Written on July 24th, 2010 at 01:07 am by Darren Rowse
10 Common Spelling Mistakes That Haunt Bloggers
Whether you like it or not, people will judge your blog by the quality of your writing. The first thing you should do is to avoid the most common spelling mistakes, as they can turn off first-time visitors to your site. Below you’ll find 10 such mistakes to get you started.
1. accept / except
INCORRECT: Please except this gift.
CORRECT: Please accept this gift.
Except, as a verb, means to exclude or leave out. As a preposition it means “with the exception of.” Accept means “to receive willingly.” For example: We visited every landmark except the Eiffel Tower. The school is accepting only those students who have had their shots; all others are excepted.
2. advice / advise
INCORRECT: He refused to take my advise.
CORRECT: He refused to take my advice.
Advise is a verb. The s has the sound of “z.” Advice is a noun. The c has the sound of “s.”
3. all right / alright
INCORRECT: He’s alright after his fall.
CORRECT: He’s all right after his fall.
Although arguments are advanced for the acceptance of the spelling, alright is still widely regarded as nonstandard. Careful writers avoid it.
4. effect / affect
INCORRECT: His death really effected me.
CORRECT: His death really affected me.
The most common use of effect is as a noun meaning “something produced by a cause.” The most common use of affect is as a transitive verb meaning “to act upon.” For example: The disease had a lasting effect on the child. The family’s lack of money affected his plans.
5. every day / everyday
INCORRECT: Dan walks the dog everyday at six p.m.
CORRECT: Dan walks the dog every day at six p.m.
Everyday is an adjective that means “daily.” Every day is a phrase that combines the adjective every with the noun day. For example: Walking the dog is an everyday occurrence. I practice the flute every day.
6. its / it’s
INCORRECT: Put the saw back in it’s place.
CORRECT: Put the saw back in its place.
It’s is a contraction that represents two words: it is. Its is a one-word third-person singular possessive adjective, like his. For example: The man lost his hat. The dog wagged its tail.
7. passed / past
INCORRECT: The car past the train.
CORRECT: The car passed the train.
Past is used as an adverb of place, or as a preposition. Passed is the past tense of the verb to pass. For example: The past few days have been hectic. The deadline has passed. He passed her the biscuits. The boys ran past the gate. As we stood in the doorway, the cat ran past.
8. quiet / quite
INCORRECT: We spent a quite evening reading.
CORRECT: We spent a quiet evening reading.
Quiet is an adjective meaning “marked by little or no activity.” Quite is an adverb meaning “to a considerable extent.” For example: The children are quite amiable today. Quiet can also be used as a noun. For example: We enjoyed the quiet by the lake. (The suffix “ness” should never be added to the abstract nouns quiet and calm.)
9. then / than
INCORRECT: I have more eggs then you.
CORRECT: I have more eggs than you.
Then is an adverb that indicates time. It can go anywhere in a sentence. For example: The man paused by the door and then entered. Then the noise started. As conjunction or preposition, than will always be followed by a noun or a pronoun. For example: I like Melville better than Hawthorne.
10. who’s / whose
INCORRECT: I don’t know who’s dog you’re talking about.
CORRECT: I don’t know whose dog you’re talking about.
Who’s is the contracted form of “who is.” Whose is the possessive adjective form of who. For example: Who’s your daddy? Whose car are we going in?
Maeve Maddox holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Arkansas, and she is the editor of DailyWritingTips.com. The mistakes mentioned in this post come from her latest book, 100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid.
150 Responses to “10 Common Spelling Mistakes That Haunt Bloggers” - Add Yours
Josh Garcia
July 24th, 2010 1:19 am
Hey Maeve,
I’m guilty of making spelling mistakes. Now, that we are aware of the most common misspelled words. Can’t make that mistakes!
Have a great weekend…
Josh
Mike Loomis
July 24th, 2010 1:23 am
I make those errors alot (um, I mean “a lot”).
David Crandall
July 24th, 2010 1:26 am
These are great. Feel happy that I knew almost all of these. Still not sure regarding “in to” vs “into”.
Hmm…maybe the internets will know. :)
blog tips
July 24th, 2010 1:26 am
Yes, These are just very common spelling mistakes, I use ms-word processor to reduce my spelling mistakes, It is a very good tool for bloggers.
Laneth Sffarlenn
July 24th, 2010 1:28 am
Great article Darren and thank you – this sort of advice is sorely needed around the web.
It doesn’t hurt to delay pressing “publish / post” on your article for a little while to read it over a second, even third time to ensure it’s as correct as it should be.
There’s a certain sense of professionalism in consistently well written copy in blogs.
Carly
July 24th, 2010 1:28 am
Lose / Loose!
I can’t stand this one and it’s gotten so bad that it’s affecting my ability to read these words correctly! I fear for the future of the world.
Laneth Sffarlenn
July 24th, 2010 1:30 am
Also helps to read the author’s bio at the end of the article! Posted by Darren, written by Mauve Maddox – Thanks Mauve!
Kamal Hasa
July 24th, 2010 1:30 am
Well I proofread my articles to minimize errors and embarrassment lol!
