Few Simple Grammar Changes to Make All the Difference

Some of us have horrible grammar and some of us aren't too bad. It's good to see that a little education has rubbed off on people, but there are still a lot of easily noticed verbal grammar mistakes people make.

A lot of times, schools do everything right teaching you about grammar. But it won't last long if others around you are constantly saying the wrong phrases.

I think it is important to at least get the fundamentals and the basics down, especially if you are going out into the work force. If your future employer or perhaps your date is well educated and for like some can pick out those little grammar mistakes, it may make you not look as intelligent as your resume states.

Here are just a few key things to watch out for:

More vs "er" - In some cases, either will work and no one will notice. However, More Fun vs Funner can really stand out like a sore thumb. Saying something to your date like, "That was the funnest time, ever!" It really could make you look bad. Some people honestly don't care about these mistakes, because they are common, but if you can easily correct this, then why not.

Putting yourself last - A lot of people make this mistake, and it really doesn't sound too horrible, but it can only improve your speech if you correct this.

Example: "Jason, Kristen, and I went to the park to have a picnic."

Online Grammar - It really depends on the context of the online activity to whether or not it really matters how well you are at grammar. If you are talking to your online buddies in an MMORPG or an instant messenger then spelling mistakes and awful usage of grammar are often times really okay.

However if you are part of an online classroom discussion, some form of interview (even if it's an MMO guild interview) e-mails, or blogging, a good proper usage of grammar is very important.

Spelling Differences - A lot of words mean different things depending on how they are spelled. Here are a few common misspellings.

They're vs Their vs There

You're vs Your

It's vs Its

If you are having a hard time remembering the difference between them, remember that if there is an apostrophe before the letter, it is not a possessive word like "Parent's" then it is breaking down a word.

They're = They are

You're = You are

It = It is

Punctuation - Some of this is really hard to master, and this essentially could be a full topic of its own. A few basic punctuation things to keep in mind of are the usage of exclamation, period, and question marks. Use these properly based on the type of sentence it is. An over usage of exclamation points is not necessary and should be avoided. Also, never use more than one punctuation mark at the end of the sentence. Unless it is a casual messenger conversation, you should never put something like !? together.

Also, using commas is important. If you really struggle with this, read the sentence to yourself. Where in the sentence do you naturally pause? If you are having natural paused in the sentence, put a comma in there. Also use commas to separate adjectives before a noun and to separate other parts of a sentence that share the same thought.

Example: Today I ate a sandwich, apple, and a cookie.

Notice how there is a comma separating the different things I ate.

Lastly, do not overuse commas to keep your sentence going on forever. Run on sentences make it very hard to read and understand. When talking to people in real life, you really don't have to worry about this because you have to breathe some time, and so there really are no way you can create a verbal run on sentence unless you just don't pause at all.

If your sentence is run on, but you really think it should be kept together you can also use a semi- colon to separate the different thoughts.

Since I am getting farther into other advanced parts of grammar, I am going to stop there. I just wanted to share some of the important basics that every one should keep in mind so that they don't walk away not upfront appear to be as intelligent as they may be. Some of us are extremely intelligent and could write a college textbook of all their knowledge, but yet have horrible grammar. Why not try to have a little bit of both worlds of smarts, and good grammar.