Write right? LoLzzz 4reel yo wut up yo wut u doin

I'm really annoyed right now. Not only annoyed, but baffled at how many people are victims. Victims of what? BAD GRAMMAR!! Grammar mistakes and typos make me want to scream. How hard is it to proofread what you've written or look up the spelling of a word in the dictionary? You're already online, just type in dictionary dot com and check the spelling if you're unsure. Moreover, I'm extremely baffled at how many people on here have a degree from a college, or are in their second or third year of college, and STILL make such awful mistakes. If you want to get your point across, it would really help your readers if you used proper grammar. Please don't use abbreviations for words like "you" and "what"; it's tacky. This is a competition for a scholarship, not who knows the latest and hippest spellings of words.

It's not just people who blog on this website that irk me; it's the English speakers I've met in Korea. These people come here to teach English, but how can they teach Koreans English if they don't know it themselves? The occasional mistake is fine..no one is perfect...however, when other teachers here really don't know the difference between "their" and "there"...we've got a problem. Most of these people are English majors, and I have no idea how they graduated from college without anyone ever bothering to correct their poor grammar. It's sad. What has become of our education in America? There's also the problem of punctuation, but we'll get into that at another time!

Please just take a minute and look over the following. It's important to be able to write properly in this day and age of shortcuts and illiteracy. Let me help you:

They're=(contraction) they are. E.g. They're going to the mall.
Their=possessive. E.g. It's their house.
There=place. E.g. The dog is over there.

Who's=(contraction) who is. E.g. Who's at the door?
Whose=possessive. E.g. Whose car is that?

Then=description of time. E.g. I showered and then went to the movies.
Than=preference. E.g. I'd rather eat chicken than pizza.

Your=possessive. E.g. Is that your pen?
You're=(contraction) you are. E.g. You're making me mad!

Affect=usually a verb, it means "to influence," "to have an effect on," or "to act in a way that you don't feel." E.g. The rain affected my hair and made it frizzy.
Effect=usually a noun, it means "a result." E.g. The rain had no effect on my hair. (Notice 'the'...the effect...noun)
(there are more complicated ways to use these words, but I'm not going to get into those right now)

It's=(contraction) it is. E.g. It's raining cats and dogs!
Its=possessive. E.g. The dog kept chasing its tail.

To=preposition that introduces a receiver or destination of an action; also part of an infinitive verb (to be, to go). E.g. He was taking her to the store.
Two=number. E.g. There were two cats.
Too=adverb meaning "also" or "excessively." E.g. I like pizza too. *or* Too much salt will ruin this recipe.

Compliment=offering of praise or flattery. E.g. He gave me a compliment on my outfit.
Complement=refers to something that completes or goes well with something else. E.g. Peanut butter and jelly complement each other.

"I" is always capitalized
"Cannot" is ONE word
"A lot" is TWO words

Fiancé=male engaged to be married.
Fiancée=female engaged to be married.

Advice=noun. E.g. Please give me some advice.
Advise=verb. E.g. He advised me not to do it.

Let's=(contraction) let us. E.g. Let's go out to eat.
Lets=verb. E.g. He lets his dog out every night before he goes to bed.

Cite=citation. E.g. I cited the author in the footnotes.
Sight=noun, refers to the sense of seeing. E.g. He was a sight for sore eyes!
Site=1. noun, actual location of something. E.g. Internet site, construction site; 2. verb, assign a location to. E.g. The plan is to site all further malls in the suburbs.

Parent=one parent (also a verb: to parent)
Parents=two parents
Parent's=possessive, one parent. E.g. (knowing there is only one parent) I need your parent's permission before you can do that.
Parents'= possessive, two parents. E.g. I need your parents' permission before you can do that.

Bush=1. one bush. 2. George Bush
Bushes=1. two bushes. E.g. There are two bushes in my front yard.
2.The Bush family (two or more members of a family with the last name Bush). E.g. The Bushes would like to wish you happy holidays.
Bushes'=1. possessive plural. E.g. The bushes' berries. 2. Possessive of two or more members of a family with the last name Bush. E.g. I took all the Bushes' cards because I didn't know which one I'd need to talk to later on.

Bradley=last name, singular
Bradleys=last name, plural. E.g. Merry Christmas from the Bradleys

Woman/Man=singular
Women/Men=plural

Piece=a separate part of a whole. E.g. He gave me a piece of cake.
Peace=harmonious relations. E.g. I wish for world peace.

Bored=uninterested. E.g. The lecture bored me.
Board= piece of wood. E.g. I'm going to the hardware store to buy some wood.

Loose=a tooth is loose
Lose=you lose a tooth

Hear=perceive sound via ears. E.g. I can hear your music all the way down the street!
Here=location. E.g. I'm going over here to sit.

I vs. me=Regardless of what you may think, one does not always say "____ and I." In order to figure out which is correct, delete the other person from the equation. If you've written, "My brother and me find that offensive," take away "my brother." You're left with "Me find that offensive." That doesn't sound right at all! Correct: My brother and I find that offensive.

On the other hand, "Do you want to go with James and I to the game?" is wrong. If you take out "James," you're left with "Do you want to go with I to the game?" Correct: Do you want to go with James and me to the game?

Another thing...it's common English to hear something like, "He's younger than me." This, however, is wrong. The correct way to say it is, "He's younger than I." Why? Pretend for a moment you are going to continue the sentence, "He's younger than I am." Simple, eh?

k