Charlie Magdaleno: Blog

  In continuing with the "technology" theme of last week's entry, one thing I've noticed through the advent and growth of social networking sites/applications such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter is people's lack of a hold on basic grammatical concepts.

  With that in mind, I figured it wouldn't hurt to make a reference post on some of the more common mistakes I see on status updates, comments, etc.

  Now, as a disclaimer, I'm certainly not a master of the English language; nor am I trying to poke fun at or look down on anybody.  The simple fact is, the way we speak and the way we write are incredibly important to how others view us; and when so many of us spend so much effort trying to make ourselves look our best and to have something to talk about, why not have the know-how to do so articulately?

  In any case, I mean no disrespect; and if this post somehow labels me as some sort of snob, well, I guess there's not a whole lot I can do about that haha.

  Anywho, onward!

There vs. Their vs. They're

Mixing up these three "words" is one of the most common mistakes I see. With that in mind, I feel like it's a good one to help clear the confusion with.

There

The word "there" refers to a location of a person, place or thing.

  ex. Hey, can you put that over there?

  ex. I moved from here to there.

  Their

  The word "their" is a possessive pronoun.  It's used to indicate ownership the same way "his," "hers," "mine," and "yours" do.

  ex. That is their house.

  ex. That hat belongs to their son.

 They're

   "They're" is actually a contraction of the two words "they" and "are," and should only be used in place of the phrase "they are."

   ex.  They are coming over at seven. = They're coming over at seven.

   ex.  Ray says he'll go if they're going.

Similarly, It's vs. Its

  "It's" and "its" share the same difference as "they're" and "their."  "It's" is a contraction of the phrase "it is," while "its" is a possessive pronoun along the lines of "his," "hers," and "yours."

  ex. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

  ex. Look - it's wagging its tail!

Remember, Punctuation Is Important!

  One little apostrophe, comma, hyphen, etc. can completely change the meaning of a sentence, as well as its coherency.

  ex. Let's eat mommy! vs. Let's eat, Mommy!

  ex. Were going to the gym tonight vs. We're going to the gym tonight.

 Remember, Spelling Is Important!

  Just as one little punctuation mark can completely change the meaning or correctness of a sentence, so can one little letter.

  ex. Do you now where my keys are? vs. Do you know where my keys are?

  ex. I'm going to lose weight this year. vs. I'm going to loose weight this year.

  The word "lose" is a synonym for the word "drop," whereas the word "loose" is a synonym for the word "unleash."  Beware those friends that say they're going to "loose weight"- not for spelling reasons; but for safety ones.

"Sounding It Out" Doesn't Always Work

  If you don't understand or know what it is you're actually saying, spelling and grammar aren't going to be much help.

  ex.  Supposably, the test is next Friday. vs. Supposedly, the test is next Friday.

  The word "supposably" insists that something is capable of being supposed; whereas "supposedly" insists that something is believed to be true.  While using "supposably" is not entirely incorrect, it's really only correct in saying something is "supposable."

  ex. I should've gone to the movies. vs. I should of gone to the movies.

  The first sentence states that the speaker "should have" gone to the movies, while the second sentence doesn't state anything.

More vs. -Er

   Sometimes, it's tough to know when to use "more" or the suffix "-er" when comparing things.  While it isn't a "hard and fast rule," generally-speaking, if an adjective has two or fewer syllables, add "-er" to the end of the adjective; however, if the adjective has three or more syllables, use the word "more" in front of it.

  ex.  That girl is smarter than me vs. That girl is more smart than me.

  ex.  That girl is intelligenter than me vs. That girl is more intelligent than me.

  Also, don't use both "more" and "-er" together to describe the same adjective (ex. more better).

The Bottom Line

 More often than not, these mistakes, as well as others, are made not because we don't know how to spell or don't know different grammatical rules; but rather because we just have a mental slip.  Either because we're just trying to work too fast, or aren't putting an effort in, we simply concern ourselves with getting our point across- however correctly or incorrectly.

  That being said, many of these mistakes we can catch ourselves making if we just look over what we've written before we hit "post" or "send."  It doesn't take much effort; but doing or not doing so can make a huge difference in your perceived intelligence, education, and credibility in the eyes of others.

  So, don't be too hasty, and don't be lazy with your writing.  With the advent of "spell/grammar check" and Google search bars, there's no reason not to take a second to make sure you're getting a word, or phrase, or name, etc. right.

  That's all for this week, folks.  Thanks for reading.

  Happy Typing!