In March 2009 I was embarrassed to ask anyone what BLOG meant! Everyone was talking about creating a blog and I didn’t even know what it was.
That was the beginning of my relationship with Google. Google has never let me down, it has the answers to all of my questions!
You already know that “blog” is a contraction of the term web log. It’s a website that allows users to reflect, share opinions and discuss~ you know, a journal that everyone can read!
One thing blogging and good copywriting share is a conversational style, and that means it’s not necessary to use perfect grammar in order to communicate effectively. Both bloggers and copywriters routinely end sentences with prepositions, dangle a modifier in a purely technical sense, or make liberal use of abbreviations all in order to write in the way people actually speak.
But there are some mistakes that can detract from your credibility. (I remember as a kid, my mom, a college graduate with an English major, correcting me when I’d answered the phone, “This is her,” I’d say. Mom talked over me politely saying, “This is she.”)
While we all hope what we have to say is more important than some silly grammatical error, the truth is some people will not subscribe or link to our blog if we make dumb mistakes when we write, and buying from us will be out of the question.
When blogging, writing with a personal style that makes it easier on the reader is more important than using perfect grammar. That said, I also believe we have to know the rules in order to break them.
Here are five mistakes to avoid when blogging and writing web copy.
1. Your vs. You’re
I understand this error has become extremely common among bloggers. All it takes to avoid this error is to take a second and think about what you’re trying to say.
“Your” is a possessive pronoun, as in “your car” or “your blog.” “You’re” is a contraction for “you are”, as in “you’re messing up your writing by using your when you really mean you are.”
2. It’s vs. Its
This is another common mistake. It’s also easily avoided by thinking through what you’re trying to say.
“It’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” “Its” is a possessive pronoun, as in “this blog has its functionality.” Hint: repeat your sentence out loud using “it is” instead. If that sounds goofy, “its” is likely the correct choice.
3. There vs. Their
This one seems to trip up everyone occasionally, often as a pure typo. Make sure to watch for it when you proofread.
“There” is used many ways, including as a reference to a place (“theres go there”) or as a pronoun (“there is no hope”). Their is a plural possessive pronoun, as in “their bags” or “their opinions.” Always do the “that’s ours! test” are you talking about more than one person and something that they possess? If so, “their” will get you there.
4. Loose vs. Lose
This one drives a lot of people crazy. Here’s a hint:
If your pants are too loose, you might lose your pants.
5. Different than vs. Different from
I’ll bet I’ve messed this one up countless times. It boils down to the fact that things are logically different from one another, and using the word than after different is a grammatical blunder.
This vase is different from the one I have, but I think mine is better than this one.
Now let’s be honest, dont you wish you’da paid more attention in school?! Oh wait, Its me who didnt!
June 16th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Great stuff Linda. I struggle with my grammar all the time. I takes me two or three days to ready a Blog post for publication. You see I have my 30 year dead Mother looking over my shoulder. I couldn’t get away with sloppy English when speaking around the home. I still have the “may I” vs “can I” syndrome which my children will attest to as annoying.
June 16th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
I have the “May I” “Can I” syndrome myself!! I understand the time it takes!! I can’t help but hope that the more I practice, the quicker I’ll get!
June 16th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Linda, the truth of the matter is, people online will judge what we write and say in videos. Some personality types could care less about grammatical errors where others, well, it would drive them up the wall and cause credibility to be lost.
You make a great point in this post. Thanks for sharing!
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June 16th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Hey Eddie~
Isn’t it true?! I think we should cover all our bases, be good on the inside and show it on the outside, whether it be with the written word or on video! I’m anxious to read your latest post!
June 16th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Linda,
Great post using humor to point out common errors that we all make at times. I know we’re supposed to proofread before publishing, yet it’s still easy to overlook these slips. Eddie has a very good point about some people and the programs that run them. Careful checks and balances can fix that.
Thanks for the gentle reminders,
Val
June 16th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Number five is a trap I could see myself falling into because “different than” tends to sneak into natural conversations.
One to three are mistakes I always watch for.
And how did you know my pants keep falling down
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June 16th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
You’re funny Peter! I’m anxious to read your latest post!
June 16th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
I cannot join you and Kimberly on your thirty day journey this time, but I do plan on regularly posting to my blog again starting this Saturday.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Thanks for letting me know! I’ll miss you Peter
But I know I’ll be seeing you!
June 16th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Oooh your busting my tail!
Hmmm let me try that again you are busting my tail!!
A lot of these are errors I make when I’m writing without paying close attention. If I get caught up in the topic, my fingers write and my brain is already on the next sentence.
I will say though that many of the its/it’s are simply lack of the punctuation rather than being any confusion. You’ve probably seen my mobile postings on my Facebook page tend to be devoid of punctuation because the punctuation is not easily accessible on that phone. It keeps me engaged but yes looks unprofessional.
Good stuff!
Kimberly
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June 16th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
I’m excited that you’re following me so closely! I feel honored!
June 16th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
You’re stepping up and doing what others wont! You’re getting out of your comfort zone and making it happen. That’s something most people talk about but never do. I intend to support you as much as possible through this! I can’t promise to be here for every post, since I know I’m going to be running time-limited just to get my own done, but I’ve got your back and a shoulder if you need it! Let’s rock this thing!
June 17th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Yes! This is so much fun! Day 2! I can’t wait to read yours!!
June 17th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Hi Linda
Oh so many choices when I come to your blog, which one to pick. Uh I am just going to do them all. This was a great topic for a post well done. Have you been talking to my Mum!
Belinda
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June 17th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
June 17th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Great post Linda…..these are some of my pet hates. I do sometimes get confused with “loose” and “lose” though and have to go and check up which word to use. Your little saying will be very helpful, thank you.
June 18th, 2010 at 6:34 am
Thank you Louise~ I’m glad this post helped!!
June 22nd, 2010 at 2:38 am
Hi Linda
I am with you 100% on this post!
Impressions count and while many people don’t bat an eyelid about the occasional typographical error (including me – we all make them!), poor grammar simply grates on me (it may not bother others, but I don’t like it).
I read today in one of our local newspapers about the new National Curriculum that the Federal Government wants to bring into Australian schools. This particular article was regarding the teaching of formal grammar.
There has been talk of this “new” curriculum for a while now, and of schools going back to teaching the basics (including maths and other subjects), but I don’t understand why it “went away” (for want of a better term) in the first place!
(NB: It obviously hadn’t gone away completely, but something has definitely gone astray … there are so many young people who can’t spell properly or use correct grammar, but the thing that I find the most disturbing about it is that the majority of them don’t seem to care!).
Anyway, we all make typographical errors at times, but it amazes me how many people use poor grammar, AND don’t know how to use the following words correctly:
they’re, there and their;
lose and loose;
your and you’re;
off and of;
accept and except;
great and grate;
to and too;
and one of my pet “hates” is people using “then” instead of “than” (and vice versa). I’ve noticed these two words being used in the wrong context more and more frequently (online) in the past couple of years.
I could go on, but I won’t … and don’t get me started on the use of apostrophes! (eg: when talking in multiples, it’s videos NOT video’s!!) hehe
I’ll get down from my soap box now! lol (although I’m much taller standing on it … !).
Great post, Linda.
~ Kylie ~
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:31 am
Thank you Kylie! Your opinion means a lot to me! I confess, I wrote this post for me! I’m one of ‘them’! One of my posts (for the 30 day content challenge) is going to be punctuation!
June 22nd, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Thanks! I value your opinion too
I’m looking forward to reading your post on punctuation.
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June 24th, 2010 at 8:41 am
Great post, I Just wanted to add that i can’t connect to your rss stream, you should install the right wordpress plugin for that to workthat.
June 27th, 2010 at 8:19 am
Thank you Sherrell! I’m not sure why it was not active, now it is! I’m glad you brought that to my attention!!!
June 27th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Hahaha, I enjoyed reading this one Linda! I’ll be honest, I am a stickler for grammer…even though I can be a bit laid back in my posts, there are some errors that irk me (i.e. there vs. their). Thanks for hitting on these great points!!!
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June 27th, 2010 at 11:11 pm
It’s a crack up! There are some things that I’m good at catching, some I’m not! I’m glad you enjoyed reading!
April 13th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
These few small grammatical errors can make or break the way you look in the workplace. They are so simple–meaning that you should know them.
April 15th, 2011 at 6:47 am
Kim,
I see that you are really into network marketing, I told you before, but you really need to get a gravatar! I’ll show you how here http://lindagraceonline.com/get-the-focus-on-you/ then leave another comment and let me see!
Linda
June 22nd, 2011 at 12:44 pm
I feel like some industries judge your grammar and spelling mistakes more severely than others. For example, if you misspell something in the advertising or art industry, it could be viewed as creative. but when you’re in the business world, there seems to be no room for error.
June 23rd, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Kim,
I honestly struggle with grammatical errors! My mom works hard like she has her whole life teaching me! Even with spelling check, I still make errors!
