Grammar Giggle – Alcohol Consumption May Make You Use The Wrong “You’re”

A friend sent this to me. They got it correct in one place, but not in another on the same sign. Perhaps they were out of the letter “e” or perhaps they just weren’t paying attention. In this sign, both should be “you’re,” the contraction for “you are.”

Grammar Giggle – Unites States of America

I am not sharing this example to start any kind of political discussion and any political comment will be deleted. The purpose is to show another example of spell check doing its job and checking how words are SPELLED–just not PROOFREADING and checking for content. The headings, inside addresses, “Re:” lines, and, as in this case, “To:” lines (among others) of letters and documents aren’t often looked at once they have been typed, so they are the perfect place for typos to get through.

Another thing that doesn’t help with those types of errors is Word settings. So go to your Word, File, Options, Proofing, and UNCHECK “Ignore words in UPPERCASE.” That way, spell check will at least check headings and other pieces of your work that are in all caps for spelling errors.

Grammar Giggle – We Recieve Another Incorrect Receive

Twice in one week I’ve now seen this same error. This time it is in my Microsoft Outlook email. While the fact that my inbox is full will surprise no one who knows me, I’m not sure why it is so difficult for a company like Microsoft to spell “receive” correctly.

Grammar Giggle – “Recieve” High Praise When You Spell Receive Correctly

I found this typo on one of our state government pages. Although “receive” is spelled correctly in two places in the same paragraph, the first one is obviously wrong. It does take some time to read through what you’ve written but avoiding these kinds of errors is worth it.

Grammar Giggle – Employee Appreciate Day

This was in my email recently. It was correct in one place, but incorrect in the subject line of the email—which is where your reader looks first. It’s the same in a business letter, the subject line is more important than many believe. Always read that as you’re proofing your letter or email.

Grammar Giggle – Eat Outdoors Every Day–Just Not At This Restaurant

I saw this recently at a restaurant. “Outdoor” is defined as “done, situated, or used out of doors.” It should be one word. “Everyday” is an adjective (a word that modifies a noun) defined as “happening or used every day” as in “Her everyday chore is doing the dishes.” “Every day” is an adverb (a word that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree–in this case relation of time to offering outdoor dining and take out). In this instance, “everyday” should be two words. See a tip for figuring out when to use “every day” here.