10 Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Get Wrong

How well you use words can make a lasting impression on people. Wield those words skillfully and people may perceive you in any number of positive lights — as intelligent, poised, persuasive, funny, to name a few. But even one little grammatical slip can have the opposite effect.

It's topic that worries lots of people. "Inc." columnist Jeff Haden recently pointed out 30 Incorrectly Used Words That Can Make You Look Bad, which readers shared more than 75,000 times on social networks. Here are 10 more to add to the list.

Irregardless and unthaw

These are not words. "Regardless" and "thaw" are sufficient and don't need any senseless prefixes mucking them up.

Bring and take

When using these words as commands think in terms of direction. People bring things toward you and take things away from you. Correct examples: "Please bring your report to my office;" and "Please take this report to the receptionist."

Alot and a lot

Fortunately spell check catches this one most of the time, but know this: If you're trying to say you have an abundance of something there should be a space in "a lot."

I, me, and myself

The question of how to refer to yourself along with other people is commonly misunderstood. Most people know to say the other person's name first when it happens at the beginning of the sentence; "Mark and I went to the meeting." But when this same phrase happens at the end of a sentence people get confused, often thinking the same usage of "I" is appropriate, which it isn't.

Instead, it should be "The CEO met with Mark and me." The easy way to remember this one is to imagine removing the other person's name. It would sound weird to say "The CEO met with I," right?

As for "myself," only use it if "me" or "I" would sound awkward in its place, such as "I kept the secret to myself." Saying "Mark and myself will attend the meeting" only makes a speaker look silly when a simple "I" would have sufficed.

Impact, affect, and effect

Using "impact" as a verb has become so ubiquitous I've pretty much given up on this one, but if you want to say things like "The cutbacks greatly impacted the bottom line" know that the grammar geeks of the world may cringe. Why? Because "affected" is what you really mean and once upon a time "impact" was used strictly as a noun. Maybe you've never mastered the difference between "affect" and "effect" and use "impact" just to be safe. If that's you, it's time to understand these words now. "Affect" is a verb that means to do something that causes an "effect," which is noun. Just think of the "a" in "affect" also is used in "action," which is what verbs do.

Loose and lose

The first one means your dog escaped his kennel, your change is clinking in your pocket, or your clothes are too big. "Lose" is what happened to you when you can't find your keys, you have to settle a bet, or were beat in a game.

Overuse of apostrophes

Apostrophes indicate one of two things: Possession or letters missing, as in "Sara's iPad" and "it's" for "it is" (second "i" missing). They don't belong on plurals. When you have more than one of something there's no need to add an apostrophe. Same thing with your last name. If you want to refer to your family but don't want to list everyone's first name write "The Johnsons" not "The Johnson's." Years also shouldn't have apostrophes. For example, "1980s" is correct but "1980's" is not.

Principle and principal

These words are easily confused. One definition for "principle" is "a moral rule or belief that helps you know what is right and wrong and that influences your actions," according to Merriam-Webster.com. As for "principal" think of the person who presides over a school — someone who's first in rank. Here's a trick for keeping the two straight: The "a" in principal is first in the alphabet, just like a principal is someone who's first in rank.

Lay and lie

Generally, if you can replace the word in question with some variant of "put" or "place," use "lay." If not, use "lie." So, it should be "I need to lie down" and "He laid his keys on the table." "Lying down" gets confusing when you're talking about doing it in the past, however. For example, it should be "Mark lay on the bed after coming home from work yesterday." Take heart, even Grammar Girl has a hard time with this one. Check out her advice for navigating this minefield.

Borrow and lend

Some people incorrectly use the word borrow instead of lend. It would be wrong to say "He borrowed me his car for the afternoon" or "Can you borrow me a dollar?" The correct way: "He lent me his car" or even "He loaned me his car," although be warned that some grammar snobs take issue with using loan as a verb.

Someone doesn't borrow something to someone, but from someone, as in "I borrowed her calculator." Likewise, lending is something only a giver does. Just remember, the person doing the giving lends and the person receiving something borrows it.

Read more: http://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/10-common-grammar-mistakes-even-smart-people-make.html#ixzz3FxEMcQpk

30 Incorrectly Used Words That Can Make You Look Bad

Easy to get wrong. And easy to get right.

 

While I like to think I know a little about business writing, I often fall into a few word traps. For example, "who" and "whom." I rarely use "whom" when I should. Even when spell check suggests "whom," I think it sounds pretentious. So I don't use it.

And I'm sure some people then think, "What a bozo."

And that's a problem, because just like that one misspelled word that gets a resumé tossed into the "nope" pile, using one wrong word can negatively impact your entire message.

Fair or unfair, it happens.

So let's make sure it doesn't:

Adverse and averse

Adverse means harmful or unfavorable; "Adverse market conditions caused the IPO to be poorly subscribed." Averse means dislike or opposition; "I was averse to paying $18 a share for a company that generates no revenue."

But you can feel free to have an aversion to adverse conditions.

Affect and effect

Verbs first. Affect means to influence; "Impatient investors affected our roll-out date." Effectmeans to accomplish something; "The board effected a sweeping policy change." How you use effect or affect can be tricky. For example, a board can affect changes by influencing them, or can effect changes by implementing them. Use effect if you're making it happen, and affect if you're having an impact on something someone else is trying to make happen.

As for nouns, effect is almost always correct; "Once he was fired he was given twenty minutes to gather his personal effects." Affect refers to emotional states so unless you're a psychologist, you're probably not using it.

Compliment and complement

Compliment is to say something nice. Complement is to add to, enhance, improve, complete, or bring close to perfection. So, I can compliment your staff and their service, but if you have no current openings you have a full complement of staff. And your new app may complement your website.

For which I may decide to compliment you.

Criteria and criterion

"We made the decision based on one overriding criteria," sounds pretty impressive but is wrong.

Remember: one criterion, two or more criteria. Although you could always use "reason" or "factors" and not worry about getting it wrong.

Discreet and discrete

Discreet means careful, cautious, showing good judgment; "We made discreet inquiries to determine whether the founder was interested in selling her company."

Discrete means individual, separate, or distinct; "We analyzed data from a number of discrete market segments to determine overall pricing levels." And if you get confused, remember you don't use "discreetion" to work through sensitive issues; you exercise discretion.

Elicit and illicit

Elicit means to draw out or coax. Think of elicit as the mildest form of extract or, even worse, extort. So if one lucky survey respondent will win a trip to the Bahamas, the prize is designed to elicit responses.

Illicit means illegal or unlawful. I suppose you could "illicit" a response at gunpoint... but best not.

Farther and further

Farther involves a physical distance; "Florida is farther from New York than Tennessee."Further involves a figurative distance; "We can take our business plan no further." So, as we say in the South, "I don't trust you any farther than I can throw you." Or, "I ain't gonna trust you no further."

(Seriously. I've uttered both of those sentences. More than once.)

Imply and infer

The speaker or writer implies. The listener or reader infers. Imply means to suggest, while infer means to deduce (whether correctly or not.) So, I might imply you're going to receive a raise. You might infer that a pay increase is imminent. (But not eminent unless the raise will be prominent and distinguished.)

Insure and ensure

This one's easy. Insure refers to insurance. Ensure means to make sure. So if you promise an order will ship on time, ensure it actually happens. Unless, of course, you plan to arrange for compensation if the package is damaged or lost--then feel free to insure away.

Number and amount

I goof these up all the time. Use number when you can count what you refer to; "The number of subscribers who opted out increased last month." Amount refers to a quantity of something you can't count; "The amount of alcohol consumed at our last company picnic was staggering."

Of course it can still be confusing: "I can't believe the number of beers I drank," is correct, but so is, "I can't believe the amount of beer I drank." The difference is I can count beers, but beer, especially if I was way too drunk to keep track, is an uncountable total--so amount is the correct usage.

Precede and proceed

Precede means to come before. Proceed means to begin or continue. Where it gets confusing is when an "ing" comes into play. "The proceeding announcement was brought to you by..." sounds fine, but "preceding" is correct since the announcement came before.

If it helps, think precedence: Anything that takes precedence is more important and therefore comes first.

Principal and principle

A principle is a fundamental; "We've created a culture where we all share certain principles."Principal means primary or of first importance; "Our startup's principal is located in NYC." (Sometimes you'll also see the plural, "principals," used to refer to executives or (relatively) co-equals at the top of a particular food chain.)

Principal can also refer to the most important item in a particular set; "Our principal account makes up 60 percent of our gross revenues."

Principal can also refer to money, normally the original sum that was borrowed, but can be extended to refer to the amount you owe--hence principal and interest.

If you're referring to laws, rules, guidelines, ethics, etc, use principle. If you're referring to the CEO or the president (or the individual in charge of the high school), use principal. And now for those dreaded apostrophes:

It's and its

It's is the contraction of it is. That means it's doesn't own anything. If your dog is neutered (that way we make the dog, however much against his will, gender neutral) you don't say, "It's collar is blue." You say, "Its collar is blue." Here's an easy test to apply. Whenever you use an apostrophe, un-contract the word to see how it sounds. In this case, turn it's into it is. "It's sunny," becomes, "It is sunny." Sounds good to me.

They're and their

Same with these; they're is the contraction for they are. Again, the apostrophe doesn't own anything. We're going to their house, and I sure hope they're home.

Who's and whose

"Whose password hasn't been changed in six months?" is correct. "Who is (the un-contracted version of who's) password hasn't been changed in six months?" sounds silly.

You're and your

One more. You're is the contraction for you are. Your means you own it; the apostrophe inyou're doesn't own anything. For a long time a local non-profit had a huge sign that said "You're Community Place."