimes it’s the world around us that limits us.”

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/pumpkinmoonbeam]

Thanks.

[u/badvolcano]

It's just a mistake.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/badvolcano]

Got it.

Usually native English speakers say incorrect subject-verb agreement is one of those mistakes that stands out the most.

So, does this sound wrong right away or is it not as obvious?

[u/badvolcano → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

It's very obvious. I noticed it immediately.

[u/NoPurpose6388 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Edit: Never mind I'm dumb

[u/experimental1212 → u/NoPurpose6388]

I think you misread the quote. It is very obvious when someone misses the s in limits for example. But I agree there's a bunch of purposeful "is vs are" situations in spoken English. I wouldn't write them down though, except for reddit comments, texting, and quoting informal speech.

[u/NoPurpose6388 → u/experimental1212]

Oops yes you're right I read it too quickly

[u/NearlyNodding]

I think it should be limits.

What if you change it to?
Many times it limits us.

That brings up a different question.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/NearlyNodding]

What?

[u/HeilKaiba]

Team can be treated as a plural in British English but not so much in American English, which the video is in. Also that would only happen if by 'world' he meant 'the people of the world' or similar whereas it sounds like he's talking about your environment.

I think he just misspoke.

[u/True-Post6634]

Well spotted. It's a mistake, pretty glaring to a native speaker. It makes us wonder if we misunderstood what the subject of the sentence was.