There, they’re, their.
March 4th is National Grammar Day!
I know you’re all as excited as I am!
Just think – a whole day dedicated to proper use of grammar!
Grammar Day was created in 2008 by Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, to promote awareness and understanding of proper grammar.
For the logophiles among us, the Global Language Monitor estimates the number of words in the English language to be approximately 1,025,109.
That’s a lot of words one could possibly mess up.
That’s right.
A lot.
Not alot.
They’re two separate words.
Two!!!
In honor of National Grammar Day, let’s have some fun with grammar, shall we?
(I rest my case.)
(I completely understand. I feel equally as passionate about this mix-up.)
(Hahaha! Get it? Oh, never mind…)
(I’m sorry… and you’re welcome.)
(People who use commas properly are statistically less likely to be raging psychopaths. Need I say more?)
(Off too [sic] funny we go!)
(Never underestimate the powerful effect of using proper grammar!)
(Sure, it’s a cheap shot, but it can be highly effective. Give it a try!)
(Proof that it helps tremendously to be able to distinguish between homophones.)
(The difference here may be subtle. On second thought, no. It’s glaringly obvious. Get your words straight if you want to avoid becoming dinner!)
(Irony at its absolute finest.)
(Likewise, “I’m sorry I hate you” could also benefit from a properly placed comma…)
(Yoda is the only creature permitted to speak in such a grammatically disturbing manner. This is due solely to his unparalleled wisdom.)
(Grammar is good! Grammar is your friend! Please, for the love of God, use grammar!)
Homophones seem to cause confusion for a surprisingly large chunk of the population.
For instance:
its/it’s, to/too/two, there/their/they’re, than/then, where/were, whose/who’s, apart/a part
Yes, these sets of words do sound identical.
That’s because they’re homophones…
Not because they’re words that share the same meaning and can be used interchangeably at one’s discretion.
Sorry, but it just doesn’t work that way.
Oh, and let’s talk about real words put together to form imaginary phrases.
Would of, should of, could of.
Uh…
Hello?!?
These phrases don’t make any sense!
Do you know why?
It’s because they don’t exist!
At least, not in the world of proper grammar.
(Would’ve, should’ve, and could’ve are the contractions for would have, should have, and could have.)
Now go impress someone special with your inoffensively impeccable grammar skills!
~Happy Friday, friends! And Happy National Grammar Day, for those of you who value proper grammar as much as I do. Have a phenomenal weekend!~
YES!!!!! I love this, I’m so with you. Another one that gets me is ‘anymore’.
I don’t want anymore soup. 🥴 It’s not the same as ‘I don’t like soup anymore.’ but I see it all the time.
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Right? 😁 Oh, and let’s not forget about ‘apart’, which is far too often incorrectly substituted for ‘a part’. What’s that? You’re so happy to be ‘apart’ of this magnificent event? Ha! Keep misusing that word, and you will indeed find yourself to be apart from said event. 😜
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Hahaha! Yes, exactly! Always such a relief to find others who appreciate the value of good grammar.
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Absolutely! Improper grammar usage makes me sad. 😝
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National grammar day is all very well and good, but you need to know that the last Friday in April is national hairball awareness day.
Now I ask you, which matters more?
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Hmmm. That’s a tough call. Especially if you happen to be Garfield or Grumpy Cat. In that case, National Hairball Awareness Day obviously takes precedence. 😛
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This made me laugh so hard!
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I’m glad you got a good dose of humor out of it! Who knew grammar could be so funny? 😄
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Oops! I think I often abuse grammar. Sorry!! This was a delightful post.
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Lol! Good thing there’s plenty of humor to be found in something as modest and unassuming as grammar. 😛
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Love this! There’s nothing worse than seeing the improper use of your and you’re! Thanks for the chuckles.x
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I agree! I’m glad you enjoyed. 🙂
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Yes, I liked this post ALOT!
I even annoyed myself just writing that… x
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Augh! Well, I’m glad you didn’t just like it ALITTLE. 😛
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I totally loved this. I had fun reading it. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
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This is great! Thanks for sharing! I love the title ‘Glamourless Grammar Galore!’
