Please feel free to add to the list. Here's some of the ones I see all the time that the spell checker will ignore:

To, Too, Two

To - used as a preposition or as part of a verb phrase. I went to her house. I want to eat dinner soon.
Too - means "also," or "as well." I?d like to eat, too.
Two - the number, more than one, less than three. I want two pancakes.

Goldilocks went to the table to eat the porridge, but two of the bowls of porridge were the wrong temperature so after she ate, she washed the bowl she'd eaten from, dumped out the porridge from the other bowls, and washed them, too.

Affect, Effect

Affect - to modify, to pretend, or to take on. His coughing affected my concentration. I affected a glamorous pose.
Effect - a result. His coughing had an effect on me.

The years of heavy smoking affected the wolf so badly that all his huffs and puffs had no effect on the little pig's house.

Their, There, They're

Their - possessive, owned by two or more people. That is their pen.
There - location. The pen is over there.
They're - contraction for "they are" or "they were." They're not at work today.

Poor, Hansel and Gretel - they're still trying to lose those 40 pounds after their trip to the wicked witch's gingerbread house over there.

Your, You're

Your - possessive, owned by "you." Is this your idea?
You're - contraction for "you are" or "you were." You're cute when you're angry.

You're sure you can click your heels three times and get back home?

Accept, Except

Accept - to approve, take on, or be resigned to. I accept the fact that chocolate is not health food.
Except - used to single something out. I love all types of chocolate except white chocolate.

Snow White accepted all the chores given to her by the seven dwarves except for picking up their dirty underwear.

Well, there's some excellent examples of working "criss-crossed" words into the same sentence...(grin)! Don't get me started on grammar. I hate the bastardization that my language is going through. Ugh! I've presented one of the MOST common grammatical errors as an example above this sentence. Can anyone find it? Delicately, I point out that Crescent has made the same mistake. I'm no master of grammar but I do pride myself on mutilating it much less than my southern counterparts. And in a writing forum, intended to assist interested people, I certainly don't want people to become timid in submitting something for fear of having their grammar usage ripped to shreds. That is why I prefaced my remark with the word, delicately. It was meant to be constructive. Feel free to add to the list? OK, here are a few mistakes many people still make: There's no such word as "themself". In the south, one also hears the word, hisself, a lot. Ugh! Use "regardless" instead of "irregardless". The later is not a word, either. "That" is the most overused word in the English language. Example: "I said that he could attend the party." Better is, "I said he could attend the party." As a bit of trivia, "get/got", I believe, has more definitions than any other word.

Wow thanks,now I can see how truly dumb I am.......:)

Okay, you got me! It took me a minute to find my mistake. I admit that I still need work on my editing skills. Thanks for pointing the mistake. (I knew if I submitted something on grammar, a dumb mistake would slip in. I read it several times before posting it and still missed the error.) I put these up because they're common mistakes and aren't found by spell checkers. Editors tend to toss out submissions filled with mistakes like the ones listed above. You're right - the idea behind the grammar list isn't to strike fear into the hearts of writers, but to give them one less thing to worry about if they are concerned about their grammar. A lot of people get these words mixed up, so I figured a short list with examples would make it easier to pick the correct words, leaving more time to concentrate on characters, plot, etc. Thanks again for keeping me honest! :-)

I probably shouldn't have said anything. I certainly don't want people to be shy about posting her for fear of making the dreaded typo (or error of some sort). I guess the best approach is to look deeper at submissions and forget the educational dialogue (and the errors that accompany words typed in haste).

Speaking of grammar.... I'll be exposing my ignorance by asking this, but oh well. We can't all know everything. :o) Which is the appropriate sentence? If he was a little smarter, he'd be in school. If he were a little smarter, he'd be in school. I hear it both ways so often, I've lost that sense of "auditory intuition".

Well, Chuck you made me look up bastardization. I was unaware that word had sprouted so many different uses. But the first reason it attracted my attention was the "z". I submitted some work to a british publisher and they wanted all surprizes, analyzes, etc to exclude 'z' and use 's' instead. I did not want to reveal the massive width, length, and girth of my grammatical ignorance so I just said "Okay." Anyone know if this is a proper use issue or just a personal taste thing? I also find myself misusing numbers: "Politics are my favorite subject". And so I tend to avoid the word "media".

Surprises instead of surprizes is not a grammar thing, it's a spelling thing. That is how the word is correctly spelt here in the uk. Our reference book for the correct spelling of a word is the Oxford English Dictionary. Most people have a small version somewhere in their home as the full edition, updated annually, runs to dozens of A4 sized volumes. I find grammar difficult myself. Writing often seems to use colloquial expressions which break every rule in the book.

