10 Grammar Mistakes That Make You Look Bad

Use this guide to avoid common grammer mistakes. Become a more e ective writer today!

Your vs. Youre

Your (without the apostrophe) is possessive. It indicates ownership of something. Youre (with the apostrophe) is a shortened version of you are. Give the sentence a test by replacing the your/youre you selected with a you are. If it makes sense to say you are, then use youre. If it doesnt, stick to your.

Use there to describe a place or location, their to indicate possession and theyre as a contraction for they are. Test your sentence by replacing there/their/theyre with they are. If they are doesnt make sense, determine if you are attempting to indicate possession or describe a place and choose accordingly.

There Their vs. Theyre

vs.

Its vs. Its

Its is possessive, while its is a contraction of it is. To check your work, replace your selection of its/its with it is. If it doesnt make sense, then you should be using its.

Unbeknownst to many adults, a ect and e ect are not used interchangeably. Using the incorrect word can completely change the meaning of your sentence. A ect is a verb or an action that in uences something. E ect is a noun, usually indicating a result of sorts.

A ect E ect
vs.

Lose vs. Loose

Lose is a verb, while loose is an adjective. Lose refers to the action of loss, deprivation or failure to keep, while loose is most often used as a descriptor of things that dont t tightly. Loosen can be used as a verb when you need a word that describes releasing or relaxing something.

You might see it frequently, but writing alot as one word is not grammatically correct. If unavoidable, use two words; but as a general rule of thumb, dont use a lot in any formal writing pieces.

A lot Alot
vs.

Compliment vs Complement

One letter makes a big di erence in the case of these two words. A compliment is a nice comment about someone, while a complement refers to something that supplements or adds to another object or act. When youre referring to something that is free of charge, its complimentary.

The best way to determine if you should use me or I is to remove the other person in the sentence and use the word that makes sense in context. An example, Tim and me/I are learning about grammar today. Test me/I and say Me am learning about grammar today or I am learning about grammar today. Using me clearly doesnt make sense in this sentence, so I is the winner.

Me vs. I

Then Than
vs.

As a general rule, use than when you are comparing and then in other instances. Then is used to place actions within time and than is a conjunction used for comparisons.

Stop using unnecessary apostrophes. They are most commonly used in two ways: to form a contraction and to demonstrate possession. The apostrophe in dont creates the contraction of do not. The apostrophe in Bobs contact info, indicates that the contact info belongs to Bob. Apostrophes can also be helpful in avoiding confusion, such as, That meeting was full of ifs and buts.

Apostrophes

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