Your high school and collegiate days might be behind you, but that doesnât mean the English lessons you learned are over as well.
Even in todayâs professional business world, I run across endless grammatical errors in my business dealings. While most typos are forgivable, others cause confusion and donât provide a good impression.
Whether youâre posting content for your brand or simply exchanging a business email, itâs extremely important for anything you write to be error free. After all, you donât want to make a negative impression with poor grammar. Clean and compelling content influences both B2B and B2C consumers. Follow these 20 grammar rules below.
Who Versus Whom
âWhoâ correlates with the pronouns he/she while âwhomâ correlates with him/her.
Continual Versus Continually
âContinualâ means always occurring whereas âcontinuouslyâ means never ending. You definitely wouldnât want to mix these up in a business contract.
Nor Versus Or
This is one of the grammar rules that is a simple one to remember. Just think of the N. Nor follows neither while or follows either.
Complement Versus Compliment
A âcomplementâ enhances or adds to something, such as a pair of earrings complementing an outfit. On the other hand, a âcomplimentâ is something nice that is said such as, âI like your earrings.â
Affect Versus Effect
Affect is a verb, âThat song affects my mood.â Effect is a noun, âThat movie has such an inspirational effect.â
Bring Versus Take
You âbringâ something with you on vacation, but you âtakeâ something away from it.
Me Versus I
If there are other people in the sentence such as, âMary, Bob, and Iâ or âMary, Bob, and me,â then take out the other people and see what makes sense.
There, Their, Theyâre
âThereâ refers to a place, âtheirâ refers to someoneâs possession of something, and âtheyâreâ is a contraction of they are. Most of us already know this, but itâs easy to exchange these words. Unfortunately, spell check doesnât catch these mistakes.
Your, Youâre, Yore
Similar to there, their, theyâre, spell check usually canât tell the difference between these. âYourâ is possessive, âyouâreâ is a contraction of you are, and âyoreâ refers to the past.
To, Too, Two
Phew, there are so many triplet words to watch out for. Use âtoâ when youâre going to a place, âtooâ to denote also or as well, and âtwoâ to specify the number 2.
Fewer Versus Less
If you can count it use fewer, but if itâs uncountable, then use less.
Principal Versus Principle
Just think of the last 3 letters of each word. PrinciPAL is a person whereas principle is a moral or standard that is upheld.
Itâs Versus Its
âItâsâ is a contraction for it is, while âitsâ is a possessive pronoun.
Literally
Do not be sarcastic if you use the word âliterally,â especially in the business world. âI am literally starving to death,â means that youâre about to die from dehydration or starvation. Donât say literally unless you literally mean it.
Capital Versus Capitol
When talking about Washington, D.C., this is especially tricky. âCapitalâ is a city such as D.C., but âcapitolâ is the building where lawmakers meet. So the capitol is usually in the capital. By the way, capital can also reference wealth.
Ultimate
It means âthe last.â For instance, âThe Titanicâs maiden voyage was its ultimate voyage.â Be careful when using this word. Youâre innocent âultimate last day at workâ might translate to the last day of your life.
Whoâs Versus Whose
âWhoâsâ is a contraction of âwho is.â If who is doesnât make sense, then use whose.
Than Versus Then
When comparing use âthan,â and in all other instances use âthen.â
Enormity
CAUTION: Do not confuse âenormityâ with âenormous.â Enormity means âevilâ and does not associate with the size of something. âThe enormity of our marketing campaignâ doesnât refer to how enormous the campaign is - it refers to it as evil.
Elicit Versus Illicit
âElicitâ is the process of evoking something. You want to elicit a response from consumers with a marketing campaign. âIllicitâ means illegal. Your business wants to avoid illicitly acquiring products.