You and Your Grammar

It's Atrocious!

Few things bother me more than grammar or spelling mistakes. Sadly, very few have mastered the fine art of fine grammar. Many people also stumble on spelling. Perhaps an editor is needed to sort through some people's mess they call 'sentences.' While in the end, spelling and grammar mistakes don't really take away much from an article, a nicely polished piece of work is easier to read, therefore it makes its point more clearly. Some mistakes that I find to be especially annoying are listed.

Truly: It is not spelled Trully, Truely, Truelly, Trueley, or any other way you can think of! Yes, I know that 'true' has an 'e' in it, but you drop it for truly! This word looks just the same way as it sounds.

___'s: You don't use an APOSTROPHE (') and an S to pluralize something! Only use the S! There are certain cases where it may be acceptable, as in abbreviations and last names, but they are the exception. Why would you say, "The student's are going on a class trip"? This mistake is less frequent with younger writers (<35).

Your/You're: One is possessive--"Your dog barks at night." One is a contraction-- "You're letting your dog bark at night." They are not interchangeable. You cannot say "You're dog is annoying." That would be saying, 'You are dog is annoying.' That just doesn't make any sense.

Its/It's: As with Your/You're, one is possessive--"Its legs are broken." One is a contraction--"It's unable to walk because of its broken legs." If you said, "It's color is unique," you are really saying, 'It is color is unique.'

Goodbye: It is one word! Unlike 'Good night', this one is a single word. Look it up if you don't believe me.

Yea: It is not the same as 'yeah.' Yea sounds like hay and weigh. Not like yeah. Yea and nay are opposites, and sound alike. Congress does not vote 'Yeah' or 'Nay.' The best way I can describe 'yea' is to say that it has a long a. (ā)

I hope this has slightly enriched your grammar or spelling skills. Any help is welcome, I am sure. If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes in this, I will be sure to promptly shoot myself.
17,548 views 32 replies
Reply #1 Top
Wow. Glad I'm not the only one out there reading grammar books for fun. I love Eats, Shoots, & Leaves by the British lady whose name escapes me. It's been good so far.

But you know, your wild rant simply echoes into the cavernous void of apathy. There will still be "prolly," "2" substituted for to, two, and too interchangably, and "cuz" written on IM screens, blogs, and high school English papers all over the country.

And a heaping scoop of errant apostrophes sprinkles thereabouts for good measure.
Reply #2 Top
I always like reading these grammar blogs because I am snotty and don't make (most) of the mistakes I see in them. (Though occasionally one will slip past the internal editor. I should fire him.)
Reply #3 Top
Yes, I always did enjoy that Grammar Textbook. Maybe it should be mandatory summer reading for high school students.
Reply #4 Top
Grammer, vocabulary & the idiomatic usage of a language does change-- with individual initiative, too . For example, about three decades ago my brother (an Officer of the Indian Police Service) and I (a Commissioned Officer of the Indian Air Force) satrted ending our Demi-official letters with the words "With regards". At that time we could not find such an ending in any grammatical or English usage text-book.
Since he & I were in correspondence with many a vIPs internationally, this ending has now become a part of even Businee-letters written by Microsoft etc.
Prof. Gulshan Bajwa
(Themissociijuris blog at Joeuser)
Reply #5 Top
That is amazing, Themissociijuris. If this is true, you really made your mark on grammar. In fact, in school we are taught to use that as a closing. Very interesting.
Reply #6 Top
soorly sum simel miztakaks canot bee dat stezzing tu u kan thay?
Reply #7 Top
Awesome article, TheFazz.

You don't use an APOSTROPHE (') and an S to pluralize something!


Its/It's


Two of my pet peeves. Those drive me nuts.
Reply #8 Top
soorly sum simel miztakaks canot bee dat stezzing tu u kan thay?


ROAR

Awesome article, TheFazz.


Well thank you.

Two of my pet peeves. Those drive me nuts.


