Common Spelling and Grammatical Errors on the Internet

The following is simply a collection of the most obvious and common language errors I have noticed lately on the internet. Their appearance here indicates a consistent pattern and not just random typing errors ("typos") or unfamiliarity with the language (foreign and new speakers).

 

Type

Penetration

Incorrect Form

Correct Form

Explanation

Mnemonic*

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spelling

Common

definately

definitely

 

Finite not Finate

Spelling

Common

your (for "you are")

you're

 

Two words are run together: you are becomes you're

Spelling

Common

its (for "it is")

it's

 

Two words are run together: it is becomes it's

Spelling

Common

it's (that which belongs to it)

its

 

Same as other possessive pronouns: his, hers, ours, theirs

Spelling

Common

to (more than needed, or "also")

too

 

o+o

Spelling Occasional now (to have knowledge of) know   You don't always know it now
Spelling Occasional seperate separate   The e's are separated by a's: e-a-a-e

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grammatical

Pandemic

There's ("there is") apples† somewhere

There are apples somewhere

 

Rearrange: Does "Apples is there" really sound right to you?

Grammatical

Common

... was the former ...

... is the former ...

Unless you are talking about a time prior to the time in the past when the condition existed, the state of being "former" exists now, not then

If they were something, they couldn't have been the former something, unless they did it twice

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Memory device. †Apples stands for any plural noun.