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KristineS
02-13-2012, 04:40 PM
I'm a bit of a Grammar Nazi and I admit it freely. I was always taught to use proper grammar when I speak and when I write. It drives me nuts when I see websites for companies that have grammatical and spelling errors. A few of my pet peeves are:

your instead of you're
it's instead of its when using the possessive
their instead of they're

What grammatical or spelling error annoys you the most?

Business Attorney
02-13-2012, 05:13 PM
Two of your three are my top ones. The "it's vs its" doesn't bother me too much because the apostrophe would be appropriate under the general rules for possessives. Someone has to know there is special rule that applies only to "its." The others are just plain wrong and people should know better.

I would add there instead of their (or, less often, instead of they're) to my list.

KristineS
02-13-2012, 06:08 PM
The they're, their, there thing is very common.

Its and it's isn't probably gets more of a pass than some because it is more obscure.

Dan Furman
02-13-2012, 07:12 PM
Here's a hint folks - when you call someone a LOSER online, make sure you can actually spell the word (e.g.: don't be a moron and call someone a "looser")

And it's not "I could care less". While not grammatically incorrect, it is the exact opposite of what you intend. "I couldn't care less" is what you mean.

Oh, "for all intensive purposes" is way off. I'll let you figure out the correct one there.

I'm going TO the store to buy TWO cases of beer. "Can I come TOO?" said Mary (Mary is such a party animal... gotta love a girl like that! :)

nealrm
02-14-2012, 09:51 AM
I really hate those looser sites where their are just to many errors. Its' not that hard to use a spell checker. If your gona put something online, have a person or too check the grammar. Of course spell checkers are not prefect, someone they let an mistake throu.

Joking aside, bad grammar can easily mask what you are trying to say. But my real pet peeve is lack of logical and complete structure to the written thought. There is a trend toward using multiple incomplete sentences to create a single thought and I find this displeasing.

billbenson
02-14-2012, 11:10 AM
The funny thing is I catch myself using wrong words when I know better such as their and there. It's late and I'm typing along and I use the wrong word when I know better. Spell checker doesn't catch that.

My wife is currently in an English grammar class. Her native language is Spanish. It's amazing how much grammar I don't remember, but then I haven't studied it since I was in high school and I'm old now. I don't remember calculus either.

One thing that this discussion brings up though is what is appropriate online or in emails.I'm lazy and frequently don't use upper case here. I don't do that for business emails though. But should the subject in an email be "proper case"?

KristineS
02-14-2012, 12:34 PM
I know mistakes can slip through. It happens, and I've been guilty of it myself. The thing that gets me is multiple mistakes and misuses in the same paragraph or piece of text.

Another thing that gets me is the improper use of tense - I "seen" instead of I "saw" etc.

As for the upper and lower case thing, I think standard grammar rules still apply. It is easy to get lazy online though.

billbenson
02-14-2012, 02:46 PM
I guess I do the all lower case thing because when others do it, it doesn't bother me much. On the other hand improper use of all upper case or large or colored fonts online REALLY :) annoys me.

And: Please feel free to correct my grammar in my posts. I'm sure I have grammatical errors I don't realize!

KristineS
02-14-2012, 04:30 PM
@Dan - I just registered the "for all intensive purposes" line. Too funny! Did you really see that somewhere?

@BillBenson - I'm with you on the improper use of upper case, particularly in the middle of a sentence. Drives me nuts!

C0ldf1re
02-16-2012, 01:18 PM
Bad grammar and spelling annoys me too. So long as people get their message across it should'nt matter. My attitude is arguably just plain wierd.

KristineS
02-16-2012, 03:35 PM
I'm not sure I agree that it shouldn't matter. I think being able to express yourself should include being able to spell and write grammatically. I'm not saying an occasional typo or something is inexcusable, but I've seen posts on some forums that are practically illiterate, and these are people who are claiming they want to own garment decoration businesses. Like it or not, things like this, and whether you speak grammatically as well, can have an impact on how people perceive you.

Steve B
02-16-2012, 04:17 PM
Get used to it folks. My kids are barely taught spelling in school. My oldest is thirteen and I don't think he has been taught much punctuation let alone grammar. They no longer teach cursive writing either. My employee graduated high school two years ago and got a full academic scholership to college, but couldn't read the graduation card I gave him.

C0ldf1re
02-16-2012, 04:17 PM
... Like it or not, things like this, and whether you speak grammatically as well, can have an impact on how people perceive you.

Absolutely. I have noticed many times in Court (in the UK) that Defendants who speak good English are more likely to be found Not Guilty, or to be let off with a lenient sentence.

KristineS
02-22-2012, 12:39 PM
Get used to it folks. My kids are barely taught spelling in school. My oldest is thirteen and I don't think he has been taught much punctuation let alone grammar. They no longer teach cursive writing either. My employee graduated high school two years ago and got a full academic scholership to college, but couldn't read the graduation card I gave him.

I don't know that this is a get used to it situation. I agree that grammar rules and forms of language change over time. We don't, for instance, write long flowery sentences like they did back in the 1500's. Still, I think everyone, should, at minimum, be able to speak grammatically and write grammatically, and certainly be able to read. If your employee graduated and got an academic scholarship and can't read a greeting card, then something is seriously wrong with the education he received.

lucas.bowser
02-22-2012, 02:39 PM
Get used to it folks. My kids are barely taught spelling in school. My oldest is thirteen and I don't think he has been taught much punctuation let alone grammar. They no longer teach cursive writing either. My employee graduated high school two years ago and got a full academic scholership to college, but couldn't read the graduation card I gave him.

Since there are no national standards, I think this is more a regional/local phenomenon. My kids (1st and 3rd grade) attend a public school in PA and have spelling words every week. In addition, they both have penmanship workbooks they use multiple times a week. My 3rd grader started learning cursive in January. Both of them also do journaling multiple times per week. They start with a "sloppy copy". Then the teacher reviews it with them and corrects for grammar and punctuation. After the review, they re-write it in their official journal with the corrections. The teacher coordinate their teaching material and techniques within the district, so each of the elementary schools are doing this in the same manner for each grade.

Steve B
02-22-2012, 03:42 PM
The lack of cursive education has been covered on the national news several times recently. You might just be lucky that they are teaching it in your area. Kristine - he couldn't read the greating card because it was in cursive. He got a full academic scholarship to a Division 1 school.

KristineS
02-23-2012, 09:36 AM
I do know that many schools have stopped teaching cursive. I'm not as surprised by that. I learned to type on an electric typewriter and they don't teach that anymore either.

And SteveB, the not being able to read the card thing makes more sense now. Reading cursive is an acquired skill, I suppose.

DeniseTaylor
03-05-2012, 02:18 PM
I don't really get annoyed, because I typo all the time. I know mistakes are easy to make, especially when someone is going fast.

When I make a mistake, I am annoyed by too for to (or two).

Also, one that I see people do is: loosing instead of losing. I think it's because losing sounds like loo- people type it incorrectly.

I think it's just that people are typing it like it sounds, and aren't really paying attention.

billbenson
03-05-2012, 04:35 PM
I catch myself interchanging their and there frequently. I know better. I bet there is some sort of medical reason for it.

We mentioned all caps earlier in this thread. Most people don't like people on forums because it seems like people are shouting at you. I think its ok to emphasize an important word at times though.

Interestingly, I get all cap emails at times. They are usually spam or RFQ's from frequent scam countries like Nigeria. It sends up a big flag that this might be a fraudulent order.

Also, I don't always use paragraphs correctly. I frequently use them to separate text for readability on the web.

I'm also much more careful in business emails than I am here. Here I might use lower case for names for example. That's just being lazy. I'm more concerned about having a clear, readable post than something that is absolutely grammatically correct here. And I even see the professional writers use words like "gonna" every once in a while, but that doesn't affect my perception of them as a professional writer if its used properly.

The one thing that I don't think has been mentioned is text speak like "u" for "you". That really bugs me. I understand why people use it on phones as the keyboards are such a pain to use, but I certainly don't like it on forum posts.

A question: What do people use in email subjects? Personally I use proper case.

KristineS
03-08-2012, 06:22 PM
In e-mail subject lines I tend to use proper case as well. It just looks odd to me otherwise.

A pet peeve of mine is also people who capitalize words in the middle of a sentence or at random. Drives me nuts, which is another reason I don't do it in e-mail headlines.

Harold Mansfield
03-08-2012, 09:27 PM
I don't think of myself as the "grammar police" type, although I do notice the common mistakes. However, I can't shake that it makes me think a little less of the person's intelligence. Even though I know it to be irrational.

Especially when it's a woman that I'm dating, thinking about trying to date or just consider attractive. I don't say anything, but I have a hard time shaking that one instance where she may have messaged me and used "there" , when she meant "their". Even though I misspell and hit the wrong keys all of the time. If not for the automatic spell check in Firefox, and Outlook...most people would think I was Huckleberry Fin.

I once had a client that wrote "are" when he meant "our". That stuck with me. How do you make THAT mistake?
In high school a girl wrote me a letter and spelled "our", as "ower". Till this day, if anyone brings up her name, I call her an idiot just because of that one instance. I mean that's a big one, right?

I can get over "their", "weather" and people making up contractions , but "our", "are", and "ower"? What is this? The front door of the Little Rascal's clubhouse? "Ower Gang"? Are you channeling Buckwheat now?

If the person was over the age of 12, wouldn't you think that they were a little stupid?

KristineS
03-09-2012, 11:47 AM
I have to admit, that misuse in writing and in speaking tends to make me drop a person's IQ a few points in my mind. I understand that people make typos, heck I do, and some of them have made it into print. It happens. It's when it's consistently happening, and particularly when it happens in speech, "seen" instead of "saw" etc. that I tend to wonder.

merlot105
03-22-2012, 03:47 PM
"Your" and "you're" is by far the worst grammatical error. "Your so stupid!".