Linda
ps. Why don’t you get a Gravatar! I created a post to show you how to get this simple and free account! Check this out here: http://lindagraceonline.com/get-the-focus-on-you/
July 10th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
I was so frustrated with the your/you’re recently because I came across a blog that was called “Your Happy, Right?” and as much as I didn’t want to be negative, I addressed the error in the comment section. But it was too late — the domain was “www.your-happy-right.com”
July 11th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Chase,
I wrote this post for me! I still need to refer to it occasionally!
Linda
ps. Why don’t you get a Gravatar, a picture connected to your comments?! I created a post to show you how to get this simple and free account! Check this out here: http://lindagraceonline.com/get-the-focus-on-you/
July 17th, 2011 at 7:47 am
I love coming across these sites that help with grammar. We forget to easily what we learned at school and fall into bad habits.
July 20th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
You are so right. People gets easily confused of those words. One needs to have presence of mind and remember which is which. Nice post.
July 24th, 2011 at 6:20 am
Grammatical error #3 is my biggest pet peeve. It drives me up the wall. I think a lot of people continue to make these errors because they don’t proofread. Just think of all the grammatical errors that could be avoided.
July 26th, 2011 at 12:28 pm
Amy,
You are so right! Proof reading is essential! I think I said in this post (it’s been a long time) that I am the number one culprit!
Linda
August 4th, 2011 at 11:52 pm
Mistake #5 I think is a common mistake of some foreigners in whose language “different than” is used. If I’m not mistaken, for example in the Ukranian language it is correct to say so.
However, the general level of literacy in English has dropped greatly with its spreading all over the world.
August 8th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
John,
Not just to foreigners, but to all readers!
Linda
September 1st, 2011 at 2:24 am
Loose instead of lose is definitely the one that drives me nuts. Yet there are more and more people who simply don’t care about grammar and they just write in whatever style is more convenient. Very, very unpleasant!
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September 1st, 2011 at 11:07 am
George,
As I said in the post (I think) I’m the biggest culprit! I do care, I just don’t remember! This post was for me!
Linda
September 1st, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Its funny sometimes how simple words confuse us. I think we have all been there. Thanks for the list, will surely keep those in mind.
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September 7th, 2011 at 11:26 pm
I come from Poland and I have always problem when I should use has and when had in English
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September 8th, 2011 at 7:10 am
Mary,
I can’t even imagine! It’s hard enough being born and raised here!
Linda
September 17th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
I love this back to school english lesson. I am amazed when people make the above mentioned spelling errors.
September 20th, 2011 at 5:12 am
Julie,
It’s embarrassing that being the author, I still make the errors!
Linda
September 27th, 2011 at 11:44 pm
That No. 3 There vs Their is my weakness. Even in blog commenting sometimes I mistakenly type their instead of there.
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October 5th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
In the end i believe most of these mistakes show up when we’re in a hurry and don’t really have time to think about the small things. They might be annoying, but at least you can understand what the other person tries to say. Compared to other cases where you wonder if what he’s writing is really english or some foreign language.
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October 19th, 2011 at 5:08 am
Very useful details regarding grammar and I always stuck with my grammar errors and I thank you for the great update.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
I must admit, different from and different than are tricky… but here where I live, the most common errors are for words that are already plural but look singular. As in, feedback and equipment. I do so often hear an s on those words.
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October 25th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
I make some grammatical errors here and there and I’ve actually made some of those listed above…
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October 27th, 2011 at 7:36 am
Aangkhar,
It’s unfortunate that even after I wrote a post for my education, I’m still making mistakes!
Linda
November 7th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
I have to admit that i make most of these errors when I’m sleepy.
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November 8th, 2011 at 9:24 am
Ryan,
It’s a bummer when we do them when we’re not sleepy! That would be me!
Linda
November 9th, 2011 at 4:21 am
I suffer from dyslexia, which is now minimal but when I was in college it was very hectic for me to read and write.
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November 10th, 2011 at 8:56 am
Chuckie,
I understand! I have the hardest time with grammatical errors! I wrote this post for me!!
Linda
November 27th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Hi Linda,
Most people choose to grammar check option in the Microsoft office but it turn out its not always right .. even after writing it right they do that .. its funny in a sense.
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December 11th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
This blog is full of informative articles. I have spent nearly an hour, reading some of your older blog posts and I am enjoying every word you have written. I wish you all the best and more power to your blog. Keep up the good work.
December 15th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
You’re right, even I try to write correctly I always have few grammatical errors.. I need someone do a quick check, otherwise: -error-
May be I am a little dyslexic that I sometimes don’t catch some errors…
In my experience I am in a hurry and forget to check, and that has caused me embarrassment.
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