Common grammatical mistakes

As a tutor I tend to see many of the same mistakes made regularly. Here is my top ten list of words I see mis-spelled, with my suggestion of ways to help you remember the correct spelling:

Stationery and stationary            

One refers to pens and pencils, the other to the act of staying still. If you confuse the two then remember – there’s an ‘e’ in pen and an ‘a’ in ‘car’.

Where and were

Where rhymes with there, which refers to a place.

Which and witch

Think of a wicked witch. There is no ‘h’ in either word.

Thankyou and thank you

The first is a noun so one word. So you would send a thankyou note, but say thank you.

Maybe and may be

The first is an adverb meaning perhaps; the second is a verb. If in doubt try replacing the word with perhaps to see if it fits.

Its and it’s

Its is a possessive, while it’s is a contraction. But let’s forget the grammar talk for a minute. If unsure which to use read it’s as it is. If it fits in then use it, if not it is likely you need to use its.

Lose and loose

When I first started tutoring I couldn’t understand why these two confused people, but they do regularly. My suggestion is to listen to how they each sound. The ‘oo’ sound in loose is longer than in lose, hence the extra o.

Let’s and lets

It is so easy to forget that important apostrophe but it is needed. Lets are rentals, as in the plural of a let. So you would ‘let’s go and check out the lets at the agency.

There and their

As above, there rhymes with where which refers to place.

Affect and effect

Easily confused, remember that effect is usually used as a verb and means a result or the power to produce a result. Affect is usually used as a verb and means to influence.