Grammar mistakes in your content make your brand look sloppy. You’ll appear unprofessional and, over time, can damage your reputation.
Fortunately, grammar mistakes are easy to fix! Many of us will likely remember these grammar rules, but it’s always nice to have a refresher course!
Here are a few of the most common grammar mistakes and how to fix them.
1. It’s vs. its — “It’s” is a contraction. It’s means “it is” or “it has.” Example: “It’s a beautiful day for a blog post.” “Its” is a possessive pronoun. For instance, “Your blog post could take on a life of its own, if you get all the grammar right.”
If you’re not sure which option to use, try saying “it is” out loud in the same spot instead. If the sentence still makes sense, the contraction is the right option.
2. Your vs. you’re — “Your” is a possessive pronoun. “You’re” is a contraction of “you” and “are.” “You’re going to be the best writer after you get these grammar rules down and write your next 100 blog posts.”
3. Affect vs. effect — This one is tough for many people. Most times you will use affect as a verb and effect as a noun. Affect means “to influence,” so, “This post really affected me.” Effect means “a result,” as in, “The effect of this post was to make me really analyze how I write.”
4. Exclamation Points: For the love of grammar, please don’t overuse exclamation points!!!!!!! [Just like that.] If you use too many exclamations and content goes from useful and intriguing to loud and abrasive. Are you yelling at your audience right now?
Exclamation points should be used sparingly and strictly for emphasis. Dropping exclamation points at the end of every sentence reduces the significance of grammar’s punctual emphasizer. Exclamation points should be far and few between. Mostly, stick to periods. Period.
What grammar mistakes do you commonly see in content? Do you have a personal pet peeve?