Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say someone's stupid if they make these grammatical mistakes but they can be pretty distracting at times.
Do you have any grammatical pet peeves??
Lyte
10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid Jody Gilbert - TechRepublic
"These days, we tend to communicate via the keyboard as much as we do verbally. Often, we're in a hurry, quickly dashing off e-mails with typos, grammatical shortcuts (I'm being kind here), and that breezy, e.e. cummings, no-caps look. It's expected. It's no big deal. But other times, we try to invest a little care, avoiding mistakes so that there's no confusion about what we're saying and so that we look professional and reasonably bright.
In general, we can slip up in a verbal conversation and get away with it. A colleague may be thinking, Did she just say "irregardless"?, but the words flow on, and our worst transgressions are carried away and with luck, forgotten.
That's not the case with written communications. When we commit a grammatical crime in e-mails, discussion posts, reports, memos, and other professional documents, there's no going back. We've just officially gone on record as being careless or clueless. And here's the worst thing. It's not necessary to be an editor or a language whiz or a spelling bee triathlete to spot such mistakes. They have a way of doing a little wiggle dance on the screen and then reaching out to grab the reader by the throat.
So here we are in the era of Word's red-underline "wrong spelling, dumb ass" feature and Outlook's Always Check Spelling Before Sending option, and still the mistakes proliferate. Catching typos is easy (although not everyone does it). It's the other stuff -- correctly spelled but incorrectly wielded -- that sneaks through and makes us look stupid. Here's a quick review of some of the big ones.
#1: Loose forlose No: I always
loose the product key.
Yes: I always
lose the product key.
#2: It's for its (or god forbid, its') No: Download the HTA, along with
it's readme file.
Yes: Download the HTA, along with
its readme file.
No: The laptop is overheating and
its making that funny noise again.
Yes: The laptop is overheating and
it's making that funny noise again.
#3: They're for their for there No: The managers are in
they're weekly planning meeting.
Yes: The managers are in
their weekly planning meeting.
No: The techs have to check there cell phones at the door, and
their not happy about it.
Yes: The techs have to check their cell phones at the door, and
they're not happy about it.
#4: i.e. for e.g. No: Use an anti-spyware program (
i.e., Ad-Aware).
Yes: Use an anti-spyware program (
e.g., Ad-Aware).
Note: The term
i.e. means "that is";
e.g. means "for example." And a comma follows both of them.
#5: Effect for affect No: The outage shouldn't
effect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't
affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't have any
effect on users.
Yes: We will
effect several changes during the downtime.
Yes: Impact is not a verb. Purists, at least, beg you to use
affect instead:
No: The outage shouldn't
impact any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't
affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage should have no
impact on users during work hours.
#6: You're for your No: Remember to defrag
you're machine on a regular basis.
Yes: Remember to defrag
your machine on a regular basis.
No: Your right about the changes.
Yes: You're right about the changes.
#7: Different than for different from No: This setup is
different than the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is
different from the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is
better than the one at the main office.
#8 Lay for lie No: I got dizzy and had to
lay down.
Yes: I got dizzy and had to
lie down.
Yes: Just
lay those books over there.
#9: Then for than No: The accounting department had more problems
then we did.
Yes: The accounting department had more problems
than we did.
Note: Here's a sub-peeve. When a sentence construction begins with If, you don't need a then. Then is implicit, so it's superfluous and wordy:
No: If you can't get Windows to boot,
then you'll need to call Ted.
Yes: If you can't get Windows to boot,
you'll need to call Ted.
#10: Could of, would of for could have, would have No: I
could of installed that app by mistake.
Yes: I
could have installed that app by mistake.
No: I
would of sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.
Yes: I
would have sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.
Bonus peeve
I'll just throw one more thing out here: My current burning pet peeve. At some point, who knows when, it became common practice to say that something is "hit and miss." Nuh-UH. It can't be both, right? It either hits or it misses... "Hit OR miss." Granted, it's a small thing, a Boolean-obsessive sort of thing. But it's nonetheless vexing because it's so illogical. Okay, that's mine. If you've got a peeve of your own, share it in the discussion (or post a comment and tell me to get over it)."
Linear Mode
