Comments on: Ten Grammar Errors that Could be Haunting Your Blog

By: Ron Tocknell

Ron Tocknell — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:47:31 +0000

I read Robin Noble’s piece on Top Ten Grammar Errors….. Hmmmmmm! I know US spelling differs from UK spelling to a degree but I always thought grammar and punctuation was universal. She seems to have other ideas.
For example: Apostrophes (and definitely NOT apostrophe’s… unless I’m referring to something that belongs to an apostrophe) are never used to indicate plurals whatever Ms. Noble thinks. An apostrophe indicates (a) possession (Example: Brian’s book) or (b) an abbreviation when the word is followed by “is” (Example: Brian’s thirsty). The exception to this rule is when possession is expressed for “it” rather than a specific identifier (Example: (1) The dog’s collar. (2) The dog has chewed its collar).

She also implied that periods and commas must always be used within quotations. This actually depends on sentence construction. Punctuation only appears within quotations where the punctuation BELONGS to the quotation. If the punctuation is part of the sentence that contains the quotation, it appears outside quotation marks. Example 1 (incorrect): Ms Noble asserts that it is “correct,” according to her understanding, that commas appear within quotations.
Example 2 (correct) Ms Noble asserts that it is “correct”, according to her understanding, that commas appear within quotations.

In the above examples, the comma indicates a pause in MY sentence, not in the quotation of her words. The following is an example in which it is correct to place the comma within quotation:
“The trouble with grammar,” he said, adding: “not that I am implying your grammar is incorrect….”

Here, the comma indicates a pause within the quotation. There is a break for narrative within the quoted sentence and it is important to indicate that the comma belongs to the quotation, not to the narrative.

Sorry to be so anal. I really must go now and arrange everything symmetrically on my desk.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 00:14:39 +0000

Google Toolbar can’t do grammar check though.. not even firefox 2.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:24:32 +0000

I think it should be “the Internet”
umm…

By: otherthanads

otherthanads — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 13:48:33 +0000

English language is not my first one, so i think best way to correct spells error when you right something is using the spell checker tool on Google toolbar.

By: Dr. Lingo

Dr. Lingo — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 17:02:32 +0000

What about the champion of the media we are discussing: Is it Internet or internet?

By: Blogspotting

Blogspotting — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 16:04:18 +0000

Unhappy datum…

Looking through this grammar check (ex Pro-blogger) I came across one of my bêtes noires (note fancy French plural.). Datum. It’s the singular of data. But does anyone use it anymore? I’m writing a book in which I’ll mention……

By: SARANG GAIKWAD

SARANG GAIKWAD — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:24:21 +0000

grammar errors? check spelling errors on top blog sites by technorati. I checked the top 25 blog’s front pages and i found anywhere from 1- 15. Only one blog had no spelling mistake- guess which? Google’s official blog, of course.!

By: JLP at AllFinancialMatters

JLP at AllFinancialMatters — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 04:39:17 +0000

It always bugs me when people use “then” when they should be using “than.”

By: Subzero Blue

Subzero Blue — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 07:42:57 +0000

Ten Grammar Errors That Haunt Web Pages And Blogs…

A list of the top 10 grammar mistakes that are generally found on web pages, and of course blogs as well: 1. its = it is 2. Web site (or page) vs. web site/page vs. Website/website (page) 3. Periods and commas: do they go inside or outside of quotati…

By: Graham

Graham — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 06:24:15 +0000

As a communications consultant for the past 20 years I firmly believe we would all communicate much better if we just used one form of English and that’s the spoken version. Why do we have a written AND a spoken version when, really, we speak the words internally as we read them.
I’ve actually got more on this topic at my website and on my blog at http://www.bestonlinetips.com/

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 01:25:24 +0000

Can we make it the top ELEVEN Grammar Errors – One of my favorite flubs has not been mentioned – “your” -vs- “you’re” … The Author of one of my favorite sites regularly has problems with this one, but how do you tell someone that they have this problem? Would you thank someone if they pointed out an error like this that occurred regularly?

By: Kulbir Virk

Kulbir Virk — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 01:22:13 +0000

Thats me right there, I have the worst grammar and spelling.

http://www.pctip.org

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 01:15:19 +0000

Thankfully I’m a grammar Nazi, so most of my posts tend to be grammatically correct.

By: Mandi

Mandi — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 00:51:15 +0000

Darren your next tip should be never take grammar lessons from someone who can’t spell grammar correctly. I feel like an idiot now = (

By: Vincent McBurney

Vincent McBurney — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 00:44:28 +0000

I used to be a then/than abuser. I’m going through the 12 step program. I still get into trouble with comments and fullstops. Email and website are now preferred. The online Cambridge dictionary lists both but the definition uses the shorter version in the definition:
mail, e-mail Show phonetics
noun
1 [U] the system for using computers to send messages over the Internet:
You can contact us by email or fax.
What’s your email address?

website, web site Show phonetics
noun [C] (ALSO site)
a set of pages of information on the Internet about a particular subject, which have been published by the same person or organization, and often contain colour pictures, video and sound:
For more information about other Cambridge titles, visit our website at http://www.cambridge.org.

By: James

James — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:21:40 +0000

I find her section on commas to be a recipe for horrible overuse. As for the “Web site” thing, it’s just a matter of time before “website” becomes the accepted standard.

By: Marcelo Calbucci

Marcelo Calbucci — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:27:08 +0000

I did quite a bit of research before deciding that on Sampa (www.sampa.com) we would use “email” without the hyphen. Mostly, I look for examples from companies that spend quite a bit of their time doing terminology research, like Microsoft.

Independent if you love or hate Microsoft, they have hundreds of people working on stuff like this, so, it is safer for you to copy their usage of terms than to copy from some random website on the Internet. They are “term-setters”.

The same way you should look for Amazon for design and usability ideas. Not that they have the best designs on the Internet, but they certainly have the one that gives the most conversion. They do extensive A/B testing of their pages and they have the millions of users necessary to measure it beyond any doubt.

By: darrenh

darrenh — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:26:25 +0000

Finally a blog-related topic on which I feel like I know something!

By: Cassie

Cassie — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 20:42:20 +0000

Terry, that’s exactly what I was going to mention. I don’t know why, but it really bugs me when people use ‘lose’ and ‘loose’ improperly.

My mother was the editor of our local newspaper for ten years, so I picked up a lot of stuff from her, but I still find myself confused by a lot of what Darren mentions. Ooh, there’s another one. ‘A lot’ vs. ‘alot’. I see that mistake quite often as well. But hey, nobody’s perfect.

Sometimes it can be downright annoying though. I subscribe to a lot of newsletters and lots of them have horrible spelling and punctuation. I almost feel like emailing them and begging for them to get someone to proofread their mailings before they send them out to save them some embarrassment.

By: Jeremy Steele

Jeremy Steele — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:47:26 +0000

It is times like this that we need the Schoolhouse Rock videos. Heh.