 | |
| |
Writing Information & News
| |
|
|
|
 Top 10 Common English Goofs by Web Authors
In reviewing and browsing web sites over the years, I have compiled a list of the most common misuses of English by web authors. Here they are in Letterman (reverse) order. 10. Who, which or that? "Who" (or "whom") refers to persons. "Which" refers to animals or things, never to persons. "That" can refer to either persons or things. Examples: The girl who was hungry.The dog that wagged its tail.The software which I wrote. 9. Anyone vs any one "Anyone" means "any person," not necessarily any specific person. It could refer to multiple people simultaneously. As two words, "any one" refers to a single person. Examples: Anyone can download my software. But the software can only be used by any one user at a time. 8. Commonly misspelled words All right 7. Don't put punctuation at the end of a URL While not technically an English grammatical error, don't put a period or anything immediately after a URL reference. Doing so will usually invalidate the URL. You might call this an internet grammatical rule. Example: Notice the lack of a period in the following sentence. My URL is http://article-promotion.blogspot.com 6. Software not softwares "Software" can be singular or plural. Never use "softwares." 5. Do the quotes go after or before the period? Put quotes after a period or comma. Put quotes before a colon. Put quotes after a question mark unless the entire sentence is a question. This is a US English standard. British English usage can differ. Examples: He asked, "Are you hungry?"She replied, "Yes, I am hungry."Did she say, "Yes"? 4. There, their, or they're "There" is used in two ways. It can specify a place. It can also be used as an expletive or empty word to start a sentence. "Their" is used as a possessive form of "they". "They're" is short for "they are." Examples: I live there, not here. 3. Powerful Too many developers describe their software as, "XXX Software is a powerful, easy-to-use, ... ." I searched download.com and found 2149 descriptions or titles of software containing the word "powerful." Powerful has many meanings, most referring to how effectively something is performed, as in muscular. A car with 450 horsepower is clearly more powerful than one with only 200 horsepower. But what is powerful software? If you mean feature-rich (like Adobe Photoshop), then say so. If your software does only one thing, but it does it completely or thoroughly (like CounterSpy), then say so. But please, no more powerful software. 2. Site or sight A "site" is a place. "Sight" refers to your sense of vision. Examples: A web site is a place on the internet that you visit with your browser.A beautiful sunset is a marvellous sight. And, finally, the most common English blunder by web authors is: 1. Its or It's Use "it's" only when it means "it is." Unless you can replace "it's" with "it is," use "its." Never use "its'." Examples: It's raining today. The dog wagged its tail. Conclusion: English is very difficult for persons whose native language is not English. It is also difficult for many English-speaking authors. Unfortunately, most of the common grammatical errors will not be caught by a spell checker, so you have to manually check your writing for them. An excellent reference is the short and timeless book, The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. A free online version of this book is available at http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html I hope that web authors can use this article to recognize and correct some of the most common grammatical blunders that abound on the internet. Kempton Smith helps internet businesses promote their products or services online by ghostwriting affordable, unique, keyword-rich articles for them. Email him now at articleghostwriter at yahoo.com for a free article for your online business, no obligation. Or for a free report on how to use articles to promote your product or service, visit http://article-promotion.blogspot.com Copyright © 2005 by Kempton Smith. This articlemay be freely published provided you leave it intact.
MORE RESOURCES:
Heartless traffic agent Daniel Chu STILL writing off drivers after scuffle ... - New York Daily News
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Overcoming Writers Block Do you suffer from writer's block? Is there a pending project you are putting off because you lack the inspiration to even get it started? You certainly are not alone. At various times you will go through extended periods of energetic writing as well as lengthy dry spells. Bird by Bird It's easy to feel overwhelmed by marketing. First, there's so much to learn: What works? What's a waste of your time? Where should you invest your energy and money?Then you have to prioritize: Where should you start? What's the ONE THING that, if you don't do anything else for a while, is your best first step?Next, you've got to figure out how to get it all done. Four Easy Ways to Get a Book Written (Especially If You Dont Like to Write) Becoming an author is probably a lot easier than you think. It's time to get that book out of your head and onto the printed page. How to Get Free Publicity in In-flight Magazines If you're targeting an educated, more affluent audience with your message, and your topic is a good fit, in-flight magazines can be one of your best publicity tools.A quick look at the statistics should convince you:--Many of these magazines have high circulations. Writing Made Them Rich #2: Charles Dickens Charles Dickens was born in Portsea, England, in1812. His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office,stationed at Portsmouth. Idea-Mining for Writers, 102 As many authors are fond of stating, "Ideas are all around!" when asked to be more specific. Well, in a way, that's true. Whats Missing in your Nearly Finished Book? Bookcoaching clients come to me at different stages of writing their books. The ones who start from ground zero with a coach and learn what goes into each chapter to make it more readable and sell better. Writers can Grow to be Comfortable with Criticism On my first newspaper assignment as a critic, I was well prepared to dish it out. I was less prepared to take it. Ten Quick Tips for Inexperienced Writers One of the biggest problems that inexperienced writers have is simply knowing how to get started. If you've unsure of your writing skills, then here are some quick tips to help you get started. Top Ten Writing Mistakes Made By New Childrens Writers Okay. So I'm not David Letterman. Make Your Mark Upon Humanity The greatest gift you have to give to yourself and humanity is the book, the song, the poem the artwork or invention that is locked away within your consciousness.All of us have this gift that needs to come out. How To Write for the Web The Scanning ReaderWriting for the Web is different than writing for print. The differences are slight but significant. Planning Time To Write In his book, "Achieving Financial Independence as a Freelance Writer," Ray Dreyfack, a full-time freelancer for 30 years, suggests that writers "ease" into full-time writing while maintaining their day jobs. If you're following this advice, either by choice or by necessity, you know that it's not always easy. How to Catch the Writing Bug ----------------------------------------------------------Permission is granted for the below article to forward,reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website,offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as longas no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and theresource box below is included. ---------------------------------------------------------- How to Catch the Writing Bug By Stephen Bucaro If you earn income as a writer, or use writing as amarketing tool, you know how difficult it can be at timesto write. Zany Ideas That Increase Writing Productivity And Quality Welcome to the zany ideas of a productive writer. My students keep reminding me of my unusual tools and how helpful they have been for them. How to Pitch a Story Ever wonder why we refer to convincing an editor a story is worthy by "pitching a story?" I have. I'm a baseball enthusiast, and it makes a lot of sense to me. Celebrating Writing and Life Every morning I excitedly get out of bed. Just a few minutes of goals and visions for the day swirl in my head. Why Manners Maketh the Freelance Writer Lately I've been noticing an odd trend amongst the freelance writers who contact us every week: rudeness.First there was the writer who accepted a job found on our boards and forwarded the completed assignment to the employer with the words, "Project attached. Freelance Writing: How Many Regular Clients Should You Have? This is a tough question for every freelance writer. For me, the worst working scenario is when a few weeks go by and all my work comprises one-off jobs for small clients who never become repeat customers. Talent or Toil As in all endeavors, toil is necessary to succeed and more so in writing. Work or its habit is the mother of talent.
|
| © Writing Information 2010 |