1. Grammar tips for better writing www.techrepublic.com
Write right: Avoid these common grammar mistakes
Oh no! It’s a pop quiz!
1. If your pants are too big, are they lose or loose?
2. What is the difference between the Latin phrases i.e. and e.g.?
3. Is there an apostrophe missing in this sentence: “The Smiths live in the green house”?
To find out the answers to the pop quiz questions, go to the end of this document. If you’re not
sure about your answers, you might want to read a little along the way.
In a world where e-mails and Web sites are often the first contact customers have with a
company, the written word is becoming more and more important. To make a good first
impression, a company must be sure that its Web site not only works right but reads right as
well.
However, spelling and grammar rarely top the list of favorite subjects to read up on, so
we’ve put together some help for the grammatically challenged. Read this list and make notes of
the words that give you trouble. This should help to improve your writing and cut down on the
opportunities your co-workers have to tease you about your mistakes.
If you’re really interested in words and how they are used and misused, here are a few
more resources to peruse. Paul Brians, a professor of English at Washington State University,
Pullman, WA, has put together a wonderful page of common writing errors. We used several of
his examples in this download. If you’re wondering about how to use or spell a word that is not
in our list, check out his site at http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors.
Professor Brians’ site also includes links to the following resources:
• Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Notes (http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/)
• Charles Darling's Guide to Grammar and Writing (http://webster.commnet.edu/HP/pages/
darling/grammar.htm)
• Ronald B. Standler's Technical Writing Guide (http://www.rbs0.com/tw.htm)
• Garbl's Writing Resources OnLine (http://members.home.net/garbl/writing/)
• Non-Sexist Language (http://www.stetson.edu/departments/history/nongenderlang.html)
• WWWebster Dictionary (Merriam Webster) (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm)
• Mindy McAdams' Spelling Test (http://www.sentex.net/%7Emmcadams/spelling.html)
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Confused and misused
The following words and phrases are often used incorrectly. Included are several words
that sound the same but have different meanings. These words are not interchangeable,
and the following rules and examples will explain why. Also included are phrases that are
often written incorrectly. Take note of these mistakes so that you don’t make them
yourself.
A/An
Ronald B. Standler offers this rule on his Web page on Technical Writing:
Use a if the first letter of the following word begins with a consonant, “a horse, a dog, a
Macintosh computer.”
Use an if the first letter of the following word begins with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u), “an
owl, an ostrich, an IBM machine, an hour-long meeting.”
Accept/Except
Accept: to take or receive. “I’ll accept your apology.”
Except: to exclude or omit. “I want everyone to leave except my mother.”
English professor Paul Brians offers this advice on his Web site, which covers common
writing errors:
“Just remember that the ‘X’ in except excludes things—they tend to stand out, be different.
In contrast, just look at those two cozy ‘Cs’ snuggling up together.”
Adapt/Adopt
Adapt: to alter so as to fit. “Ryan adapted his brother’s jacket to fit his smaller frame by
making the sleeves shorter.”
Adopt: To take by choice into a relationship. “The photographer adopted a child from
China.”
Adverse/Averse
Adverse: hostile or opposed, difficult circumstances. “The ocean storm created adverse
sailing conditions.”
Averse: having a strong feeling against. “I am averse to watching hockey.”
Advice/Advise
Advice: a noun, help. “Dear Abby gives advice.”
Advise: a verb, to offer counsel. “The joint chiefs of staff advise the president.”
Affect/Effect
Affect: almost always used as a verb, to have an influence on. “The million-dollar donation
from the industrialist did not affect my vote against the Clean Air Act.”
Effect: used as a noun, power to bring about a result. “When I left the faucet running, the
effect was that the bathroom was flooded.” Used as a verb, to create, “The duty of the
legislature is to effect the will of the citizens.”
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Conscience/Conscious
Conscience: a noun, the ability to tell right from wrong in one’s behavior. “I hope that crime
weighs on her conscience.”
