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Updated: Apr 16, 2024 188 Comments · by

Good Grammar Costs Nothing

Professionalism |

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good grammar.indexed

Update: We still stand by the advice below, but do check out our latest discussion of grammar rules you absolutely, seriously must know.

I've seen a lot of fun grammar roundups lately, such as The Oatmeal's breakdown of who versus whom, and this Buzzfeed roundup of grammar jokes. So I thought we'd have a little discussion: what are your biggest pet peeves when it comes to grammar (particularly with coworkers)? What are your best tips?  (Pictured: I own this shirt! Good grammar costs nothing, $16 at Glarkware.)

For my $.02 — as a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern (my undergrad degree), I sat through so many lessons in copyediting that I still remember the different meanings of ordinance and ordnance, and the proper spelling of ophthalmologist. (Ha, I kid, WordPress's spellcheck just changed my A to an O. Fine.)

  This came in handy during my Bluebook years (I went on to become executive editor of Georgetown's law review). Accordingly, I'm always, hugely, deeply embarrassed whenever I make a mistake! I definitely used grammar as a gauge with coworkers (particularly subordinates). I even remember holding my breath the first time my husband emailed me, hoping against hope that this Guy I Really Liked would not totally ruin that impression with poor spellings or some frat-brat colloquialisms (yo yo yo dawg!). I even spent some time in my mid-20s (? the thought of having this much free time boggles my mind) making up little JPGs with lessons from When Words Collide, my favorite grammar book, which I used for my Windows screensaver for a time. Such as this one, on the difference between bad and badly:

bad, badly

I guess the grammar lessons that I use the most are these:

  • It's = It Is (otherwise, its)
  • Stationery/stationary – E is for eraser, A is for action
  • That/Which — If the phrase that you want to use is an essential part of the sentence, use that. If it could be a sentence of its own, use which.

I'll admit that I Google a lot too, when in doubt (particularly with word choice) — but I think being a bit of a grammar nerd and knowing that, say, there's a difference between compliment/complement, elicit/illicit, discreet/discrete, etc, is half the battle.

Readers, what are your best tips with grammar? What gaffes drive you up the wall when you see coworkers, friends, or dates make them? Which are your favorite books or blogs to brush up your grammar skills?

About Kat

Kat Griffin is the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of Corporette. You can read more about her here.

Comments

    • R

      +1. And “case and point” and “mute” point and these go “hand and hand” and with all “do respect.”

      Things like Oxford comma or other style choices don’t bother me, and I give people a pass in informal, personal correspondence. But in your work email, please don’t use emoticons or text speak. If you email me “R u working on that or shld i? :-) thx” I will permanently judge you as an idiot. Unfair, but true.

      • L

        If someone emailed me that string of letters you just typed out, if I thought I could get away with it I would run to their office and go “oh you’re okay. I thought you must have had some medical emergency judging by your email. It was just a string of letters.” If I couldn’t I would email them back and say ‘excuse me?’

      • L

        This will probably out me and it is not grammar-related, but CONVERSATE ISN’T A WORD!

        • L

          Kat – this ended up in the wrong spot. I started a new post, but it appeared under my initial reply. Also, with only 51 comments, a bunch are kicked onto the second page.

  2. Anonymous

    This isn’t exactly incorrect grammar, it’s just not the correct (or a real) word– when people call espresso “expresso.”

    For shameeeee! Love, coffee lovers everywhere.

    • Kanye East

      Honestly, most things that self-proclaimed grammar police like to brag on and nag on are matters of style and usage, not grammar.

        • Avodah

          +1
          If you’re going to judge someone for making a grammar or usage error, then please make sure you know *exactly* what you are talking about.

          • Avodah

            @OP. Didn’t mean to offend. I was just agreeing w/ the person who said that people are correcting usage and not grammar. Separately, I pointed out that if people are going be nitpicky, then they certainly ought to know the difference b/w the two. Again, didn’t mean to offend.

