10 Common Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Make

[Palmpilot]

This is a pretty good article on common grammatical errors, although it oversimplifies the difference between "affect" and "effect." It fails to mention the situations where apostrophes are appropriate to form plurals, but those are so rare that it's probably safest to ignore them. It also doesn't mention exceptions to the use of apostrophes to indicate possession, such as "its" and "whose."

https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/adv...istakes-even-smart-people-make-174819423.html

 

[Jim Logajan]

It does. However, it doesn't cover the fact that, while a period that ends a sentence goes inside the quotation marks, a question mark does not, unless you're quoting a question instead of asking one.

Unless you are following the Wikipedia Manual of Style, in which case the period goes outside the quotation if the quoted text is a single word or fragment.

 

[Jim Logajan]

As I see it:

If the message delivered is the one that was intended, and no rephrasing was needed, then the grammar and spelling that was used was not incorrect.

 

[Jim Logajan]

Next up proper use of commas, colons and semicolons.

April 6-Today, I learned, the comma, this is, a, comma (,) a period, with, a tail, Miss Kinnian, says its, importent, because, it makes writing, better, she said, somebody, could lose, a lot, of money, if a comma, isnt in, the right, place, I got, some money, that I, saved from, my job, and what, the foundation, pays me, but not, much and, I dont, see how, a comma, keeps, you from, losing it, But, she says, everybody, uses commas, so Ill, use them, too

April 7-I used the comma wrong. Its punctuation. Miss Kinnian told me to look up long words in the dictionary to learn to spell them. I said whats the difference if you can read it anyway. She said its part of your education so from now on Ill look up all the words Im not sure how to spell. It takes a long time to write that way but I think Im remembering more and more.
Anyway thats how come I got the word punctuation right. Its that way in the dictionary. Miss Kinnian says a period is punctuation too, and there are lots of other marks to learn. I told her I thought she meant all the periods had to have tails and be called commas. But she said no. She said; You, got. to-mix? them! up: She showd? me" how, to mix! them; up, and now! I can. mix (up all? kinds of punctuation- in, my. writing! There" are lots, of rules; to learn? but. Im' get'ting them in my head: One thing? I, like: about, Dear Miss Kinnian: (thats~ the way? it goes; in a business, letter (if I ever go! into business?) is that, she: always; gives me' a reason" when-I ask. She"s a genius! I wish? I cou'd be smartlike-her; Punctuation, is? fun!

April 8-What a dope I am! I didn't even understand what she was talking about. I read the grammar book last night and it explains the whole thing. Then I saw it was the same way as Miss Kinnian was trying to tell me, but I didn't get it. I got up in the middle of the night and the whole thing straightened out in my mind
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes.