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.
Well it was concerning and of concern to me when I had to hunt and peck/retype a page of a school thingy on an old
Remington typewriter
Galdarn typewritters that print the wrong letters, must have been in bed with bigpaper, bigerasors and bigribbon.
They were all conspiring to keep a typewriter owning family down.
Yer prolly right. :-)
Sadly, that emphasizes quantity rather than quality of content. Thankfully, many of college professors wanted concise and definitive writing rather than placing emphasis on volume. The best grades went to those who could fully and completely express a concept in as few words as necessary.
Good luck. I have been tearing my hair out for years over these mistakes in presumably educated journalists’ works, all to no avail. Now bald, I have had to resort to wearing a wig, which comes off more easily and much less painfully, but the problem still persists.
I wouldn’t know. The only “texting” I do is on this keyboard.
Would of or could of instead of would’ve or could’ve, contractions for would have or could have.
“Those who” and “that which” seem to have become interchangeable in some circles.
My poisonal favorite is when someone tells me they are nauseous. I always quickly agree and turn my head
Unless they mean, "Lo-Cal."
I have seen this used by Social Workers and Grievance Studies types and it comes off like the Bowery Boys. Simple concepts expressed in other than simple language for any reason other than to provide clarity in meaning are mere obfustications.
“How do you think that’s gonna play out down the road?”
While I have been known to occasionally split an infinitive, I’m quite certain that a preposition is a bad thing to end a sentence with. :=)
And let's not talk about splitting infinitives and dangling prepositions ...
Apostrophes where they don’t belong!
The Smith’s
555 Owl Rd
Your town, Your state
Aaarrrrgh! You can see these bad apostrophes even on billboards these days. No one has a clue.
ensure and insure - you pay to insure. Well paid CEO of transcription firm used insure in an email to staff, duh.
My biggest is spoken. I seen..Who ever heard Hank Williams sing “I seen the light”?
commas. oy vey.
“All of a sudden, I became disorientated by the nucular blast.”
Um, you spelled Laz wrong...
The author is speaking in the past tense. Chose is correct.
I, hear ya, Oftentimes, I think, that they, are apostrophes’ that, fell down.
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