So I'm not alone! What I really hate about those mistakes is that they are so common.
Reply #9 Top
You never did like grammar mistakes. I think that's why I change my grammar when I talk to you.
Reply #10 Top
Thank you fazz for taking the joke in the spirit intended. Roar....... lol
Reply #11 Top
No time to read......AERYCK.JOEUSER here.....I updated the like and if you go there you should get here.....Link actually, seeing as the link is her just go there from here...whatever...this is funny....
my message was....Little Children, I love you......if you go there and check, "children of God" you will see the picture, sorry about the confusion....truuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuly......landlol

Reply #12 Top
...what was that all about?
Reply #13 Top
I'm a journalism major and the first thing professors do is have you write a paper. Then, an entire lecture revolves around breaking people out of those habits. One of the common mistakes was "its/it's," using archaic words like burnt and the like.

After those first few journalism classes, I'm really cautious when it comes to grammar. It was drilled into my head. Now, I'm like my own police officer of grammar regarding my class assignments.

I think bad grammar is hard to read. If I see something with too many errors, I'll lose interest and stop reading. A couple is normal but when the whole paper/screen is written like: "Be herre bye tommorrow wit da stuff." I'm going to want to read the person's writing.
Reply #15 Top
quote ---- Get a life!!!! -----end quote

aaargh capt'n guy we have a winner! me thinks we should shanghai this scurvy fella, shall I toss im in a sack for now?

My grammar has worsened over the years, tis not something I would deny!
Reply #17 Top
archaic words like burnt and the like.


Those get to me too. (Also see previous sentence). Amongst, whilst, spelt, dreamt, spilt, leant...

Also using "went" when it should be "gone," "there" when it should be "their" or they're."
Reply #18 Top
Ah, it drives me to the point of insanity when people use incorrect grammar. Even when I'm instant messaging I have trouble using all the slang and terminology...except for "lol". That's the only one I use with some regularity.

~Zoo
Reply #19 Top
Yea: It is not the same as 'yeah


verily. altho it doesn't irk me nearly as badly as 'ya' for 'yeah'.
Reply #20 Top
i'm of the opinion the most fluent and adroit english typers online are scandanavians while those born and raised in britain, the us, autstralia and canada (in that order) savage our common language with the greatest frequency.
Reply #21 Top
Those get to me too. (Also see previous sentence). Amongst, whilst, spelt, dreamt, spilt, leant...


Really? Why? They're great words. I always use the -t ending when I have the opportunity. Dreamt and leant are a little odd outside of poetry, but the others are okay. It's not like you can use them in all the same situations as you'd use among, while, spelled and spilled. Mildly old-fashioned expressions give English some much-needed variety.
Reply #22 Top
I'm of the opinion the most fluent and adroit english typers online are scandanavians while those born and raised in britain, the us, autstralia and canada (in that order) savage our common language with the greatest frequency.


I'd agree with that. Scandinavian schools produce remarkably good English speakers. But I'd put the US and India top of the list for transgressions. Both have an obsession with the letter z that borders on mania.
Reply #23 Top
Do you think that when the editor for a hip-hop magazine spell checks an article, the keyboard melts?

(I forget where that came from...sadly, it's not one of mine)

~Zoo
Reply #24 Top
So a Comedy of Errors? Nothing so elegant I am afraid, more like a true Brain Fart (Dr Guys words). I did a spell and grammar check on this sentence, the computer reccommended "Dr Guy's words", - now I thought that means "Dr Guy is words"? What is the correct way to write this up?

Perhaps one of you "word and grammar snobs" could tell me please. LOL *ducks to miss the clout about the head!*
Reply #25 Top
Really? Why? They're great words. I always use the -t ending when I have the opportunity. Dreamt and leant are a little odd outside of poetry, but the others are okay. It's not like you can use them in all the same situations as you'd use among, while, spelled and spilled. Mildly old-fashioned expressions give English some much-needed variety.


I've heard some people use "dreamt" and "leant" in everyday conversation. I'm just trying to be consistent.