I've noticed an increasing trend lately for people to write 'should of', 'would of' and 'could of' instead of 'should have', 'would have' and 'could have'. For example, 'I could of left earlier'. Now think about this for a minute. It doesn't make sense, does it? So why are people using it? And I'm not talking about children, I'm talking about adults. People with university degrees. In one case I noticed recently, by someone who writes for a living and teaches others to write. I suspect it's a c

I was in year 4 at school when the concept of quotation marks was introduced to our class. Because I was a smartypants I had been writing stories for years using quote marks to contain my characters' speech, and the initial lesson on quotation marks was a validation of what I'd already been doing. I had taught myself by reading novels and noticing how quote marks went outside commas and periods. It all seemed pretty logical. And it is. So here's a quick lowdown on how to use quote marks. The Au

Hands up if you've heard of The Greengrocer's Apostrophe. This is an apostrophe incorrectly used with an 'S' after it to form a plural of a word. You'll see it not only in the greengrocer's shop but widely in the retail sector, online and in print advertising. Here are some samples: Potatoe's $4.00/kg, Apple's $2.95/kg or Tomatoe's $5.95/kg (should simply be Potatoes, Apples or Tomatoes) 1000's of DVD's on sale (should be 1000s of DVDs, or, even better, thousands of DVDs) P's and Q's (yes, r

Or, why it's important to make every post and page on your site a masterpiece! I'm rather a stickler for spelling and grammar, and I also offer proofreading as one of my services in my 'day job'. So I spend much of my day online reading websites and website copy for clients, and I'm very conscious that taking the time to proof an article for the web adds invaluable respect to your post. When you've finished writing your posts, check, check and check again. Have you started every sentence with

How many times do you see advertisements for making money online? Google ads, ads on website, affiliate marketing ads; we all know there are SO many scammer sites out there. You have to sift through the rubbish to find the gold. You have to ask: Affiliate Marketing - does it really work? As a website and webpage designer I keep my ear out for programs and companies which might actually offer a legitimate way of making money online, because in the first world it's getting pretty hard to make a l