Carly
July 24th, 2010 1:31 am
Also, these aren’t these more usage mistakes rather than spelling? All of those examples are words and spelled correctly, they’re just often not used correctly.
Kurt
July 24th, 2010 1:32 am
I often write every day as everyday. Didn’t know it was a mistake.
Great list.
Derek Neuland
July 24th, 2010 1:34 am
Great list! I would also add that the use of the abbreviations “i.e.” and “e.g.” are commonly misused. “i.e.” means “that is” or “in other words” and “e.g.” means “for example” or “including”.
That Blogger Broad
July 24th, 2010 1:34 am
Oh, but my fave pet peeve in the misspelled/misused department – its/it’s. (I even saw it in some advertising copy recently.)
The first one is the possessive form of the pronoun “it”; the second is the contraction of the pronoun/verb phrase “it is”. Gets confused ALL the time!
Melissa (Confessions of a Dr.Mom)
July 24th, 2010 1:42 am
Thank you! These are so helpful, def. going to bookmark this. Great list post BTW! Doing this #31DBBB challenge with SITS/Blog Frog and I think you’re pretty amazing:)
Lenny Neslin
July 24th, 2010 1:46 am
Darren,
This list is what, 3rd grade level? I’m an editor, so this stuff should come easy to me, but these seem a little obvious…
-Lenny
John Burnside
July 24th, 2010 1:48 am
sorry about this but had to highlight Josh’s comment and say that he should have said ‘those mistakes’ instead of ‘this mistakes’. maybe you should write another post about grammer so that all the bases are covered.
Knight Berman Jr
July 24th, 2010 1:49 am
Thanks for this! However, I was surprised you didn’t include two that I see all the time, and that drive me absolutely batty: “your” -vs- “you’re” and “lose” -vs- “loose” … But I’m sure your not loosing sleep over that ha ha!
John Burnside
July 24th, 2010 1:50 am
sorry about this but had to highlight Josh’s comment and say that he should have said ‘those mistakes’ instead of ‘that mistakes’. maybe you should write another post about grammer so that all the bases are covered. i made a mistake just then aswell and had to do this twice. Maybe we should just accept the fact that we’re all only human :)
Nabeel | Create Your First Website
July 24th, 2010 1:50 am
Great common mistakes you mentioned there. I see them sometimes on blogs that I read.
I think one more mistake deserves attention:
Your: Your blog is good.
You’re (You are): You’re much better at blogging than him.
@lakey
July 24th, 2010 1:57 am
LOOSE / LOSE: only a loser would write looser.
Linda
July 24th, 2010 2:04 am
Thank you for pointing these out so efficiently.
I’ve just put a style guide together for writers and these loom large within it.
‘Loose’ when you mean ‘lose’ is also a good one, as is ‘lead’ instead of ‘led’ and my own personal favourites:
Stationary / stationery
• Stationary means at a standstill
• Stationery is paper, envelopes etc
Gorilla / guerrilla
• Gorilla is the animal
• Guerrilla warfare or action
MrCyberSmartWeb
July 24th, 2010 2:06 am
That’s great! I have all of these on my list that I keep on my desk. I went to a Chicago public school where spelling was optional, so I’ve had to teach myself all the little things I should have learned in school.
I still make mistakes, but I’m getting much better. “-)
Patrick Parker
July 24th, 2010 2:13 am
I’m guilty of several of those. I could be more careful…
But affect/effect and accept/except are my two pet peeves that make me absolutely cringe when I see people misuse them.
I think in general I’m more often guilty of not capatalizing or puncshuating properly. I think I’m a fairly good spellur.
;-)
Make Money With Adsense
July 24th, 2010 2:13 am
Im guilty of making many of the spelling mistakes in this post. Ive started having my wife proof read my posts for me before i publish them.
Denise Hamlin
July 24th, 2010 2:16 am
Nice list Darren. I used to teach this stuff in a past life and I still make mistakes sometimes. The problem is that “common use” means that if you see it wrong often enough your brain starts to think it’s right. (At least that’s my explanation).
I do make a conscious effort though to go back and proof read. I hate the fact that correct grammar is a dying art, although I’m sure Maeve Maddox feels even more strongly about it than me!
Ed O'Keeffe
July 24th, 2010 2:27 am
Great post Darren, I am (like many) guilty of many of these mistakes.
One that I was surprised that didn’t make your top 10 was definately / definitely – this is definitely one of the most common spelling errors on my blog!
TOP TIP – My aunt and uncle really enjoy reading my blog every day and I found them often ringing me informing me of spelling mistakes so when I was over at their house I set up “editor” access to my posts so that they have an “edit” button. I did this about a year ago and they enjoy doing it and feel like they are helping. I think my readers appreciate it too. (maybe I shouldn’t have admitted this lol)
Kathleen Jaffe
July 24th, 2010 2:28 am
As a word nerd of long standing, I applaud you. Two others that drive me to distraction: fewer / less, none is / none are.
