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We’re all guilty of making errors from time to time. Some mistakes are more typical than others and can happen to the best of us, even those of us who go to college. This article is a quick run down of some common grammar mistakes that happen pretty often according to both the web and my personal experience; give it a gander.

Let’s talk about what it is first.

Let’s go over what the term grammar means, according to the Cambridge Dictionary. It’s a noun that means “the study or use of the rules about how words change their form and combine with other words to express meaning”. Put simply, it means the correct way to use words in speech. It’s not a simple concept, the English language can be tricky as I’m sure you know. Frequently people who speak English as their first and only language are known to fumble their words. Getting to know a few frequently occuring misused terms could save you from your own fumble some day. In both speech and writing, correct use can give you more opportunities and better impressions.

1. An Affect vs. The Effect

The word Affect is almost always used as a verb (an action word) while the word Effect is a noun (a person, place, or thing) and means the result. To put it another way, the Effect a.k.a. consequence or outcome is what happened because something was Affected, a.k.a. impacted, influenced or changed. A good example of this from Writer’s Digest uses someone who likes to be a pirate. “Acting like a pirate has had a negative effect on my social life”. Where effect is a noun. Or “the eye-patch affected my vision” where affect is a verb because it’s doing something. It may seem confusing at first, since one letter makes all that difference and they are sort of related as words. However, it’s not as difficult as you might think.

2. Than vs. Then

Probably the most typical of common grammar mistakes to make, this one is an easy fix. The trouble most people have knowing when to use then or than is remembering which is which. Avoid this grammar faux pas by remembering that than is a comparison and then is talking about time.

An example would be when you prefer one fruit over another, let’s say apples versus oranges. You like apples more than oranges, or you may prefer apples less than oranges. When you compare something to another thing, including people or places, you use than.

For the latter, an example would be going over a schedule. Let’s say this Saturday you have a family fun day planned; you’ll go to the beach, get some lunch, and then go to the circus. We’re discussing the timetable of events and when things are happening so we use then.

3. Is It To or Too?

This is a fierce competitor for most common mistake, since we use these words so often. Let’s make it easy and get it right from now on, more knowledge equals less confusion. When we only use one O we are talking about movement of some kind. Whether it be moving through time, space, or the matrix. For example: you go to the grocery store, and when you’re done, you go back to your home.

The double O version is exclusively used for additional information and should, at all times, be replacable with as well. It is usually placed at the end of a sentence or list. For example, if you’re writing a grocery list you may decide you need: cherries, ketchup, bread, and eggs too. You can tell it’s correct because if I had written -eggs as well– it still works.

4. The Rest of Those Pesky Homophones

A homophone is a word that sounds like another word but has a different meaning. Number one of this post is considered a homophone, and I bet you didn’t even realize!

One of the ones we see most frequently is they’re, their, and there. If you glue this helpful infographic someone made into your head, you should do fine. To reiterate what it says: they’re means they are, there is talking about a location, and their is reffering to a person

In the same ballpark are the words your and you’re. The rules above apply to this so like I said before, glue that picture to your brain and this one is easy. You’re is a contraction of the words you are, saying someone is known a certain way or is doing an action of some kind. “You’re doing a great job at this!” is an example of this contraction. Your refers to a possession or belonging, for example: “is that your car?”. A good way to double check this one is to ask yourself if you are would make also sense, if it wouldn’t, use the other form of the word.

Don’t Let Common Grammar Mistakes Get You Down

Take control of the way you communicate by learning the ins and outs of the English language, that sneaky trickster. These mistakes are easy to make and finagle their way into everyday life. Instead of feeling bad about it, we’re getting ahead; that’s the spirit!