Grammar Mistakes and Easy Fixes
Remember These Tips to Lessen or Avoid Common Grammar Errors
Oct 6, 2009
For those writers who find themselves being criticized for their less-than-optimal grammar skills, here are a few tricks to increasing the odds of using correct grammar, even for those who can’t always remember the rules.
Apostrophes and the letter S
Apostrophes are tricky for many people. How does one know whether or not to use an apostrophe when there is a letter “s” at the end of a word?
The rule is this: Apostrophes are for possessives, not plurals. In other words, if a word has an “s” on the end to denote more than one, there is no need for an apostrophe. For example: can/cans, tree/trees, car/cars. But if there is an “s” on the end of a word in order to denote possession, then an apostrophe is needed. Examples would include Tracey’s car, the bird’s worm, Bryan’s apple.
When in doubt, leave it out
But for those who know that they just won’t remember the rule, there’s a quick fix that will increase your chances of being correct: simply don’t use apostrophes with any word that has an “s” at the end. Because plurals occur more often than possessives, the writer will increase his or her chances of being grammatically correct if he or she simply drops the use of apostrophes altogether.
Its versus It’s
For whatever reason, the rule of possession does not apply to its and it’s. In this case, the rule is this: “It’s” does not show possession, but rather is a contraction of two words, “it is.” For example: It’s a nice day outside. The word “its,” however, does show possession: The car needs its gas tank filled.
Confused? It’s understandable.
Again, for those writers who know they probably won’t remember the grammar rules governing it’s and its, writers increase their chances of being correct by always writing “it’s” with an apostrophe. That’s because the contraction of “it is” is used far more often in American English than the possessive “its”.
Their, they’re and there
First, let’s go over what the actual rules of grammar are for these three homonyms.
“They’re” is a contraction of two words, “they” and “are.” So, if the writer can successfully swap out “they are” in a sentence, then one immediately knows that “they’re” is the correct word to use.
“There” denotes place. For example: Where is my teddy bear? Over there.
“Their” seems to be the most difficult for people to grasp. “Their” denotes possession—for example: Their leaves are spilling over into our yard.
Again, for those who can’t keep these rules straight, the easiest way to increase one’s chances of using the correct “there” is to drop the use of “their” altogether. The word “there” is the most commonly occurring of all the “there” homonyms in the English language, and it’s relatively simple to remember to check one’s use of “they’re” by switching out the words “they are.”
So, by simply sticking with the words “there” and “they’re,” and remembering when it’s appropriate to use “they’re” the texter or blogger is far more likely to use the correct “there” while writing.
While it’s of course always best to always use correct grammar, there always seem to be those folks who just can’t remember all of the rules. These simple tricks will help those writers increase their odds of using the correct grammar and help to silence those critics.