That said, I’ve developed more patience for grammatical gaffes in my middle age, as I realize not everyone is quite as fanatical as I. :-)
Wallpapers
July 24th, 2010 2:36 am
At some point last year. I became keen to these problems and systematically fixed them in my writing within a week. I don’t know exactly what that was. All I know is that once that happened, I started noticing grammatical and spelling errors everywhere and started wanting to improve my writing right away.
Paul Goodchild
July 24th, 2010 2:37 am
A good list, and I think I’m guilty of “every day” and “everyday” getting them mixed up a little. That said though, I fully understand the other problems and they rarely arise for me (I think). Definitely, the younger the blogger i.e. grew up chatting online using short-hand notation, the more likely you’ll see the grammar mistakes kick in. But spelling is most easily fixed using Firefox’s inbuilt spell checker or that given in Wordpress.
Nice post to remind us to be careful though, since I firmly believe spelling and grammar to be one of the most important factors to the readability of an article.
Cheers!
Paul.
kellie
July 24th, 2010 2:49 am
the wordsmith in me is loving this!
another I find popping up in all the wrong places is peak and peek
Karen
July 24th, 2010 2:52 am
Great list, Maeve!
What drives me nuts is seeing people who don’t know the difference between ‘lose’ and ‘loose’.
Correct: I will lose subscribers when my articles are full of typos and grammar mistakes.
Incorrect: My pants are too lose and keep falling down!
Karen
Serene @ MomFoodProject
July 24th, 2010 2:59 am
Lately, the one that’s been getting to me is “defiantly” for “definitely”.
Serene @ MomFoodProject
July 24th, 2010 3:00 am
@Ed: Oh, that’s an excellent idea! I need to find a really picky relative and let them edit my posts. ;-)
Francisco
July 24th, 2010 3:03 am
As someone who has a blog in 2 languages (english not being my native one) knowing this will help me so much!
Thank you again!
…and here’s to better writing everywhere and in every language!
Heather (ham1299)
July 24th, 2010 3:03 am
THANK YOU! These are some of the most aggravating errors that I come across almost daily. As an editor, it can be PAINFUL to read online sometimes! GRAMMAR IS IMPORTANT! Again, thank you for the GREAT post! :-)
marijka
July 24th, 2010 3:19 am
their – there – they’re
Wilson
July 24th, 2010 3:32 am
This is why its so important that you need to make proofreading your post before they go life or have your girlfriend “like me” edit it and making sure it looks good.
I am learning through my mistakes though.
Tanna
July 24th, 2010 3:33 am
Good reminder! I find myself always typing “form” instead of “from” almost never fails.
Six Pack
July 24th, 2010 4:10 am
I do make a conscious effort though to go back and proof read. I hate the fact that correct grammar is a dying art, although I’m sure Maeve Maddox feels even more strongly about it than me!
Steve @Erraticblog
July 24th, 2010 4:17 am
Great list Darren.
I’d have to admit, I’m sometimes guilty of #4 effect/affect.
The one I see most often on other blogs is its/it’s… your and you’re is a common one too.
Steve
July 24th, 2010 4:31 am
I agree with Karen about using “loose” for “lose.” I see this more and more, even among the (supposedly) college-educated!
Severe
July 24th, 2010 4:34 am
Great post, these are helpful reminders indeed.
One note, not to nitpick, but the formatting is not consistent. In some examples, the correct spelling is listed first, ie 3. all right / alright. However, sometimes it’s the other way around, ie 4. effect / affect
Consistency would make this a better reference, at least for me. But thanks for calling attention to these examples!
Jermaine
July 24th, 2010 4:34 am
Didn’t know there was ever disparity but alright is defined as “all right” where I’ve looked and the everyday/every day thing is new to me too but everyday seems to have multiple meanings one of which is essentially “every day”
Child Blocks
July 24th, 2010 4:39 am
Haha! This blog is spot on. I see this daily, sometimes even when I read articles on the biggest websites like CNN!
Albert Santiago
July 24th, 2010 4:51 am
LOL, small errors like that annoy me greatly as well. Hopefully this goes viral. lol.
Jonathan Poritsky
July 24th, 2010 4:52 am
So I suppose the whole “lay” “lie” thing is no longer an issue, or it’s just not restricted to bloggers?
Casey
July 24th, 2010 4:55 am
Haha, you gotta get those words right.
I can’t except the affect if its spelled wrong in the passed tense.
Sandy
July 24th, 2010 5:10 am
My two biggest pet peeves are:
The use of “alot”.
CORRECT: I do a lot of blogging.
Your vs you’re. So many people use these words incorrectly! You’re is a contraction of the two words “you” and “are”. Also, lately I’ve seen “your’s” being used (should just be “yours”).
Corey Freeman
July 24th, 2010 5:40 am
You forgot about people who pluralize things with apostrophes. Like, “I write for multiple blog’s.” I don’t know why, but that drives me crazy.
IamDavid
July 24th, 2010 5:50 am
My spelling is a weak point. To help improve I actually have a txt file called spelling tips I review before I publish. My goal with it is to help beat the right usage into my head:
They’re, their, there
They’re = they are.
Their= possessive. Their house, their coat, their deep emotional problems.
