26 replies to this topic

[Onionhead Attacks]

10 Common Errors "Spell Check" Won't Catch

Or for those who are lazy, check out the spoiler below. Credit: Yahoo from link above.

Article --Click here to view--

While we can rely on a spell checker to catch glaring errors, a computer can’t pick up on all careless mistakes, especially if the word could be correct in a different context. Often word misuse is our mistake. The English language is full of homonyms, or words that have different meanings but sound and look similar, which makes it easy to confuse proper usage. For instance, verbally, you might not even notice the difference between “your” and “you’re.” But in print, the error can lead the reader to perceive you as less intelligent than you are. For this reason, it's important to spell check and proofread your documents, especially for the following common misuses, which are so easy to make, you might even have to check your document a couple times to catch them.


Its versus It’s (and all other apostrophes):
According to a copy editing instructor for California-based copy editing service provider Edicetera, confusing “its” and “it’s” is the most common error in the English language. That one minuscule apostrophe (or lack thereof) drastically changes the meaning of the entire sentence. “It’s” is a contraction of “it is,” whereas “its” refers to possession. Also, watch out for “your” versus “you’re.”


Sales versus Sails
Can you imagine writing on your resume that you “increased sails by 20 percent”?! Unless you’re applying to a job for a sail boat manufacturer, this careless mistake will probably get your resume sailing right into the recycling bin.


Affect versus Effect
There is a lot of confusion around this one but here’s the rule: “Affect” is a verb and “effect” is a noun. It’s as simple as that.


Would Have NOT Would of
The subtlety in pronunciation leads to the rampant misuse of this phrase; however “would of” is never correct and may make you appear as if you are not well-read.


Through versus Threw
“He threw the ball through the window.” “Threw” is a verb and “through” is a preposition. And speaking of “through,” be careful to make sure you don’t actually mean “thorough” or vice versa. The slight variation in spelling will not be picked up by a computer, but writing “I am through” when you mean “I am thorough” is quite ironic, don’t you think?


Then versus Than
Six is more than five; after five then comes six. “Than” refers to a comparison, while “then” refers to a subsequent event.


Supposed To NOT Suppose To
“Suppose” is a verb, meaning to think or to ponder. The correct way to express a duty is to write, “I was supposed to…”


Wonder versus Wander
You can wander around while you wonder why “wander” and “wonder” have such different meanings, yet sound oh so similar.


Their versus There versus They’re
OK, once and for all: “Their” is possessive; “there” refers to distance; and “they’re” is a contraction of “they are.”


Farther versus Further
While both words refer to distance, grammarians distinguish “farther” as physical distance and “further” as metaphorical distance. You can dive further into a project, for instance, or you can dive farther into the ocean.


We know we missed many common careless errors. What mistakes do you see most often?

Oh.... this says SO much and then some... Apparently I'm a grammar freak in some aspects, some more than others, but definitely not against English majors! It still cracks me up how sometimes my non English professors correct my grammar when they have it wrong themselves XD

This mainly addresses the issues I see when I read fanfiction and my grammar crazy mind just screams in agony when I see them, literally waiting with a giant red pen or marker to correct the errors! Heh. I'm pretty sure that some people have mentioned these as part of their pet peeves as well, huh?

My little additions:

Hear versus Here
"Hear" is a verb describing the action of being able to process some sound through their ears whereas "here" describes a location.

Your versus You're
Definitely one of my pet peeves. "Your" is possesive and "you're" is a contraction for "you are." Totally different meanings, people!

Mine versus Mines
"Mine" could be used in both a possessive way and in a verb way in the action of 'mining', or digging for minerals or ores, but if you say something is "mines" well, you've just said you've been mining whatever it is you wanted to say you own!

Know versus no and now
This one's pretty simple. "Know" means to have knowledge of something whereas "no", means not, the opposite of yes, or something negative. "Now" signifies the present time period.

More when I can remember them!

Edited by Onionhead Attacks, 21 July 2010 - 11:21 PM.

[ShippudenGirl]

Ugh, sometimes I hate spell check XD especially when you do fanfic's... And yeah, I know aboutt the "your" "you're" thing too.

[Dreamer]

Wow, that's pretty bad. XD

[Broken Figurine]

I've been making grammar mistakes lately, but I need to get myself a proper grammar book and teach myself in-depth what they don't teach at school. Some mistakes happen even though I know that it is incorrect, and it mostly has to do with speed-typing and the reflex to hit the enter button once I am done a sentence (thank you IM chatting), so when I make a silly mistake such as "hear" vs "here" I catch it, but have sent it. So I think that the more I do this, the more of a habit for error I create. x-x Quite upsetting; though, I forgive myself. Those who boast a higher grammar know-how should be more forgiving too.

[desaix]

None of those are as bad as the bowels full of cereal I've read about people eating in fanfiction.... (not correct... unless you're talking about haggis, I suppose)

[tricksie]

None of those are as bad as the bowels full of cereal I've read about people eating in fanfiction.... (not correct... unless you're talking about haggis, I suppose)

That's pretty funny!

Good grammar has everything to do with credibility. And in this day and age, when the only face you present to other is often only through what you write, there is no excuse for bad grammar.

And I don't mean the stupid things that spellcheck arbitrarily changes (although it could reflect that you don't reread your writing) or someone writing in your language when it's their second language (which I am always impressed by).

I mean the high school student flouting all rules to express themselves. You have to know the rules to break them. Not blunder around like a bull in a china shop.

I was a peer editor my senior year in college, and mid-semester a freshman brought in a term paper on how to build an igloo. The only thing I could tell him was that he had nice margins! Great use of double spacing! (lol — I wasn't that mean, really!)

We had lots of writes and rewrites, and by the end he had a great paper and I was an expert in Inuit building techniques!

Anyway Onionhead, good grammar is something near and dear to me, too. And it's a skill that always need sharpening. One of my favorite go-to websites is Grammar Girl.

Just went there for lay/lie, toward/towards and further/farther (as a southerner, that's one of my stumbling blocks...y'all!)

[Cupcake-chan]

I forgot about the Who vs Whom one...

But sometimes I do those mistakes. It's not that I don't know the difference, it's that my fingers work on their own. I don't even know I didn the mistake after re-reading.

[AchikaMiyu]

I know I'm guilty of some of those, but I try to catch them on the first draft. Of course the problem with editing your own work is that you subconsciously fill-in the blanks or will read the word as you think it should have been written rather than how it was written. It's always the small stupid mistakes for me.

[Onionhead Attacks]

None of those are as bad as the bowels full of cereal I've read about people eating in fanfiction.... (not correct... unless you're talking about haggis, I suppose)

Eww.... nasty image... amazing what one letter does to a word, eh?

Anyway Onionhead, good grammar is something near and dear to me, too. And it's a skill that always need sharpening. One of my favorite go-to websites is Grammar Girl.

Just went there for lay/lie, toward/towards and further/farther (as a southerner, that's one of my stumbling blocks...y'all!)

Ooo... nice site! A definite fav for quick look up. And yea, sometimes accents could throw a person off with the correct word usage. That whole contraction of ___'ve really drives me insane when some says could of instead of could've or would of instead of would've -.x

I forgot about the Who vs Whom one...

But sometimes I do those mistakes. It's not that I don't know the difference, it's that my fingers work on their own. I don't even know I didn the mistake after re-reading.

Lol. Yeah, I know what the general usage of who vs whom and direct or indirect object usage for them, but I still have trouble using them in my sentences

P.S. I never thought I'd be having a conversation on grammar... lol oh the little surprises life throws at you...

[desaix]

I forgot about the Who vs Whom one...

But sometimes I do those mistakes. It's not that I don't know the difference, it's that my fingers work on their own. I don't even know I didn the mistake after re-reading.

Who vs. Whom is especially easy to forget, in part, because there is some debate in the grammar community that whom should be declared obsolete -- it is considered acceptable under some schools of thought (I can't remember if the University of Chicago -- which has done a lot of things like this in recent years, like change the standardized spelling of grey\gray for American English -- is the one or not, but I wouldn't be surprised) to just always use who. English is an evolving language, and in recent years things have changed like the spelling of some words (traveling\travelling, grey\gray, etc.) or the decision to accept the use of split infinitives as proper grammar. I wouldn't be surprised if the declaration that whom is archaic wasn't the next change we get....

[Nick Soapdish]

Unfortunately, my mind has started getting lazy or something from spending so much time reading message boards and fanfics that it's just quietly correcting mistakes that I read without me noticing. (Or that's what I'm going to claim at least.) But I definitely agree about a lot of those - especially the its/it's and they're/their/there. Another one that I remember seeing a bit is bare/bear - usually to hilarious effect.

