There was a time in grade school where we all learned a little something called grammar. You can't tell me you didn't because I know for a fact you did. Just dig deep into the deep recesses of your brain and you'll remember. I know I had a few workbooks and textbooks that I despised with all my heart.
I felt like grammar was a complete waste of time in class because it was totally common sense. Or so I thought...
BREAKING NEWS PEOPLE! It's 2018 and we live half of our lives online. While we do have spellcheck, we have not been granted the gift of grammar check yet. Many people are making important first impressions online. Because of this, it is absolutely essential to not rely on spellcheck to fix all of your typing mistakes because you sat through hours of grammar classes and your computer didn't.
I am convinced some people honestly didn't pay any attention in their grade school classes or simply are too lazy to check their posts. I see too many mistakes to continue on without saying anything. Hop into my little time machine and zoom back to 3rd grade to review these lovely rules I wrongly assumed everyone knew.
1. Your vs. You're
This is one of the most irritating and most frequent errors I see. "Your" shows possession and "you're" means "you are." For example, a correct sentence would be "You're holding your phone." On an invitation, you should write "You're Invited" because invited is another verb and no one can own "invited." On a birthday card, you should say "It's Your Birthday!" because the person possesses their birthday and it doesn't make sense to say "It's You Are Birthday!"
2. Their vs. There vs. They're
It blows my mind how many people get these three confused. I supposed it's a step up from your vs. you're since there are three different options so I'll cut everyone some slack. This one is pretty simple once you know the difference. "They're" is just like "you're" - it means "they are." "Their" is like "your;" it shows possession. You would use "their" to describe "their desk."
Finally, "there" is different from the rest because it doesn't match up with a version of "your" or "you're." "There" signifies a location and is the correct spelling of "over there." In a sentence, you could correctly use all three versions of their/there/they're by saying "They're going to their house over there," meaning "They are going to the house that they live in over in that area."
3. Possession vs. Plural
This problem pops up most frequently around Christmastime when people are sending out their holiday cards. To make ANY word plural, INCLUDING NAMES, you always only add an "-s" or "-es." You should NEVER add an apostrophe (') to make a plural. Apostrophes show possession with nouns every single time! There is no word that can be made plural with an apostrophe.
4. Saw vs. Seen
This grammar error is a current phenomenon sweeping Facebook. "Saw" and "seen" are both past tense forms of "see." However, there is a difference. "Saw" is the simple past tense so it can be used directly after a noun. "Seen" is the past participle of "see." This means you must always say "have seen." "Seen" should never appear by itself. You can either say "I saw" or "I have seen," but you can NEVER say "I seen" (I just cringed typing that).
5. To vs. Too vs. Two
Oh man, we're really going back to basics now with to vs. too vs. two. Obviously, "two" is the correct spelling of the number 2. To vs. too seems to be a little trickier for some people. "Too" means in addition or plus. "To" has an extensive list of correct uses that can be viewed here, but most of the time "to" is used to indicate direction.
An example of all of these words being used in the right way would be "I am going to the movie at two too!" This sentence means "I am attending the movie at 2 o'clock as well."
Moral of the story: Grammar is easy to understand. Please use it.