Hey, thanks Shoshanna. It will be interesting to see how my spellchecker will deal with this issue. Which dictionary does Bill Gates use, I wonder. LOL

Ramnimus - the s/z difference is a British/American difference. IIRC it came about when the US 'rationalised' (or 'rationalized') American English in the 19th century. That's when all the -burghs became -burgs too. Bill Bryson tells the story of the development of American English in 'Mother Tongue' - worth reading for entertainment value alone. The 'z' spelling is correct in the USA, the 's' in the UK. Adding to the grammar list, 'of' for 'have'. 'I shouldn't of had that last whisky' is incorrect. 'I shouldn't have had that last whisky' is correct. < /pet peeve > =)

Cambert, I think your pet peeve comes from speech...turning "could have" into a contraction, could've. By sound alone, people then write it as it they heard it. Probably a mixture of laziness and ignorance. (BTW, good example). As to the "Z" thingy, the dictionaries I use, in the US, "straddle the fence" as usual...counting both as acceptable.

I think it's from speech too, Chuck. I know of at least one best-selling author who does it - Sara Paretsky - but I suppose in that case it must be a 'characterisation' point (unless her editor is really scared of her :).

IndigoSplash:

**Which is the appropriate sentence?

If he was a little smarter, he'd be in school.
If he were a little smarter, he'd be in school.**

I believe it is:

If he were a little smarter, he'd be in school.

Here's the scary grammar rule behind it - you have a "Contrary to Fact If Clause" for your sentence. (He is not actually a bit smarter, you just wish he were.) You need to use the Imperfect Subjunctive form of the verb in the "if clause" because the statement is not actually true. The second part of the statement uses the Conditional verb form - "he would be in school."

If you want the easy to remember version, think of the famous phrase: if wishes were fishes, we would never starve.

Sad to say, I was never taught this in English class. I learned it while studying Spanish. (And it wasn't a high level Spanish class.) I learned more about grammar in my Spanish classes than in my English classes.

Thank you very much Crescent, especially the fish phrase. I don't recall ever learning this in school either. Apparently I always used the correct version until one day I examined it and something about it seemed wrong, LOL. Then, like I said, I was hearing it both ways in everyday conversations and "poof", I couldn't tell anymore which way to say it. Thanks again!

I really get irritated when people use the appostrophe when it is not needed. Examples: The Knights' rode off on their horses. In this case, the Knights don't own anything... there is just an "s" at the end of the word. The appostrophe is only used to indicate "possessiveness" or contractions. 1.) The Knight's horse ran off. 2.) The Knight's going to be angry. *** One other pet peeve is people who don't capitalize sentences, and people who love to use "fractured spelling:" u r going to make me mad.. Hell I can't even duplicate such illiteracy since it's against my nature. *** By the way, I don't see any sense in a sentence about a person being smart and being in school. You can be in school just because you're a kid, and required to be in school by law. You can be in school and be dumb. You can be smart and not be in school, etc etc.

I think you forgot the most common mistake. "The dog licked it's bowl."

You betcha.

By the way, I don't see any sense in a sentence about a person being smart and being in school. You can be in school just because you're a kid, and required to be in school by law. You can be in school and be dumb. You can be smart and not be in school, etc etc. <<< I was referring to college, but since I was using it as an example for finding the correct form of was/were, I didn't think the context of the example itself was that relevant. Therefore, I didn't spend a lot of time coming up with something that would please the "professionals" here. Nothing like being critiqued on how we phrase our questions. I'll refrain from asking from now on.

I think you're being too defensive here. One purpose of this forum is to share ideas and think. Unfortunately you are the second person who hasn't given a very positive response to a comment. Maybe you might want to think twice about what you're trying to accomplish here. Is your ego strong enough to take positive input from others?

