I belong to a number of forums, and I find that many people make the same mistakes over and over. I decided to address some of the most common mistakes I see. While I don't expect to change the world, maybe someone will read what I've written and learn from it. I think it's very important for people to be able to use written communication effectively, whether at work, school, or something more casual, such as these forums.

Your vs. you're

This is probably one of the most common mistakes out there.

Your - this is a possessive - it can be used to indicate ownership (or lack thereof), i.e., "This is your car", or "That is not your name".

You're - this is a contraction of the words you and are, and is used in place of those two words, i.e., "You are going to school tomorrow" becomes "You're going to school tomorrow".

Incorrect

Your going to add an external hard drive to your PC.

Correct

You're going to add an external hard drive to your PC.

One way to remember this is to think about whether the words "you are" could be used appropriately in the sentence. You would not say "This is you are car", therefore the correct word is your. By the same token, you could say "You are going to school", so the correct word would be you're.

There, their, and they're

There - when used as an adverb, indicates a location or a specific event, i.e., "There is the store", or "The milk is over there". It can also be used as a pronoun, such as "There is going to to be an upgrade of this software next month".

Their - this is a possessive. "Their PC needs an upgrade". "The house belongs to their uncle".

They're - this is a contraction, just like you're, and it's short for they are; "They are going to the Geek conference" becomes "They're going to the Geek conference". Again, if the words "they are" are appropriate in the sentence, then "they're" can be used.

This post has been edited by sari: Aug 1 2007, 10:32 AM

Its and it's

Its - this is a possessive, again. "The mouse is running in its wheel". "Its wheel is spinning rapidly".

It's - yet another contraction, this time of it is. "It is going to rain" becomes "It's going to rain". "I wonder if it's warm in Hawaii". If you can use "it is" in the sentence, then it's appropriate to use "it's".

"Well" is an adverb, "good" is an adjective. (The good boy didn't feel well.)

"I wish there was" is wrong. "I wish there were" is correct. Hint: If there is an "if" or "wish" in the sentence, the verb should probably be "were".

"Someone helped me, but they forgot to tell me their name." No. Someone is one person, not two. "Someone helped me, but he forgot to tell me his name."

"The book went missing yesterday" arrgghhh The book is missing. Period. It didn't get up and walk. "The book has been missing since yesterday." or "The book is missing."

"Mad" means "crazy", not "angry". "America" can refer to any country in North or South America. (Try telling someone from Toronto that he is not a North American!) I "speak" to my kids, not "talk" to them. However, we can talk about almost anything together.

Don't get me started, Sari, I could go on forever because I can still recall from school a Mrs. McCrory looking at some of my sentences, sighing, and admitting that some things can't be fixed, that they simply need to be rewritten, because otherwise you can end up with long run-on sentences, like this one, that are impossible to punctuate or diagram, and can make Sari's head hurt.
Johanna

Thanks for the additional input, Johanna! I could go on and on too, but I figured I had to stop somewhere!

Do you ever get the urge to edit some of the posts in red ink, or do you just sit there silently fuming.

I now their are various way's of looking at this problem but I end up thinking thats' life and its probably not there first language (sorry couldn't resist)

*admin couldn't resist!

...and no, I didn't make any of those errors up, they were all there.

Is this more good?

Disclaimer: I purposely used incorrect grammar in the above sentence. Don't roast me!

This post has been edited by stettybet0: Aug 4 2007, 01:42 PM

Has rock seen this ? or
Did rock see this ?

Betterer

fixt

sorry monkey boy I m a bit further North

Don't you mean "Nawth"? I grew up in New Hamp-shuh so the consonant "R" was unfamiliar to me until I was a teenage-uh.
Johanna

I stand corrected I didn't know you gew up in NH Jo

Thats wicked pissa