WisemanSays
04-15-2012, 06:57 PM
I'm sort of a grammar Nazi myself. The one thing that gets me is run-on sentences. Anyone who is writing an informative article should keep their sentences concise and to the point. You're writing to inform, not tell an entire story using a single sentence.

KristineS
04-16-2012, 01:07 PM
The run-on sentence thing is a trap I fall into occasionally. I tend to write long and wordy. Although most of the time I will keep it shorter for the more educational or informative posts.

AccountantSalary
04-17-2012, 12:08 PM
I'm a writer but sometimes make annoying mistakes. My most common ones include confusing "it's" and "its" as well as "your" and "you're." Though for the last pair, it's mostly in phrases like "I appreciate your doing this for me."

KristineS
04-17-2012, 12:17 PM
The your and you're one I see all the time. A lot of people do that. It's and its as well.

Another is people putting apostrophes where they don't belong. That one drives me nuts.

ReganP
04-18-2012, 11:26 AM
I love this thread! Seriously, the it's and its thing really drives me crazy! As for it getting a pass because of its supposed obscurity, I find that hard to believe. I distinctly remember learning that rule in second grade, and I went to a crappy public school in Texas for crying out loud! I'm always amazed at the number of professional bloggers I read who misuse and misspell words.

KristineS
04-18-2012, 12:41 PM
I see a lot of this sort of thing on websites too. I'll point errors, grammar or spelling, out to the site owners and they tell me it's the product that's important, not whether they misspelled a word or misplaced a comma. It astonishes me. I wouldn't buy from someone who couldn't take the time to do basic proofreading on their site. Maybe I'm unique in that, but I don't think so.

TanaB
04-20-2012, 02:04 PM
your instead of you're
their instead of they're


Yes! These are so annoying! I also hate it when people say "different than" instead of "different from"...ugh! :eek:

billbenson
04-20-2012, 02:58 PM
You have to take into account the time people have to spend for writing as well. I've been sick all week and have a backlog of well over 100 emails right now. Some require a quick response and others take more time. If I'm rushed, they may have errors in them. And I'm not the only person out there that realistically has more emails than they can answer.

ReganP
04-20-2012, 04:29 PM
Also, lately then vs. than has been driving me up the wall as well. To me it means that people just aren't reading or didn't grow up reading. It makes sense that they wouldn't even think to differentiate the two if you've only heard them and you haven't really read them. But, come on people, pick up a book every once and a while!

KristineS
04-20-2012, 06:02 PM
You have to take into account the time people have to spend for writing as well. I've been sick all week and have a backlog of well over 100 emails right now. Some require a quick response and others take more time. If I'm rushed, they may have errors in them. And I'm not the only person out there that realistically has more emails than they can answer.

You're right about that Bill, and the reality is that almost everyone has made a grammar or spelling error due to haste at some point. That's a given.

KristineS
04-20-2012, 06:04 PM
Also, lately then vs. than has been driving me up the wall as well. To me it means that people just aren't reading or didn't grow up reading. It makes sense that they wouldn't even think to differentiate the two if you've only heard them and you haven't really read them. But, come on people, pick up a book every once and a while!

That one gets me too. I read a ton and maybe that's why I'm more sensitive to some of these errors. Although I hear a lot of people make errors when they speak as well and I wonder if they just don't know or don't care what's proper.

Also, I am aware I may be too much of a stickler in some cases. It still kills me to start a sentence with and or to end one with a preposition. Even though I know both those things are now considered acceptable, I have a hard time doing either. It just doesn't sit right with me.

queenvictoria
04-26-2012, 05:33 PM
These are all pretty annoying, but the ones that don't make me stop reading generally don't bother me. The wrong form of there, their, and they're are pretty bad. Anyone who writes for a living should be able to use the proper form every time. Verb tense is a pretty common mistake and one that can stop a person in their tracks while reading and make them say 'errr what?'. The worst part is that as a copywriter I find myself making these kinds of mistakes more than I'd like to admit (yes I have written 'are' when I should have written 'our', much to my embarrassment).

There are some well written and funny articles out there that talk about the most common grammatical errors and most of these errors can be caught simply by re-reading work or paying attention to spelling and grammar check (although they don't always know what they're talking about).

Grammatical errors in my opinion are not as bad as typos, because spell check usually doesn't catch them. Missing letters a.k.a. 'you' instead of 'your' can ruin the flow of an entire piece and most of the time people don't catch these, even after rereading since its not something sticks out as 'whoa that is way wrong'.

Although copywriting aside, speaking as an avid forum reader, the worst has to be 'your' instead of 'you're'. I still can't believe people are saying 'your dumb' after all these years of online tiffs. 'Better then' instead of 'better than' is also one that I am quite bothered by.

Watchdog
04-28-2012, 10:12 PM
I'm going TO the store to buy TWO cases of beer. "Can I come TOO?" said Mary (Mary is such a party animal... gotta love a girl like that! :)

I'm not that smart when it come to the proper structure of sentences but I believe you would not want to use the word "too" with the other to and two(Can I come with you or can I come also)

You're going TO the store to buy TWO cases of beer. "Can I come with you, I'll help drink the beer?"