      • Monday

        Even in cases when something is patently incorrect, I just don’t think there’s a gracious way to correct, complain later behind the person’s back, or hold oneself out as a grammarian in general. To me, this t-shirt says “I am better than you!” Also, learning disabilities and dyslexia are more common than many people realize, including among high achieving professionals. You never know when you’re shaming someone for doing her best.

        I get annoyed too, but I see it as my problem unless it’s on work product associated with me. In those cases, it’s either an opportunity for reminders or a basic copy-editing task for someone who can do it well.

        • Maddie Ross

          I agree with this. I will change things that are incorrect in work product with which I am associated. I will ding people in an interview for errors in a resume or writing sample. But I will grin and bear it when someone sends me an email or says something to me in conversation. I may silently judge, but I will not correct. As Monday states, I’m not sure there’s a gracious way to do it.

        • Anonymous

          Agreed. Also, English is some people’s second, third, fourth… language. Unless the self-appointed-grammar-police can speak an equal number of languages as fluently, judgment is unjustified. Most polyglots appreciate polite and constructive corrections, but never judgment.

    • anon

      I got called out on this once at a coffee shop. “what’s expresso?” I thought it was tacky.

    • Anonymous

      I think it’s very snobby to correct people on espresso vs expresso. The only reason you do that is to make someone else feel stupid.

      • OP

        I never said I corrected anyone on this, it just irritates me. Is that not allowed? I thought that was the purpose of this thread! Sheesh!

      • TCFKAG

        Its like correcting people on bruschetta, mozzarella, gnocchi or any of the many many other Italian words that have become part of English parlance but are frequently mispronounced.

        (And if you do this, you best be ordering your pad thai, pho, bahn mi, enchiladas, or whatever with perfect accents. Just saying.)

      • Dr. Q

        I think you are absolutely correct. Slate just had a great article on this “Stop being a grammar bully”– Correcting people’s grammar, pronunciation, word usage (with the exception of the work product) is simply a way for smart people to bully. There is no polite way to do it, and I doubt the person even cares about being polite. They are clearly saying “I am better and smarter than you. You are an idiot.”

  4. mintberrycrunch

    It drives me crazy when people say “I could care less.” No, you mean that you COULDN’T care less….

    • Gus

      God yes. Especially because it’s usually misused by people who aren’t very bright but think that saying “myself” sounds high class.

      • soul of a grammarian

        Even worse: “… please speak to Jim or I.” I actually prefer honest mistakes in grammar (“Sammy and me are going to the store” to instances of using “I” in the accusative or dative case for the purpose of sounding correcter. I would never correct anyone out loud – except perhaps my children – but I do admit to judging in silence.

  8. Anon

    Your/you’re
    There/they’re/their
    To/too
    Who’s/whose

    …I can forgive a who/whom error, but these drive me insane.

    • Sad Runner

      Even as someone who usually extra-aware of these, I will occasionally make one of the above mistakes. When I catch it, I am always surprised with myself because I know those rules very well.

      So, if someone I know makes the mistake, I generally try to give them the benefit of the doubt. But if I’m in a bad mood or otherwise suspect that they don’t know that they’re applying the rule incorrectly, I just feel bad that they didn’t learn one of the most basic grammar rules.

  9. j

    I have different approaches for different settings. I hold myself to a higher standard for written work product/correspondence with superiors and clients, and hold those my subordinates to those same standards. I try to reserve judgment, though, as mistakes are inevitable. In more casual settings, I try to let everything slide unless clarity is an issue. I used to be quite a pill about grammar and spelling. Whenever I feel those old irritable waves coursing in, I remind myself that English common nouns lost their capitalization because Alexander Pope fancied Italian typefaces (or so the story goes). That being said, I can’t help but see red when I read a sign that says “insure” when it means “ensure.”

  10. Arts

    Not a grammar mistake, but the use of ‘irregardless’ drives me up the wall.

    • Miss Behaved

      Yup. When I moved to Providence, my co-workers had particularly bad grammar. I used to send an email to my friend with a weekly tally.