There= something in a place. There is a problem with offering a woman solutions when she just needs to vent.
Your, you’re
You’re= you are
Your= possessive. Your house, your coat, your girlfriend, your problem communicating with a girl you’re into.
to = all other uses
too = too means also, (I want that too) or in excess (your playing too loud)
two = two item
so thanks for some of the above tips, they have been added to the file :)
Pinky
July 24th, 2010 5:58 am
As always said: ‘All is well that ends well’, will now bid farewell to the spelling mistakes! Thank you…..
Nony the Slob
July 24th, 2010 6:05 am
I’m a bit of a grammar fanatic, but 5 and 3 made me say, hmmm. I’ll be watching those more closely. Thanks for this!
Lisa Olinda
July 24th, 2010 6:40 am
It is always good to be reminded of those common mistakes and thank you for introducing a great resource!
sterndal
July 24th, 2010 7:13 am
guilty with number six. i know the difference between the two. guess my fingers are just used to typing that word with an apostrophe. but i’ve already improved on that about months ago :)
Harry Lewis
July 24th, 2010 7:19 am
Thanks for this! I always make the “everyday” and “every day” mistake. Now I know how it works!
Mark Wolfinger
July 24th, 2010 7:36 am
Are you serious? These are common mistakes for bloggers who post in English?
I don’t believe it.
Regards
Michelle
July 24th, 2010 8:09 am
thanks for this! i’m a total snob and if i see too many spelling mistakes i’ll close the page and go somewhere else. but i’m sure i’ve made my fair share of them in my short blogging time. especially “all right” and “every day” – didn’t really know about those!
Sudeep
July 24th, 2010 8:18 am
So well said all about the grammar mistakes that each one us some times had made . In my earlier days the commonest mistake was about the affect /effect stuff.. but hope so now it has been good.
Thanks
Tech Maish
July 24th, 2010 8:20 am
The usage of every day and everyday is still confusing for me. Thanks for sharing this useful info. We all do mistakes, hope will not repeat these.
Evan@Prevent Sweating
July 24th, 2010 8:24 am
Must be a slow blogging day when you rehash these again. Every site puts up the common mistakes. How about something new and fresh?
Richard Scott
July 24th, 2010 8:44 am
Great advice and great examples. I would add: Your and You’re, as well as Chose and Choose, and to and too. :)
Gideon
July 24th, 2010 9:52 am
Here’s one that gets under my skin:
Could’ve (could have)/ could of
Could “of”? That makes zero sense and yet I see its use rising. Doesn’t have to be “could”. Anything with the contraction ‘ve.
The Good Badger
July 24th, 2010 10:04 am
If you make more than 2 of these mistakes you should read an English book prior to ever publicly writing again.
Glen
July 24th, 2010 10:11 am
That’s why it’s important to proof read your work.
No matter how many spelling plug-ins you use they will still miss some basic grammar and spelling issues that arise when blogging.
quilly
July 24th, 2010 10:23 am
Here’s another one people often get wrong:
their
there
they’re
their = belongs to them
there = that place
they’re = the contract of they are
quilly
July 24th, 2010 10:24 am
contraction
duh
Is the next lesson on proof reading before publication?
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
July 24th, 2010 10:36 am
I hate to do this, but this caught my eye:
Alright versus all right
I’m not sure if you meant to say that American writers avoid it versus careful writers, because “all right” is an American spelling – “alright” is widely accepted in Canada.
And we’re pretty careful, even witih the beer, moose and beavers. :)
jason ward
July 24th, 2010 10:41 am
All common mistakes, but the real problem is when you see more than one in the same post. That denotes serious issues.
Warren Wooden
July 24th, 2010 10:49 am
Very true, no matter how many times I proof my work, I always find a couple of mistakes down the road when I notice that I’m ranked for a keyword like “Internet Marrketing”
Funny enough is that even that sends me traffic! :)
Have a good one Darren!
Laura Elliott
July 24th, 2010 10:57 am
Great advice, I am just starting out and I’m part of the BlogFrog/SITS group completing the 31DBBB – every time I look at my blog I see some kind of spelling mistake or type, this is something I really need to work on. Great to have a refresher on some of the more common mistakes. Thank you.
Julian
July 24th, 2010 11:09 am
Hmm
well i think that would not be a big problem as long as the reader not aware it :-)
Maya
July 24th, 2010 12:31 pm
I struggle with the contractions. I proofread as much as I can and use spell check.
English is not my first language nor is it my second, plenty of room for improvement still.
Thanks for the post.
Burke Campbell
July 24th, 2010 12:44 pm
Although I’ve been writing for decades, I’m still grateful for this instruction. I feel I have learned something. (I hope I haven’t made a mistake here, or you’ll correct me).
The Ultimate Disney World Savings Guide
July 24th, 2010 1:22 pm
Hi Darren,
I’m really guilty with some of the words here. Now, I always read my article twice and minimize the mistakes before I post my post.
Thanks for this information.