[Toasty Warrior]

Yeah I'm not exactly an angel when it comes to writing stuff, but I usually check my stories for any errors and proof read them enough, but even sometimes the littlest of things slip past me.

[Cloud]

I'm a grammar fiend. Honestly. I get ticked if I look on my lab report or essay and I see I've made small errors.

I immediately go correct and print out new pages.

[shadow_Uzumaki]

I try to keep my grammar school-worthy by texting without text chat, complete with apostrophe marks. Still, from what my teachers told my class, a few students are bound to use 4 instead of for or btw and such. I'm a brilliant speller, but my grammar is terrible.

[Saku-chan]

Even though spell check has forayed into grammar correction (pointing out sentence fragments and repeated words), it's still mainly a spelling checker. None of these errors are 'misspelled.' They are just used incorrectly. I don't mind that Spell Check leaves these mistakes because people should take it upon themselves to edit their work more diligently. I don't want the computer to think for me.

This list is still really funny though. :3

[Paradox Jast]

Even if spell-checkers are good, nothing beats a good beta/editor. Sometimes even more than one, if they are efficient, because often times one person will catch what another will miss.

As for the above listing of words, the only one that ever really sends me for a loop is 'affect vs effect'. Generally speaking I have a hard time picturing 'effect' as a noun, you know - person, place, or thing.

But breaking it down further, it might be easier to remember as 'An effect is the result of an affect.' Or something like that, anyway. The effect is the thing, the result, the noun (I guess). The affect is the action, the verb.


Now if only I can remember the way I'm breaking it down now for future reference...

[Nick Soapdish]

Even if spell-checkers are good, nothing beats a good beta/editor. Sometimes even more than one, if they are efficient, because often times one person will catch what another will miss.

As for the above listing of words, the only one that ever really sends me for a loop is 'affect vs effect'. Generally speaking I have a hard time picturing 'effect' as a noun, you know - person, place, or thing.

But breaking it down further, it might be easier to remember as 'An effect is the result of an affect.' Or something like that, anyway. The effect is the thing, the result, the noun (I guess). The affect is the action, the verb.


Now if only I can remember the way I'm breaking it down now for future reference...

Affect (the verb) is with an A for Action!

Well, it's worth a shot as a mnemonic device.

[Paradox Jast]

Actually, I think the emote did it for me, now.

Spoon all the way.

[desaix]

For the record, I know I make a number of mistakes with homonyms (then\than, effect\affect, etc.). It isn't that I don't know the rules -- it's that when I read my own writing I don't actually see it as it is written but rather as I intended to write it, however glaring the mistake (it's another symptom of dyslexia... there are some mental tricks to getting around that, but they can slow your writing speed tenfold, so I tend to rely on editors to catch them. Although if I'm writing one-draft fiction (like almost all of my fanfiction), I don't have any editors. A curious thing, though, is I'm actually very good at seeing the same mistakes I make in other peoples writing -- I almost zero in on them -- even though I can't see them at all in my own writing.

Of course, another thing that dyslexia can get you to do is write "mother" when you mean "father" (and visa versa) and the like, which can lead to 40+ comments letting you know of this one mistake within minutes of each other on fanfiction.net, in my experience.

Curiously, except for ie\ei, I almost never have serious spelling problems from my dyslexia (and generally have very good spelling), which prevented it from being diagnosed until I was well out of school. Apparently, teachers aren't really taught to recognize the non-spelling symptoms of dyslexia (at least in my experience). It wasn't until I started getting into console video games (which wasn't until my college years) that a fellow video gamer recognized my symptoms, based on the mistakes I was making trying to learn various moves in a fighting game (one of the Tekken games -- Tekken III, I think it was).

[TwinEnigma]

The other thing spell-check won't catch are tense issues.

Sometimes if you're writing in past or present tense and suddenly switch to another tense, you won't pick up on it until later.

"He knows this is wrong and said,"

instead of

"He knows this is wrong and says," or "He knew this was wrong and said,"


Big thing and best reasoning I've ever heard of for having a beta reader AND reading the fic back from end to beginning off a hard copy.

Other things to be careful of are ellipses, parentheses, dashes, colons and semicolons. Woah, man, are these things that can change the entire way you read things.

Even with a copy-editor's handbook on hand, I can say these are things that will screw you up. Use with caution. General rules of thumb, though, semicolons for two ideas linked to each other, parentheses for stuff that's considered an aside, colons or dashes if the second idea boosts the first, and don't abuse ellipses.