Conscious: an adjective, having an awareness of one’s existence, environment, or behavior.
“I am conscious of the fact that I have made mistakes.”
Could care less
When you say this, you are actually saying that you do care somewhat about whatever you’re
discussing. The correct phrase, “I could not care less,” means that you are at the end of your
caring rope.
e.g. and i.e.
Both e.g. and i.e. are abbreviations for Latin phrases.
"Id est" (i.e.) means that is. “Stealing is illegal, i.e., dangerous.”
"Exempli gratia" (e.g.) means for example. “The menu is full of Italian dishes, e.g., pasta
carbonera.” Place a comma both before and after either of these abbreviations.
Greater than/Greater then
It’s always “greater than.” “His desire for money is greater than his will to work.”
Me, Myself, and I
I is always a subject. “I broke the tie.” Or “I love biscotti.”
Myself is not a substitute for I and should never be used as the subject of a sentence. Don’t
use, “Myself broke the tie.” Or “Myself love biscotti.”
Professor Brians has this to say about me, myself, and I:
“The notion that there is something wrong with "me" leads people to overcorrect and avoid it
where it is perfectly appropriate. … Trying even harder to avoid the lowly me, many people
will substitute myself, as in ‘The suspect uttered epithets at Officer O'Leary and myself.’
“Myself is not a sort of all-purpose intensive form of me or I. Use myself only when you
have used I earlier in the same sentence: ‘I am not particularly fond of biscotti myself.’ ‘I
kept half the loot for myself.’"
Lay/Lie
Lay: to put or set down. “I will lay the baby in her crib.”
Lie: to be in a reclining position. “I will lie down on the bed.”
Lay is something you do to something else; lie is what you do yourself.
Lose/Loose
Loose: not tight or confined. “She lets her dog run loose in the street.”
Lose: to be unable to find. "He tends to lose his keys."
Professor Brians suggests pronouncing the word aloud if you are don’t know which to use:
“If it has a voiced Z sound, then it's ‘lose.’ If it has a hissy S sound, then it's ‘loose.’”
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-ly words
Adverbs (something that modifies a verb) that end in “-ly” are not hyphenated. "She is
technically oriented." Or “He is moderately qualified.”
Moral/Morale
Moral: a lesson often found at the end of a story. “The moral of the story is: Don’t count
your chickens before they hatch.”
Morale: the emotional state of a group. “Morale was high among the start-up’s staff
because of a successful IPO.”
Passed/Past
Passed: a verb, moved on or ahead. “I passed the potatoes to Aunt Marie.”
Past: a noun, events that have already happened. “All those mistakes are in the past.”
Personal/personnel
Personal: relating to an individual, private. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
Personnel: a group of people employed by a business. “The policy change will affect all of
Acme’s personnel.”
Site/Sight
**If you work on the Web, please get this one right.
Sight: the ability to see. “His sight was restored after years of blindness.”
Site: a place or location, such as a home page. “The site is temporarily down.”
Sole/Soul
Sole: the bottom of the foot. “I have a blister on the sole of my foot.”
Soul: the spiritual nature of humans, considered separate from the body. “I am worried
about your eternal soul, my dear.”
To/Too
To: in a direction toward. “We are going to Paris.”
Too: in addition to. “You’ll need a passport and traveler’s checks too.”
Professor Brians has another handy way to tell the difference:
“Just remember that the only meanings of too are "also," "I want some ice cream too," and
"in excess," "Your walkman is playing too loudly." Note that extra O. It should remind you
that this word has to do with adding more on to something. To is the proper spelling for all
the other uses.”
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Possessive pronouns and contractions
Possessive pronouns and contractions are all too commonly confused. Often the mistake
happens because of a simple typo or carelessness, while, other times, people forget which is
which. Either way, you shouldn’t fall prey to the it/it’s monster.
