Spelling and Grammar corrections

JadElClemens · Before February 2015

This is especially for those of you who aren't native English speakers. It's impossible for us to expect you to get everything right without practice, but the stuff mentioned here will help us understand you much better.

Misused words
Homonyms
This is the most common mistake that even native speakers make. Things such as Your, You're, and Yore (although that word is practically dead, I couldn't think of anything else.)
They're, There, Their
They're: Contraction of They and Are. Use in a situation where you could've said "They are" instead.
Ex.: They're so awesome -> They are so awesome.
There: Used when you're trying to tell someone the location of something
Ex.: The play button is over there.
Their: Used when you're trying to say something belongs to someone else
Ex.: Their level is so awesome (The level that belongs to them is so awesome)
You're, Your
This is the one I see most often. It annoys the hell out of me
You're: Contraction of You and Are. Use where you could've otherwise used "You are"
Ex.: You're so awesome -> You are so awesome
Your: Use when you're talking about something someone else owns
Ex.: Your level is so awesome (The level that you own is so awesome)
Accept, Except
Accept: To consent/agree with something Not to be used in the place of consent/agree, though.
Ex.: I accept that I have to make a good level
Except: Used in place of "Not including"
Ex.: I like all of the colors except blue (I like all of the colors, not including blue)
Right, write
Right: Correct or the direction opposite of left
Ex.: I'm right!/I'm going to turn right.
Write: To mark on a surface
Ex.: Supadorf24 decided to write a stupid comment, and now I have to put this here!
Then, Than
Then: Used when pointing out a progression of time
Ex.: I beat the level, then I got the crown
Than: Used when comparing things
Ex.: I like this guide better than some other guides.
It's, Its
It's: This goes against a few rules of apostrophes, but, rather than referring to "It" possessing something, It's is a contraction if It and is. Use It's when it'd be alright to use "It is"
Ex.: It's so cool out today -> It is so cool out today!
Its: Used to show that "It" owns something.
Ex.: Its ball is so awesome! (The ball that It owns is so awesome!)
Weather, Whether
Weather: The weather, such as if it's cloudy or rainy, or even hot or cold
Ex.: I like this weather, we haven't seen rain in months!
Whether: Used when choosing between/comparing two objects
Ex.: I don't know whether to choose the lime soda or the orange juice
Too, To, Two
Too: "as well". Used when comparing objects, generally.
Ex.: I wanna give Jad some +rep too!
To: Expressing motion or an intent
Ex.: I want to (intent) go to (motion) a baseball game.
Two: The number two(2)
Ex.: I have Two (I have 2) bananas in my ear!
Other
Must of
Use "Must have" instead
Alot
Use "A lot". Not only will your middle/high school/college teachers be glad (well, they won't get on to you), you'll come of as a bit smarter than you seemed before. A bit.

Periods, commas, and other punctuation
When to use different types of punctuation
Periods - .: Use periods after any sentence where you're either stating something or telling someone to do something.
Question marks - ?: Use question marks when you're asking a question, pretty obvious.
Exclamation points - !: Use when you're stating something and you're trying to show emotion, or "Exclaiming" something.
Commas - ,: Use when you'd naturally take a break in your sentence AND after the first item in a list of things
Ex.: (1) I like to eat fish, but bats are just absurd. (2) I like salmon, fish eggs, and the rare ultra-fish!
Apostrophes - ': Use when showing possession or replacing a letter in a word to create a conjunction. DO NOT use when you're trying to show a plural (i.e. more than one of something). If you're writing a plural, there is no apostrophe anywhere.
General punctuation rules
Spacing
After every single comma, you need to put a space. This can be ignored, of course, when writing a number higher than 9999.99.... (e.g. 10,000 or 92,100,932)
This goes for periods, exclamation points, semicolons(;) and colons(:), as well. There are no exceptions that I know of other than for the commas
General apostrophe usage
Use in contractions where a letter was replaced
Ex.: It's (The apostrophe goes where the "i" of "is" would go)
Use when talking about possession
Possession and apostrophes
If talking about one person possessing something, place the apostrophe between the person's name and the s at the end
Ex.: Person's
If talking about a group of people possessing something, place the apostrophe at the end of the group's name after the s
Ex.: Girls'

