Your spelling it wrong

I've noticed that on DV and elsewhere, many people, even those who otherwise tend to have perfect grammar and spelling, get confused between a few very common words. It is pretty sad that spelling the words wrongly is so common, I actually notice when people manage to spell one of them correctly and praise them for it.

This thread is for others to bring up their frustrations, and to inform the DV community about the proper ways to spell these words, so that the mistakes can stop.

If you are one of the people who makes these mistakes, I suggest you memorise the following information now.


They're - Use this whenever the word can be replaced with "they are."

Their - This word indicates possession. Something belonging to a group in question (whoever you're referring to by 'their') should go after the word. Ex: "Their house was robbed," "It was their turn to choose." In these sentences, the words 'house' and 'turn' are things that belong to the group in question.

There - Use this in any other situation.


You're - Use this whenever you can replace the word with "you are." (analogous to "they're")

Your - This word indicates possession. Use it whenever you're about to mention something that belongs to the person you're talking to. Ex: "This is your sweater," "Your ride is here." (analogous to "their")


A lot - This is a correct phrase.

Alot - This is not a word.

I knew that.

So did I, but I didn't direct this at myself either.

icwutudidthar with the thread title

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Originally Posted by Dianeva

Alot - This is not a word.
[/COLOR]

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Hyperbole and a Half: The Alot is Better Than You at Everything

That's hilarious, the Alot part. I don't get irritated at people using 'u' instead of 'you' and things like that. Those are just internet short-hands, even I use those. Everyone knows it's really 'you'. The problem with 'alot' is that people really think it's spelled like that.

10 words

When to use i.e.

Correct grammar and spelling not only refrains others from becoming frustrated but also makes you seem more intelligent. Also, maybe it's just because I'm a grammer nazi but proper grammer, spelling, punctuation and literary format need to be essential guidelines for most forums.

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Originally Posted by Quantiq

Also, maybe its just because I'm a grammer nazi

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Don't you mean "it's"? :)

And "grammar".

hasn't this thread already been done

Yeah, I'm guilty as hell for using "alot". I know that there is suppose to be a space between "a" and "lot", but for some reason, I still spell it that way. :P

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Originally Posted by Quantiq

Correct grammer and spelling not only refrains others from becoming frustrated but also makes you seem more intelligent. Also, maybe its just because I'm a grammer nazi but proper grammer, spelling, punctuation and literary format need to be essential guidelines for most forums.

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Originally Posted by Dianeva

Don't you mean "it's"? :)

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Originally Posted by tommo

And "grammar".

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...le---Bully.gif

:chuckle:

Personally, I find grammar Nazism to be kind of sad. Half the time, I just see people bitching and moaning about it when they are using it as an ad hominem attack in an argument. Most people that complain about it don't even consider the fact that it's the Internet, and English isn't everyone's first language. Anyone who complains about someone's grammar, assuming that they are just bad at the English language because they are unintelligent - while unaware of the fact that that person probably speaks more languages than the Nazi, in the first place - automatically loses, horribly.

It's used much less as a method of facilitating understanding, as it is a chance to stroke ones own ego.

Usually people will complain about how they "can't read that horrible wall of text", even when the words are spelled perfectly, and there is simply no spacing. People complain that they "can't understand what someone is saying," when a few, common, easily identifiable slang terms are used. People throw their hands up in the air and scream to the heavens about how "X person's post is completely illegible," because the person might be foreign, and doesn't use 100% correct grammar.

Lyke if sum1s RiTing lyke dys n shyt. F'sho Imma b 1 piZZd OFF Bytch but thaz jus dat dumbness U kno?

But half of the time it isn't even like that. People just complain because other people don't have the same grasp of the English language, even if what they are saying is completely understandable.

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Originally Posted by Dianeva

Don't you mean "it's"? :)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by tommo

And "grammar".

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Oops! Epic Fail.
Well, I just lost all my credibility right there. That was a pretty hypocritical and moronic statement to make; I have to admit. :biggrin:

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Originally Posted by Oneironaut Zero

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...le---Bully.gif

:chuckle:

Personally, I find grammar Nazism to be kind of sad. Half the time, I just see people bitching and moaning about it when they are using it as an ad hominem attack in an argument. Most people that complain about it don't even consider the fact that it's the Internet, and English isn't everyone's first language. Anyone who complains about someone's grammar, assuming that they are just bad at the English language because they are unintelligent - while unaware of the fact that that person probably speaks more languages than the Nazi, in the first place - automatically loses, horribly.

It's used much less as a method of facilitating understanding, as it is a chance to stroke ones own ego.

Usually people will complain about how they "can't read that horrible wall of text", even when the words are spelled perfectly, and there is simply no spacing. People complain that they "can't understand what someone is saying," when a few, common, easily identifiable slang terms are used. People throw their hands up in the air and scream to the heavens about how "X person's post is completely illegible," because the person might be foreign, and doesn't use 100% correct grammar.

Lyke if sum1s RiTing lyke dys n shyt. F'sho Imma b 1 piZZd OFF Bytch but thaz jus dat dumbness U kno?

But half of the time it isn't even like that. People just complain because other people don't have the same grasp of the English language, even if what they are saying is completely understandable.

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Well, I was more referring to the fact that some people write posts that I can hardly understand which resemble the example you gave. However, they usually don't last too long around here.

I get what you're saying O.
But.... most of the time people just seem to completely disregard punctuation entirely.
I mean this isn't txt messages. Actually I use punctuation in txt's too, because IT MAKES IT EASIER TO UNDERSTAND.
It's that simple.

