In this day and age, it is becoming the norm for grammar/punctuation mistakes to be simply accepted. I'm not talking about deeper English language concepts and constructs but the more fundamental parts of putting legible sentences together.
Right or wrong, I subconsciously form an idea in my head about the author and their intelligence. This then leads into how credible their article appears to me. I am 44 years old - maybe this is a generation thing? Let me know what you think.
Anyway, here are a few basic things to remember that may help you and the way in which you are perceived when posting on here and elsewhere. Your intentions and true meaning are far less important than how you are perceived.
- "To" and "Too" - Always use "To" unless you are talking about a quantity - too much, too little, too fat, too thin.
- "There" and "Their" - this is an easy one - always use "There" unless you are talking about belongings - their umbrella, their clothes.
- "It's" and "Its" - this is sometimes a subtle one. Read "It's" as "it is". "Its" is about belongings again - its head, its price, on its own.
- "Where" and "were" - "Where" is a place and "were" is something you, they or we "were" doing or going to do.)
- "Your" and "You're" - read "You're" as "You are". "Your" is possession again - your big nose, your newspaper.
- You are not using SMS in the year 2000, before predictive text. As such there is no need to abbreviate or use "textese" if that is even a thing (I'll ask my son!). Take just a little more time with your words and spellcheck them - the extra effort will pay off.
- Assume that the reader needs to breathe every so often (most of us do). Keep your sentences no longer than they need be, and use commas at the logical places that you would take a breath.
- "Are" and "Our" - some parts of the United Kingdom get this consistently wrong and it's a very simple one. "Our" is again about possession or belongings - our brother, our clothes - "Are" is what somebody is - you are great, we are amazing.
- Plurals do not have apostrophes. Bananas, apples, pears but not banana's, apple's and pear's.
- Plural abbreviations and acronyms do not have apostrophes. For example "SKUs", not "SKU's"
- Always read back what you write. If it sounds awkward or not quite right, sometimes it is better to find different words to get across your meaning instead of trying to make the words you have fit together coherently. Try alternatives.
I am not an English teacher and I didn't do particularly well in school. I have no doubt that there may be more accurate or better ways to explain the above ideas but my aim here is to help those that want to do a little better. If you are currently confused about any of the things covered, maybe my simple descriptions will have some use to you.
Feel free to comment if you have any to add, I certainly haven't covered all of these types of things here, and if you believe I have got anything wrong, let me know. I'm also happy to answer any questions if I am able.
Also, please let me know if you agree with me, that these tiny things matter (consciously or subconsciously).
Please upvote if you found this useful or interesting - happy writing!