Saturday, August 11, 2012

When Auto-Correct Just Won't Help You

It is now customary for me to peruse Facebook and see what friends and family are up to.  It is also common to receive countless text messages each day.  With all the typing that goes on these days, and with the help of auto-correct when texting or uploading via mobile, one would think that messages would be transmitted perfectly.  However, I have begun to notice several grammatical errors that are quite common and have become particularly irksome to me.
1) Your
For example, "Your lucky that you didn't get hurt more seriously in that accident."  What the author means is "you're".  Your is possessive, and should be used when describing the object of another person...not when talking to the other person himself.  The solution is simple (and I always employ this trick, perhaps just because I'm obsessive about such things): when typing you must speak your (correct usage!) thoughts, and if your (INCORRECT!!) wanting to talk about another person, speak to them (for me I almost mispronounce "you're" when I'm typing, making it sound in my head like "yew-er", so that it stresses the "you" to whom I am speaking) while at the same time typing the contraction "you're."  Maybe it doesn't work for everyone.  I'm not sure I can explain it well, but it works for me.
2) To
A preposition.  Not an intensifier, which is how it is commonly misused, as in "I like that band to!"  Here's another little trick: if you mean you enjoy it just like I do, then there are two (ah...to, too, and two) of us who enjoy it.  So then there should be two "o's" in the "too" you use.  So when "to" should mean "also", there should also be a second "o."  Again, that's a convoluted way to remember it, perhaps, but it is my little trick.
3) Word substitution
If you type "quite" when you mean "quiet" then the computer/mobile device you are using won't tell you that an error has been made because "quite" is a real word.  There's no trick for this one; you simply have to be less lazy and take the time to proof-read before you click "Send" or "Post."

There's still a little bit of the fourth grade English teacher in me, it seems.

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