![]() ![]() Sometimes we spell words incorrectly because we pronounce them incorrectly. And while we’re talking about what you were told you couldn’t do but really can, there is nothing wrong, grammatically, with using additionally and however as sentence starters. Of course, you don’t wanna do it more than a couple of times in a single document, but these two words can be used as effective transition words. Truth is though, it doesn’t break any rules. So your English teacher told you never to begin a sentence with and, or but, right? Many of us had that experience. The Y-O-U apostrophe R-E form of the word is a contraction of the words you and are. ![]() The Y-O-U-R is a possessive pronoun and shows possession of an object. The third common error is the two forms of the word your. The T-H-E-Y apostrophe R-E form of they’re is a contraction of they and are. The T-H-E-I-R form of their is a plural possessive referring to something that belongs to more than one person. The T-H-E-R-E form of there always refers to a location. The second is the three different forms of the word there. But the W-H-O apostrophe S form of who’s is a contraction of who and is. First is the two form of the word who’s, the W-H-O-S-E form of the word whose refers to ownership of something. Following are three of the most common ones. Another type of common error in writing is the use of pronouns, and pronoun-linking verb contractions, which sound similar. In 1995, a man by the name of Jef Raskin, wrote a poem about it. I could go on of course, but suffice it to say that there are many, many exceptions to this rule, and that the English have a different version of this saying. And there are exceptions to the exceptions which are neither, weird, foreign, and leisure, and many more. anyway, I before e except after c, except from pronunciation sounds like eye, E-Y-E or ay as in Einstein, stein, eight, vein, and veil. I’m happy to say though that most of our other spelling and grammar rules are a bit more reliable. There are so many exceptions to this rule that it is almost pointless. Which has done more to confuse than to help I think. Do you remember the rule I before e except after c? It’s a rule that was commonly taught in the US. There are some fairly common errors in business writing which I’ll now review for you. Ise instead of -ize, as in realise versus realize. Notable are the use of -ou instead of -o, as in colour versus color, and -re instead of -er, as in centre versus center. For example, American and British English tend to have many differences in the spelling of the same words. Mostly keep this in mind, if you are asked to proofread or edit a document for readership in another country. English speakers are generally willing to accept the English or American spelling. I don’t recommend that you alter what is correct for your own country in hopes of using the preferred spelling used in another country. ![]() I recommend that if you are writing for an international audience, keep in mind that there are acceptable spelling variations in the different kinds of English. As a person who spent several of my grammar school years in a school in the North of England, I’m quite familiar with the spelling confusion between English and American spellings. In this lecture, I’ll address some of the more common spelling and word choice errors, and a few rules to go by. Spelling and word choice are important because poor spelling or incorrect word choice reflect poorly on you as a professional, or could cause misunderstanding of your meaning. If there was a word with the spelling you’ve chosen, even if it’s the wrong word, your software may not catch it. But many of the examples I’m about to provide are not spelling errors but word choice errors. Most of us, of course, use spell check in our word processing software. In this first lesson, I’ll address common spelling errors and word misuse. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |