3 Common Grammatical Errors
70Professionalism is polite
I understand that many well-known and trafficked sites are for writers of all levels, but I have come to realize that simple grammatical errors are wreaking havoc on the net!
Whether writing an article, poem, "how-to" guide, or a blog, basic grammar skills are a must. Otherwise, readers will lose faith in your writing ability, or will read your work to further their editing skills! To maintain professionalism and integrity, make sure to proofread anything being published.
Below are three common grammatical errors:
There, They're, Their
- There - Describing where something is. Here are some examples of how "there" is used in a sentence:
- "I placed my wrench over there."
- "There are birds on the bench."
- They're - Easily put: they're is THEY ARE put together to form one word. Examples:
- "They're going really fast!"
- "I wonder if they're aware of the situation."
- Their - The possessive form of "they"; normally used prior to a noun. Examples:
- "My dogs love their toys."
- "Their house is huge!"
To, Two, Too
- To - Used to express a point in time, motion, direction, contact, etc. "To" is a preposition, meaning that it is a part of a phrase/sequence of words (like, it's a predecessor word). Here are a few examples of using "to" in a sentence:
- "Do you know where to put the art?"
- "Remind me to buy toilet paper today."
- Two - A number that represents a pair, double, etc. Examples:
- "Do I need two eggs or one?"
- "We have a meeting with two other departments, at two today."
- Too - "Too" is an adverb; is used to help show the extent of a verb (a substitute for "very"), or to contradict a negative statement. Here are some examples of how "too" is used in a sentence:
- "The soup is too hot!"
- "I used too much sugar in the recipe."
- "I am excited, too!"
Your, You're
- Your - The possessive form of "you". Meaning, that "your" will almost always be followed by a noun. Simply put, "your" is used when saying that something belongs to you/someone else! Examples:
- "I like your hat!"
- "Please place your baggage directly inside the door."
- "Mark is heading towards your house now, and should arrive shortly."
- You're - Just as with "they're", "you're" is a contraction. Meaning that you take 2 words, and shorten them into 1 word! "You're" is just YOU and ARE put together. Examples:
- "You're beautiful."
- "Let me know when you're done with your chores."
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Help with writing
Just as there are millions of writers worldwide, there are millions of writing tools that are easily accessible.
Here are links to a few sites that I found just by searching Google and Hubpages. None are time consuming, and all are reader-friendly (for writers of all levels):
- Grammarly
- Writing Tips
- Online dictionary
- Direction/formation assistance - a hub
- Instant grammar checker
- Complete index for grammar help
The library is a great place to start, if you're one whom prefers books vs. the internet.
Grammatical errors can, once again, be a thing of the past!
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Too funny!
I appreciate knowing that I'm not the only one! lol =]
Thanks for reading, and following!
As a non-native English speaker I guess I can be guilty of making some grammatical errors, especially when I'm dead-tired. However you're absolutely right, basic grammar skills are a must to make it look as professional as possible.
Anyhow thanks for the great hub and I'll definitely be back again to consult your there, they're, their section.
Voted up and useful!
Sannel
So easy for people to mix words up in English. It must be very difficult to learn as a second language with all it's "sound-alike" words.
Veronica- I'm leaving a comment to our fellow hubber RedElf. I hope you don't mind!
Hello RedElf!
Yes, it can sometimes be very tricky. However when I learned Greek, the English language felt like a piece of cake! LOL!
That said, I do make mistakes in my writing, but I'm constantly learning and hopefully one day I will be as good in English as the native English speaker.
Best Regards,
Sannel
Thank you, SanneL!
I admit that I did not take into consideration the non-native English populace of Hubpages. I maybe should not have singled-out Hubpages, as I meant this universally (social networking sites, emails, etc.).
Years ago, I learned Spanish. I am no longer fluent, but when I was, I know that I had some problems with writing and speaking, compared to a native. So, I can relate. That's a risk to take when learning a new language - that it's not going to be perfect. I hope to relearn Spanish, and then move to Italian. I'm sure that I wouldn't be able to write an article in either shortly thereafter! lol
I applaud you for learning multiple languages!
I meant this article to be somewhat light-hearted, but also to help. I figured that if my seven-year-old stepson were to read this, it'd help him out, too.
