My attention was recently drawn to an article in Ragan Report (great resource for communicators) that puts the “Top 25 Grammar and Language Mistakes” in your face.
This handful of grammar glitches stood out for me. I’m eager to point them out because they’re extremely important to good writing. I encourage you to take them to heart.
- Using could of, would of, should of. These are all 100 percent wrong, born of our sloppy speaking styles—could’ve, would’ve, should’ve. What you want to write is could have, would have, should have. We all coulda, woulda, shoulda become better at grammar.
- Using me and somebody. I tell my children that it’s common courtesy to put the other person first. Thus, you should always say, Fred and I went to the gym together, or Suzie and I saw that movie.
- Using that instead of who (and vice versa). If you’re writing about people, always use who. If a company president says, employees that are affected by layoffs will be greatly missed, no one is likely to believe him because he’s treating them as objects by using the word that.
- Using they when referring to a business. Starbucks said they would give everyone a free latte today. Although this might sound right, the correct sentence is: Starbucks said it would give everyone a free latte today. And if that grates on your ears, then rewrite the sentence to avoid the problem: Starbucks is offering everyone a free latte today.
Barbara McNichol is a nonfiction editor, who works with authors, speakers, and business professionals to add power to their pen through the written word. Barbara wrote Word Trippers: The Ultimate Source for Choosing the Perfect Word When It Really Matters. She offers helpful writing tips weekly and a course to take your writing and editing to the next level: “WordShops: Strengthen Everything You Write.”
Leave a Reply