No matter what type of writing jobs you are doing, the correct grammar is always important. Some rules in the English language can be difficult to get a grasp of, so there are a few key things to remember to help you when it comes to making sure your writing uses the correct grammar in the correct way.
1. There, they’re and their
One of the most common mistakes people make when writing is mixing up these three homophones – meaning words that sound the same when spoken but have different meanings.
‘There’ is a word for a location, as in “over there”. ‘They’re’ a contraction of ‘they are’, and ‘their’ is a possessive word. It’s worth keeping these definitions in mind when writing so you can read your sentences to see if they make sense with the there/they’re/their you have chosen.
2. Apostrophes
Apostrophes crop up in many places – often where they shouldn’t!
Firstly, if there’s an ‘s’, it doesn’t mean there should always be an apostrophe. Plurals, as in ‘words’ as opposed to ‘word’, meaning more than one, don’t need apostrophes. You do need apostrophes when you have a contraction of two words, like the above ‘they’re’. You also need apostrophes when talking about possession of something, for example, ‘the writer’s article’.
3. Then and than
This one is quite an easy mix-up to make just because they’re so close in spelling and sound. ‘Then’ is used for sentences about time, meaning something coming next. ‘Than’ is used for comparing, as in “I am older than my brother”.
It’s also common to see ‘that’ used instead of ‘than’ as a typo, as in “rather that”.
The English language can be confusing, but the more you write and practice, the easier it becomes. If you’re ready to make money from writing, have you applied to write for us?