If you have sloppy spelling and grammar, you’re losing customers.
It could be as simple as using the wrong “you’re” in a sentence - or grocer’s apostrophes; either way, it turns people off.
You may shrug off grammar and spelling errors off, but as my survey shows…customers aren’t as forgiving.
A lot of us in business are inclined to talking - which is fine. As Joel Saltzman says, “If you can talk, you can write.”
However as instinctive as talking is, the written word and the spoken word use different areas of the brain. Looking at words and gaining meaning out of them actually uses different hemispheres of the brain, according to research by neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga.
Here are some simple ways to improve your spelling and grammar if you’re more of a talker.
Replacing The Contraction - It’s vs Its
My favourite explanation between it’s vs its - the contraction versus the possessive - is Strong Bad’s take on it.
The easiest way is the “speak it out loud” test - if saying, out loud, “it is” makes no sense in the sentence, then it’s the pronoun. (It is the pronoun.) For example, “the car lost it is appeal” - then it’s the possessive form.
Oh, and it’s never Its’.
Me Want Dinner - I or Me?
Another common bugbear in grammar is the use of possessive pronouns - Me or I? For example, “My grandmother and I used to watch soap operas.” If you get rid of my grandmother from the sentence (how rude), it makes sense.
In another sentence, “Me and my grandmother used to watch soap operas,” then getting rid of “my grandmother” forms “Me used to watch soap operas,” which when spoken out loud…kind sounds like my grandmother speaking it. (She was from Macedonia and English was her fourth language, so I kind of went gentle on her.)
If it sounds funny, don’t write it down!
There or Their or They’re? The W to T Trick
Want to know if you’re using the correct form?
What is the opposite to “there?” Well, here. Remove the T - if the sentence sticks, then you know it’s “there.” If it’s a question - “Where?” then the shortest answer you can give is “There.”
As for the other forms, it’s a little more involved. Another bit of “W” transformation is required for “they’re.” If you can replace “We are” with “They are” in a sentence, you know it’s “they’re.”
Example: “We are going to the movies/They are going to the movies/They’re going to the movies.”
By process of elimination, you’re (you are) left with their. Which is possession. Their ball, their fight, their thesis.
If You Can Count It, It’s Fewer
If you can count something - cupcakes, cars, people - then it’s fewer. There are three fewer cars on the road than yesterday. If you can’t, then it’s less. There’s less milk today than yesterday. Simple!
If This Is Giving You A Headache
Then give me a call instead! I’m a Melbourne copywriter that can give you peace of mind with solid proofreading and editing. Contact me here for copy that gets the little things right so you can land the big customers.