Common Spelling Mistakes On Your Blog

We all make common grammar and spelling mistakes on our blog. Even the best of us forget how to spell words or how to make a subject agree with a verb sometimes. People who's mother tongue is English have difficulty spelling the following words - let alone those who're struggling to write English as their second language. This is not surprising though, because for every spelling or grammar rule in English, there are several exceptions.
The Internet is a hugely competitive place. We have to try hard to get those eyes on what we're saying, not on our mistakes. Here are a few common spelling mistakes I've seen on the Internet and some brilliant ways to help you remember not to make them.


Common spelling mistakes on your blog

can you tell me what's wrong with this sign?

Seperate and separate
Roads that run parallel to each other are separate from each other. Separate has two As and two Es. Remember: there's an equal amount of Es and As in separate.

Aswell and 'as well'
'As well' - meaning 'in addition to' are always separate words. If you say 'as well as' you don't join up the last 'as' to the 'well'. Likewise you don't join up the first 'as' the 'well' either.
Remember: that 'well' likes being left well alone from the two 'asses'.

To and too
If you want to say, 'I have to go out this evening', you need one 'O'. If you're saying, 'Can I have one of those ice creams too' you need two 'OOs'.  (Too means 'as well as')
Remember: if the word 'TO' wants something as well as someone else, it's going to have to bring another 'O' with it.


You and you're
I've explained this one in detail here: you and you're.

Lose and loose
The trick is in the way these words sound and look. The first one means 'not to have any more'. The second one is the opposite of tight.

The first one is shorter and it's pronounced with a shorter sound - I don't want to lose you.
The second looks longer and is pronounced with a longer sound - my waistband is loose.
Another trick is to look at both these words sideways. Go on and twist your head around. The two OOs in the second word look like a quickly-drawn body of a woman. And 'she' has a loose waistband because she was made to lose 10 pounds.

It's and its
It's is a contraction. This simply means that the apostrophe is put there because we're missing a letter. The missing letter is 'I'. It's used to be it is. We're lazy so we chucked the last 'I' out and replaced it with a little apostrophe.

The second word is a pronoun like he or she. 'It' is used to refer to an animal or something. There is no apostrophe. It's therefore incorrect to say 'the dog wagged it's tail' because we're saying, 'the dog wagged it is tail'. You can see that this is wrong.
Remember:  If you see that apostrophe, you've left out something. Say both words in your head before writing them down and you should get the correct one every time.

If you need more English lessons with great exercises for you to practice have a look at my page: Free, quick English lessons. There are lots more lessons and they're more detailed. If you like Common Spelling Mistakes on Your Blog, please share it on your social networking sites. Thank you. 
By the way, what's wrong with the picture above? 'We may of caused' should be 'We may have caused'.