Are You Making These 10 Grammar Mistakes?
In an age where technology such as texting and Twitter encourage users to shorten their words, more and more people are making bad grammar mistakes. Whether it’s the shortcut or lack of knowledge that keeps these mistakes an ongoing train wreck, we have to stop and let people become aware of this issue because it affects our communication process in a professional setting. If you are writing an email to your boss, posting a tweet on a brand’s Twitter account or printing a company’s brochure, bad grammar can cause communication errors, tarnish a brand’s credibility and ruin marketing materials. Below are some of the most common grammar mistakes.
1. Your and You’re
“Your” is a pronoun and it refers to possessing – something that belongs to you as in “this is your company.” Use “you’re” if you mean to say “you are” as in “You’re (you are) a very kind person.”
2. It’s vs. Its
This may be a bit confusion. Unlike the example above where an apostrophe indicts possession, in this case, the apostrophe omits the word “is” while “its” is the possessive pronoun.
3. Their, they’re and there
“Their” refers to possession – something that belong to a group of people. Use “they’re” if you want to say “they are” and “there” means a place or location.
4. Affect vs. Effect
These are two commonly misused words. However, it’s very easy to know the difference. “Affect” is a verb and it means to influence. “Effect” is a noun and refers to a change that results in something being done.
5. Then vs. Than
Use “then” when discussing time. For example, “I will drop the kids at school and then go to work.” Use “than” when you are comparing something like, “My work was better this week than last week.”
6. Alot
This word does not exist. It is two words – “a lot” as in “I have a lot of experience.” However, try replacing this phrase with something that is a little more professional like, “I have 5 years of experience.”
7. Lose vs. Loose
“Lose” is the opposite of winning such as, “This team will lose if they can’t score another goal.” Use “loose” to refer to something that is not tight like, “This coffee lid is loose.”
8. Accept vs. Except
“Accept” is a verb and it means to take or received as in, “I accept the job offer.” “Except” is a preposition and it means not included. For example, “I eat all of my meal except the peas.”
9. Can vs. May
The word “can” is a verb that means ability. For instance, “Can you dance salsa?” “May” denotes permission as in, “May I help you?”
10. Peaked, Peeked vs. Piqued
“Peaked” refers to the top point of a mountain while peeked is to look quickly. On the other hand, “pique” means to excite or arouse as in, “You have piqued my interest.”
What other grammar mistakes do you see often?
