I was not an English major. I have no formal writing education.
My undergraduate degree is in psychology and my master’s degree is in education. So I may be impelled to teach or at least analyze people. How does that apply to writing? It doesn’t directly. But as someone who appreciates education, I know how important it is to learn your craft, whether formally or informally. Not to mention I have written a lot of papers. Too many.
I think no matter writing niche you are in, bad grammar gets noticed. Ironically, when writing an article discussing bad grammar, somehow the piece itself inadvertently displays grammar or spelling errors that some will get a sick thrill by pointing out these mistakes. (I hope I caught them all.) Hey, no one is perfect.
Please don’t tell me you write good and don’t need any grammar lessons. Because if you used goodas an adverb here, people will come after you. The grammar police will hunt you down for such a blatant disregard to the English language. Again, I am not a perfectionist, but there are obvious grammar mistakes that, well, bother me. Don’t worry – I won’t arrest you if I catch you. I’ll let you off with a warning.
In the meantime, I encourage you to learn the rules. My favorite reference is Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips. Find an English book or reference guide that works for you and learn to respect the language. And then use it in your writing.
If you are going to display your (not you’re) writing publicly, please take some time and memorize some fundamental grammar rules. Some grammar rules are up for debate, but there are grammar rules that are hard and fast. To help get you started, here are a few of my pet peeves. Please change your habits if you use any of the below grammar blunders.
- “Literally” means that it actually happened, not figuratively. So, please don’t say, I literally wet my pants unless you literally had to change your underwear.
- In most cases, “affect” is a verb and “effect” is a noun. ex. How did the sound effects affect your ears?
- It’s and its mean different things. The apostrophe makes it’s short for it is. Sound it out after you write it down.
- Your is possessive and you’re is short for you are. Incorrect: Your the greatest writer I know!
- The apostrophe rule also applies with were and we’re.
- Random capitalization in the middle of sentences annoy me. Only proper nouns are capitalized. Please don’t tell me that you took your Dog for a walk near the Library.
- It is “I couldn’t care less.” not “I could care less.” Think about it.
- “Good” is an adjective and “well” is an adverb. So, someone saying “he reads good” is as painful as a screaming toddler.
- Do NOT use an apostrophe to make something plural: you do not have to take your cat’s to the vet. Maybe your cat’s friend, but if you have more than one cat, the word is cats.
- Lose means the opposite of found and loose means the opposite of tight.
- Using “of” instead of “have.” Instead of saying, “I should of gone to the party,” please correctly state “you should have gone to the party.”
- “Irregardless” is NOT a word.
Related articles
- Review: Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (crookedprose.wordpress.com)
- Grammar Rant: Apostrophe Abuse (suzannajuby.wordpress.com)
- Just Saying (thesevenblog.com)
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for sharing this useful to us..I learn a lot on it..
Brent recently posted..Xenadrine review
Those are some very commonly made mistakes and also dangerous mistakes.The post is really very very useful.
Hey!
First time here and I love it!
Though English isn’t my first language, I try my best. I did my bachelors in psychology and English Literature was one of my subjects; so I try working on it as much as I can. Also, though I speak it fluently, I sometimes find myself missing that one crucial word to complete the sentence. It’s like I have to say the same thing in a lot of words. Maybe my vocabulary needs more work than my language?
Even as a kid, I had a lot of difficulty between affect and effect; though that is sorted out to some extent now!
P.S I thought irregardless was a word! My spell checker just showed that as a word!
This is informative and a fun read too!
Thanks!
Hajra recently posted..Will they call you over for a Bloggers Party?
Your English is great! Even as a native speaker, I still fumble with some of the more advanced grammar rules. Truthfully, some are debatable and have changed over the generations. It is all a learning process!
Thank you for you comment and I am glad you enjoyed it! 
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
One of the very first arguments I ever had with my husband was over whether or not “irregardless” was a word, which then led to the “I couldn’t care less.” argument. I couldn’t not agree more with every single one of your pet peeves; they are all my English pet peeves as well. Much like yourself, I’m sure I break many grammar rules here and there (mainly the harder to follow and remember ones) but those up there, make my skin crawl each and every time, literally.
Absolutely fantastic post!
Lizzeann recently posted..Honesty: Adoption: A Letter I’ve been meaning to write…
LOL! That’s funny, not to be sexist here, but I have met some very intelligent men with atrocious spelling and grammar – I think it is the whole Mars vs. Venus thing. ;0) I am thinking about writing a post about the not-so-obvious grammar rules (like sometimes you DO add an apostrophe to make a word plural).
Thanks for this nice article! Nice summary with the most common grammar mistakes! I think I’ll print it and hang it on the wall to see it every day. Sometimes I am really in trouble with apostrophes, but the book you’ve mentioned could be very useful by havong grammar problems.
Julie recently posted..wisdom teeth
This article is amusing. My husband absolutely can not spell. So I understand your annoyance. Thanks for the laugh.
This is a great article! I basically have no formal education for writing. But I learned the skills through practice and frequent reviewing with a spellchecker. The dictionary also helped me improved my vocabulary. Today, though I still classify myself not the best writer, but my articles did well in search engines.
Rizza Gamutan recently posted..Bitzio’s Top 12 App Predictions for 2012
Practice is important and how you learn to improve your skills. I guess you have to ask yourself, are you trying to impress the search engines (whose algorithm changes frequently) or an actual reader. In the end, it should be the reader, especially if you want to grow as a writer and move outside web content! Thanks for the comment!
If you are writing for any niche, bad grammar gives your readers a bad impression about your post/blog.
Bad grammar can be the basis for losing a potential client or job, so wherever your writing is posted online, be sure it is grammatically correct!