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Thank you! 🙂
Can you tell I’m a fan of alliteration? 😛
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You’re a big fan of alliteration, i’ve noticed! I too love a lot alliteration nd assonance!
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I don’t use assonance quite as much, but alliteration seems to lend itself quite nicely to the element of humor. It tends to be both catchy and memorable. 😉
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So many memes on your/you’re, yet none about its/it’s? The latter is my major bane when my fingers are typing faster than my brain (which is 100% of the time). I will use the wrong case of its/it’s about 90% of the time… its just a fact of life for me! 😛
They’re/their seems to throw me as well…. not that I don’t know when to use each one, but that there’s some kind of brain to hand malfunction that causes me to type the wrong one and I neglect to catch it…
I will admit to this being the first time I’ve ever heard that “alot” is not a word. What!?!? That’s as blasphemous as saying “ain’t” ain’t a word!!!
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Ain’t ain’t no reel word! Ain’t be slang. 😛 And I am perfectly okay with using slang words. It’s mostly the misuse of homophones that drives me nuts.
It’s/its did earn a mention in my list of easily confused homophones. I’m not sure why there’s not a plethora of memes for that one.
A and lot are indeed words…just not when lumped together like that. Ain’t is probably more of an acceptable word than alot. 😛
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In college I was recruited by several of my friends studying Engineering to help them work though these kinds of issues on their papers. They wound up making way more money than I. Bill them accordingly? Perhaps a tad late at this point. Wonder how many readers went to comment here but were deathly afraid they’d make an error? To be honest I see so many typos and grammar mistakes these days it’s more rare to NOT see them.
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O, know! I hope to many people where not putt off buy being fearful of righting a comment hear that not be grammatically correct. 😛
In all fairness, I was deathly afraid of writing this post without making some ridiculously mortifying error, myself. 😀
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Great list of grammar mistakes. I was taught that Alot was a monster and that was his first name. So unless you’re talking about the monster Alot, you use a lot. Very effective lesson because I still remember the cartoon monster that went with it. Alot was cute.
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I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Alot the Monster, but I think his presence would greatly help today’s youth learn how to distinguish between the name and the actual word.
We should create some a whole line of unique monsters to create visuals for all those often confused words!
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The picture with Jack’s horse and the commas made me burst out laughing. Great post! 🙂
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Thank you! Those two were also my favorites, but I think Uncle Jack (or is it uncle jack?) and his horse take the cake. It makes me laugh every time. 😀
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Oh, how I love National Grammar Day!! I’m so glad Elizabeth re-blogged!
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I’m glad you’re a fan, too! 🙂
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😀
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Great post? Have you ever read “Eats, shoots and leaves?” It’s a picture book all about the commas.
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Yes! That’s a great book. Comma placement matters! It could be the difference between having a shoots-eating panda, or a psycho killer panda.
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I’m saving “Psycho Killer Panda” in case I ever start a band.
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I like it! It does have a nice ring to it. 😛
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Unfortunately, those who need it the most are unaware of the National Grammar Day. They are equally unaware of grammar.
Thank you for the graphics;with your permission, I will use them to terrorize my students.
P.S. It’s not “your welcome” any more; it’s “ur welcome” – the benefits of modern technology.
Yrs,
Dolly
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You’re absolutely correct that the people who most need to be aware of proper grammar usage are the ones who tend to be the most oblivious. C’est la vie, right?
By all means, I’m sure your students would benefit from such helpful visual aids. 😛
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Oh well, they say someone invented a remedy for apathy, but the sufferers have shown no interest.
Thank you for delightful visual aids!
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Haha! It is rather unfortunate that apathetic people can’t be troubled to show an ounce of interest in things that we are convinced they ought to be interested in. 😛
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Exactly!
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That was Write On, Sista! 😎 Great post. I am a fanatical logophile. I shared the alot pic on Facebook and wrote It’s National Grammar Day! Yep, that’s write. Thanks for the inspiration!
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I hope you enjoyed National Grammar Day! Its sew sad that it be over already. 😛
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Reblogged on The Comfortable Coop.
