Errors to Avoid when Writing

"Knowing" Is Half Of The Battle (...if you can name the source of the quote above, I will give you extra points)

Mistakes. We all make them. They are unavoidable. We can, however, avoid making them a second time if we realize that we made a mistake in the first place.

As writers, we want people to read what we write. We love to write, sure. Unless someone is reading it, is there really a point? We also want people to like what they read so that they will come back and read more of what we have written. This is not to say that we need to write things that everybody likes, or state opinions that everybody agrees with. This is just not going to happen. There will always be people that do not like to read what you write. We cannot please everybody all of the time, nor should we try to. We do need to strive write pieces that are free from simple grammatical and/or typographical errors. Even fans of our writing will not stick with us for long if we continually make mistakes. As well, making simple mistakes repeatedly can give readers the impression that we are less intelligent than we really are.

What follows are some common errors that occur in writing. I know that I am not immune to making mistakes, but these are some that are just inexcusable in my own writing. Being aware of the improper use of the following words and phrases goes a long way to helping me avoid committing an error when I write.

"A" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Lot"

On my first day in Mr. Larsen's high school government class, I was taught a lesson that I will never forget. The classroom had two chalkboards, one on the front wall of the room, the other on the wall to my right as I sat at my desk. On the board in front of me, in the top left corner was written the word 'A.' On the board to my right, in the top right corner was written the word 'LOT' - as far away from the word 'A' as was possible in this classroom. Mr. Larsen, a man never to have been heard to utter the 'uhh' or 'um' sound in his lectures, very quickly explained the reason. Anyone in his class that was found to have written 'alot' in any of their assignments would have their name written on the board under the word 'lot' (eventually, the 'A' was moved from the front chalkboard to the side chalkboard, nearer to the 'LOT'). Their name would remain there for the remainder of the school year. There was no mercy given. By the end of the year, we had over ten names on the board. In a class of 86 students, this was a sad commentary. Mr. Larsen's emphatic display was burnt onto my brain. As a result, I have adopted the same dislike for the misuse of 'a lot' that he had.

These are two separate and distinct words. 'A' is an indefinite article. 'Lot' describes a portion or group. 'Alot' is not a word. This is probably the most common error made in writing. We incorrectly use 'alot' when we are trying to describe something that we do often or something that we have in abundance. For example, "I have read alot of books," or "I got alot of cash for my birthday!" To be blunt, we use 'alot' a lot. The downside for a writer is that this can make you appear to be unprofessional. A simple pass through with the spell-check tool will eliminate this error for you. Having it appear in your writing would indicate that you did not take the time to spell check your work prior to submitting it. This is a double-edged sword, however, as this error is so common that most people do not recognize it as such. In other words, if your readers do not realize that you made a mistake, then they will think no less of your ability as a writer. That does not make it acceptable, however.

There, Their, They're

This is another one that is far too common. We seem to use these three words interchangeably, but they are far from being such. 'There' describes a place - "I put my book down over there." 'Their' shows possession - "The Red Sox won their first pre-season game this year." 'They're' is a contraction showing action - "They're going shopping later."

Too often do we use the wrong homonym. This one is a little more troublesome as it will not be caught be spell-check. We need to be more diligent in finding this error. Improper use of these words is inexcusable for a writer. An example of the proper use of all three words follows: "They're going to spend their money there, at the mall."

Your, You're

This is very similar to "There, Their, They're." 'Your' is possessive, "That is your book." 'You're' is a contraction of you and are showing action, "You're going to regret making this mistake again." These are not interchangable. Using the previous example, "You're going to spend your money at the mall." A good way to avoid the improper use of a contraction is to think about how the sentence would read if you were to remove the contraction. For instance, "That is you are book," just doesn't make sense. 'You're' would therefore be incorrect in that sentence.

To, Too, Two

This is another mistake that will not be caught by spell-check as the homonym may be spelled correctly though it has been used improperly. 'To' is a preposition that is used to indicate a direction, relation, or motion. 'Too' means also and can be used to describe 'more.' 'Two' expresses a quantity.

Rarely do I see the word "two" used improperly in the place of 'to' or 'too,' but it does deserve inclusion here. 'To' and 'too' are used incorrectly quite often, though I find that it is more common for 'to' is used when 'too' should be. As an example, "To often..." This mistake could easily be explained as a typographical error - simply not striking the key for the second 'o' hard enough. However, more often than not, it is a misuse of the word. Proper use of the three homonyms would be: "Are you going, too?" "Are the two of you going?" "Where are you off to?"

Know, No

Mistaking 'no' for 'know' is almost as bothersome for me as 'alot' is. It really annoys me when I read something like: "You no what I mean." 'No' signifies the negative. 'Know' means that you have an understanding of something. It is considerably more common to erroneously substitute 'no' for 'know' than is true for the opposite. This one is a real no-no (sorry, couldn't resist).

Would Have, Should Have, Could Have

The phrases in the above heading are correct. What I have seen far too frequently is the writer using 'of' instead of 'have.' The reason for this is simple. When we say these phrases in a conversation, we tend to be lazy. What we are saying is 'would have,' but we say it quickly creating the contraction 'would've' which sounds like 'would of.' As a result,, we write 'would of.'

Homonyms, Homonyms, Homonyms

While this category applies to many of the above mistakes, it is a much farther reaching problem. As mentioned, spell-check will not catch homonyms that are used improperly as long as they are spelled correctly. If you were to read the following paragraph aloud, anyone hearing you would not question what you were trying to say. However, the homonyms cause the paragraph to be complete nonsense:

"Eye wont too tell ewe a tail of too brothers. They're mother worried wen her suns were late fore dinner. Sea, the buss that they were on broke down. There sell phone's battery was dead sew they could knot call home. As luck wood have it, they were near the maul sew they went inn two sea if they could find a phone. To bad that their were nun for them too use. Frustrated, they went back two the buss. Bye the thyme they got they're, the toe truck had arrived. The truck had a radio, and the driver, knot being a crewel man, called fore help. Write away, a knew buss was cent two the seen. When the gnu buss could bee scene on the rode and coming they're weigh, all the passengers razed they're voices inn a cheer. Soon, they wood reach there destination..."

Silly? Yes, butt ewe...err...but you get the point. Though errors abound, the spell-check tool will not catch any of them.

Patients Is A Virtue...

Did you catch it? Patience is a virtue. Patients go to the doctor. Take the time to read, re-read, and re-read again. Better yet, let some one else read what you have written. As the writer, you know what you meant to write, so that is what you see when you read it - what it is supposed to say and not what it actually says. Another reader is more likely to catch your mistakes.

Have you made some of these mistakes? Not a problem, we all have. Just learn to recognize them and don't make the same mistake twice.