49 - Grammatical mistakes

Nowadays, we communicate with our keyboards as much as we do verbally. Often, in a lively conversation or a heated debate, we may think to ourselves, Did that person just say "HIV Virus"?, but we will only ponder that error for a moment, as the conversation carries our worst transgressions away. In the professional world, where writing is almost essential in any workplace, it is recommended to avoid these mistakes as best possible because once you let one big, fat grammatical mistake out there for the world to see, you will officially go in the books as being the clueless one or the careless one by your colleagues.

Here are ten for today that just make me cringe, but to be honest, it happens to the best of us whenever we're not being too careful. Take care with your writing, people!

1. Loose for lose
Wrong: I always loose my car keys.
Right: I lose my respect for anyone that uses 'loose' for 'lose'.

2. It's for its (in rare cases, its')
Wrong: Does the dog know it's tail is on fire?
Right: The dog knows its tail is on fire and it's disturbing and unpleasant.
Wrong: That man has terrible grammar and its extremely annoying.
Right: The man was murdered yesterday evening and it's possible it was due to his poor grammar.

3. They're for their for there
Wrong: Their in they're, having there English examination.
Right: I hope they're using their grammar correctly in there.

4. i.e. for e.g.
Wrong: There are many grammatical mistakes that exist (i.e., 'irregardless').
Right: There are many people that I know of that make these mistakes (e.g., my father, my friends and some bloggers).
Note: The term i.e. means "that is"; e.g. means "for example." And a comma follows both of them.

5. Effect for affect
Wrong: The teacher's absence should not effect today's schedule.
Right: The teacher's absence will affect our moods, though.

6. You're for your
Wrong: Remember to check for comments on you're blog.
Right: If you don't, you risk losing your readers.

7. Different than for different from
Wrong: The fireworks this year are different than the ones I saw last year.
Right: The fireworks this year are different from the ones I saw last year.
Right: The fireworks this year are better than the ones I saw last year.

8. Lay for lie
Wrong: I was so drunk and had to lay down.
Right: I was so drunk and had to lie down.
Wrong: Just lie that drunk kid on the bed.
Right: Just lay that drunk kid on the bed.

9. Then for than
Wrong: The boys had more problems with their grammar then the girls did.
Right: The girls had less problems with their grammar than the boys did.

10. Could of, should of, would of for could have, should have, would have
Wrong: I could of sworn his grammar was atrocious. I would of told him if only I was surer of myself...
Right: I should have known it was you with the bad grammar.