Good grammar is sexy.
On the other hand, bad grammar is not only a turn off, but also increases the likelihood that people skip your message altogether. (See also:15 Ways to Get People to Respond to Your Email)
"If you is not doing it good, the grammar," you may be appearing dumb to others. So, clean up your speech and your writing by avoiding these 12 common grammar mistakes.
Use the Right Word
As Inigo Montoya said in The Princess Bride: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
1. Specially vs Especially
These two adverbs often confuse people. While both of them indicate that something is particular, they are used in different circumstances.
- Use specially to indicate a particular or specific purpose. For example, "I baked this pie specially for this occasion."
- Include "especially" to denote a particular or exceptional quality. For example, "Steve did especially well on today's game."
2. Your vs You're
- Your is a possessive pronoun.
- You're is a contraction of "you are."
When in doubt about whether or not you're using you're correctly, expand the contraction. For example, "You're pants are wrinkly" is incorrect ("You are pants are wrinkly"), and it should be "Your pants are wrinkly."
3. Effect vs Affect
While both words can be used as either verbs or nouns, generally effect is a noun andaffect is a verb. We can clarify it a little further.
- When you are referring to a result or consequence, use effect. For example, "theeffects of this workout are impressive."
- On the other hand, use affect when indicating the action or influence. For example, "this workout affects the way I walk."
4. Elicit vs Illicit
- Elicit is a verb meaning "to bring out."
- Illicit is an adjective indicating that something is illegal or unlawful.
Check out the difference: "The interviewer couldn't elicit information from the executive about the illicit business transactions."
5. Their vs They're vs There
- Their is a possessive pronoun. ("This is their house.")
- They're is a contraction of "they are." Use the same test described for you're to check your sentence.
- There is an adverb specifying place. ("The entrance to the party is over there.")
In general, words that sound alike (known as homonyms) are common sources of grammatical errors. While I have selected five of the most common ones, you can also review this list of 200 homonyms.
Pronouns
Let's use the following sentence "Mary and Kelly are sisters, and she like to eat cake" to explain two frequent issues when using pronouns.
6. Subject-Pronoun Agreement
The verb tense is singular so "like" must be referring to both Mary and Kelly. We need to switch "she" with "they" to indicate that both sisters like to eat cake: "Mary and Kelly are sisters, and they like to eat cake."
7. Pronoun Ambiguity
If you were to note that only one of the sisters likes to eat cake, you would write "Mary and Kelly are sisters, and she likes to eat cake."
The problem with this sentence is that we are not sure which sister is the one that likes to eat cake. To prevent pronoun ambiguity replace a pronoun with the correct noun that you're referring to: "Mary and Kelly are sisters, and Mary likes to eat cake."
Lists and Comparisons
When you build lists or compare items, you have to be consistent in order and form.
8. Parallel Lists
Items in a list need to be in parallel form, which means that all phrases and clauses are similar.
- Incorrect: "He was proud of his book, car, and his pet."
- Correct: "He was proud of his book, his car, and his pet."
- Correct: "He was proud of his book, car, and pet."
Be consistent in your lists by using either only gerunds or only nouns, not both.
- Incorrect: "Developing a plan, investment security, and working fast are essential for entrepreneurial success."
- Correct: "Developing a plan, securing investments, and working fast are essential for entrepreneurial success."
- Correct: "Plan development, investment security, and fast work are essential for entrepreneurial success."
Maintaining strong parallelism in speech and writing has a bonus effect — in addition to helping you sound smarter, it will encourage you to think more clearly.
9. Logical Comparisons
Compare items that are both grammatically and logically comparable. Since those items are also in a list, keep the list in parallel form.
- Incorrect: "Unlike the economies of Italy and France, England has a terrible economy."
- Correct: "Unlike the economies of Italy and France, the economy of England is terrible."
- Correct: "Unlike Italy and France, England has a terrible economy."
Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood is the verb form used to express a wish, a suggestion, a command, or a condition that is contrary to fact. Despite its fancy name, the subjunctive mood is used quite often.
10. Hypothetical Situations
When talking about hypothetical situations or contrary-to-fact scenarios, use "were" and "would." A quick way to remember this rule is that the lyrics from Gwen Stefani's Rich Girl ("If I was a rich girl…") are grammatically incorrect, and those from Beyonce's If I Were a Boy are grammatically correct.
11. Orders and Recommendations
Verbs, such as order, demand, wish, and insist, attract the subjunctive mood. When using these and similar verbs the correct sentence format looks like this:
- The President demands that taxes be lowered.
- My mother insists that the door be opened.
After the verb, use "that," a new subject, and the infinitive form of a verb without the "to." In these cases, a common mistake when using the subjunctive is to use an unnecessary "should."
12. Countable vs Uncountable Items
Last but not least, here is my personal grammar pet peeve: the incorrect use of less andfew.
- Less can only refer to uncountable things, such as water, confidence, and energy.
- Few must refer to countable things, such as dollars, persons, and cats.
Notice that while money is not countable, euros are countable. The easiest way to prevent this mistake is by using units of measurement, such as watts for energy and degrees for temperature.
I hope that you have less uncertainty about grammar and make fewer mistakes!
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