Like it or not, we live in a digital age. And in that digital age, we have formed a breeding ground for grammar errors. Sometimes, these errors are simple, and readers can still find meaning within the error. However, at other times, an egregious error completely changes the meaning of a sentence. Fortunately, it is easy to spot these errors. With a few simple grammar rules, you can be one of the people who avoids them altogether. 

The Possessive “Its” vs. The Contraction “It’s”

Yes, these two forms of “it” are different, and, unfortunately, it’s not in the way you’d expect. Possessive pronouns are their own separate beast. In fact, I have a whole section of a blog post on that very topic. Plus, a detailed description is forthcoming in next week’s blog. For now, let’s just try to deduce where this error can cause problems. Take a look at this Tumblr post for an example:

This post is also devoid of commas, but that’s beside the point. The part of this tweet I’d specifically like to focus on is the last line or two: “Its familiar and it may suck sometimes but its where i live!!!!!!” 

Are you seeing what I’m seeing? This post has bred a possessive pronoun disaster! After reading the line, “Its familiar,” readers may be left wondering, “Its familiar what?” because by using “its” the author of this post is suggesting that the “it” owns the “familiar.” Once again, this error pops up in the “Its where i live” line because how do you own a “where I live”? 

Luckily, the solution to this problem is a very simple one. Slip an apostrophe in there, and that part of the sentence suddenly makes sense. “It’s familiar, and it may suck sometimes, but it’s where I live!!!!!!” There. Doesn’t that make so much more sense?

I have plenty more to say on this topic, but let’s table it for now. If you’re still confused, feel free to check out my possessive apostrophes blog post or pop back in next week for an in-depth look at possessive pronouns. 

When Lack of Commas Breeds Confusion

Commas are important. I mean, have you heard the phrase “commas save lives”? 

Snagged from a blog by Amanda Toth

The somewhat extreme example above is not, by any means, the only way a lack of punctuation can create confusion. A Facebook friend of mine, for example, recently posted a meme with this exact problem. 

This phrase has two different possible interpretations. First, the meme could be saying, “Don’t talk to me. When I’m overstimulated, I’ll hurt your feelings.” In that instance, the audience can infer that the post author doesn’t want anyone to talk to them ever. And also, when they’re overstimulated, they will hurt your feelings.

The other interpretation of this post is, “Don’t talk to me when I’m overstimulated; I’ll hurt your feelings.” This version of the meme, which I’m inclined to believe was what the author intended, says that others should refrain from talking to the post author only when they’re overstimulated. Do you see how simple punctuation, or lack thereof, can change and warp the meaning of simple sentences?

When a Post is So Convoluted, You Can’t Make Sense of It

Other times, a post has so many errors that readers are left scratching their heads and wondering, “What?” One example of this can be found in the Tumblr post below:

In previous examples this week, I have chosen to disguise the posters to avoid drawing attention to their errors. In this instance, though, the post author is incredibly important. After all, their audience is expected to use this post to create their own story. How can they do that, though, if readers have no idea what the author is trying to say?

This post is a lot to swallow. So, let’s take it in bite-sized pieces. 

First: “Yes, you are in fact, dead. I know this can be hard to hear.” Death said with a compassionate smile.

This section struggles with how to punctuate a dialogue tag. Because the dialogue in this instance ends with a period, the following sentence can’t be a dialogue tag. As such, the audience is left confused as to who, exactly, spoke the phrase. Here’s how I would fix this: “Yes, you are, in fact, dead. I know this can be hard to hear,” Death said with a compassionate smile.

And just like that, the dialogue tag connects to the dialogue. 

Next: “I can’t “help” you, but I like to offer one last thing.” Oh, boy. This sentence has some issues. First, the use of quotation marks is incorrect. Because the word “help” is already housed in a dialogue, the quotations should be singular. Then again, though, I am inclined to remove the second set of quotation marks altogether. It just doesn’t seem necessary to me. This isn’t, however, the part of this sentence that is confusing. I’m looking at the “I like to offer one last thing.” Does Death just, in general, like to offer one last thing? Is he stating a hobby of his? Or is he implying that he would like to offer the character one last thing? I suspect the latter, so I would change the sentence like so: “I can’t help you, but I’d like to offer one last thing.” It may be a simple fix, but it’s an important one. 

Winnie the Pooh, by the way, approves of the previous correction. He finds it sophisticated. 

Anyway, let’s continue. Error #3: “I will show you your last. What would you like to see? Your last kiss? Your last talk with your mom? The last hug from your son?” The problem with this section stems from the phrase, “I will show you your last.” This sentence appears incomplete to readers. Its meaning is glaringly unclear. Although I know what the post author is trying to convey here, the clarity doesn’t come until the end of the phrase. What if, instead, the sentence were to read like this: “I am willing to show you one of the last moments in your life. You get to pick. What would you like to see? Your last kiss? Your last talk with your mom? The last hug from your son?” And, just like that, the meaning of the phrase becomes clear. 

Putting it all together, let’s look at my version of this tweet. 

I don’t know about you, but I think the updated post is a significant upgrade. The prompt’s meaning became much easier to deduce, and I felt a lot less confused while reading the post. 

Avoiding These Common Mistakes

On the internet, mistakes like this appear by the busload. While writing posts, many of you may fear making one of these mistakes. The rules of grammar, however, will be the roadmap to your success. If you understand possessive pronouns and comma usage, and if you are concise in your meaning, you have nothing to worry about. Still confused? Feel free to drop a question on my “Contact Me” Form; I would happily answer it for you.