Regardless, I appreciate the feedback from both of you. Criticism and praise alike help me grow as a person, and as a writer!
Thank you,
Veronica
Hi Veronica,
Because Hubpages is international, English is not necessarly the first language of all the writers and then for those that English is our first language, England English, is quite different then American English.
The web is international as well.
Great hub and I appreciate your prespective. And as for Geek, to me Greek was much easier since one of my first languages is based on Greek and not on latin. But I have Latin languages as well.
Unless American (Chopped up every language) has become the official langugae of the web I don't know that I would let such minor errors wreak havoc. Unification of the world is more importnt than simple grammatical errors.
JT
JT,
I agree w/ the majority of what you said. Again, this hub was supposed to be comical. I don't actually think that grammatical errors supersedes worldly agendas! =]
There are different dialects to every language. I'm unsure of how British English & American English being different relates to this hub...
Anyway, thank you for your feedback! I appreciate it very much!
Veronica
Hi Veronica,
Always lovely to hear from you. I didn't understand it was suppose to be a joke. Humorous now that you point that out.
Langauge in general can be divisive. Lovely hub.
JT
Great hub! I tend not to click on any hubs with poor grammar and/or spelling. Hopefully, your clever guide will help.
JT,
I definitely agree, and hadn't meant to offend anyone with this hub, or come across as rude or heartless. =/
I appreciate knowing (from a couple of the comments) that the hub was not taken the way that I'd meant it, and for that, I am grateful. That in itself with help me w/ future hubs - changing my tone and wording.
Hush - Thank you for reading and commenting! I "hop" quite often, and have come across some fantastic topics, but the articles were poorly written. We all have our bad days, though, and -as I'm learning- there are many reasons that that may be the case. I'm definitely going to keep more of an open mind when reading hubs. Thanks for your feedback! I appreciate it! =]
Great hub. I have learned alot from your hub. Thanks!
Thank you, incomeguru!
I am glad that it helped!
Take care,
Veronica
Hi Veronica,
I always enjoy your work. I look forwarding to reading your work in the future.
JT
Veronia, Voted up and away. I needed this hub to improve my writing--for I always get mixed up on the variations of these 'easy' words that can be so deceptive. And tomato or TOmato....etc. Long debate. GREAT hub, Vernonica. Keep up the great work. Kenneth Avery
Kenneth - It's easy to do, isn't it? Effect/affect is another one that's easily confused. There are quite a few! If we were perfect, no one would want to read our work, right? =]
Thanks for stopping by, and for your kind words!
Veronica
Veronia, you are very welcome, but I DO need grammatical help. What was the other word, hmmm, oh yeah, diagnose and prognosis...I always get these two mixed up. But "we" will survive. Great to know you, Veronica. Kenneth
Another great hub and very useful. I find I need to watch my grammer when I'm very tired or not concentrating! It is so annoying to have to go back and change all the 'there's' and 'their's' as well as the 'to' and 'too''s. Very useful hub + voted up!
Oh yes, it happens. I tend to do that with texts and emails (when tired/not paying attention), and go back to read what I've written, and get angry w/ myself. lol
Thanks for reading & commenting, and I'm glad that you appreciate the hub!
I gave an instant vote up to this hub. The amount of times I've seen these errors made defies belief. It's especially comical when you look around forums and see people posting "your dumb".
I couldn't have said that better! It's definitely one of the funniest mistakes: "your dumb" or some other variation.
Glad you liked the hub! =]
Oh my goodness thank you so much for writing this. The your, you're thing truly makes me cringe. I am always amazed by the amount of educated people who use that incorrectly! Great hub, great tips, voted up!
LOL You're welcome! I am glad that you enjoyed it, and could relate.
I agree! Even when conversing with (intelligent/educated) people, I sometimes hear "I seen it..." or some other variation. Gets me going every time! :) lol
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
These errors just aren't on the web- they are repeated in business documents and scholastic writing. Teachers even teach that "yours" is acceptable!
Megan Mahajan 6 months ago
THANK YOU! These same errors drive me crazy on the web and off!
Just so you know, I rated you're Hub up and I'm following you're hubs two :)