I know there are those things that we see wrong all the time in spelling and grammar and different tenses of words, and on the boards, in e-mails and in chat, no one really cares. But when it comes to schoolwork, the teachers and professors DO care!! They take away points and lower your grade!!

So... I thought I would start this thread and start throwing out some of those common mistakes... :)

Jenn

One of the first ones that comes to mind...

Your and You're.

Your is possessive.

You're is a replacement of you are.

Examples..

Your silly. Should be... You're silly.

The chicken is you'res, but the fish is mine. Should be... The chicken is yours, but the fish is mine.

Jenn

Another one is the there/they're/their situation.

There is describing a place, as in here or there.

They're is a replacement for they are.

Their is possessive of a group.

Examples...

Their going to the store after work. It should be... They're going to the store after work.

They needs to move there cars so the driveway isn't blocked. It should be.. They need to move their cars so that the driveway isn't blocked.

Jenn

Another one is its/it's.

"Its" is possessive. Ex: The dog wagged its tail.

"It's" is a contraction for "it is." Ex: It's sunny out today.

That's a good one!!

And the rule of ... I before E, except after C. I always had to work to remember that one! I still say it to myself sometimes!!!

Jenn

Also, there is no "A" in the word "DEFINITELY."

That's a good one!!

And the rule of ... I before E, except after C. I always had to work to remember that one! I still say it to myself sometimes!!!

Jenn

LOL me, too! Oh, speaking of which... too/to.

"Too" is when you say something like, "I went shopping, too."

"To" is when you say, "I went to the mall."

Believe it or not, a LOT of people still make that mistake.

I remember in about the 3rd or 4th grade our teacher said the way to remember how to spell the word, "separate" is that there is a rat in the word. Oftentimes, you will see it spelled seperate.

Don't get me started, here! (hear = I hear ya). Here is like "over here" or "Here it is"

The i before e is immediately after a "c" as in chief. There is a c in the word but you spell chief "c h i e f". Can anyone think of a word where the i is directly after a c?

I just thought of another one. Some people make the mistake of using the word "are" for "our". Our house is a very very very fine house. Are you going to your office today (are the verb = action) (our the pronoun). This is our home.

Tons of people use a lot as one word (alot) but its actually two words.

Also another one, you see each other ran together as just one word, but its also two words.

That's a good one!!

And the rule of ... I before E, except after C. I always had to work to remember that one! I still say it to myself sometimes!!!

Jenn

I still say this to myself also, and then it confuses me when it comes to weird (and other like words), where the dang E comes before I. So it doesn't always apply I suppose.

And why is it thEIr not thIEr? Silly rules!!

Bless you for this thread!!!!

MAYBE not maby

There is no such word as reoccurence; it is recurrence.
Supposedly, not supposably.
Similar, not simular.

I have not seen these errors on PTO, they are just old pet peeves of mine.:o

I often see people confusing the above mentioned words.... What I don't understand is why do some people insist on inventing their own spelling for many words? EX: U instead of YOU. Boyz instead of BOYS..... and many more. To me, it makes it more difficult to read it quickly and understand what they are trying to say when they use their own abbreviations.

Many insist on putting an apostrophe on all words ending with S. Why?
's shows possession. Thus, it's improper to say: "My two dog's are so cute." To translate it to proper grammar, it would mean "my two dog is are so cute" which makes no sense....

This forum should have Spell Check, which would be a bit helpful - but Spell Check won't catch all errors. It will, however, make you stop and think about certain spellings - and in doing so you could learn how to correctly spell many words.

Okay, a quick oral one that I hear all the time and it makes me crazy...

It's "accidently" or "by accident." Not "on accident."

"I accidently kicked the cat." or "I kicked the cat by accident." NOT "I kicked the cat on accident."

I often see people confusing the above mentioned words.... What I don't understand is why do some people insist on inventing their own spelling for many words? EX: U instead of YOU. Boyz instead of BOYS..... and many more. To me, it makes it more difficult to read it quickly and understand what they are trying to say when they use their own abbreviations.

I dunno, good question. (Ha! There's another one, I "dunno" instead of "don't know".) As you can see, I do it, too ;) . I think it's just evolved over the years, especially in the younger generations, to become our own sort of language. I definitely think it's more of a younger person thing, like an online slang almost. The other day, I was talking to my mom and I said, "Read the convo." She was like, "The what?!" And I said, "Convo... conversation." She goes, "Oh. Well how was I supposed to know that? If it's gonna be abbreviated, shouldn't it be conver?" :ha:

Okay, a quick oral one that I hear all the time and it makes me crazy...

It's "accidently" or "by accident." Not "on accident."

"I accidently kicked the cat." or "I kicked the cat by accident." NOT "I kicked the cat on accident."

Yes, I hear that one a lot, too (and make that mistake myself sometimes). And spelling-wise, it's "accidentally". A lot of people make that mistake.

I hear people misuse "I", "me" and "myself" all the time....."Me and Adam are going to the store" is so common. I was always taught if you have another person in the sentence to take them out and see which form of the pronoun you would use. (You wouldn't say Me is going to the store). People use myself a lot when they are confused.....my dad has a favorite line from Seinfeld I think it is....."Allow myself to introduce....uhhh...myself".

I often see people confusing the above mentioned words.... What I don't understand is why do some people insist on inventing their own spelling for many words? EX: U instead of YOU. Boyz instead of BOYS..... and many more. To me, it makes it more difficult to read it quickly and understand what they are trying to say when they use their own abbreviations.

This forum should have Spell Check, which would be a bit helpful - but Spell Check won't catch all errors. It will, however, make you stop and think about certain spellings - and in doing so you could learn how to correctly spell many words.

I really, really HOPE that folks aren't submitting written assignments with the Z replacing the S and U intead of You. If they are, I bet those teachers and professors are having a field day marking up those papers!!

And SpellCheck is something that should be more widely compatible when the next upgrade comes. As it is now, I think it's only compatible with certain versions of IE, but it's there.

Jenn

Capitalization!

Of course, the first letter of every new sentence should be capitalized.

Proper names should be capitalized, as well as names of cities, specific brands, and such.

A bit one is when and when NOT to treat names/words like Mom, Dad, gramma, grandpa, and the like with the first letter capitalized.

For example...

I purchased a new sweater for my mom. AND.... I purchased a new sweater for Mom.

If you would be able to replace the word in question with the proper name, then it should be capitalized. In this example, You wouldn't say that you'd purchased a new sweater for my Sue, so it is correct, but you would say that you'd purchased a new sweater for Sue, so it is correct as well.

:)

Jenn

Hee Hee, you'd think I would have learned to spell check by now! Did someone mention noun verb agreement yet?

How About Idea And Ideal

Oh, idea and ideal are good ones!!

IDEA is a formulated thought or conception while an IDEAL is a standard of perfection.

I'll leave the noun-verb agreement for someone else or at least, later. :)

Jenn

Excuse, not escuse

Affect and effect are two different meanings, though it can be subtle.

Affect, as a noun, is a psychiatric term about the emotional quality of a person's appearance and actions; as a verb, it is "to affect" to have an influence on.

Effect, as a noun, is the result of an action; as a verb, it is "to effect" and really means to put into action.

And then there's the confusion between "advice" and "advise". They're pronounced differently, the "s" sounding like a "z". One gives advice, a noun, or one advises, a verb.

How about witch and which? Witch is a friend at Halloween and which is a choice. One of my sons is an excellent student but not such a hot speller. He will still use witch when it should be which and spell check doesn't pick up the mistake. Spell check is helpful but can not be relied on. I am constantly writing form instead of from and spell check doesn't notice that one for me. I still remember the kids teaching me the difference between desert and dessert. The teacher told them that you like dessert and you want more of it so it is the choice with the extra s. I never learned that one til my kids were in school.

When you get married it is VOWS you take...

VOWELS are A E I O U and sometimes Y