incorrectly delivering the message.
Grammarsam (a.k.a English Teacher Sam Beeson) helps us avoid some of the most common pitfalls.
People slur. We mumble. Sometimes we say things incorrectly, but we understand one another. Because writing requires exactness, the things we say often need to be corrected when they hit the page. The following ten examples clarify some of the frequent oral offenders:
Should of: Incorrect.
Should have: Correct!
Anyways: No such thing.
Anyway: Correct!
Acrossed: Just plain wrong.
Across: Correct!
Alot: Nope.
A lot: Correct!
Alright: No. No.
All right: Correct!
Grammer: Commonly misspelled
Grammar: Correct!
Judgement: Misspelled
Judgment: Correct!
Quote / Quotation: Quote is a verb. Quotation is a noun. This commonly misused term happens daily in classrooms. Teachers erroneously say, “Write down this quote, then respond to it,” or “One of my favorite quotes is this: ‘to be or not to be.'” The correct thing to say is, “I am going to quote my favorite quotation which is this: ‘to be or not to be.'”
Good / Well: These two words may be the two most misused words in the English language. Good is an adjective. It can only modify nouns and pronouns. Well is an adverb. It can only modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
I scored good on my spelling test. (incorrect)
The new car runs good. (incorrect)
Both need to be replaced with well.
English: Always capitalize the word English. Always, always, always.
And finally, Grammarsam reminds us to know where to go for punctuation help.
Punctuation often gets in the way (through its absence or superabundance) of the content. Never allow poor punctuation skills to thwart your reader from reading. EVERYONE should have someone they trust who can proofread well, and give honest feedback. Beyond a human helper, the following Web site and book are my bread and butter as a teacher of English. They answer all my questions when it comes to grammar and punctuation:
Web site: grammarpunk.com (wonderful local resource and blog with FAQ and
easy-to-use, inexpensive curriculum)
Book: The Grammar Bible by Michael Strumpf (absolutely complete resource,
available from Amazon in paperback)
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