Other grammatical errors that make me cringe are, saying pronounciation instead of pronunciation, and improper use of the apostrophe, eg: Rogers’s instead of Rogers’. These errors which I see all to commonly, really damage the writer’s credibility. Again, thank you, and keep up the good work.
We had a discussion very much like this one over at in May. I’m happy you’ve published a similar post b/c I know your readers are diverse and numerous. Kinda reminds me of Bob Bly’s recent post, “Are Writers Unimportant?” payday loans in RI I responded “no” on his post for some of the reasons you listed. So I guess I owe a THANK YOU to those who continually make these mistakes even though they drive me insane-it leaves me with a job, but unfortunately for you, erases any chance that I might read your blog.
What depresses me here is that not only does the original article contain several mistakes, but much of the advice given in the subsequent comments is also wrong.
Pointing to all the mistaken advice would take too long, so I will comment only on the possessive apostrophe. The rule for this is actually very simple, but for some reason teachers and grammar books make it very convoluted. The rule is that the possessive apostrophe goes after the complete word.
They are *both* correct. In the first one, there is is one boy, so the apostrophe is placed after the ‘y’. In the second there are two or more boys, so the apostrophe is placed after the ‘s’. Isn’t that easy?
Saying “It is conversational in style” is no excuse for being wrong. That does not excuse sloppy grammar is not some arbitrary system invented just to make life difficult. It is there for a reason. Look at these three sentences:-
They e content words, but they have three different meanings. If you don’t know what those differences in meaning are, then you don’t understand even the fundamentals of grammar.
‘Differs from’ because it is being used as a verb to describe what one object has done to distinguish itself *from* another.
OMG, thanks for making the error of using “loose” instead of “lose” #1. I have seen so many bloggers and webmasters out here make that mistake, and it makes me wonder whether they all made it through grade school or not. How can so many seemingly intelligent people make this same grade 3 spelling error? I’m always amazed when I see that!
Look at these examples:
This is an excellent example of proper use of English. I often do the same mistakes like you mentioned. thanks for this great article bookmarked ??
I usually read a lot of comments on a blog but sometimes I don’t have the time to even scroll down to the bottom to leave a comment so I just leave the blog instead
im g.lad someone can write proper english, like fabio im not pure english i was born in england but im italian , by the way i have not put capital letter on England as above, like nowadays the new generation speak very slang english i also blame the law because your not allowed to do this nor allowed to say that, so your confused, so u might as well stay with your mouth shut. goodnight and god bless. Im not perfect just an average person.
Thank you for this post and the others that are helping me put together an interesting blog with a lot less mistakes than I would have without reading your posts. Note: Thank you for putting a “Or Add A Comment” link at the top of your Comment Box. It makes leaving a comment so much easier than having to sift through 400 other comments to find the box at the bottom of the list.