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Reblogged this on The Comfortable Coop and commented:
As a grammar Nazi (and proud of it) I had to share this post! Thank you, Quirky Girl!
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Thank you for sharing! ❤
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This is the best day of the year! Thank you for posting!
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Happy National Grammar Day! 😀
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Your welcomed! Its an expecially good day! LOL
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A goodly day it is indeed. 😛
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Oh I love this post, especially Uncle Jacks’ horse! Being an ozzie I don’t recall learning grammar at school but that your/you’re does annoy me ….
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Isn’t that one the best? When I first came across that one, I couldn’t stop laughing for close to an hour. 😛
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They are all good but it made laugh loudest and longest … great article as who would have thought grammar could be funny?!
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Grammar itself probably isn’t all that humorous, but the myriad of ways people manage to mangle it does provide a bit of comic relief. Especially when we create memes poking fun at these otherwise irritating flaws. 😀
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I do like proper grammar, but I can also appreciate that language is an evolving medium. Things that do not allow for change invariable stagnate – which is why we don’t speak like they did hundreds of years ago. 🙂
Still, I like it when words are used correctly. Ours brains, on the other hand, really don’t care because they can work it out anyway, just try those problems where sentences are written backwards, upside down, without vowels etc.
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I completely agree with the need for evolution in language. Some old, obsolete words just sound so…well, ancient. Take quockerwodger, for instance.
But yes, using the proper form and spelling of a word is essential to my sanity. 😛
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quockerwodger – ok, you have intrigued me – I’m off to look that up.
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With such a lovely ring to it, it’s almost hard to believe this word fell from popularity. 😛
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I bet you felt so much self-imposed pressure to ensure that this post was 100% grammatically correct 😉
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How did you guess? 😛
When I write my blog posts, my style is more laid back, versus if I were to be writing a research paper. I do play around with sentence structure in ways that I know aren’t necessarily grammatically correct, simply because they create greater impact that way. Oh, and I have been known to toss in some slang here and there…
The important thing is that I use all those words I just griped about (your/you’re, etc) correctly. 😛
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And I, as your reader, am so thankful for that 😉
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🙂
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I loved this. Thanks for the chuckle!
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You’re welcome! 😀
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Thanks for noticing! Plus, I am not ewe, nor am I you!!
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That is very true!
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Love this!!! I too make errors at times (because I speak my text) .
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I’ve had moments of being completely horrified after realizing that I’d somehow typed the wrong version of one of those commonly confused words. It’s rare, but it makes me feel like the brain cells are slowly rolling right out of my head… 😛
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😊
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I had no idea! 🙂 Thanks for the graphics … the one on “You had me at the proper use of “you’re” ” is completely awesome. So funny.
Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend ~Debbie
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These all made me laugh, too, so I knew I had to find a way to work them into a post. National Grammar Day seems like the perfect day. 😀
Have a terrific weekend! 🙂
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Ha ha! You too 🙂 Thanks again. Fun.
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For you, Quirky, a whole song about Word Crimes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc. Enjoy!
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I can’t believe I hadn’t ever heard this one before. It’s perfect! 😀
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I love timely reminders and a refresh on grammar, your post has left me smiling!
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Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
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Me too 🙂
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Hi, there! It’s fun finding out that fellow bloggers follow some of the same lovely blogs!
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YES I so agree. Brightens my day 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend. So glad to connect with you. Love, Debbie
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What a refreshing posting! I spent many years teaching police recruits how to write sentences. These were college graduates, mind you… Towards the end of my career, I was a supervisor in an Intel Unit and was responsible for quality checking the analysts’ workups and reports. Again, college graduate’s. Could not written a sentence. Everything in fragments. All in passive voice. Should of saw it…!
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Oh, my. Should of, indeed. 😛
Actually, I don’t think I could’ve handled it… 😀
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You’re post is an grammatical present for every one 😉
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Awe, thank ewe sew vary much! 😛
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Grand differences in the girl type sheep are always Welcome!!!
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Ewe/you: another fine example of homophones. One’s a sheep, and the other is…well, you! 😀
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Seriously something to consider. I am for one guilty. My punctuation somehow are always off😊
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No way! 😛
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