Thought I'd jump in here and say something because I read the last two threads with interest. I think both make good points (cris and Indigo). I see Indigo's point of placing a quick and basic sample to illustrate what is being referred to. No point in spending time on a masterpiece...grin. And certainly, it was more than I dared to answer...the question itself, that is. Now, as to cris's post directly above (and earlier) concerning school. I think, if I am allowed to step uninvited into his shoes and speak for him (?) without permission, I understand what he means and why he posted it. At work, in the IT support staff, I have the least amount of schooling of our eight members. Our LAN manager has the same as me. All others have either a doctorate or a master. Yet, if I may brag a bit, the two of us know the most about the computer field. It's a sore point with me that others with a piece of paper showing they can read a book and pass a test feel superior to me. I think cris may also have the same kind of feeling. If I am correct, then I think he merely commented on the content of Indigo's sentence as a side. Not as a critical remark of the sentence itself. Nor of its author. I'm certainly not the moderator here. NEVER would even accept the job. But this forum is in a fledgling (sp?) stage. If it is to grow and become at least twice as popular as it is now, people will have to adhere to the following: When you place something on the "table" for disection (why is it that so many words I'm spelling this morning look incorrect?), it may be torn apart. It may hurt one's ego. If the criticism has merit, take it and use it. If the criticism seems overly harsh and uncalled for, let it go. Because if it WAS harsh and out-of-line, others will notice it as well. And that should be good enough. When you decide to "disect" a submitted piece, remember the "anonymous" person who submitted it. The purpose is to try to help...not belittlement (word?). Not that I am experienced in constructive criticism, but if you don't feel confident about a particular area, state it. Let the person being criticized know your level of knowledge. Using words/phrases like, "I think...", or, "I feel...", are much better than saying things like, "You did this wrong...", or, "You shouldn't have...". It's a fairly subjective art, writing and critiquing. As I said, I'm certainly not moderator-qualified. But if anger, attacks, defensiveness, and the like continue, I feel this forum will not garner many participants. And that is bad for all.

Maybe you might want to think twice about what you're trying to accomplish here. Is your ego strong enough to take positive input from others?<<< I already did. I said I wasn't going to ask anymore questions here. As for the ego, I subscribe to the habit of "checking the ego at the door". Having the guts to put your ignorance on display by asking a question about something you know very little about should be all that is required. Positive input is fine...nit-picking over the question itself isn't what I came here for. And for the record, to fix your assumptions, I don't believe that only smart people go to school and the dumb ones don't. I know a lot of educated folks who couldn't find their way out of a paper bag. Likewise, I know high school dropouts who are brilliant. The sentences could have easily been quotes from a character who was giving an opinion. If I had been stating a personal opinion, I could have accepted your comments in the manner in which they were offered. Perhaps instead of being defensive yourself, you could try to see why your comment wasn't interpreted as "positive input". I felt like you weren't making helpful suggestions, but making a comment about a preceived opinion I had (because of the example I used). At any rate, I'm out of my element here anyway. No need to fret. I'll look for a board that welcomes novices. Peace. :)

I was only making a comment, a joke. I was not making any criticism or evaluation of anyone or anyone's words. That is why I'm really shocked at the initial reaction, and the reaction that persists here. So far I've tried to be positive, supportive and make some gentle constructive suggestions. I've cracked a little joke. In response I've received much hostility from one person, and a little from another. This is not a great introduction to this forum, in my mind.

Crisjon, I would welcome your constructive suggestions on any of my work. Indigo Splash same goes for you. I would love to see some of your work here in the forum. I am a novice and I think this is a nice place to be. Let's keep it that way. Please. :-) Now back to grammar etc... "If he thinks I'm going to do that, he's got another thing coming." Isn't it supposed to be "another think coming"? ARGHHH.

Indigo, please don't allow this interchange to keep you from participating. I value your input as I'm sure others here do. Everyone has something unique to contribute.

Inspired by the growing poet population here I've constructed a poem to express my true feelings about grammar.

Although my ego clasps to grammar in it's desire to be published
My heart knows in the end it's all a bunch of rubbish.

maybe not grammer but somethings that bug me when I read forum posts. know, no know means to understand no means negative. knight, night Knight is a figure in armor in ledgend and history a night is something that comes after daytime. Me NOT me going to do or wanting to do I want to do or I am going to do

Me vs. I: Jon and I went to the store. The present was for Jon and me. The second sentence sounds wrong, but it is grammatically correct. You wouldn't say "The present was for I." You would say, "The present was for me." Just because you added a second person to the prepositional clause you don't change the pronoun. (Hey, I'm just used my English degree for something! And I thought it was only useful )

If I had the chance to change one thing about English grammar it would be that wretched rule about "it's" and "its"! I know that the apostrophe indicates a contraction of "it is" but I often find that I'm thinking of the possessive sense of the word as I write (as in "belonging to it") and applying an invalid rule. Then I lapse into using "it's" when I should have used "its". On more than one occasion I've reread some email I've already sent out to half the company, spotted this mistake too late and felt cross with myself for letting it out of the door. I know no one ever said that English grammar was logical but there is something about this particular rule that really annoys me!

Attached Link: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/index.html