      One of the managers in my department at the time used “supposably” on a daily basis.

    • AIMS

      What about “with regards to —-“? I have a friend who gripes about this one all the time because court reporters will frequently write that in the transcript as something she said when she says “With regard to X argument…” or what have you.

    • Gov anon

      Me, too. My dislike of “irregardless” is so well known that the engineers I work with will use it on purpose just to make me sputter.

  11. NYC

    Not a grammar issue, but I can’t stand it when people use the term “a fraction” to mean a small percentage of the whole. A fraction can be 99/100! 3/4! 4/5! None of those amounts are that much smaller than the whole. Doesn’t everyone learn what a fraction is in grade school? Why is this term so mis-used? I suspect I am the only person this has ever bothered, but I figure this is the place to air small grievances….

    • Fraxtious

      fraction [ˈfrækʃən]
      n
      1. (Mathematics) Maths
      a. a ratio of two expressions or numbers other than zero
      b. any rational number that is not an integer
      2. any part or subdivision a substantial fraction of the nation
      3. a small piece; fragment

      • anonymama

        Yes, I think the third definition is actually pretty common, standard, accepted usage. (e.g., “the top brands at a fraction of the cost!”)

  12. Phil

    “(Ha, I kid, WordPress’s spellcheck just change my A to an O. Fine.)”

    I believe you mean “just changed.”

    MEDILL F

    • preg anon

      Oh, for the love. I changed my sentence to avoid it ending in a preposition (because of the topic) and thereby inserted a typo. Good riddance.

  16. ms. pacific

    Awesome devastating breakup threadjack – how do you tell the people in your very collegial, warm, and friendly office that you have broken up with your long term partner? Everyone knows and likes him, and this was unexpected. Not sure I can talk about it without getting upset, but surprise inquiries as to how he’s doing are going to result in straight up ugly-crying, so I’d like to pre-empt.

    • Anon

      I don’t have experience to back this up, but my suggestion is to tell your closest work friend/colleague and ask him/her to please spread the word for you.

      • anon

        this. and share with someone you know will gossip. also, follow up an awkward convo with someone with a quick e-mail, call, or visit to their office/cubicle to say–look, I appreciated your asking how such and such and I are doing, but I wanted to let you know that he and I are going through a break up right now, and I was not sure how to address it. and who knows, perhaps that person can sympathize and share their own experience with a break up.

      • Avodah

        This is good advice. I never thought about it, but one could use that for other tough situations (divorce, death, illness). Just make sure this close friend can be discrete (used that spelling in the spirit of the topic!).
        But really, that is good advice.

        • KLG

          I will always love my best friend for shooting an email to all of our friends when someone close to me died. I got comforting text messages throughout the day without having to repeat the news endlessly.

    • Anonymous

      Hug’s to you. When I broke up with Alan, Ibrought hummus in and told everybody right away. With the right food, they will want to eat, but not commizzerate. Do that and you’ll be fine!

      The judge LOVED my outfit and I won ALL OF my motion’s!!!! YAY!!!!

    • hugs

      I like anon’s suggestion about having one trusted colleague quietly spread the word. I am so sorry. I know this is a really tough time for you. We have a smaller community of women on facebook who discuss dating and relationships. I know we would love to be a source of support for you if you’re interested in joining. Sometimes it is easier to talk things through with strangers…

      • ms. pacific

        Thanks all. Operation “tell the talkative person” successfully executed. And offer of support gratefully accepted – where does one find this smaller community?

        • hugs

          Email zoradances at gmail dot com :) [Zora, hope it is okay to invite people to our group!]

          • zora

            Heck to the yeah!! Email me and I’ll send an invite to the fb group. A LOT of us have been through breakups recently, so we are totally there for venting and moral support for anyone who needs it. It really sucks. :o( HUGS!

