Grammar and spelling
mistakes are very common, and with the rise in shortened “text
speak”, they are becoming even more so. In an effort to reduce
these annoying little slip ups, here are five common spelling and
grammar mistakes you need to stop making:
1.- Recurrent
misspellings
Even those who think they
know all the tricks of grammar can get fooled by this one. A lot of
people tend to write it as “alot” which isn’t a word.
2.- There,
Their and They’re
• “Their” signifies
possession. It’d work in a sentence like “It’s their house.”
• “They’re” means
“They are”. If “are” wouldn’t fit behind “They” in your
sentence, “They’re” isn’t the one you’re looking for.
• “There” is
best used when talking about a position. “I’m going there” or
“It’s over there”.
3.- You’re
and Your
• “You’re” works
the same as “They’re”; it stands for “You are”. “You’re
getting better with grammar” works, because you could easily swap
out “You’re” with “You are”.
• “Your” is for
possession. “Your book” means that you own the book, so “Your”
is the correct word.
4.- Using an
apostrophe
You should use an
apostrophe in two cases only:
• It shows possession of
something: “Company’s employees” shows that the employees
belong to the company.
• The other use is for
contractions, and you can see it in the points above. You can use an
apostrophe on “You are” to make it “You’re”, just like you
can on “They’re.”
5.- Literally
“Literally” means
exactly to the point. Using “literally” in a sentence describing
an event means that event happened exactly as you explained with no
exaggeration.
When someone says “I
literally died because I was laughing so hard” then they’re
implying that they’re dead.