Martin
July 24th, 2010 1:48 pm
You missed the one that I see far too often….”your” instead of “you’re”
IamDavid
July 24th, 2010 2:07 pm
I keep a txt file called spelling tips I refer to, when writing to help avoid common mistakes like:
They’re, their, there
They’re = they are.
Their= possessive. Their house, their coat, their deep emotional problems.
There= something in a place. The car is parked over there, there is a problem with offering a woman solutions when she just needs to vent.
Your, you’re
You’re= you are
Your= possessive. Your house, your coat, your girlfriend, your problem communicating with a girl you’re into
Ironic Mom
July 24th, 2010 2:20 pm
Great list. I’d add their, there, and they’re…as in, “There misuse of their drives me batty.”
Darren Rowse
July 24th, 2010 2:35 pm
Lenny (and others),
the list might be pretty basic for some but perhaps not everyone is at the same level. Some also don’t have the experience of English as their first language (about 30% of our readers) so I like to offer content hear that does reach that demographic from time to time.
However if you’d like to bring your editorial skills into use to help the wider community don’t hesitate to write a more advanced post on the topic and shoot it over to me as I’m sure many will benefit from your experience.
quilly
July 24th, 2010 3:43 pm
Ahem —
here = this place
hear = audible reception — you hear with your ear
(Check your comment above.)
;)
Livingstone
July 24th, 2010 4:40 pm
Yes, I see a lot of these mistakes. “Alot” would have been a good one too! See that one quite a bit. Thanks for bringing light to this. Fortunately, my spelling is pretty cool. Except when I wanna pull out my Mark Twain card! :-)
LS
Brittany
July 24th, 2010 4:52 pm
Thank you for this reminder to always check and recheck for spelling. I’m guilty of the its/it’s confusion when typing in a hurry. It’s such a small little symbol to catch when editing, but makes quite the difference!
Affiliate ThinkTank
July 24th, 2010 5:04 pm
I’m also guilty of making spelling mistakes without realizing it. Here is my common list:
1. travelling (should be one ‘l’)
2. affiliate (how many ‘i’ should there be)
3. compliment vs. complement
4. millennium (how many “l” and “n” in there)
5. maintenance vs. maintainance ??
6. committed vs commited
7. license vs licence
I must thanks the person who had invented spelling checker. My spelling could get worse without it.
Sebastian Schertel
July 24th, 2010 5:50 pm
Seriously wtf!
I’m not a native english speaker and reading those mistakes i thought ‘what’s the big deal?’. I learned that years ago in school and wouldn’t come up with those mistakes.
Nice post but poor guys who needed it to be pointed out. I expected bigger mistakes than just first grade spelling exercises. Without being offensive.
Tim
July 24th, 2010 5:59 pm
I wouldn’t say that these are common errors for a blogger or any other professional writer, but they’re mistakes that you frequently see on forums, blog comments and reviews. Although I wouldn’t accept basic grammatical mistakes from a professional writer, I’ve come to expect it in user generated content (although I still hate to see people write your instead of you’re or quite instead of quiet).
Rita
July 24th, 2010 6:10 pm
Your list surprised me. A blogger making these mistakes is operating at a very elementary level.
Consider doing a post on how to avoid typos.
Rita blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide
Kay Ross
July 24th, 2010 6:33 pm
I must protest!
#3 alright / all right – they do NOT mean the same thing. For example, “The children are alright” means they’re healthy or unhurt (perhaps after an accident). Or it can mean, “Hmmm, they’re reasonably well behaved; I like them a little bit but I’m not crazy about them.” “The children are all right” means that every child answered a question correctly.
#5 every day / everyday – “everyday” does not necessarily mean “daily”. It can mean that something has become so common as to be boring, predictable and barely worth commenting on.
blogger user
July 24th, 2010 8:09 pm
there are some typos, but some are because we are not the english native speakers.
Nathan
July 24th, 2010 9:01 pm
@Rita,
I’m sorry, but elementary level is far behind me – consider that a lot of bloggers originate from non-english countries. I, for example, was born and I live in Poland – English isn’t my native language, I would never think about difference between advice and advise.
Best Home Business
July 24th, 2010 10:15 pm
This is a great post here. I thank God for my teachers in kindergarten who put in place a great foundation in me for correct spelling. So important for your image and credibility.
Ash
July 24th, 2010 10:23 pm
#5 – thank you!!! As a former editor, I see this everywhere – even professional advertisements. Drives me batty.
These are great.
Ensure/insure is another big one. Use insure only when speaking of insurance, as in a policy.
cjnoof
July 24th, 2010 11:08 pm
Words–so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.
-Nathaniel Hawthorne
chris stevens
July 25th, 2010 1:15 am
I need to work on this – i dont spend enough time checking through it
oceanwhisper
July 25th, 2010 1:21 am
My pet peeve is when people don’t know when to use Their/There/They’re. I’ve even seen professors and CEOs unable to use it correctly. It’s very annoying…
marijka
July 25th, 2010 1:51 am
Good grief, I forgot my PET PEEVE: using an apostrophe when making something plural! I’ve even seen this in the text scrolls on the local news. Idiots.