Pronouns are substitutes for nouns. Possessive pronouns are substitutes for possessive nouns.
Instead of using the alien’s in this sentence: “The alien’s green and black skin glistened in the
moonlight,” you could use the possessive pronoun its. “Its green and black skin glistened in the
moonlight.
Contractions are two words made into one with an apostrophe. The contraction of it is is it’s. Read
the following examples to learn more about the difference between possessive pronouns and
contractions.
Contractions
It’s
It’s is a contraction of it is. “It’s (it is) going to be a while before the server is live again.”
You’re
You’re is a contraction of you are. “You’re (you are) going to be in trouble when we get
home.”
They’re
They're is a contraction of they are. “They’re (they are) going around the world in 80 days.”
Possessives
Its
Its is a possessive. “Its hair stood on end.”
Your
Your is a possessive. “Keep your hands to yourself.”
Their
Their is a possessive. “Their dog is so well behaved.”
How to tell the difference
Its/It’s
Here’s the test: If you can replace the word with it is and the sentence still makes sense, you
want it’s. If the sentence doesn’t make sense, you want its. For example, "It’s (it is) hair
stood on end." Nope. In that case you must use its.
Your/You’re
The same test works here: If you can substitute you are in a sentence and it still makes sense,
you want you’re. If it doesn’t make sense, you want your. “Keep you’re (you are) hands to
yourself.” Nope. Your is the correct choice.
Their/They’re
Do you see a pattern here? “They’re (they are) company is a leader in the industry.” Nope,
that sentence needs the possessive form, their.
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Apostrophes
The big question here is when to use apostrophes. Americans seem to be crazy for this
punctuation mark, because it is everywhere—especially where it doesn’t belong.
Just because a word ends in an s, doesn’t mean that it automatically gets an apostrophe. “I
like banana’s, orange’s, and apple’s” is incorrect.
However, “The banana’s skin is brown” is correct. In this case, banana gets an apostrophe
because a noun follows it. It owns the noun, just like the banana owns its skin.
The confusing aspect of all this is that the possessives listed above (its and your) do not need
apostrophes. But they are the exception to the rule; most other possessive words do need
apostrophes. “The laptop is Betty’s.” “The laptop is hers.” “The calf cried for its mother.”
“Samantha’s mother warmed a bottle.”
Finally, verbs NEVER need apostrophes, “The dog runs fast.” “The computer crashes
frequently.” “The world turns on its axis.”
Common spelling mistakes
You can’t always rely on spell check, and often Web sites don’t seem to use it at all. But
there’s nothing more unprofessional or embarrassing than sending out training materials, e-
mails, or business reports with misspellings. There is no excuse. If you haven’t yet, it’s time
to learn to spell.
To help you get started, here are a few of the most commonly misspelled words:
1. A lot (This is always two words, never one.)
2. Beginning
3. Broccoli
4. Business (Count the n’s and the s’s, and never misspell this at work again.)
5. Congratulations (There is no “d” in this word.)
6. Consensus
7. Definitely
8. Dependent (There is no “ant” at the end.)
9. Embarrassment
10. Environment
11. Irritable (Not “irritible.”)
12. Judgment
13. Liaison
14. Memento (Not “momento.”)
15. Necessary
16. Occurred
17. Privilege (There’s no “d” here either.)
18. Receive (This is an example of the “I before E except after C” rule.)
19. Recommend
20. Sense
21. Separate (There is only one “e” in this word.)
22. Truly
23. Weird
24. Whether
25. Yield
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Pop quiz answers
1. Loose is correct. Although you might lose your pants if they’re loose, you still won’t ever say
they’re lose because they’re roomy.
2. Latin is a dead language, but it still creeps up often enough to keep us on our toes. I.e. means
that is and e.g. means for example.
3. There is no apostrophe missing in this sentence. Of course, you could always rewrite it if
you’re feeling particularly apostrophe-needy. (“The Smiths’ house is green.”)
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