Capitalization
Nouns
Only capitalize nouns that refer to a specific thing, such as Everybody Edits or Chris Benjaminsen. There is only one Everybody Edits and only one Chris Benjaminsen. If you're referring to your level, you won't want to capitalize it. There are plenty of levels.
Pronouns
Always capitalize your I when you're talking about yourself.
Ex.: I love ponies, someday I'll buy one!
Both times I was using "I" To talk about myself.
Start of sentences
Always, always, ALWAYS capitalize the first letter of the word at the beginning of a sentence. ALWAYS.
Ex.: I like to go to the park. Will you take me? I love the park. Oh, what happened? Jim has been murdered? How can this be? NOOOOOOOOOOO.

If you have any more questions, look here before suggesting it. Some of the content there isn't exactly child-friendly, but it's 100% true and useful.
Anything to add, anyone?

Last edited by JadElClemens (Aug 8 2011 1:38:23 pm)

wchollett · Before February 2015

Why are you posting this? Do grammatical and/or spelling and/or punctuation errors bother you that much? You should "just adapt to new things." I am a Grammar Nazi, myself, but I can learn to live with these things. I don't mean to offend you, but really? Does it matter?

N1KF

Calicara · Before February 2015

IMO I think it's a nice topic. People should learn to type properly.

1f pe0pl3 tallk lik th1s, no one is going to take them seriously.

I'm not saying grammar has to be perfect, but this topic is helpful if someone asks you to type properly and you don't know what they mean.

Buzzerbee · Before February 2015

Affect, Effect

Affect - Used when something has an influence on something
Ex- That scholarship had an affect on the college she chose to attend.

Effect - 1:The result of something; 2: Used when something has a special/different look or sound to it.
Ex- 1: The effect of taking a shower is that it keeps you clean and healthy. 2: The dark room has a special effect to it; the movie used effects to make it look realistic.

musuki · Before February 2015

I found this to be a useful page:

http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

Last edited by musuki (Aug 5 2011 6:27:15 am)

JadElClemens · Before February 2015

wchollett wrote:

Why are you posting this? Do grammatical and/or spelling and/or punctuation errors bother you that much? You should "just adapt to new things." I am a Grammar Nazi, myself, but I can learn to live with these things. I don't mean to offend you, but really? Does it matter?

Yes, it bothers me that much. It bothers loads of other people, too. It's much easier for us to understand what somebody's saying if they write stuff properly and use the correct words. Otherwise, they may not get their point across correctly.

wchollett · Before February 2015

First, if I came across at all annoyed, it was because I was sort of in a bad mood. Second, thank you for taking the time to do this, regardless of its point. I think I was just saying that I don't really see people talk like that that often. The most confusing thing to me is that it seems like some people don't put it in correct grammatical order or they don't know the words to describe what they're saying, which we can't really help them with.
Again, thank you for taking time to help others!

Zoey2070 · Before February 2015

Good job. Things to possibly add:
alot > a lot
"
Perhaps something on irony?
Literally.
Semicolons.
Weather vs Whether
cough cough cough

Otherwise, it's a very nice guide. Literally. Kidding about the literally.
If only everyone in the world would read it.

Last edited by Zoey2070 (Aug 6 2011 1:34:48 pm)

EDJ · Before February 2015

Wait where did the previous topic go?

JadElClemens · Before February 2015

wchollett wrote:

First, if I came across at all annoyed, it was because I was sort of in a bad mood. Second, thank you for taking the time to do this, regardless of its point. I think I was just saying that I don't really see people talk like that that often. The most confusing thing to me is that it seems like some people don't put it in correct grammatical order or they don't know the words to describe what they're saying, which we can't really help them with.
Again, thank you for taking time to help others!

You're welcome 1smile1

Maikel wrote:

E.G - Means "For Example"
I.E - Essentially means "Put another way"
Here's some examples: E.G "I like vegetables. (e.g, Tomatoes, Corn, Ect.)" I.E "I really love food. (i.e, I eat a lot of food." People always mix those two up.

E.g. and i.e. actually mean something else, but that's how people generally use them.
These are how they're meant to be used, not an exact translation or something.
You use e.g. when specifying one item from a list of items that also fit the description
(Ex.: I have lots of toys (e.g. firetrucks, spaceships, etc.))
Use i.e. when you're writing the whole list (generally when the list is small) of things something you said could fit
(Ex.: I like the jeans I wore yesterday (i.e. the ones with rainbow stitching)
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/ie

EDJ wrote:

Wait where did the previous topic go?