Jackie
July 25th, 2010 2:52 am
Here is another one. Your/You’re How many times have you seen this? “Your invited to attend.” That one always gets me.
Rachel C.
July 25th, 2010 3:45 am
I’m with everyone else who has cited “their-there-they’re”, “your-you’re” and “two-to-too” as their peeves!
Dean Saliba
July 25th, 2010 4:29 am
Yep these annoy me along with ‘aswell’ and ‘as well’.
DigaMama
July 25th, 2010 4:55 am
Applause all around!
I am forever guilty of typos but a grammar mistake is enough to send me into a tizzy. There is nothing worse on a blog post (or email, for that matter)!
Madeleine Kolb
July 25th, 2010 6:03 am
I agree that most of these are not spelling errors, but usage errors.
“Could “of”? That makes zero sense and yet I see its use rising. Doesn’t have to be “could”. Anything with the contraction ‘ve.” Gideon, I’ve seen this one too, and I think what happens is that the spoken contraction “could’ve” sounds like “could of.”
Other mistakes I see on blogs are:
1. “a large amount of people” instead of “a large number of people. Since people can be counted individually, one should use “a large number….” A large amount is used when referring to uncountable stuff, such as “sand.”
2. Using pronouns incorrectly, e.g., using “myself” as the subject of a sentence.
3. And “lie” versus “lay” as another commenter mentioned or is Lie the new Lay?
Farnoosh
July 25th, 2010 6:43 am
Only 10? :) There are at least 30 others that drive me crazy every day – I listed 19 worst offenders on my post and I even see the errors here in problogger from time to time…..Reading the posts at least twice will take care of most oversights. Thank you for writing this post!
Jeanie Cullip
July 25th, 2010 6:48 am
This is a good resource. I am one that has issues with effect and affect, but the explanation helped. Thank you.
Blessings & Giggles to you and yours,
Jeanie
Tony Hastings
July 25th, 2010 7:29 am
Good advice, it’s often the simple things that are missed. I am often conscious of spelling differences between my UK spelling and what my US readers expect but I am sticking to my guns and having ‘favourites’ (Despite what most of the spell checks tell me!)
Thanks
Tony
Rob Cubbon
July 25th, 2010 8:10 am
Advice with a C is a noun. Advise with an S is a verb. And they sound different. But it gives me an easy way of remembering: A solicitor’s practice (C noun) and I practise guitar (S verb).
Duke Dillard
July 25th, 2010 8:28 am
I agree with other commenters that lose/loose is a huge one as well. The irony for bloggers on these is that if they are common mistakes, then most people make them, and, therefore, they are probably the ones that are okay to misspell as most people won’t know that you misspelled them!
John Blog
July 25th, 2010 9:00 am
So true ! Good Article !!,
Serene @ MomFoodProject
July 25th, 2010 9:13 am
Rob,
In U.S. English, both practices are spelled with a C.
Christy Fix
July 25th, 2010 3:07 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Of course, you get the US-UK variations. I’m working on a website for a Canadian living in Ecuador and am never sure what forms to use. She hasn’t had a problem with my spelling so far…
I re-Tweeted this and posted it to Facebook.
Have you done a punctuation post? *evil chuckle*
Dave Higgs
July 25th, 2010 4:57 pm
Spelling is important. Take the word SPELL.
Spel or Spell? It makes an ‘l of a difference.
D
Daily SEO
July 25th, 2010 8:51 pm
Good post,
It is amazing looking through blogs at how many have silly spelling mistakes or incorrect grammar in the sentence.
Luckily search engines such as Google and Bing are a little more forgiving.
axel g
July 25th, 2010 9:22 pm
Great post!
When you write something fast, it happens that you write the wrong words which can be hard to spot.
It’s good practice to let a friend proofread your posts.
I find it quite surprising though, that even online newspapers sometimes don’t even spell check their articles.
norman
July 26th, 2010 12:46 am
Why 10? Why not 7 or 12? Did you remove 2 good points in order to get up to 10? Or did you add 3 extraneous ones to get down to 10. I am always suspicious of lists of 10. Just because we have 10 fingers or toes does not mean the universe is a decimal system.
Hazel
July 26th, 2010 3:22 am
I have noticed that an American will point out that I have spelt something wrong when in fact I have spelt it correctly. The reason being is that there is a lot of difference in spelling between American English and British English. This is more noticeable if you use the spell checker on word, google, yahoo. They will automatically have, for example, travelling as in correct. You ask why? The answer is simple it is because in America it is spelt with one L whereas British English it is with two Ls.
Here are a few more examples:
color / colour
recognize / recognise.
licence / license
Some of the errors pointed out in the blog are basic elementary errors and as someone pointed out – there mother tongue is not English. However, other words like advice and advise can be typed incorrectly or they may not know the difference.
Try teaching English to a student who is not good at spelling in their own language, that is hard. They have to have every word spelt correctly in English but if they have problems with their own language then it is very hard for that student. I argue with my boss about this as he doesn’t seem to get the idea that people can have difficulty with spelling. It wasn’t until I pointed out that my mother and my boyfriend are not very good spellers that he listened.