    • Carrie Preston

      Oh I’m sorry. I just went through this myself & have a similar office. I just told people individually & it was surprisingly nice – people were supportive & really nice. I’m also comfortable enough with them that tearing up in front of them didn’t bother me so much. I personally preferred telling myself rather than asking someone to do it for me because it made things more comfortable going forward – no one was in that awkward place of having to say “I heard, are you okay” or pretending that they didn’t know because I hadn’t said, or not asking about him, etc. Hugs to you.

  17. Anon

    “Would of” instead of “would have” or “would’ve” drives me absolutely batty.

  18. LilyB

    I hate it when people use “I” when they should use “me.” Someone went overboard on correcting people who used “me” when they should have used “I” and now people have no idea how to use either one!

    • Ginny

      Yes, thank you! I’ve had clients insist that it should be “Mr. Smith told my lawyer and I that …” when it should be “me”, and I have had awkward conversations where I had to explain that no, I am right.

  20. Nan

    “Can you email that to John and I?” Or any preposition “and I.” Kills me, especially because people think they’re saying something smart when they use “I” instead of “me.”

    “Feel badly” gets me, too. I think that’s another one that makes people think they’re being smart.

    I also wish everyone could learn the difference between something that is a coincidence, something that is unfortunate, and something that is “ironic.”

  22. LizNYC

    Oh, where to begin!? (I’m a copy editor in a creative field.)
    I drive “real” fast
    Irregardless
    Using quotes inside punctuation when they should be outside, “Like so,” not “like so”.
    Your/you’re errors
    All intensive purposes

    • Veronique

      Ugh, the last one is the absolute worst!!! Though irregardless drives me crazy as well. The punctuation/quotes issue varies by country, so it may be more of a cultural issue than a grammatical issue.

      • LizNYC

        I think the quotes thing got worse after everyone read Eats, Shoots and Leaves because she’s British and therefore was talking about British usage. (Fun fact: Jeopardy! put the quotes inside periods, etc. I actually wrote to them, since I have nothing better to do, and they wrote back to say that it was their “house style,” but thanks for the email.)

  24. MissK

    The incorrect use of contractions drives me batty…

    Also, I love the grammar ‘joke’:

    “Let’s eat Grandma! vs. Let’s eat, Grandma!” — Punctuation saves lives.

    • Calibrachoa

      It is certainly a more appropriate than the one with helping your Uncle Jack dismount…

    • Brooklyn Paralegal

      During a freshman year debate about the necessity/meaning of punctuation (I went to a strange liberal arts college, enough said) our professor wrote this on the board and I still guffaw every time I see it.

  25. SoCalAtty

    It’s a MOOT point. Not a mute point. Your point is not unable to speak.

    Various permutations of “errands.” I’ve seen errans, erins, errunds….

    • Joey Tribbiani

      It’s a moo point. It’s like a cow’s opinion. It doesn’t matter. It’s moo.

    • AIMS

      Useless fun fact: moot technically means the opposite of what people think it means. The actual definition is subject to debate, discussion or uncertainty. This is why “moot court” makes sense. But, of course, most people use it to mean “something that no longer matters.” I guess it’s like nauseated vs. nauseous — if enough people use the word a certain way, it evolves to have that definition.

      • Lyra Silvertongue

        I just saw a 2L on an episode of What Not to Wear this morning say she was wearing an outfit under discussion to her “mute court.” o.o

      • anon-oh-no

        youre correct AIMS re the definition — and its relation to moot court — but the more common usage i believe comes from “courts” as well, and not just usage evolution. That is, the legal use of the word — an issue or point or controversy is moot, as opposed to ripe, when it no longer matters, or more specificlaly, is no longer subject to debate, discussion, or uncertainty. I suspect it evolved from the idea of moot court (i.e., because the issue was no longer ripe, consideration by the court would be like a moot court), but have no idea.

      • SM

        Yes, language evolves or becomes acceptable. I see a lot of “try and [do something]” instead of try to [do something].” I think the former has become acceptable. And what about a person “resonating” instead of the subject resonating with a person?

  26. springtime

    Related point- does anyone else find “thx” sort of, almost…rude? I feel like it always comes across as dismissive, like you really don’t mean it, or that you’re trying to hide your annoyance. I would not use it in work emails, but I see it quite often.

