5 Grammar Pet Peeves

by Allison VanNest December 23, 2014

Every grammarian has a list of grammar pet peeves. We compile new lists
every year. However, some errors are insidiously persistent. Like coffee
stains on a snow-white rug, we cannot seem to scrub them away no
matter how hard we try. But we must keep up

the fight.

Join us as we again leap into the fray against our arch-nemesis: the mostcommon-glaring-grammar-errors-of-all-time.

Your/Youre:

This one has a longer lifespan than Dracula. Weve

hunted it like a pack of wild dogs, and its demise continues to elude us.
Okay, we understand, it is easy to forget an apostrophe when youre in a
hurry. But, please, your reputation is at stake: your is a
possessive pronoun and youre is a contraction of you are.

There/Their/Theyre:

As long as were working with

monster metaphors, well call this one the hydra. No matter how many
times you manage to lop off the creatures head, it constantly
regenerates. Sometimes we can empathize with this particular error. With
three different choices, and the same pronunciation for each, mistakes
happen. So, lets go through them again and see if you can pass the quiz.

There is used to reference a place. For example: I

walked over there. It is also used with a to be verb, to show
the existence of something or to reference something.
Examples: There are seven stones, and There are never
enough hours in the day.

Their is an adjective that shows possession. It shows

that an object belongs to them. For example: They have
lost their marbles.

Theyre is a contraction. Thats all it is. A simple

abbreviation of a subject and a verb: they are.

Its/Its:

By this point, it should come as no surprise that the most

common grammar errors involve homophones. The its/its error bubbles to

the surface constantly, like some stubborn kudzu in a flower garden. Lets
bend down again, and try to weed this one out.

Its is another contraction. It is used in no other way. The

word is short for it is or it has. If you expand it to one of
those two phrases in a sentence, and it doesnt make sense, then
it has been used incorrectly. Examples include: its the only
way and its been a long time.

Its is a neutral, possessive pronoun. Use it to show

possession when the gender of the noun is unclear. For instance:
The mountain has a lake at its base.

Which/That:

This incredibly common error continues to plague

grammarians. That is a restrictive pronoun. Without it, the sentence

either makes no sense, or does not make the sense that the writer
intended. For example: I do not like grammar that is incorrect. The
precise sense of this sentence depends on that. Otherwise, it just seems
that I do not like grammar.
The word which is used to begin a clause that is related to the sentence,
but not necessary to its understanding. To refer to our earlier example, if
we were to write: I do not like grammar, which is incorrect, the sentence
would lose its essential meaning. The correct use of which in this
instance is: I do not like grammar that is incorrect, which is fine by me.

Subject/Verb Agreement: A basic sentence contains a subject and a

verb. Someone is doing something. However, if that someone becomes
plural, then the verb had better agree.
I am writing is correct.
I are writing is not.
Sometimes a phrase pops up in the middle, though, and things can get a
bit more complicated. Dont be fooled, however.
The man who whistles constantly is creepy is correct.
The man who whistles constantly are creepy is not.
What are some of the most common that you encounter?