:D

KristineS
04-30-2012, 05:19 PM
Grammatical errors in my opinion are not as bad as typos, because spell check usually doesn't catch them. Missing letters a.k.a. 'you' instead of 'your' can ruin the flow of an entire piece and most of the time people don't catch these, even after rereading since its not something sticks out as 'whoa that is way wrong'.

Although copywriting aside, speaking as an avid forum reader, the worst has to be 'your' instead of 'you're'. I still can't believe people are saying 'your dumb' after all these years of online tiffs. 'Better then' instead of 'better than' is also one that I am quite bothered by.

Typos are evil because they can cause an error where one really wasn't made. I do the you/your thing and the an/and thing quite often because I type quickly and my fingers sometimes miss a letter. It is hard to catch those after the fact because your eye doesn't always see them. I also find I'm guilty of supplying the word I think should be in the sentence if it flows properly, and not noticing that a different word is there in reality. It gets a little weird in my brain sometimes.

As for the "your" instead of "you're" thing - seeing the "your dumb" always makes me laugh. Even if the person who wrote that makes a valid point after they say that, I'm probably going to ignore it.

Blessed
05-01-2012, 10:54 AM
Get used to it folks. My kids are barely taught spelling in school. My oldest is thirteen and I don't think he has been taught much punctuation let alone grammar. They no longer teach cursive writing either. My employee graduated high school two years ago and got a full academic scholership to college, but couldn't read the graduation card I gave him.

And this is one reason I'm homeschooling... and the curriculum we're using starts teaching cursive in kindergarten. That should be a challenge for me :) As a lefty in a righty world, with a 5th grade teacher who tried to force me to change hands and a 6th grade teacher who didn't care, I never did learn to write in cursive properly - but at least I can read it!

Blessed
05-01-2012, 11:01 AM
I know that I make grammatical mistakes when I'm quickly responding to someone via email or posting here on the forum - when I actually sit down to write something I do my best to make sure it's correct and there aren't any typo's!

The worst "typo" I ever made was when I was the managing editor of a twice weekly newspaper back in college and I let a paper go to press without putting the date in the masthead - it just had the generic "fill in the date here" thing there still (can't remember what that was right now.) That mistake, and the reprimand - including yelling and throwing things - that happened afterwards was enough to make me very careful for a long, long time!

KristineS
05-07-2012, 12:36 PM
One of the most important things I learned when it comes to proofing, always have someone who hasn't spent hours working on the piece look at it before it goes to press. Once you've read the thing and looked it over several times you do start to miss things - like the fact that the date is missing on the masthead. Having someone with fresh eyes look at what you've done can save a lot of grief.

Blessed
05-07-2012, 11:31 PM
...Having someone with fresh eyes look at what you've done can save a lot of grief.

Exactly. Especially in a high-stress, deadline oriented environment where work must be completed quickly. It's best to have someone else look at anything before it's published or printed. I've found that I can be an effective proof-reader of my own work if I have a whole day in between the original typesetting and the proofreading - often that isn't practical, and you still miss things since it's common to read what should be there instead of what is there.

KristineS
05-08-2012, 12:58 PM
If you do have the time to set things aside and go back to them later, then you probably will do an o.k. proof job. I've also found the more time I've spent rewriting or reworking something, the less good I am at proofing it. After a while, the whole thing just becomes meaningless. That's when I need to have someone else come in and take a look.

AccountantSalary
08-12-2012, 10:29 PM
Using the subjective "I" instead of the object "me" as in "Just between you and I..."

Using "between" instead of "among" as in this popular saying "Just between you, me and the lamppost..."

KristineS
08-13-2012, 12:30 PM
The "I" and "me" rule is one I still remember from school. Between and among I don't think about as often, but that's a good one.

billbenson
08-13-2012, 02:16 PM
Using the subjective "I" instead of the object "me" as in "Just between you and I..."

Using "between" instead of "among" as in this popular saying "Just between you, me and the lamppost..."

If you are talking about professional writers, that's one thing. But for the average person who hasn't studied grammar since high school, I think that is a reach. Particularly when common sayings are not grammatically correct as you mention.

Jsaddington
09-04-2012, 10:50 AM
Keep the faith! Trying to get my kids to use correct grammar rather than text speak drives me nuts. The fact that well written content, both on and off websites, looks professional and creates a great impression is something they just don't seem to accept.

KristineS
09-04-2012, 12:20 PM
It's not just kids. I know a lot of adults who think speaking or writing while ignoring the rules of grammar makes them look more "of the people" or something. Drives me nuts. When I was growing up, we were required to use proper grammar. As much as it annoyed me then, I'm grateful for it now.

Ted
01-16-2013, 10:14 AM
Don't hate me for resurrecting this thread.....

I would like to echo most of what has already been said here. Bad grammar drives me nuts.

One of my biggest pet peeves is Chinglish or what other people refer to as Engrish.

Story time......

One time, some years back, I bought this handheld electronic gadget that was made in China. Who hasn't? Am I right?

It had one of those little oval stickers "Made in China" on it.