    • Veronique

      I think it’s fine with friends/family or even over IM for work (we use abbreviations all the time at my company, such as yw for you’re welcome), but I would never use it in a work email.

  27. R

    True Story. I once had some reputable consultants send me a report. On the executive summary, they used the term “wha-la” complete with a hyphen. I nearly died – in what universe is that a professional word, and how do you not at least google the correct spelling???

    • Veronique

      That drives me crazy! I’ve seen so many variations on that word, including wala, walla, wahla, etc.

      It’s also annoying when people type “word (sp)” when they’re not sure how to spell a word. Less than a minute of googling or spell check and you have the right spelling!

  28. Sydney Bristow

    I’m sure I drive everyone crazy! I never learned a lot of the rules of grammar. I do look things up though and think I’ve finally cemented the its versus it’s rule. I still get mixed up on when to use me, myself, or I but after reading the comments I think I probably do ok with that since the examples seem clearly wrong to me.

    I do rock at the to/too/two and their/they’re distinctions and can cite check a legal brief like nobody’s business. Trying to focus on the positive!

    I’d love to hear the little rules or rhymes people learned to deal with common grammar issues.

    • Veronique

      For me, myself and I, read the sentence in the singular, without the other name(s).

      Examples:
      “Liz and myself are going to the store.” Once you remove Liz and say “Myself is going to the store,” you know that it should be “Liz and I are going to the store” because in the singular you would say “I am going to the store.”

      “Are you coming with Ann and I?” becomes “Are you coming with I?” becomes “Are you coming with me?” becomes “Are you coming with Ann and me?”

    • AIMS

      I posted this below but the me vs. I rule is really simple when you think of it without the other person involved. E.g., “John and I are going to dinner” is right because it would also be “I am going to dinner.” But “Sally and me went to the park” is incorrect because you would never say “me went to the park.” Myself is basically the same as me so if you can’t use me, you shouldn’t use myself. Almost all of these rules tend to make sense if you just think about them logically so for me sometimes the most helpful thing is to look up an explanation once or just reason it through. I am a big fan of the grammar girl website for this sort of background and helpful little rhymes.

    • A Nonny Moose

      I follow grammar girl on Facebook. She often posts very helpful tips and they always have mnemonics for remembering.

    • Sydney Bristow

      Thanks guys! I guess I naturally use it correctly when it is near the beginning of the sentence. I get mixed up when it’s at the end. I’ll try using your suggestion when that comes up!

  29. Baconpancakes

    “Nauseous” when you mean “nauseated.”

    Your nausea doesn’t make you nauseous until you lose your lunch, at which point I become nauseated at the sight of you being nauseous.

    But it’s so obscure at this point, I accept that the common usage of nauseous is “to feel like throwing up” and don’t bother correcting anyone.

    • sharpest

      oh there is something similar with the word evacuated…”Evacuate the building” means that people left the building. “Evacuate the employees” means something very different.

  30. Anonymous

    This might be regional, but I can’t stand when people say “a whole nother” as in “well that’s a whole nother thing…”

    Another or a whole other thing!

    • anonymama

      Huh, I always think of this rather fondly as a standard colloquialism. But to me it is not really a direct substitute for “another” or “a whole other thing” (The former doesn’t really express the correct emphasis, and the latter sounds really awkward), but rather “an entirely separate matter.” I am somewhat of a stickler for grammar but even more interested in the nuance of language, which is, and always has been, a fertile ground for growth and change.

    • Nan

      When I first saw this list, I thought it had to be a joke. I can’t imagine these mistakes being common ones! But then, I had no idea about “another thinK” coming. In fact, I’m still skeptical about that one!

      • zora

        It’s because the whole idiom is “If you think that, you’ve got another think coming.” The problem is that most people have dropped the first half, so the second half doesn’t make as much sense.

  32. sharpest

    Actually, the that/which divide is restrictive vs. non-restrictive. “This is a car, which has four wheels” vs. “This is the car that I drove to work today.”

