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There their they're etc.

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Gringotts Bank

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They're = they are, missing letter is 'a'
their = possessive eg. "their shares"
there = as in "over there" or "there you go!"

Your = possessive "your shares"
you're = you are, the missing letter is 'a'

cafe vs cafes vs cafe's vs cafes' - all have completely different meanings. Google 'apostrophe usage'.

When you use the wrong words, how can you expect anyone to get the gist of what it is you're saying?
 

Thank you Gringotts Bank. Incorrect usage of English iritates me enormously. Another one which has crept into common usage in recent years is using an apostrophe for a plural, as in "I read some book's." Why on earth do peope do it?

You are right. It is often difficult to understand what people mean if they don't write it correctly.
 
Another one common one is would of instead of would've.
It is short for would have and apostrophe replaces the ha.
 
robusta said:
I have trouble with which witch they're talking about over there.
Click to expand...

Yeah, like whether (or not), that wether [casterated male sheep] has been out in the weather [rain or sunshine etc]!
 
There is nothing wrong with a genuine spelling mistake but I believe with "they're", peope (abbreviation for people ) are just lazy. Lose spelled loose is a world wide phenomena. Posters from various nationalities get that one wrong.
 
On the topic of spelling/grammar - are there any definitive books on English grammar and spelling out there for someone who's interested in improving their written communication?

I'd like to keep my standards, despite the feeling that pretty much anything and everything will be accepted as proper grammar these days.

-Ed
 
I should have said I'm not trying to be pedantic or nitpicky with all this. I think abbreviations and slang etc. are par for the course on a web forum. I often spell what as 'wot', and because as 'cos' - shorthand, right? It's the meaning that's important. My point is that the meaning can be lost when you use a similar sounding but incorrectly spelt word. Hopefully it's obvious that me using 'wot' and 'cos' etc. are shorthand.

Try this if interested.

http://www.learnenglish.de/mistakes/CommonMistakes.htm
 

For spelling, I still use a dictionary. (Yes I use Spellcheck as well.) I often refer to it, not only for spelling but also for correct usage. For grammar, there used to be a book called "The ABC of English Usage", probably long out of date........... hmmm! was just looking for my copy but find it has gone missing........ like a lot of my books....... they seem to de-materialise from my book shelves and re-materialise on my son's!!!
 
Ruby said:
Thank you Gringotts Bank. Incorrect usage of English iritates me enormously. Another one which has crept into common usage in recent years is using an apostrophe for a plural, as in "I read some book's." Why on earth do peope do it?

.
Click to expand...
Ruby, they do it because they've simply not ever been taught proper use of punctuation and grammar. Not their fault. The educational 'experts' for a while thought it was unnecessary and teachers were not trained to teach this. Many still are not.

So you have pretty much a whole generation who have little idea about spelling, grammar or punctuation.

My neighbour is a 33 year old accountant, turned teacher. She usually teaches accountancy and computer studies but was asked to teach a term in English.
She had to ask me what were a noun, adjective, verb etc. She's bright and intelligent but had simply never been taught when at school or during teacher training.
Unbelievable but true.

I've been trying hard not to be irritated by the frequent use of 'there' for both its correct context as well as when it should be 'their' or 'they're' . I think there's probably an unwillingness or lack of interest in getting it right and anyone who comments on it can quickly be labelled pedantic or picky.

But those utterly unnecessary apostrophes are the most annoying of all. It seems to be often a case of 'if in doubt, shove in an apostrophe'.
 
burglar said:
Showing results for people. Search instead for peope

Come in Ruby!
Click to expand...

Should that be "Come on Ruby"? ::

I like good English (I often fall short as well ) and agree that it is irritating when the incorrect homophone etc is used.

Why? Yes the message still gets across, but it takes me twice as long to read it.
 

Julia, sadly, I know this to be true. I expect that you (like me) also learned about latin roots, prefixes and suffixes. For me, learning and understanding the structure of the language made it so much easier to read and write. Confronted with a strange word, I could often work out its meaning and how to use it; and it was also easier to put correct sentences together when the function of each word and the structure of a sentence were understood.

I think that eliminating these building blocks from the curriculum made it much more difficult to learn to communicate properly.
 
You're right - how could anyone possibly read words that aren't spelt correctly - you may have seen this....

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

Paul
 

Ture, but slitl tkeas lgoner to raed
 

Ah, but the spelling is still all there, just jumbled. And the first and last letters are in the correct position as you state above...

Try that same jumbling with incorrect spelling and I think it would make it much more difficult to read.
 
wayneL said:
Should that be "Come on Ruby"? ::
...
Click to expand...

No! It was meant in the manner of "Come in spinner"

The term 'come in spinner' refers not only to the game of two-up, marking the moment at which the coins are tossed. It also refers to the verbal art of the wind-up, marking the moment when the narrator of a shaggy dog story tells the hapless listener s/he's been conned.
 
I think if somebody is writing something professional or important, they would take care to use correct grammar (assuming they had actually been taught it in school and thus know correct grammar).
But when someone is smashing out a post/comment:

people often wants to stay in all lowercase, and tends to use your or even ur to mean your your or youre. they also dont pay much attention to speling errors. teh important thing is getting the message out in the least time.
 
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