Kyle brought up a good point on FB last week. Well, I know he brings up MANY good points but this one is something that bugs me too.

The WA community is such a diverse place and for many, English is your second language. Kyle stated (and he’s right) that many second language speakers are far better at speaking English than us native English speaking people. Now, that’s sad.

Perhaps we weren’t taught the right way. Perhaps we get lazy. As most of us know, texting has brought about a whole NEW way of speaking. It’s a language in of itself.

However, when you are writing content that will span many generations as well as many countries, you should try to use words correctly. It helps you gain authority. It also helps others learn the English language properly.

English can be very confusing. I want to help. I wrote a blog last year but I thought I’d expand on it now with this training. So, (even this is wrong but I’m not going this deep). Buckle your seatbelts and let’s Ninja up to the tip of the iceberg and clarify a few words that bug me the most when I’m reading blogs.



Join the Discussion
Write something…
Recent messages
RaeAnnePond Premium
Thanks Debbi! Even as a native English speaker some of those still get me, particularly the to and too. That's much clearer now. Thanks very much!
Reply
Debbi26 Premium
You're welcome. I see your/you're and to/too misused the most.
Reply
Loes Premium
Thanks Debbi, the one I most struggle with isn't here:(

Can you tell me when to use "were" and when to use "where"
Reply
Debbi26 Premium
Sure.

Were is simply the past tense of "are". You can say: "My day care children WERE good today" when speaking about them in the past. However, if you're speaking in the present, you'd say: "My day care children ARE good today."

Where refers to a place. "Where" did you put the brandy?" "NY is "where" I was born.

As an added note, We're is a contraction for "we are".

Did that help?
Reply
Loes Premium
Yes, thanks! We were wearing swimsuits today because we were in the pool where we were swimming? Correct?
Reply
Debbi26 Premium
YES and if that is true, I'm very jealous. :-)
Reply
Loes Premium
No, it's fiction;) I don't swim in pools, too many bacteria
Reply
BrooklynPhil Premium
Debbi, those I got right, but I sometimes have to think twice about 'then' and 'than'.
Luckily I had Grammarly before Howard suggested.
The funny thing is Grammarly thinks 'than' might be incorrect.
Reply
Debbi26 Premium
It is a good program but then so is spell check. Nothing computerized is fool proof. I have to think twice about these two and also effect and affect.

Than just indicates a comparison of 2 nouns. Like "Phil is healthier than I am."
Then is a point in time. "He ate well then lost weight."

Good to see you. Thanks for stopping, Phil.
Reply
BrooklynPhil Premium
"Nothing computerized is fool proof."
You know what they say about "fool proof", make it fool proof and somebody will make a better fool.
(it also works for idiot proof). ;^)
Reply
Debbi26 Premium
....and you KNOW what happens when you "assume" right? :-)
Reply
Gaylon Premium
Hi Debbi, good stuff. I'm glad you addressed this, it is needed. Thanks for sharing. ~Gaylon
Reply
HowardJaros Premium
For those who just can't remember these issues, there is a free app called Grammarly that can run in your Web browser and help out those of us at WA. Nice post!!
Reply
Debbi26 Premium
Yes, it's a great app, but many don't use it. Thanks, Howard.
Reply
Top