Writing Tips for Professionals
Learn to Avoid Common Writing Mistakes and Grammatical Errors
Aug 28, 2008
Despite what others may say, not everyone is naturally a good writer. Nevertheless, with the numerous emails, memos, letters and other written correspondence circulating offices across the globe, practically everyone is writing. It's no surprise, therefore, that errors get made. Luckily, some of the most commonly seen ones can be avoided
Confusion of Your and You're
Although an apostrophe usually indicates possessiveness, in the case of your vs. you're, the reverse is true. Because you're is actually a contraction for "you are," the apostrophe represents the missing letter - "a." Therefore, you're should be used in place of "you are." For example, "You're a wonderful person to say that."
Your, on the other hand, does indicate possession. For example, "Reading Jessica's articles is your favorite pastime."
Confusion of Their and There
Because the words are pronounced exactly the same way, it's easy to see how these two terms can be easily confused. However, they do mean entirely different things. There is a location, while their indicates ownership. For example: "I left my book over there" as opposed to "That is their book." One easy way to distinguish between these two words is to think "I own things and there is an I in their."
Misuse of the Apostrophe
Apostrophes serve two purposes: they replace missing letters in contractions and signify ownership. So, for example, "I only work on Mondays" is correct, while "I only work on Monday's" is incorrect because Monday does not own anything. If, on the other hand, you were saying "Here is the lineup for Monday's meeting," then the apostrophe is correct.
Confusion of Its and It's
This is another example of a time when the apostrophe indicates a contraction rather than possessiveness. It's is short for "it is," and should be used as such. For example: "It's not finished yet." Its, on the other hand, indicates ownership - for instance: "That is its biggest problem." An easy way to remember the difference is to replace "it is" in your sentence whenever you use it's. If it makes sense, carry on; if not, replace with its.
Confusion of Badly and Bad
First and foremost, remember that bad is an adjective, which means it describes a noun. Badly, however, is an adverb, which means it describes a verb. The most common misuse of badly can be seen when people write or say "I feel badly." Although it may sound right to a lot of people, in reality, it means that the person's sense of touch doesn't work well (they are unable to feel, or touch, things very well). So, the correct statement is "I feel bad." Badly, on the other hand, should be used to describe a particular action - for example: "She performed badly on stage last night."
Using I Instead of Me
"She went to the store with my mom and I" is a perfect example of when I is used incorrectly. Remember that I should be used in the subject of a sentence, whereas me should be used in the sentence's predicate. If that's too technical for you, just take out the other person and see if the sentence makes sense. For example, "She went to the store with I." Since you would say "She went to the store with me," the same should be done when someone else is with you - "She went to the store with my mom and me."
It's hard to believe, buy simply by considering these things, you can improve your writing. Although they aren't the only mistakes writers may make, they are some of the most easily corrected!