Well, on the back of this thing there was a warning. It said "Power will be destroy device!"

Does that make any sense to you at all? That was classic Chinglish and it infuriated me. It infuriated me beyond what any reasonable man would expect.

I took the thing out into the street in front of my home. I hit it as hard as I could with a sledgehammer (overhead swing) repeatedly grunting each time in anger. Bam! Bam! Bam! Then I kicked what was left of it into the grassy ditch across the street near my mailbox. One good deep breath and long sigh later, I whipped the bird at the spot in the ditch where the gadget was destined to spend the next one thousand years decomposing. Vengeance was mine!

Huzzah!
Huzzah!
Huzzah!

I admit that I definitely do judge people based on their ability to speak and write properly.

When someone speaks to me clearly and enunciates properly I generally get the impression that the person is very intelligent.

When someone speaks to me using poor grammar or they can't enunciate words properly, I generally assume the person did poorly in school and probably isn't very smart.

I get the same general impressions based on the person's written communication as well.

Oh...and by the way......I didn't really smash that thing. I think I still have it. It just made for a good story. I have nothing against Chinese people. I just wish that they would use proper English when trying to communicate with me. It is even more important when they are trying to sell me something.

Dan Furman
01-16-2013, 12:07 PM
I've done some work for Chinese companies in this regard, but I have found many Chinese companies are soooo price focused, they have very little budget for this. So I write one manual for them, but next time, they want to save the $700, so the best English speaker on staff is chosen. And they look at it and say "good enough"... and what we get is Chinglish.

But you know, we still buy it, so in reality, it is "good enough".

jim.sklansky
02-01-2013, 03:06 PM
For me, large sentences are bother much. Also i don't feel comfortable to read the article which is written in ALLCAPS. It slower down my reading.

patrickprecisione
04-25-2013, 09:17 AM
A while back on Facebook I posted something along the lines of "If you take the time to actually correct someones grammar on Facebook, your a loser."

Trolling grammar nazis never gets old.

Gabe
05-10-2013, 09:32 PM
i hate it when people dont capitalize or use any grammar at all whats the worst is when they have run on sentences those really bug me

P.S. That was painful to write.

Wozcreative
05-12-2013, 08:12 PM
A word or two missplaced or misspelled doesnt bother me if it is not something that needs to sell me something. I do find myself sometime making errors with words or how I spell/say them, simply because my brain works faster than I can type. Doesn't mean I'm a dummy.. just not concerned about it too much in particular situations!

Mal'ak
05-12-2013, 09:32 PM
Ok, I read this Thread to learn.
English is not my mother language. I will double check before I post, forgive me if I could not find my mistake.

patrickprecisione
05-13-2013, 10:35 AM
i hate it when people dont capitalize or use any grammar at all whats the worst is when they have run on sentences those really bug me

P.S. That was painful to write.

Lol Your grammar is terrible gabe :)

Pam
05-13-2013, 12:02 PM
plural and possessive misuse of the apostrophe. It's like a needle scratching a record in my head.

KristineS
05-13-2013, 01:39 PM
plural and possessive misuse of the apostrophe. It's like a needle scratching a record in my head.

That one bothers me too. I hate seeing promo pieces where someone says shirt's when they mean shirts. Drives me nuts.

Dan Furman
05-13-2013, 03:35 PM
A word or two missplaced or misspelled doesnt bother me if it is not something that needs to sell me something. I do find myself sometime making errors with words or how I spell/say them, simply because my brain works faster than I can type. Doesn't mean I'm a dummy.. just not concerned about it too much in particular situations!

This is how I feel about message board stuff/etc.

e-persuader
06-11-2013, 10:29 AM
Many are still confuse with "their and there"

English language can be challenging, we all know that. There are lots of rules to learn and and follow in order to write well. However, certain rules are meant to be broken. Don't you know that many writers have been breaking grammar rules? You read it right! You don't have to always write formally, as a matter of fact, it’s best to have your own style that your readers enjoy rather than writing like a robot.

billbenson
06-13-2013, 09:41 PM
I know the difference between there and their. Still, when I'm making a quick post my mind sometimes transposes them. And they don't pop up in a spell check.

This thread has drifted as to where you need to use proper grammer. In a forum, IMO, you need to use good communication. Many, if not most of the copywriters on this forum write for web sites. Of course they shouldn't make errors like there and their, but part of their job is to take advantage of how a viewer typically scans a page. As a non copywriter, I could see occasions occuring where the closure rate of a web page would be greater by using less than proper grammar. Just a thought.

KristineS
06-14-2013, 10:34 AM
There are times when less than proper grammar is appropriate, Bill, and I've used improper grammar in the past when it seemed to work for whatever I was writing. The rules are flexible. When it comes to writing for marketing or sales, closure rate and style can trump grammar.