There's been so many posts, even on here, that have not a single full stop (period) or comma in them, anywhere!
It's frustrating coz it's not hard to figure out how to use them. And they don't even really follow 100% set rules. You can just use the comma to break up a long sentence, wherever it seems right to do so; where you would break it up while talking.

It may be faster to not use proper grammar or punctuation, but most of the time (read: almost all), it takes the person reading it twice as long to decipher the post or message.

And it is very easy to misinterpret something that someone's said simply because they forgot to separate sentences or put a comma in somewhere.

Would of/Should of/Could of - Makes zero sense.
Would have/Should have/Could have - Is correct.

I of seen this mistake quite a lot. I guess it's because they usually become "would've" in speech (which is correct,) and can sound like "would of."

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Originally Posted by greenhavoc

hasn't this thread already been done

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I doubt this exact thread with a similar OP has been done.

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Originally Posted by Oneironaut Zero

Personally, I find grammar Nazism to be kind of sad. Half the time, I just see people bitching and moaning about it when they are using it as an ad hominem attack in an argument. Most people that complain about it don't even consider the fact that it's the Internet, and English isn't everyone's first language. Anyone who complains about someone's grammar, assuming that they are just bad at the English language because they are unintelligent - while unaware of the fact that that person probably speaks more languages than the Nazi, in the first place - automatically loses, horribly.

It's used much less as a method of facilitating understanding, as it is a chance to stroke ones own ego.

Usually people will complain about how they "can't read that horrible wall of text", even when the words are spelled perfectly, and there is simply no spacing. People complain that they "can't understand what someone is saying," when a few, common, easily identifiable slang terms are used. People throw their hands up in the air and scream to the heavens about how "X person's post is completely illegible," because the person might be foreign, and doesn't use 100% correct grammar.

Lyke if sum1s RiTing lyke dys n shyt. F'sho Imma b 1 piZZd OFF Bytch but thaz jus dat dumbness U kno?

But half of the time it isn't even like that. People just complain because other people don't have the same grasp of the English language, even if what they are saying is completely understandable.

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I agree with you in some sense. People who don't speak English fluently in the first place definitely shouldn't be given a hard time. And I personally don't feel any more intelligent than a person I notice using one of the errors I typed above. Often, the people making them are intelligent, have otherwise perfect grammar, and I know that they're only making the mistake because they never happened to learn the difference. But I've noticed that people make the same mistakes so often, and I know that they're likely judged negatively by others, so I thought it might be worth starting a thread. And to be fair, yes, I do get a small ego boost when I notice it. I feel bad about that though. But that definitely wasn't the purpose in starting the thread.

I didn't even know that 'alot' wasn't a word until grade 10 when my English teacher told the class that anyone who submits a paper or anything with the word 'alot' would receive an F on that paper and have to sing in front of the class. I memorised it then and have never made the mistake since, but at the time the information was completely new to me.

Also, correct grammar is sometimes needed to understand what someone's trying to say. I often don't use it while IMing, and even on DV lately I don't monitor myself as well as I would in an essay or something. Countless times while IMing there's been a misunderstanding, where someone intended some implied comma or other punctuation mark, and assumed that it was obvious, but failed to consider another possible placement of punctuation that could entirely alter the meaning of what they said. Then there's an argument that lasts minutes in which both people are confused and don't realise where the misunderstanding is.

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Originally Posted by tommo

And "grammar".

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lol, how didn't I notice that...

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Originally Posted by Quantiq

However, they usually don't last too long around here.

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lol.. why not exactly?

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Originally Posted by ♥Mark

Would of/Should of/Could of - Makes zero sense.
Would have/Should have/Could have - Is correct.

I of seen this mistake quite a lot. I guess it's because they usually become "would've" in speech (which is correct,) and can sound like "would of."

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Oh yeah, that's another one, and I agree that's probably the reason.

I only get annoyed when people don't use "good" and "well" correctly. Well is an adverb and good is an adjective, it isn't that hard.

Then again, I can never remember the difference between "its" and "it's." One is to show posession and the other to show a conjunction of it is, but I always get confused :?

As a side, note, notice how everybody in this thread made an attempt to use correct grammar/punctuation? People are using apostrophes! (lol spelling?)

Wouldn't it be nice if it was possible to point out in a nice, respectable manner when someone's grammar is wrong? That way you could learn from your mistakes, and hopefully avoid making them in the future. But, alas, such corrections are often interpreted as personal attacks.

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Originally Posted by Dianeva

lol.. why not exactly?

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Probably because people who type like that tend to have certain personality traits (or lack certain personality traits), so that they don't fit in here. Personally I see it as a sign of immaturity, using sms-notation on a forum.

"its" is confusing because usually you put apostrophes to indicate possession, like "the bird's wings," etc. But you say "the bird flew with its wings," without an apostrophe. I think "it's" is used as a replacement for "it is," but nothing else.

That one isn't a big deal though. The ones in the OP and "would have" that Mark brought up are the most common errors.

I can has Google to help me spell more gooder.

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Originally Posted by anderj101

I can has Google to help me spell more gooder.

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I am agree with you.

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Originally Posted by Dianeva

"its" is confusing because usually you put apostrophes to indicate possession, like "the bird's wings," etc. But you say "the bird flew with its wings," without an apostrophe. I think "it's" is used as a replacement for "it is," but nothing else.

That one isn't a big deal though. The ones in the OP and "would have" that Mark brought up are the most common errors.

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Yeah that fucker always gets me too. I think it's because "its" already indicates possession.

the things that really get my is when u type like a lzyass person and i hate not capitalizing the letter i use no punctuation and in one big runon sentence.

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Originally Posted by sinoblak

I am agree with you.

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