The thing that does rile me is that when people write blogs is that they use a lot of text abbreviation and the fact, for example, I am is wrote i am. They never put the i in capital. It is a subject pronoun and should always be a capital.
OK, I am getting of my soap box now :)
Lisa~
July 26th, 2010 9:10 am
It’s already been said here, but your/you’re is the one that really gets under my skin.
On another note, how bad is it that I’ve been hung on Day 6 of 31DBBB for over a week? Days 5 & 6 have been overwhelming. I can’t decide, do I move on or keep plugging through these fabulous articles? Lisa~
Darren Rowse
July 26th, 2010 10:11 am
Lisa – if you’re stuck I’d move onto one of the others and come back to those days that you’re stuck on. You can really do it in any order you like.
Jennifer Barry
July 26th, 2010 11:37 am
While some may find this post elementary, the fact that we see these mistakes over and over indicates that it’s needed. Sometimes I think it’s caused by haste in posting, but too often I don’t think people know the right use. My current pet peeve is the lose/loose error.
Gjivan
July 26th, 2010 5:14 pm
Due to these kinds of post, people love problogger. While posting contents, these are the simple grammatical errors which most of us are making. If we focus or concentrate a bit and recheck out posts once in MS word, we can get most idea of errors
Lindsay @ Just My Blog
July 27th, 2010 12:29 am
Let us not forget the great there/their epidemic…and to/too. These bother me beyond all comprehension!
Melissa
July 27th, 2010 12:33 am
I see people doing “your” instead of “you’re” a lot too.
incorrect: Your at the store.
correct: You’re at the store. (As in “you are”)
Correct: Your hat is on the counter.
Bradley
July 27th, 2010 12:38 am
The “then/than” errors drives me crazy. Not sure why? Most grammatical errors I can overlook.
snooches
July 27th, 2010 12:42 am
what about worse and worst?
Jetfuel Creative
July 27th, 2010 1:09 am
Great list! Correct grammar says a great deal about how impressions are made in one’s business!
Then/than is certainly rather annoying.
One that drives me crazy is loose/lose.
Thanks again for the read.
Mia
July 27th, 2010 1:33 am
Thank you for this article. It’s basic, yet so important.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I must go back and read through my posts. :-D
Steve Scott Site
July 27th, 2010 9:58 am
Thanks for the post,
I see those mistakes all the time and the drive me nuts.
What makes me even crazier is when I do them myself, which I do far more frequently than I would like to admit.
Steve
Andrea Lague
July 27th, 2010 10:43 am
As an English teacher this cracks me up. I was correcting these mistakes all the time. And now when I see them as a blogger I have to laugh!
Asian Vampire
July 27th, 2010 10:51 am
Seriously? Most of these are 3rd grade level at best. Very concerning. I’m starting to think Idiocracy, the movie, is our reality.
Jim
July 27th, 2010 11:15 am
Having been raised by a mother who was a high school English teacher, my every grammatical and syntactical error was corrected instantly. It is from that perspective that I take issue with your explanation of the use of its/it’s.
You state the following:
“Its is a one-word third-person singular possessive adjective, like his.”
You are mistaken in calling the word it an adjective. The work it is a reflexive pronoun, referring, in your example, to a place (for a saw). Pronouns, like nouns, may be possessive, and when they are, their possessive form is marked by an apostrophe; e.g., Darren’s saw. As another example, you might use a phrase such as “the dog’s leash,” or you might omit dog and substitute a pronoun for dog and use the phrase “it’s leash.”
Jez
July 27th, 2010 9:51 pm
Thanks for it’s / its
+1 on the lose /loose – the most frequent offenders in my opinion…
Andreas
July 28th, 2010 1:04 am
I long for the days when a writer knew how to write. Now anyone with a computer and internet access is a writer.
Sorry, I mean blogger.
Agent Deepak | Blogging, Marketing & Success
July 28th, 2010 1:51 am
I always confuse with then/than. While I am writing it many a times slip my mind which one to use.
Its good that I proof read before publishing.
Serene @ MomFoodProject
July 28th, 2010 7:24 am
Andreas: If you think there was EVER a day when all good writers were also good spellers, or good writing was reliably the stuff that had no grammatical mistakes, or there was no bad writing out there that was impeccably spelled, with flawless grammar and usage, then you haven’t been around very long.
Some of the best writers (and bloggers) I know are shitty spellers. The smartest of them have someone who’s not (like, hey, me — a professional copy editor) look at their work before it goes out into the world.
Hotdogman
July 28th, 2010 2:30 pm
As an English teacher and tutor, I am pleased to see this post! It reads like my list of pet peeves I give to my students. I agree with previous comments that the LOSE/LOOSE confusion should be on the list; when people screw those two words up I start to loose my mind! ;o)
Sonam
July 28th, 2010 9:22 pm
I think Jim (2010-07-27) must have been joking. There are more typos and grammatical errors in that post than in all the others. Maybe his mother should have proof read it. Perhaps Jim was being too subtle for me. :-)
Having said that, I agree that the word “its” is a pronoun and never an adjective. Even the best of us screw up from time to time.
Lawn Care Advice
July 28th, 2010 10:08 pm
I’ve been researching a lot of websites lately, solely as a means to gain inspiration for concept and design ideas for my new project. Sadly, this research has left me with the same conclusions, as websites and blogs boom – standards in both spelling and grammar, and even the very purpose of the article – continue to slide to new depths of incomprehension.
Sigh…
I refuse to join the “down” crowd, I try my best to write with intelligence, and if folks don’t get it… well they are welcome to move onto the next site.
Kay
July 29th, 2010 2:04 am
These are words that frequently cause me to pause and think. I’ve printed the list to keep by my writing chair. Thanks for making my life a little easier.
BeatlesTrivia
July 29th, 2010 4:18 pm
I agree with everyone mentioning Lose / Loose. That’s the most annoying mistake I see all over the internet. Also, Your / You’re is annoying. If I see those mistakes very often on a site, I’m likely to not return. They are like a speed bump while reading.
turisuna
July 29th, 2010 8:32 pm
Yes I made some of those mistakes. Since I’m not a native English speaker, I need a help of spelling checker and also grammar checker tools lol. Well it makes frustrated sometimes, but in the same time it’s also fun :)
John Walker
July 29th, 2010 11:29 pm
Been/Being is another one that springs to mind,
I have been away
you are being unreasonable
Thanks for the share :-)
Kelly
July 31st, 2010 5:28 am
Your/You’re. I see this one so often it hurts.
make money
July 31st, 2010 4:56 pm
Great advice, I am beginning out & I’m part of the BlogFrog/SITS group finishing the 31DBBB – every time I look at my weblog I see some kind of spelling mistake or type, this is something I need to work on. Great to have a refresher on a quantity of the more common mistakes. Thank you.
make money
July 31st, 2010 4:56 pm
Great post! How fun to find you over here lol It’s like this: I’ve been reading Problogger for at least a year or more (though I’ve seldom commented) and then I’ve been meeting so plenty of other bloggers, including you, and then all of a sudden I see you here, which is like a different world that I visit from time to time….well it’s hard to describe but it’s icy how the blogosphere works :)
Definitely agree with you on serving the reader–what other point is there? If my posts aren’t useful then I don’t see the point in writing. Also agree on kindness and professionalism–I’ve see a lack thereof here and there and I’m immediately turned off. I wouldn’t socialize with gossipers or mean-spirited folks in my off-line life and don’t care to do it here, either.
Jim
August 1st, 2010 7:44 pm
Travelling/traveling ….
Color/Colour
Tomato/Tomatoe.
Meter/Metre
All correct.Just depends whether you’re using English UK or English US.
Jim
August 1st, 2010 7:45 pm
Drop that tomatoe from the list!LOL
Frank Adams
August 3rd, 2010 5:38 am
A lot of bloggers do make spelling mistakes on their post most because of absence of checking their work. They tend to do the typing on the site itself and not on word in which there is a spell check while you type the words. Good words to ponder and hopefully these mistakes can be avoided.
Dan the man
August 3rd, 2010 3:07 pm
accept and except were always my main problems Ill have to avoid them in my blog post anyway… great post man
marie
August 5th, 2010 8:13 am
You missed “lose” and “loose.” Many of my students use “loose” for “lose.” I’m not sure where that came from.
emma
August 5th, 2010 8:57 pm
Great post – but I think THEIR and THERE and THEY’RE should definitely be in the top 10… it gets my goat to see so many people using there for their.
Agree with others about lose and loose – I have to think about that one each time!
Also there is a lack of understanding of the use of THEM and THOSE. I hear it a lot in everyday speach, especially by colloquial English speakers and it grates!
Oh and finally, those who forget to change the Y into an I when adding a suffix like -ness: lazyness = laziness, crazy = craziness.
English is one of the harder languages because of it’s myriad rules, so the mistakes on sees are quite understandable, but not insurmountable.
Thanks again for a great post.
Have fun x
eileen
August 7th, 2010 3:45 pm
Dude, these aren’t spelling mistakes, they’re usage mistakes. That said, I AGREE COMPLETELY. Grammar nerds FTW.
Article writing and submission service
August 7th, 2010 9:15 pm
Simply wonderful Darren…no doubt, these are common mistakes done by many people…though every one of us knows these mistakes but never thought of using in our blog posts…
jeff cavaliere
August 8th, 2010 11:01 am
I remember social bookmarking a post of mine, and it was misspelled. For some reason, I could not edit and save. I felt so bad, I closed that account down and opened a new one. I have to have misspelled words anywhere
Rahman @ Online Marketing Blog
August 9th, 2010 10:45 pm
As a non-native speaker of the English language, sometimes I’m amazed by the type and level of mistakes made on the blogosphere. However, it’s always great to read such posts that are good reminders for us not to solely depend on the spell checking applications.
Rahman Mehraby
Site Booster Blog
Anette Hultman
August 22nd, 2010 7:16 pm
Hi, thank you for a good post. I am from sweden and sometimes I do miss spell my writing. Great help. /Anette
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