Grammar School!

I will admit that I’m not the best at grammar (heck, I still have to make sure I type grammar instead of grammer, but that’s just a spelling issue :)), and other times, there is just some stuff that happens when I get typing fast and I’m on autopilot, thinking too far ahead of where I’m actually at in terms of typing. It gets even worse when I’m writing with good ol’ pen and paper!

However, there are some things that bug me when it comes to people typing, whether that be in IRC, Twitter, IM, or even professional emails! Here are a couple of websites that are a good starting point for when to use apostrophes and such in a sentence.

Correct usage of there, their, and they’re is something that can be bothersome, but easily overlooked in casual conversation. Just try and get better :)

Another common mis-usage is where (Where is the coffee shop?) and were (We sure were awesome last night!). It helps to remember which to use simply by saying the words differently:

Where: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/En-us-where.ogg Were: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/En-us-were.ogg

For example, in the sentence “Where were you last night?” you would use two different pronunciations.

My biggest pet-peeve is incorrect use of “your” and “you’re”. Again, the different pronunciation approach works well here:

You’re: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/En-us-you’re2.ogg Your: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/En-us-your.ogg

Then there is the correct usage of apostrophes! Here are some good sites for where to use them:

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/its.html http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe http://ca.dummies.com/how-to/content/using-apostrophes-to-show-possession.html

Hopefully you’ve learned something, because I sure did! I’m wondering how long until someone corrects a sentence I’ve written in this blog post because I’m sure there is something still to be learned (learnt?).