Commonly misused words and phrases....

You know them. They sneak up on you while you're not paying attention. They don't show up on a spell checker. And if you've been writing them wrong for your entire life, you likely won't even know that you're doing it.

There, Their, & They're

This is probably THE most common mistake I see, and I see it everywhere. So what's a good way to remember which one goes where? And just because you know the technical terms doesn't mean any of this stuff will make sense, either.... believe me, I barely scraped by in subjects, predicates, nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives all make my head spin. Yet here I am... writing. I didn't do well in music theory, either, but was a rock star on the keyboard as a kid. I suppose that makes me the more creative type... logic is so not me.

So how do I remember which word goes where?

There: a place.

Let's go sit over there.

Let's dance out there in the field!

Look! There's a shooting star!

Their: a possessive.

It's not our umbrella... it's theirs!

Their dog is ridiculously dumb!

Their car is brand new.

They're: the shortened version of they are.

They're looking over here again.

What happened to these sleeves? They're a lot shorter than I remember.

There are way too many mosquitoes out here - they're trying to eat me alive!

Unfortunately, a lot of people forget this, have bad habits of writing it wrong, or just don't care... but I know from experience how bad it looks on an advertisement to have a word inadvertently spelled wrong, how unprofessional it is to have a lot of mistakes on a resume or cover letter, and how frustrating it can be as an employer to have to read through a badly slopped-together resume. Most of the time, these land in the circular file under the desk without even being read. Think about it: if you're looking for a new office manager with book keeping skills and the resume that lands on your desk is riddled with mistakes, what's the likelihood of this person making the same sloppy mistakes on payroll? Deposits? Everything else?

With people communicating more in writing online and texting, employers checking people out on social networking sites before hiring, and information so readily available about virtually anyone, how is it possible that we still use these horrible spelling and grammar habits?

To, Two, & Too

To: I wrote a letter to Debbie. The letter was returned to me. I tried to send it again.

Two: I have two cats. The number two is after the number one.

Too: I want some ice cream, too! You're way too controlling. This soup is too hot!

You're & Your

This one is actually pretty tricky because they sound so much alike, but again, if you read, you'll know which one is which. What helped me to learn apostrophes is to think of them as replacements for letters and spaces, bringing two words together: cannot = can't, should not = shouldn't, I am = I'm, you are = you're.

Your is another possessive. Your car, your house, your sweater.

"You're a slob! Your T-shirt is inside out!"

Other various common mistakes that people often make:

"All the sudden this guy crashed into a tree!" This is a horribly wrong sentence. I know it sounds like "all the sudden" when it's spoken too fast, but really? Pick up a few books and read them sometime... All of a sudden, the room became eerily quiet.

"I was taken back by my lover's angry reaction to such a simple request." Being taken back somewhere implies you've already been there, which has nothing to do with being taken aback by something. Being taken aback is like being surprised, so really, you've never been there before, otherwise you wouldn't be taken aback by it! Right? You'd be taken back to it instead.

When I was in high school drama class, there was a kid that kept reading the word "pantomime" with an extra syllable ("pantomomime") and it drove me absolutely nuts! Just remember this: friends don't let friends use bad language. Literally. (The f-word is fine as long as you use it right.)