Carsten
06-14-2013, 05:47 PM
Ok, it seems that I should be careful posting here as a nonnative english speaker. :)

Anyone here who would like to check the english parts of my corporate website and blogs? :)

D-Dave
06-19-2013, 10:59 AM
When someone asks for your "advise" instead of your "advice."

patrickprecisione
06-24-2013, 08:34 AM
for me, large sentences are bother much. Also i don't feel comfortable to read the article which is written in allcaps. It slower down my reading.

you're grammar is terrible!! :p

lauralouise90
02-13-2014, 10:16 AM
I'm a bit of a Grammar Nazi and I admit it freely. I was always taught to use proper grammar when I speak and when I write. It drives me nuts when I see websites for companies that have grammatical and spelling errors. A few of my pet peeves are:

your instead of you're
it's instead of its when using the possessive
their instead of they're

What grammatical or spelling error annoys you the most?

These types of errors make me want to cry!

CD2 Solutions
02-24-2014, 07:00 AM
one thing that gets me is then and than.

like "its better then nothing" and "ill do this than ill do that".

might be caused by the american accent though, since they sound similar. but i once saw a plumber's van with then instead of than written on it. whether it was the sign-writer or the business owner i don't know, but it annoyed me.

eina26
03-03-2014, 11:29 PM
He's and his, their there and they're and many others. heehee

10nnyson
05-15-2014, 11:37 AM
I had to work hard to conquer those grammatical mistakes that you mentioned. They are so common. One thing that bothers me and it's not a grammatical thing is "went missing"....it used to be "so-and-so disappeared". You can't go missing. Missing is not a place at all and to "go" somewhere or to imply that someone "went" somewhere when it's an unknown place doesn't add up.

KristineS
05-15-2014, 12:34 PM
I had to work hard to conquer those grammatical mistakes that you mentioned. They are so common. One thing that bothers me and it's not a grammatical thing is "went missing"....it used to be "so-and-so disappeared". You can't go missing. Missing is not a place at all and to "go" somewhere or to imply that someone "went" somewhere when it's an unknown place doesn't add up.

There are a lot of phrases like that which, when examined, really make no sense. English is a very odd language when you really stop to examine how it's used and constructed. No wonder it can be so bewildering to learn.

billbenson
05-15-2014, 05:51 PM
When I learned Spanish I had to learn a lot of idiomatic expressions. 'In a round about way' for example. The usage of an odd or incorrect phrase has become correct grammar in Spanish over time. I would assume the same is true in English.

libra
05-20-2014, 08:25 AM
When I learned Spanish I had to learn a lot of idiomatic expressions. 'In a round about way' for example. The usage of an odd or incorrect phrase has become correct grammar in Spanish over time. I would assume the same is true in English.
Sadly, it certainly appears that that is exactly what's happening to the words cited by the OP, namely 'your' and 'their', which are the most common and most annoying examples.

seankim_
05-22-2014, 01:17 PM
"a" and "the"

libra
06-04-2014, 04:46 AM
One thing I am still unsure about is this:-

Is it "with regard to" or "with regards to", though I see only the latter being used?

Anyone can help?

tinker9696
06-13-2014, 07:50 AM
Then and than. I am also guilty
irregardless and regardless
and the one that annoys me the most is " I could care less" instead of " I couldn't care less"

KristineS
06-13-2014, 01:32 PM
One thing I am still unsure about is this:-

Is it "with regard to" or "with regards to", though I see only the latter being used?

Anyone can help?

"With regards to" is generally used to express good wishes toward someone. It would primarily be a signature line.

"In regard to" is more for referring to some event or item or person.

libra
06-21-2014, 06:27 PM
"With regards to" is generally used to express good wishes toward someone. It would primarily be a signature line.

"In regard to" is more for referring to some event or item or person.

Thank you much for your confirmation. It certainly feels good to hear it from you.

With warm regards.

harvy
06-24-2014, 10:48 AM
I'm a bit of a Grammar Nazi and I admit it freely. I was always taught to use proper grammar when I speak and when I write. It drives me nuts when I see websites for companies that have grammatical and spelling errors. A few of my pet peeves are:

your instead of you're
it's instead of its when using the possessive
their instead of they're

What grammatical or spelling error annoys you the most?
Sorry! I think the meanings for your and you'r, its and it's, their and they're are different and could be used at appropriate sentences.( as per UK English). Let me have your opinion?

harvy
06-24-2014, 10:51 AM
Then and than. I am also guilty
irregardless and regardless
and the one that annoys me the most is " I could care less" instead of " I couldn't care less"
this is completely different in meaning and grammar.
This type of words couldn't be entertained in article writing.

harvy
06-24-2014, 10:54 AM
Thank you much for your confirmation. It certainly feels good to hear it from you.

With warm regards.

seen your words with thanks, I think 'with regards' is enough for signature line. No need to suffix 'to' . This is my teacher educated me.

Business Attorney
07-15-2014, 06:49 PM
Weird Al Yankovic just released a video for the song “Word Crimes” from his upcoming Mandatory Fun album. It's great fun for those of us who shudder when we spot word crimes:

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes - YouTube (http://youtu.be/8Gv0H-vPoDc)

KristineS
07-16-2014, 11:16 AM
Weird Al Yankovic just released a video for the song “Word Crimes” from his upcoming Mandatory Fun album. It's great fun for those of us who shudder when we spot word crimes:

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes - YouTube (http://youtu.be/8Gv0H-vPoDc)

Too funny. I was just going to post this myself. Love this video!

billbenson
07-16-2014, 12:52 PM
Ok, a question for you grammer experts. As in Davids example above, he used “Word Crimes” with a double quote. I believe this is the proper way to do this. However, more and more I see single quotes used in the same context. When is it proper to use single quotes if at all?