It's a long story, so I'll shorten it.

Basically, it wasn't wanting to show part of what I had typed I had two things I needed it to show, but it wouldn't show them both at the same time. If I had both things inside a quote tag, it'd only show the first. If I had one inside and one outside, it'd only show the one outside. In the end, I had to ditch the extra quote tag to make it work, although it was less organized in the end.

Last edited by JadElClemens (Aug 6 2011 3:57:13 pm)

32OrtonEdge32dh · Before February 2015

LOL, this is a copy of my old topic, but whatever. This one is more in-depth anyway.

JadElClemens · Before February 2015

Could you link me to your old topic? I've never seen it.

32OrtonEdge32dh · Before February 2015

Here it is.

JadElClemens · Before February 2015

Well, yours is posting in general, and this focuses on spelling and grammar, so mine is naturally more extensive in those sections.

Allie · Before February 2015

I normally don't get annoyed with misuse of grammar or spelling but "should of", "could of", and "would of" instead of "should've", "could've", and "would've" drive me up the wall. Add those please?

JadElClemens · Before February 2015

Yeah, I kinda addressed that with 'must of' instead of 'must have', but I realize that I need to add those.

Tako · Before February 2015

Just a tip on making things look more organized:
Least important, least noticed.

Like this:

Notice how I took the quote away from the outside, leaving "misused words" more visible. That, and too many quotes gives me a headache.

Misused words

Homonyms
They're, There, Their
<snip>
You're, Your
<snip>
Accept, Except
<snip>
Right, write
<snip>
Then, Than
<snip>
It's, Its
<snip>
Weather, Whether
<snip>
Too, To, Two
<snip>

Gaming_Guy · Before February 2015

You missed where, were and wear.
I have another one, turkey and Turkey, 1xd1.

Bimps · Before February 2015

Zoey2070 wrote:

Good job. Things to possibly add:
alot > a lot
"
Perhaps something on irony?
Literally.
Semicolons.
Weather vs Whether
cough cough cough
Otherwise, it's a very nice guide. Literally. Kidding about the literally.
If only everyone in the world would read it.

Something on irony?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY_amJ0YZrM[/youtube]

EDJ · Before February 2015

Possession and apostrophes
If talking about one person possessing something, place the apostrophe between the person's name and the s at the end
Ex.: Person's
If talking about a group of people possessing something, place the apostrophe at the end of the group's name after the s
Ex.: Girls'

Is it Rex' car or Rex's car? So do you always get a s at the end or only when you hear it in the pronunciation? Thanks in advance

musuki · Before February 2015

EDJ wrote:

Possession and apostrophes
If talking about one person possessing something, place the apostrophe between the person's name and the s at the end
Ex.: Person's
If talking about a group of people possessing something, place the apostrophe at the end of the group's name after the s
Ex.: Girls'
Is it Rex' car or Rex's car? So do you always get a s at the end or only when you hear it in the pronunciation? Thanks in advance

Rex's car is correct. I think in general there's always an s at the end. You even add an extra one for plurals that don't end in s (children's), or for some names ending in s (Chris's). This is useful:

http://oxforddictionaries.com/page/punc … apostrophe

Cyral · Before February 2015

Pretty much sums up 3rd grade language arts. (if I remember correctly)

JadElClemens · Before February 2015

EDJ wrote:

Possession and apostrophes
If talking about one person possessing something, place the apostrophe between the person's name and the s at the end
Ex.: Person's
If talking about a group of people possessing something, place the apostrophe at the end of the group's name after the s
Ex.: Girls'
Is it Rex' car or Rex's car? So do you always get a s at the end or only when you hear it in the pronunciation? Thanks in advance

I'm pretty sure it's Rex's car. I think you put 's after possession no matter what the word ends in, unless it's a collective.

D-rock2308 · Before February 2015

I just dont usually like typing punctuation and when I say your when I mean you're people still understand, so I don't care about changing it.

JadElClemens · Before February 2015

That was totally incomprehensible and, indeed, the reason I wrote this.

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