Some common spelling mistakes in English...

Smart_Guy

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Hello guys.

Without any ado at all (except for the hello above)... let's get started.

Its and it's:
There is a big difference here. "Its" is the possessive form of the pronoun "it". Example for it is "this car looks ugly. Its grill is so big and deformed". The two relate exactly the same as with "he" and "his", and "she" and "her".
"It's" on the other hand is an abbreviation of either "it is" or "it has". And example for them is "it's interesting how it's been only two hours since we got here". The first "it's" stands for "it is" and the second stands for "it has".

Should of?!?!?
Okay, there is no such a thing as "should of". That's a wrong English... ah... thing. It is a mistake people make (hey, that rhymes!) when they try to type "should have". So yeah, the right spelling is "should have" or, as an abbreviation, "should've" <<< (the reason some people think it is "should of" because it sounds like it).

Your and you're:

I believe this is so obvious. "Your" is basically the possessive form of "you", and "you're" is an abbreviation of "you are". Because of the way they sound, just like the earlier problems, this misspelling is seen from time to time.

There and they're (and rarely "their"):
Same as above, these two are sometimes confused with each other because of how they sound. "There" is the distant form the "here" (there are other uses for it too), "they're" is an abbreviation of "they are, and "their" is the possessive form of "they".

Me and I ?
Okay, this is not a spelling mistake really, it is more of a verbal miss use. Sometimes, usually when more than one subject/object is used, "me" could be mistakenly used instead of "I". When the referred noun is used as a subject part of speech, "I" is used, but when it is used as an object part of speech, "me" is used. Examples for that are " Carlita and I went to the grocery store" and "RF gave gifts to Psychoslice and me".

Abdul?!?!
There is no such a word or name as "Abdul". It's a made up name by the misinformed non Arabs that became ridiculously common. Originally it is "abd" and a transformed "al", where the former means slave or creation and the latter is just the definitive article "the" in Arabic cut from the word that should follow it. When it is used, the right and correct way to use it is to connect it to another word without spaces. An example is "Abdulelah", or it can be spelled "AbdulElah" as the connected word is originally Elah, as Muslims use it to refer to God. Arabs before Islam used it too with other gods. That name is actually "Abd" + "al" + "Elah". The only way that "Abdul" is correct word, as opposed to my explanation, is that if it is originated from something else other than that. Actually, there are three ways to put such names depending on their position in the context, but that's complicated and I believe it is okay to just used the above mentioned form in languages other than Arabic.

I've and I have:
The first one; "I've" is obviously an abbreviation of "I have". What could be hidden here tho is that "have" here is an auxiliary verb, not a lexical verb. In layman language, auxiliary verbs are verbs used to support other verbs like in cases of perfect tense sentences; e.g I have seen. Here it can be abbreviated to "I've seen". A lexical verb "have" is as in the example "I have some shawurma here". It is formally wrong to say "I've some shawurma here". Some Americans use it, and there is no problem with that at all. All I'm doing here is telling how the original correct way to do it in good standard English. It probably was "I've got (any object)" that with time transformed to "I've (an object)".

Am I missing anything else?

Important note:
I don't mean it is bad to make those mistakes in normal daily life conversations nor am I trying to be a jerk. All there is to it is that I'm clarifying the real correct use of it. I honestly think some people don't know "should of" is actually wrong.
 
The one that drives me crazy (figuratively) is when people interchange then and than.
Then is temporal, "now and then" while than is comparative, "I am taller than you."

---------- Post added at 05:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:13 PM ----------

Come to think of it... I do see people mistake too and to, although extremely rarely.

Can you think of a way that is grammatically correct to say "There are three tüs in the English Language" without using the phonetic?

---------- Post added at 05:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------

I see you used the word 'tho', which of course is not a word at all, you meant to write 'though'.

---------- Post added at 05:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:21 PM ----------

I see people abbreviate 'until' as till, when it should be 'til' since a 'till' is a cash register drawer.
 
What about who and whom? Use who when it can be replaced by he and whom when it can be replaced by him.
 
The English is being butchered because we're using shortcuts to save on typing. I'm guilty for some and it's already a habit.
 
The one that drives me crazy (figuratively) is when people interchange then and than.
Then is temporal, "now and then" while than is comparative, "I am taller than you."

Oh yeah, the then and than problem is there too. Verbal language is originally spoken, and writing is just a tool to put the language down on records so I'd understand why should of and should've would be confused for sounding similar, but confusing then and than feels beyond simply sounding similar.

Can you think of a way that is grammatically correct to say "There are three tüs in the English Language" without using the phonetic?

Further to what I said above that verbal language is originally spoken, I'm used to that expression of numbering in some rare cases and honestly cannot think of a way to use it unless there is an unorthodox way to refer to them that gets used and with time becomes known. An example I know of is the Three F's the those three stand for "effin, financing and feeding" (where effin is the bad F word). Google search has come to know this Three F's and the first search page will give it directly. So I guess maybe at some point we can call them the Three T's in English? Note sure, but I think how "to" has its special rule to sound with long or short /u/ could ruin this rule.


I see you used the word 'tho', which of course is not a word at all, you meant to write 'though'.

Yes, that's rights. I'm intentionally doing it as a short form for informal writing just to save time. Trying to save time is indeed a problem. Let alone the hassle of writing "though"... ugh? Dunno why English has it like this really if there is no other word as "tho" which sounds exactly the same... or does it not?


I see people abbreviate 'until' as till, when it should be 'til' since a 'till' is a cash register drawer.

Now that one is very good to add to the list.

What about who and whom? Use who when it can be replaced by he and whom when it can be replaced by him.

Ditto.

Being an English graduate, I explain this one in a professional way. Who is used if it is in a subject and whom if it is an object. This trick of he and him is a good one for layman use.

The English is being butchered because we're using shortcuts to save on typing. I'm guilty for some and it's already a habit.

True, this is the most important cause behind it. But the difference is whether we know if it is a mistake or not, or whether we know that if we do it we could cause a confusion.

This thread is not really to bash you and others for that approach. I just felt that it is a good idea to make it so those who got used to it without knowing the correct usage in the first place could go on thinking they are correct.

Like I said, I have a strong feeling some people really thing "should of" is correct and never knew the correction is actually "should've (or have)". I remember seeing a sign that says "if you're in America, speak are language". I can't think of a reason why one would mistake our with are.
 
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