Business Attorney
07-16-2014, 01:38 PM
Ok, a question for you grammer experts. As in Davids example above, he used “Word Crimes” with a double quote. I believe this is the proper way to do this. However, more and more I see single quotes used in the same context. When is it proper to use single quotes if at all?

That is an interesting question. In the way I used the double quotes (the title of a song or video), the only correct answer is to use double quotes.

If, on the other hand, I had stated that I consider certain grammatical mistakes to be "word crimes," then the correct use depends on whether you are writing in American English or British English. When you set off a word or phrase for irony or emphasis in American English, double quotes are the standard. In British English, the standard would be single quotes.

Here is an interesting summary: Single Quotation Marks and Their Uses | The Editor's Blog (http://theeditorsblog.net/2011/05/07/single-quotation-marks-a-readers-question/)

The key point in using double or single quotes is that (1) the quotes must always be matched, whichever you choose, and (2) you should be consistent within your writing.

I personally use double quotes when setting off a word or phrase within a sentence, but I see nothing wrong with someone using single quotes for the same purpose, as long as they do it consistently.

billbenson
07-17-2014, 09:50 PM
This also leads to another question. When I was in English or typing class in high school, you needed to have two spaces between sentences. Html only allows for one space unless you manually add the code for non breaking space to the page. This means that on a web site, you are pretty much being forced to break age old grammar rules. This doesn't stop here. I believe that many grammar rules are being broken on the internet for the sake of readability, getting important text on a certain line. A double space between sentences could be the best example of this.

Grammar is not my field of expertise. I'm just throwing this out as an apparent contradiction for discussion.

KristineS
07-18-2014, 10:37 AM
A lot of people are debating the two spaces after a period rule. I've seen discussion about it for the reasons you mentioned, Bill. I was taught that two spaces was the correct way, but I now finding myself breaking that rule quite regularly. Grammar is like everything else, rules will change over time.

Business Attorney
07-18-2014, 10:59 AM
I read somewhere that the two-period rule was based on the fact that on typewriters, every character was the same size and it was visually more difficult to see the end of a sentence. With proportional spacing, the period is right up against the last letter of the sentence. The argument is that the rule was created for a specific reason and we should not slavishly continue to follow the rule when the reason for it has passed.

True or not, that seems to make sense.

Harold Mansfield
08-06-2014, 03:38 PM
I've never even heard of the two spaces after a period rule before. Where do they come up with these?

Probably because you're too young to have been around before computers. 2 spaces used to be the correct rule. Typewriters didn't automatically add a space after a period.You could literally run your sentences together with no space.

ActionMan
08-06-2014, 07:50 PM
Html only allows for one space unless you manually add the code for non breaking space to the page. This means that on a web site, you are pretty much being forced to break age old grammar rules.


There are ways to format text in HTML. If you want to double space your lines, you can do that as below ...
p
{
line-height: 2 em;
}

Now, all lines in paragraphs will be double spaced. You can do this using CSS too and set all paragraphs to be double spaced. Add this rule to your CSS file: p {line-height: 2em;}

You can have two spaces after a period by adding '&nbsp' (without the quotes). Each occurance of '&nbsp' will add a space. There are ways to achieve this in CSS too but I don't want to bore you all. :)

I've enjoyed reading this thread even though I've got through only half of it as yet. I certainly make many mistakes even though I try not to. I'm also dyslexic so that does not help much.

One of my pet peeves is when people use the word "which" as a conjunction. As an example: My brother went to China for a visit, which, I wanted to go to China last year but ..." This is what comes to mind as an example at the moment. Probably not the best one but hopefully you get the picture.

Another pet peeve is when people say "it's a mute point" instead of "it's a moot point". That jars my ears.

Edit: Oh! I forgot the most egregious one (IMO). I can't stand it when, in corporate meetings, people say, "I'll socialize this information with my team." One can't "socialize" information. What's wrong with "convey" or "disseminate" or some such word?

JoeInTheMiddle
09-22-2014, 09:38 AM
I can't be asked
Your a looser
Your an idiot
They're car

All examples of my pet hates, especially number 1, really grinds my gears

KristineS
09-25-2014, 01:43 PM
The whole you're/your thing gets me, especially when people are criticizing someone else and using poor grammar to do it.

billbenson
09-25-2014, 03:03 PM
text speak bugs me. I understand using 'u' instead of 'you' if you are using a device with a hard to use small keyboard like a cell phone for people with fat fingers. But if you are on a real keyboard. there is no reason for it.

Kumar Palani
02-09-2015, 08:57 AM
I too hate terrible grammatical mistakes, but I am rarely concerned about punctuations (only to a limit).