  33. Traditionalist

    I hate when someone is going to “try and be there” or “try and finish it by 5.” They’re not two separate things… you’re not first going to try, then finish it by 5. They are related! You’re going to try to finish it by 5.

    I also hate when someone says “I forgot it at home,” as opposed to “I forgot it” or “I left it at home.” Although, if I really think about it… home is technically where she was when she forgot the item, so maybe that gets a pass?

  34. @sarahspy

    it peeves me when people ‘learn’ the hyphenation rule for phrases used as adjectives… and then suddenly start overusing it like crazy! hyphens everywhere, nonstop… yes congrats on the new trick. ha!

    overuse of ellipses tends to peeve me, too, though clearly you can’t tell from this particular comment!

  35. Nonny

    Not grammar, but spelling:

    – affect vs. effect. So many people get this wrong, and it really isn’t that difficult.

    – deliberate spelling errors, e.g. Kat’s Kozy Korner. Urgh. I will never patronize a business that does this. I just can’t take it.

    • A Nonny Moose

      Especially because the misspelling seems to always be with Ks, making the abbreviation KKK…

  37. Anonymous

    Definitely “fewer” v. “less.” This one is like nails on a chalkboard, and it’s everywhere!

    • zora

      This was in an amazing bit by a British comedian I heard recently “There are lots of things I think should be illegal: school children on buses. Supermarket signs that say 15 items or less, it’s 15 items or FEWER. The entire cast of Made in Chelsea” … I guess you had to be there but it cracks me up every.single.time.

  38. Anonymous

    I really don’t have any grammer pet peeves and I find most people that are grammer sticklers to be obnoxious. Like fine, correct it in your head, but when you point it out it embarasses the other person. This may also be because I live in a modest-income area of a city so if I can UNDERSTAND the other person’s version of english I’m having a good day. I get more bugged by people who slur their words and can’t speak properly than anyone who uses slightly incorrect grammer.

    • AnonInfinity

      Exactly. My biggest grammar pet peeve is bragging about one’s grammar or usage prowess. The point of language is to convey an idea. We all know what someone means when she says “myself” instead of “I”. I understand dinging a person on a writing sample for consistently poor grammar because it might mean the person has poor attention to detail or doesn’t understand the basic rules. However, there is enough in this world to get worked up about, why let who vs. whom in a conversation raise your blood pressure?

    • LauraK

      I agree, for the most part. In all things except formal work product, grammar and spelling and punctuation can be subjugated to communication itself. If a person’s idea is clear, then a typo or a dropped comma is not fatal. However . . . HOWEVER . . . I get very frustrated when I have to read and re-read something that should be simple – like a facebook post or an email – in order to decipher the writer’s message. (Cue the folks who want to give me grief about improper usage of ellipses.)

  39. S in Chicago

    For the love of all things holy, please get rid of the “s” on “towards.”

    • Susedna

      Ack. I screw this one up all the time.

      I also get the lay/lie wrong – I say it and then realize I used the wrong one. Only happens when I talk bc I don’t have time to google-check, spellcheck, or grammarcheck before it comes out of my mouth.

    • Anon

      +1,000

      A TA once “corrected” my paper by adding an “s” to “toward” for me.

      Ummmmm… No.

  40. NOLA

    One of my colleagues says pitcher when he means picture. I know it’s not grammatical. But it makes me laugh.

    • Orangerie

      I had a high school math teacher who did this. She also said “bolth” instead of both. Drove me NUTS.

    • Baconpancakes

      My mother comes to visit me in Warshingtin. I always feel like banging my head on a wall at this.

      • Brant

        Does she tell you to warsh your hands as well? My grandmother spoke like that…she was raised in W. Virginia/Maryland.

        • Gail the Goldfish

          My father pronounces water “worter.” It’s a southern dialect thing.

        • Baconpancakes

          Yes, and we use a warshing machine. She was raised in the southernish midwest though – not sure where my family got it from.

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