And by grammar, I mean using words the wrong way. Which probably makes me look hypocritical right now. (Note to self...don't be hypocritical until after you've gotten your point across. Now no one will keep reading.) In loose (foreshadowing!) order of how much I don't like it (with the last few not even being that big of a deal):
1. your/you're. Like...come on. Just reread what you wrote and think about whether or not it makes sense.
Helpful link: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-You%27re-and-Your
2. breath/breathe. The former is a noun, the latter is a verb. People don't noun. People verb. (Editor's Note: Isn't it cool that all parts of speech are nouns? Ironic.)
3. affect/effect. Things affect, and things have an effect on other things. "Affect" is a transitive verb, and "effect" is a noun.
4. loose/lose. Perhaps they need a new course in elementary school..."How to discern adjectives and verbs."
5. it's/its. I can understand that in the Facebook chat-ridden world we now operate in, apostrophes often take a backseat to one of the following: laziness, the radical belief that apostrophes shouldn't exist, or ineptitude. "It's" is the contraction for "it is" or "it has." It is not possessive. Its is, however. Confusing, non? Just remember that this, like many of these mistakes, follow two simple rules. A is this, B is that.
6. then/than. The most common mistake I see with this is when people use "then" to compare two things. Which is not what "then" is used for. I haven't seen "than" used incorrectly, so if you use it, you're probably right. But that's not necessarily the case for "then."
7. "quote".. Excusing my need to have everything in order (Note to self: #8), I'm referring to when people misplace the period in/around/[preposition] a quote. It just looks ugly. Same goes for commas inside the quote, too. My one exception to this rule is when songs or poems are involved. Because when the period is in the quote, to me, it looks like that's part of the title, which I don't think is fair to the title. But that's just me.
8. lists not being organized. An example of what would make this list is if I didn't have a period after one of the numbers (ex. 6 then/than.), or if there wasn't a period at the end of whatever grammar mistake I'm talking about (ex. 6. then/than). Things that are organized are aesthetically pleasing. And this isn't even just to do for me...think about how it would look if an interviewer or professor saw this careless mistake.
9. apostrophes used in plurals. When you make something plural, no apostrophes are involved. If you were to include an apostrophe, it would become possessive. When I was on Google searching for grammar mistakes, I came across a picture of a Pizza Hut sign that read "Attention to Our Customer's:" ...Attention to your customer's what? Why do you only have one customer, Pizza Hut? Maybe because you have poor grammar.
10. capitalization. This is an error also made in the Pizza Hut sign...why is "Our" capitalized? There's no need for that. Proper nouns are capitalized - not pronouns and nouns of common importance.
Bonus: definitely. There is no 'a' in "definitely." That is all.
So there are some things to be aware of when you're typing or writing, or using words wherever. And be aware...you may do it more often than you think.
my favorite is #9 hahaha
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