IrekJanek
02-11-2015, 06:17 PM
I really hate those looser sites where their are just to many errors. Its' not that hard to use a spell checker. If your gona put something online, have a person or too check the grammar. Of course spell checkers are not prefect, someone they let an mistake throu.

Joking aside, bad grammar can easily mask what you are trying to say. But my real pet peeve is lack of logical and complete structure to the written thought. There is a trend toward using multiple incomplete sentences to create a single thought and I find this displeasing.

If by looser you mean, the sites with looser grammar policy, then I agree.

likeaboss
06-01-2015, 03:50 PM
Here's a hint folks - when you call someone a LOSER online, make sure you can actually spell the word (e.g.: don't be a moron and call someone a "looser")

And it's not "I could care less". While not grammatically incorrect, it is the exact opposite of what you intend. "I couldn't care less" is what you mean.

Oh, "for all intensive purposes" is way off. I'll let you figure out the correct one there.

I'm going TO the store to buy TWO cases of beer. "Can I come TOO?" said Mary (Mary is such a party animal... gotta love a girl like that! :)

This thread is right up my alley. Preaching to the choir!

to two too
it's its
not putting an s to pluralize a word when required
they're their there
your you're
he/she/I vs. him/her/me



:p

LogansWalk
06-01-2015, 04:56 PM
This thread is right up my alley. Preaching to the choir!

to two too
it's its
not putting an s to pluralize a word when required
they're their there
your you're
he/she/I vs. him/her/me



:p

Co-signed. It just makes me groan when I see the above or your/you're, mines instead of mine, improper usage of a/an...it just makes me wonder how some of these people made it through school - especially the ones who are supposedly "college educated".

Owen
06-14-2015, 12:57 PM
Your all so mean. Just because we have bad grammar doesnt meen were not smart!!111! Think about there problems!



hehe ;-)

Business Attorney
06-26-2015, 12:10 PM
This book title sums it up:

665

KristineS
06-26-2015, 12:51 PM
That book title is awesome! Love that.

billbenson
06-26-2015, 04:22 PM
Ya know, I tend to write in lower case. That probably drives some of you crazy. I also break up sentences or paragraphs online so it is easier to read, even though it may not be grammatically correct.

Something else that happens here for me, is I will start writing something. Then I get an hour phone call and some emails. I may not get back to my post for hours.

Because of the time laps and lack of reviewing what I have written, there may be a bunch of errors, even for the lay person.

I don't write professionally. I kind of wonder if some in this thread are being overly critical.

Business Attorney
06-26-2015, 08:07 PM
@billbenson Everyone makes mistakes. In my haste, I may have typed "there" instead of "their" or maybe (SHUDDER!!) even "your" for "you're" on rare occasions. Where it really bothers me is when someone writes enough that it is clear that they never bothered to learn the difference or are just too sloppy to care. There is usually an obvious difference between someone who generally uses good grammar and occasionally lets a mistake slip through and someone who simply is sloppy.

By the same token, I can often tell when someone is not a native English speaker and it does not bother me if they make the same type of mistakes. They are often struggling with basic structure and phrasing, so mixing words like "there" and "their" is a pardonable offense.

veritasvisions
10-13-2015, 10:46 PM
Check out this grammar taking quiz that shows you how good your grammar is. I got Grammar Genius! Can you correct these 13 basic grammar mistakes? (http://bitecharge.com/play/basicgrammar/h3) lol i got grammar genius.

Business Attorney
04-05-2017, 06:09 PM
For those of us who cringe at the sight of a misused apostrophe, you need to watch this short BBC video Meet the 'Grammar Vigilante' of Bristol (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39459831).

vangogh
04-05-2017, 07:31 PM
Funny. Did you notice the text they overlaid on the video uses an incorrect apostrophe? They use the same straight quote he's removing from the signs.

cbscreative
04-06-2017, 12:13 PM
He denies it's a crime. It's more of a crime to have the apostrophes wrong in the first place.

Oh yeah, defacing the work of true sign professionals...terrible.

Darcie-amber
06-15-2017, 06:09 AM
My most grammatical mistake is that i tend to misuse of word “literally”. Like a lot of people, i keep using the word literally in wrong places i.e using “literally” just to add more weight to a sentence, and this is actually inappropriate.

billbenson
06-23-2017, 09:58 PM
I find that it's easy, when writing rapidly to make errors. There v.s. their for example. I go back and look at it later and I see my error. It's also been 30 plus years since I had a grammar class. It's not a great priority for most stuff I do.

As a result of this thread, I have had questions as to what is correct. Didn't post them and can't think of them now.

Zharlene
07-10-2017, 05:07 AM
Could of, would of, should of.

bella.lopez
01-02-2018, 05:41 AM
I travel in the same boat as many other people like you who are called "Grammar Nazis". We aren't Grammar Nazis but just people who love to see the world with correct spoken and written language. Of course you're and your tops my list as well.

Few others are:

Accept and except
there and their


And then using wrong tense and words really gets on my nerves. You didn't watch my post. You saw it. (I hope you get the pun!)