Grammar and Spelling

Grammar and spelling can be improved in two ways. You can either learn them yourself, or you can rely on a word processor to correct them for you. Computers are not flawless, but they're good enough for government work. If you choose to rely on a word processor, please use it to check spelling and grammar before posting if your grammar is otherwise abysmal.

In the spirit of learning proper spelling and grammar rather than relying on technology, here are some good resources for doing so.

Paul Brians's List of Common Errors

Alt.Usage.English FAQ (FAQs section, 3rd paragraph once you follow the link)

Charles Darling's Notorious Confusables

Look up words at Dictionary.com

Things you should get right...

• First, learn how to use apostrophes. Apostrophes are for contractions and (non-pronoun) possessives only. Verb forms do not have apostrophes. Apostrophes are not used for forming plurals.
• Advice, Advise - "Advice" is a noun; "advise" is a verb.
• Affect, Effect - "Affect" is usually a verb; "effect" is usually a noun. "Effect" (v) and "affect (n) exist but probably don't mean what you think they mean.
• Brake. Muzzle brakes are spelled just so; no muzzle breaks unless you routinely drop the rifle off of cliffs.
• Flaunt, Flout - "Flaunt" means to show something off. "Flout" means to flagrantly disobey. People generally flaunt flags and flout traffic laws.
• Its, It's - "Its" is always the possessive form. "It's" is always a contraction for "it is".
• Loose, Lose - Loose means not tight or as a verb to set something free. "Lose" is a verb that means to cease to have something.
• Than, Then - Than is a comparative, then means there's some sort of sequential concept involved.
• That, Which - These are almost interchangeable, but there's a catch. "That" clauses constrict the meaning of the preceeding noun clause. "Which" clauses specify unrestricting information about the noun clause.
• Their, There, They're - Just learn these.
• To, Too, Two - These should be obvious if you think about them.
• Who's, Whose - See above comments about apostrophes.
• You're, Your - Same
• "Alot" might be okay, but use it sparingly if at all. In any case, it's rather vague and colloquial.
• "Virii" and "viri" are not words. The english plural is viruses, and the latin "virus" has no plural because it has a different meaning.
• Do not use text-message or IM-type substitutions. 2 is not "to" or "too", 4 is not "for", R is not "are", and U is not "you". Those abbreviations are exclusively for use when you don't have a full keyboard and when you're not writing manually.
• Know the expansions of abbreviations you use. "PIN number", "VIN number", "HIV virus", etc. are all wrong because they're redundant.

There are some other minor curiosities that are interesting but not annoying to most people. These include the plural status of "data", "media", "criteria", "disaster", and several other words.

There's a general usage dispute regarding whether "myriad" is a noun or an adjective, and more importantly whether it means "a whole bunch" or "ten thousand".