Grammar is a tough, tough beast. I’m not sure why. My guess: it’s because most of the mistakes we make are on concepts that we learned in the third grade. After third grade, we’re expected to remember, but the concepts aren’t reviewed very often and we just forget. I know I did. I had a rude wake-up call when I started teaching College Composition classes ten years ago. Teaching is really the best way to learn! When I started teaching Composition, I got a heck of a lot smarter – and in a hurry.
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The advent of social media has made grammar errors even worse, yet. No longer do we need to think about proper grammar at all. Capitalization – what’s that? Why do we need spelling rules – UR anyone? Tell me I’m not the only person who texts with proper capitalization, punctuation, and spelling?? And there are soooo many blogs, and so many people writing whatever they want. I can say this because I make a ton of mistakes, myself. In fact, I had a glaring error in the TITLE of my intro post for the 100 days to a better blog. And no one told me for days…isn’t that embarrassing? I always find typos after I hit publish. Always. Despite my own mistakes, I still cringe when I come across the errors I’m going to share with you in this post.
Top 10 Grammar Mistakes Bloggers Make {and how to avoid them}
1. It’s/ its —
Please, please, please, do me a huge favor and read the lesson here. Bottom line. It’s = IT IS. Always. It’s is never, ever, ever, ever possessive, just to throw a wrench in everything you thought you knew about apostrophes and possessive words. 😉 The dog’s head = its head. his head. her head. Apostrophes are not used to make pronouns possessive. Not it’s head. Not his’s head. Not her’s head. It’s head = it is head. I see this one mistake more than almost any other. If you take nothing else away from this post, please learn the difference between it’s and its.
2. Would of / could of / should of —
WRONG! Instead of the word OF, use HAVE. Would HAVE/ Could HAVE/ Should HAVE. That is all. Read more here, if you’re curious.
3. Your / you’re —
It’s not YOUR welcome, friends. It’s YOU’RE welcome. Always. You can read more here.
4. There / they’re/ their —
I hope most of the errors I see with these three homophones are simply typos. But if you’re unsure, read up on the different usages here.
5. Definately — (the number one most misspelled word in the English language)
DEFINITELY is the spelling you want to use.That’s def·i·nite·ly. Unless you are talking about your defiant child. But even then, definately is still spelled wrong. 😉
6. Affect / effect —
Long story short: effect is almost always a noun. Affect is usually a verb {though there are exceptions – to both}. Will knowing the effect of the drought in California affect your gardening choices in 2014? You can read more on this concept at The Grammar Girl, if you want more information. When in doubt, though, just use a different word. Impact is a great choice! Will knowing the impact of the drought in California impact your gardening choices?
7. I vs me —
This one depends on context. It’s proper to say I went to the store – not me went to the store. Everyone knows that, right? But, would you say, Please give directions to my friends and I? or would you say, Please give directions to my friends and me? In this case, you want to choose – Please give directions to my friends and me. And here’s why – Please give directions to me. Not please give directions to I, right? Doesn’t that make sense? You can read the nitty-gritty here. When in doubt, just break your sentence down to include only I or me. You’ll be able to tell right away which word is proper.
8. Possessive vs plural —
Okay, my friends. This is a tough one for some reason. Apostrophes do NOT notate plurality. Unless you mean to show that something belongs to something, or to join two words together to make contraction, just don’t use an apostrophe. Please read here for more detail’s. Gotcha! 😉
9. Suppose to / supposed to —
What can I say about this one? There’s always a D on the end of SupposeD to. If you don’t believe me, read here.
10. Who’s / whose —
This one is similar to the it’s and its example above. Who’s = WHO IS. Always. WHOSE is the possessive form even though it has no apostrophe. Stupid English language. It’s just trying to confuse you. I promise you that I’m right though. 🙂
The best way to get your point across is to be credible. And the best way to be credible? Know your grammar. Avoid spelling errors. Understand homophones. Capitalize words properly. And help out your fellow bloggers. If you see any of the mistakes I mentioned above in posts you read, I bet the author would like to know! A thoughtful comment {or a private email} might be appreciated.
If you’re looking for helpful grammar resources, here are my top picks:
Grammarly – Instantly fix over 250 types of errors with this free web-based grammar checker!
Strunk & White Elements of Style
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
The Grammar Girl’s Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing
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