PSA: How to avoid being hassled by grammar nazis

[George P Burdell]

Now with 100% more content.

1. Your vs. You?re

This one drives me insane, and it?s become extremely common among bloggers. All it takes to avoid this error is to take a second and think about what you?re trying to say.

?Your? is a possessive pronoun, as in ?your car? or ?your blog.? ?You?re? is a contraction for ?you are,? as in ?you?re screwing up your writing by using your when you really mean you are.?

2. It?s vs. Its

This is another common mistake. It?s also easily avoided by thinking through what you?re trying to say.

?It?s? is a contraction of ?it is? or ?it has.? ?Its? is a possessive pronoun, as in ?this blog has lost its mojo.? Here?s an easy rule of thumb?repeat your sentence out loud using ?it is? instead. If that sounds goofy, ?its? is likely the correct choice.

3. There vs. Their

This one seems to trip up everyone occasionally, often as a pure typo. Make sure to watch for it when you proofread.

?There? is used many ways, including as a reference to a place (?let?s go there?) or as a pronoun (?there is no hope?). ?Their? is a plural possessive pronoun, as in ?their bags? or ?their opinions.? Always do the ?that?s ours!? test?are you talking about more than one person and something that they possess? If so, ?their? will get you there.

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[tfinch2]

PSA: Do not hit enter before typing your message body.

 

[destrekor]

writing a book? lol

 

[Kalvin00]

PSA: Poop.

 

[destrekor]

ah there it goes

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
PSA: Do not hit enter before typing your message body.

:laugh:

 

[Gibsons]

"Than vs. Then" is my peeve. Well, one of them.

 

[mb]

Originally posted by: Gibsons
"Than vs. Then" is my peeve. Well, one of them.

I hate that one too.

Also how some people think alot is a word, or use allot instead of the correct way, a lot.

 

[ahurtt]

Dude, your waisting you're breath. People are not going to change there ways. Good grammer is just not important to people these days. Its just not something this generation cares about.

 

[AreaCode707]

4. Insure vs. Ensure

Insure is to invest money against the possibility that you will need a greater amount of financial coverage later one. Ensure to "to be sure". You do not put a password on your computer to insure that your sister won't mess with it, you ENSURE that she won't touch it by passwording it.

 

[iRONic]

Blog on, blogga.

 

[3chordcharlie]

With apologies to how I met your mother, affect and effect bug the crap out of me, as does using 'of' when you should say 'have'.

As in:

"Dammit! I should of said 'have'"

 

[dullard]

Get over it. Grammar just isn't that important. Solve world hunger, end crime, cure AIDS, and then come back and solve the minor grammar problems.

As long as people can communicate, who cares if they type "ain't" instead of "are not". These are just all minor arbitrary rules. The "its" vs. "it's" is the most arbitrary. English rules state it should be "it's", but then two words have the same spelling (as if that wasn't a problem elsewhere). So the solution is to make a third rule as an exception to one of the other rules. No wonder you have people accidently putting in an apostrophe.

Grammar is important in legal documents. On a computer forum, just ignore it.

 

[Alone]

5. Effect vs Affect

Affect is usually a verb meaning "to influence". Ex. "The drug did not affect the disease."

Effect is usually a noun meaning "result". Ex. "The drug has many adverse side effects."

Effect can also be used as a verb meaning "to bring about". Ex. "The present government effected many positive changes."

 

[KLin]

Wont vs. Want

Wont means accustomed, habit. i.e He was wont to wake up at 6:00 in the morning every day. Want means to feel a need or desire. i.e. I want to eat dinner at Tahoe Joe's tonight.

 

[bignateyk]

eh.. if I mess any of them up its usually because of a typo, which I fix almost immediatly if I read my post. So if you see any of them in my replies, it's not because I dont understand the grammar, it's because I didnt proofread.

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
eh.. if I mess any of them up its usually because of a typo, which I fix almost immediatly if I read my post. So if you see any of them in my replies, it's not because I dont understand the grammar, it's because I didnt proofread.

Immediately

 

[Alone]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
eh.. if I mess any of them up its usually because of a typo, which I fix almost immediatly if I read my post. So if you see any of them in my replies, it's not because I dont understand the grammar, it's because I didnt proofread.

 

[Eeezee]

You missed "they're" in that last rule. It's another one that is used incorrectly a lot with those other two.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
eh.. if I mess any of them up its usually because of a typo, which I fix almost immediatly if I read my post. So if you see any of them in my replies, it's not because I dont understand the grammar, it's because I didnt proofread.

Grammar is not the same as 'typing' though.

I couldn't care less about someone's typing, if they use words properly.

Speaking of which, it's "couldn't care less", not "could care less".

 

[Mermaidman]

When you're breaks fail, you loose!

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Eeezee
You missed "they're" in that last rule. It's another one that is used incorrectly a lot with those other two.

When referring to several items that a group of people had lost, use this simple phrase:

There, they're there! Their XYX is there.

Replace XYZ with the list of items.

 

[Alone]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie
Speaking of which, it's "couldn't care less", not "could care less".

Not necessarily.

I "could care less" about all the people starving in Africa. That doesn't mean I don't care at all, nor does it mean I'm giving them my paycheck. I just don't make a big deal of it.

But I must admit that the "expression" is often used improperly as you've mentioned, I'm just trying to point out that either use is acceptable, just in different circumstances.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Ridiculous, not rediculous.
"For all intents and purposes," not "For all intensive purposes."

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Alone
I "could care less" about all the people starving in Africa. That doesn't mean I don't care at all, nor does it mean I'm giving them my paycheck. I just don't make a big deal of it.

Don't be so negative. "I could care more" is a positive version of that phrase. For example, "I could care more about all the people starving in Africa." The "I could care less" version is therefore inferior and should be banned. As a bonus, we can end the non-stop debate over which is better.