Posted on 08/30/2015 10:38:18 AM PDT by B4Ranch
Proper grammar seems to be a thing of the past -- why stress about tiny technicalities, right? Wrong.
You should be a grammar stickler for many reasons. Do you want to risk turning off potential clients, employers and connections because of grammatical mistakes?
Many people are so concerned with what they are saying in an email or text message that they completely forget to pay attention to how they are saying it. If you chose to turn grammar mode off when you are communicating with friends, that is one thing, but there is absolutely no reason to send a professional communication that contains errors.
Here are six grammatical errors that are so simple, yet such common offenders. Make sure you aren’t making them.
This is probably the most common mistake I see on social media, in text messages and in emails. This one is real simple -- if you are trying to say “you are” then “you’re” is correct. If you are talking about something that belongs to you, such as “your car” then you use “your.”
Many people confuse these and don’t even realize they are doing it. It’s real easy -- “two” is a number, “too” is an adverb that means “also,” and “to” is a preposition used to express motion, direction, limit of movement, contact, a point of limit in time, purpose, intention and destination -- to name a few.
For example:
“I would like to become an entrepreneur.”
“I too would like to become an entrepreneur.”
What should have been squared away in third grade continues to haunt grammar police on a daily basis. The there/their/they’re mistake is common -- but it’s really simple to avoid.
Use “they’re” when you are trying to say “they are.”
“Their” should be used when you are indicating possession.
Finally, “there” needs to be used when referring to a location.
Example: "They're going to love working there. Their company culture is amazing!"
This one is really just pure laziness rather than a grammatical mistake. Texting has completely ruined grammar and you/u is a perfect example. I understand that “u” is perfectly acceptable if you are texting a friend and are in a rush -- but it’s not acceptable in a professional email.
Here is an excerpt of an email I received last week from a C-level executive who is in charge of a company that does business worth several hundreds of millions of dollars every year:
… that would be gr8! Talk to u soon!
He managed to nail two text slangs back to back like a champ. Again, if it was a text message, fine -- but a professional email is no place for this. This email is actually what sparked me to write this article, so thank you grammatically challenged C-level executive.
When you are talking about time you use “then” and when you are making a comparison you use “than.” It really shouldn’t be that difficult to distinguish what one to use:
“We are going to grab a quick bite to eat and then head back to the office.”
“This new software update is much better than the previous version.”
This one confuses a lot of people, mainly due to the apostrophe, which typically symbolizes possession. Use “it’s” when you are trying to say “it is” and use “its” when you are looking for the possessive form of “it.”
“I looked at its owners manual to get the correct settings.”
“It’s a beautiful day outside.”
What are some other grammar mishaps that drive you nuts? Share them in the comments section below.
I think that one is an American idiom, so it's not exactly the same class as other grammatical errors. Most Americans know what it really means. Even people who have otherwise perfect grammar might occasionally use it. Using this expression accentuates the idea of how little you care because you are not even caring enough to have perfect grammar. So it is a little bit clever in that way and sort of likable that it is a peculiarly American expression.
And I dropped a “ch.” Typing and posting too fast is a grammar and spelling error intensifier.
Speeifyings. You need a little more time.
... or an “a”
... and a “c”
... and an “h”
and an decoder ring for your reply?
Furthur was Ken Kesey's' bus'.
If you can lay out the specifications for constructing a dam or an automobile chassis or even a circuit, you should be able to construct a sentence.
Despite that, there seems to be a tendency for 'engineerese' to dominate writing styles...
I could/couldn’t care less. Either way to say it is correct. They mean slightly different things.
A german teacher told Hitler admirer David Duke that he doesn't like to request "Mein Kamp" in German for his class, in part, because it is written in a lower grade of German.
Just the very subject of advice causes my mind to remember the best advice from Mark Twain: "I never give advice. Wise men don't need it and fools won't heed it".
No, it is plural.
It is simply a clarification of which sense of “you” is being used. In the King’s English they are exactly the same word but can be either singular or plural. Southerners merely emphasize it is the plural version.
As do, in worse for, NYers with “yous” and western PAs with “younz” (you-uns, like young-uns).
Excellent points. I learned long ago, as a teaching assistant in the English Dep’t at The Univ of Connecticut, that some of my students with the worst writing skills were on their way to becoming very successful business owners.
In the early 1980’s I had a student who couldn’t write a paragraph without a couple of dozen spelling errors and virtually zero punctuation, but he had recently negotiated the sale of a registered Holstein for $225,000. I was living in a cockroach infested apartment for married students at the time making $200/mo and eating rice and beans. I figured out pretty quick that knowing the difference between “”your” and “you’re” wasn’t my ticket to living a life of prosperity....
Certainly not a grammar error, but I really get bent out of shape when people use the term “clip” for a “magazine”.
Shhhh. That is one of the easiest ways to cull out the Southern accents which are merely affectation. A child of the South would have grown up knowing the difference.
This is hugh and series.
Never mind trying to use an iPad for this.
“Grammar Nazi’s do that alot...”
Idiots don’t.
I coulda of said “Kesey’s’s’” if’n I’d a wanted ta.
#7 Capitalization. I don’t read posts where the writer doesn’t have enough respect and is too lazy to use the Shift key. Only childish teenager mentalities think not capitalizing is acceptable, so why would I read such comments from a child?
Your example, though, works grammatically; this "that" isn't simply gratuitous.
As in: “Chris Gender”....
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