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.
Whenst duhze it evuh end?
Less - fewer. Yes!!!
also
imply - infer
My favorite was when Obama said, “President Bush invited Michelle and I...” It was clear the man was not bright.
Thanks for #5, I am guilty on that one ;)
"I contacted X, and made an appointment to meet him tomorrow."
The problem is, I and others may not review this note for a day or more after the appointment when, "tomorrow," has become yesterday. It's much more precise to say, "I contacted X, and made an appointment to meet him in person on Monday, August 31, 2015."
It is hard to take this article seriously.
Two rules were violated with the very first character in the title.
First, counting numbers up to and including ten should be spelled out.
Second, numbers at the beginning of a sentence should be spelled out.
The first character of the title is “6”, violating two rules at once.
Did you know?? Hitler’s speeches were checked by a grammar Nazi.
“I’ve always had a problem with #6. I understand the use of the apostrophe for the contraction of “it is” - but the non-use of it when dealing with possession has always puzzled me.”
An easy way to remember it is to think of an apostrophe as a missing letter. In “It’s” the apostrophe stands for the missing ‘i.’ If you say, “The dog licked it’s tail,’ you’re actually saying ‘The dog licked it is tail.”
“Lose/loose/loser/looser”
Dear God. If you knew how many times applicants to our production co. fail this simple grammar test. And some of them are even Ivy school grads’.
and I even caught some on FR within the past year.
It ended long ago only to begin again!
Makes my day when somebody says “your an idiot.”
You might want to check your spelling. I think you will find that the word “choose” is not spelled “chose.”
If you can’t figure out which of those to use, replace it with “impact” instead.
It does annoy me when people do this stuff. It’s not grammar nazi-ism, it’s just basic English. When I see people using improper words, I automatically assume I’m going to have to correct them on other things as well. Like facts. If you’re incapable of speaking/writing correctly, why would I think that you’re capable of doing anything else correctly?
The worst is professional emails (my boss has had several issues in his), or articles from news sources. More than half of the articles I read have some mistake/error in them. I can understand one every now and then, a mistype or something, but the sheer volume of problems shows either retarded authors, and a lack of editors. Or editors that don’t care, in which case I don;t know why any reputable publication would employ them.
Apostrophes should only be used to show possession or a missing letter — not to make a noun plural.
(Former English teacher here.)
Woman/women. (This women?)
Have/of. (He should of?)
Such ambiguity is a nuisance as well. It’s similar to when people use local terms, abbreviations, or initials and expect everybody has their local knowledge.
OC - Osceola County? Occupied California?, Ontario Canada?
Tri State Area - which 3 states?
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