Posted on 09/28/2011 1:00:49 PM PDT by iowamark
Many brilliant people have some communication weak spots. Unfortunately, the reality is that written communication is a big part of business, and how you write reflects on you. Poor spelling and grammar can destroy a professional image in an instant.
Even if your job doesn't require much business writing, you'll still have emails to send and notes to write. And if you're looking for a job, your cover letters and resumes will likely mean the difference between getting the interview or not.
Bad grammar and spelling make a bad impression. Don't let yourself lose an opportunity over a simple spelling or grammar mistake.
Here are seven simple grammatical errors that I see consistently in emails, cover letters and resumes.
Tip: Make yourself a little card cheat sheet and keep it in your wallet for easy reference.
You're / Your
The apostrophe means it's a contraction of two words; "you're" is the short version of "you are" (the "a" is dropped), so if your sentence makes sense if you say "you are," then you're good to use you're. "Your" means it belongs to you, it's yours.
You're going to love your new job!
It's / Its
This one is confusing, because generally, in addition to being used in contractions, an apostrophe indicates ownership, as in "Dad's new car." But, "it's" is actually the short version of "it is" or "it has." "Its" with no apostrophe means belonging to it.
It's important to remember to bring your telephone and its extra battery.
They're / Their / There
"They're" is a contraction of "they are." "Their" means belonging to them. "There" refers to a place (notice that the word "here" is part of it, which is also a place – so if it says here and there, it's a place). There = a place
They're going to miss their teachers when they leave there.
Loose / Lose
These spellings really don't make much sense, so you just have to remember them. "Loose" is the opposite of tight, and rhymes with goose. "Lose" is the opposite of win, and rhymes with booze. (To show how unpredictable English is, compare another pair of words, "choose" and "chose," which are spelled the same except the initial sound, but pronounced differently. No wonder so many people get it wrong!)
I never thought I could lose so much weight; now my pants are all loose!
Lead / Led
Another common but glaring error. "Lead" means you're doing it in the present, and rhymes with deed. "Led" is the past tense of lead, and rhymes with sled. So you can "lead" your current organization, but you "led" the people in your previous job.
My goal is to lead this team to success, just as I led my past teams into winning award after award.
A lot / Alot / Allot
First the bad news: there is no such word as "alot." "A lot" refers to quantity, and "allot" means to distribute or parcel out.
There is a lot of confusion about this one, so I'm going to allot ten minutes to review these rules of grammar.
Between you and I
This one is widely misused, even by TV news anchors who should know better.
In English, we use a different pronoun depending on whether it's the subject or the object of the sentence: I/me, she/her, he/him, they/them. This becomes second nature for us and we rarely make mistakes with the glaring exception of when we have to choose between "you and I" or "you and me."
Grammar Girl does a far better job of explaining this than I, but suffice to say that "between you and I" is never correct, and although it is becoming more common, it's kind of like saying "him did a great job." It is glaringly incorrect.
The easy rule of thumb is to replace the "you and I" or "you and me" with either "we" or "us" and you'll quickly see which form is right. If "us" works, then use "you and me" and if "we" works, then use "you and I."
Between you and me (us), here are the secrets to how you and I (we) can learn to write better.
Master these common errors and you'll remove some of the mistakes and red flags that make you look like you have no idea how to speak.
Was his name Ricky Ricardo ?
Those types of contractions seem to baffle many folks in online forums. Too many times here in FR and other locations I see "should of" or "could of."
It's basic grammar, folks, not rocket surgery.
My one time boss, a U.C. Berkeley graduate, would say “wolla” for “voila”, and “another words” for “in other words”, among many such malapropisms that I should of thought of jotting down.
That’s funny!
On a similar note, I used to get a kick out of my cousins when we were young. They use to ask “Where at is it?”
Yeah ... rednecks.
Yes, those are expecially bad.
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I believe that's a regional accent, not a mispronunciation.
tghe one that irritates me is “I’m waiting ON Joe to come out. It should be “I’m waiting FOR Joe, (unless you work in a restaurant and wait ON people.
One patient, doctor, but you tell "them", that "their" "face", one face, but not multiple faces since it is "them", i.e. more than one? I'm confused.
Monday(Mon·day)
Pronunciation:/ˈməndā, -dē/
“and no religion too”? Sorry, Mr Lennon, your Queen would say (or sing) “and no religion, EITHER!”
Artistic license. :)
“Lie, Lady, Lie,” Mr Zimmerman. (Not only better grammatically, but more in line with the female character!
It’s obvious. The “H” is for “Heartless”.
Which and that are fairly simple. Which is all inclusive, and that is not. “I have a diamond that is expensive” expresses that my diamond is an expensive diamond while other diamonds may or may not be expensive. If I say, “I have a diamond which is expensive” I’m saying that my diamond is expensive as are all diamonds.
My personal favorite...weather / whether
Tenses. How many here and elsewhere say:
“I would call you if I would have a dime”, instead of “I would call you, if I had a dime”?
It’s a common error of grammatical illiteracy that drives me up the wall.
Quit reading when he misused ‘Dumb’ to mean ignorant.
Or, just syllable counting!
One thing that always scrunches my eyes is when people enunciate the silent ‘t’ in “often”.
It all makes cents to me.
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