Posts tagged grammar
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Grammar Police! YOU’RE Under Arrest!
Recently, one of my (very few) blog followers asked me the million dollar question: “when is the grammar-related blog coming?”
Like many of you, I frequently check all forms of social media on a daily basis (sometimes more than I care to admit) and read the posts and statuses of my peers.
Guys? YOU CANNOT WRITE PROPERLY! I am a self-proclaimed ‘grammar nazi,’ and I do a pretty good job of controlling myself and not saying anything or correcting anyone when I see the major mistakes, because that is super annoying. Just know, however, that I’m reading it all and marking it with a red pen in my head. I originally went to college with aspirations of being a high school English teacher, until I realized along the way that I hate teenagers.
(Sidebar: I am terrified that this blog post will have a grammatical or spelling error in it; thus resulting in the ultimate embarrassment and shame)
I’ll be honest; I’m not good at math. Never was. If you came up to me and said, “Quick! What’s 9 times 6??!?!” I’d probably panic and/or wet myself. I can’t figure out how to tip someone 20%, and I use a calculator for everything. So please, in no way shape or form think that I’m saying I’m smarter than anyone — because I’m not.
The thing is, when it comes to the English language, I can’t understand why some basic principles and things we learned in elementary school go completely out the window for most people. And sadly, a lot of teachers I know (even English teachers…oh, the shame!) make awful mistakes that I will never comprehend.
Your vs. You’re
THIS, is grammatical pet peeve numero uno. I would say about 80% of the people I know and interact with do not know the difference between these two. It actually makes me sad, because I know that it’s simple to determine which to use, and that most people just don’t care.
Here’s a quick lesson! Please disregard if you are a grammar nazi like moi.
-The word ‘your’ indicates possession, meaning: your pen, your house, your sister.
Example: “I really like the way your hair looks today.”
“Your blog is amazing, Allison!”
-The word ‘you’re’ is a contraction for ‘you are.’
Example: “You’re the best, Allison!”
“I heard you’re going to that party tomorrow.”
It really doesn’t get much easier than this, and yet no one ever uses “you’re.” What’s wrong with “you’re,” guys? Show him some love!
Same goes for the there/their/they’re fiasco. But I think I’ve taught enough 3rd grade English for one day, so I’ll leave that for another time. As well as:
- ‘A lot’ is 2 words; not one.
- Here/hear = different words, different meanings
- Same goes for then/than
- Andddddd also too/to
- For the love of God, use spell check!(I’m aware that spelling doesn’t come natural for some people - but horrific spelling can be a potentially embarassing situation. For example, a girl I knew thought the word “bowl” was spelled “bowel” and that made for some really awkward emails. ”What are you doing for Super Bowel?”)
- PUNCTUATION! Remember, it saves lives:
…and many more
If I sound pretentious, I’m sorry. It’s just that YOUR correct usage of the English language is important, and YOU’RE going to be glad when you finally get it right.
And if you don’t want to listen to me, listen to Ross:
