That is what Linguix templates offer. Whether you are searching for the basis of a business document or business-related email, Linguix has the solution you need. All templates can be downloaded as Word documents or opened up directly in the Linguix editor, allowing you to avail of the full suite of Linguix writing tools such as grammar checker and writing analysis.

Here are just some of the templates you have access to:

Press Release: New Product

Your company has developed a new product and it’s now ready to go to market. Now what you need is a text designed as a fitting press release to announce to the world what it is that your product will offer.

The release must strike the right balance between marketing and fact. And it must be accurate in the description but not too heavy so as to turn off readers. Linguix offers the perfect press release template for your needs.

Bio (Professional In a Company)

You need a biography of an important employee in your organization. This may be required for your website, for a business proposal, or something else. Well, like a new product press release, this has been done before, many many times.

But what you need is swift access to a bio that you know hits the spot. It needs to be well written, well-structured and paint an accurate description of that individual. Once again, Linguix has the template you need. 

Blogs

In terms of content marketing strategies, the value of having a blog has been well documented. But as search engines have become more intelligent with their algorithms, so the importance of producing well-written, structured blog articles has become critical.

Linguix offers a number of blog-related templates, from producing a simple blog post to penning something a little more focused, such as a how-to article or a blog post containing an expert interview. In the latter the template provides the perfect format for clear questions and answers, ensuring that you get maximum returns from the content.

Business Emails

The email template section offers up a number of high-quality templates, including professional cold emails, designed to touch base with a new potential client or collaborator and set up a meeting at their leisure. Then there are templates for scheduling a meeting with a warm lead, and a tried-and-tested structure for following up: proven to add value to your email marketing and sales processes.

The great thing about these templates is that the English and content contained within has been framed by experts and bona fide business professionals to exemplify the perfect email for the occasion.

Additional Tools

Linguix is not just a templates tool. As a full, AI-powered writing assistant it can ensure your written content is free from errors and suited perfectly to your audience. 

Get access to synonyms in order to elevate your writing, and then take advantage of additional tools such as ‘snippets’ which allow you to allocate a shortcode to useful text and then enter it into your writing at the simple click of a button.

What is more, the Linguix extension for Chrome, Firefox or Edge can help you produce error-free content wherever you may write on the web, from social media platforms such as Twitter to collaborative work through Google Docs.  

Quite simply, Linguix takes the pain, and time, out of writing. And don’t forget the business-related writing templates too.

The post Using Business Writing Templates For More Productive and Efficient Use of Time appeared first on Linguix Blog.

‘Me and Jane went to the cinema.’

This is the most frequently made mistake when it comes to the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘me’, and in terms of spoken English, it has become a mistake that is so commonplace that it has almost become acceptable.

Except it isn’t acceptable, and neither should it ever be.

A great tip to follow when looking at how to use the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘me’ is to apply the pronouns individually to any particular sentence. This then makes the mistake that much more apparent.

‘Me went to the cinema.’

It sounds awful, doesn’t it? In fact, it sounds like a sentence Tarzan would say. “Me Tarzan, you Jane!” And Tarzan grew up in the jungle with animals as his family. He didn’t go to school one day in his life!

The reason this sentence sounds so ridiculous is that ‘me’ is an object pronoun. ‘I’ is the equivalent subject pronoun, and in this particular example sentence, the word clearly represents the subject of the sentence or the doer of the action. So, the correct sentence should be:

‘I went to the cinema.’

So, returning to the original sentence, the correct version should be:

‘Jane and I went to the cinema.’

Note that ‘I’ is used as the second subject pronoun. Although not technically wrong, the sound of ‘I and Jane’, or indeed whatever the other subject is, is clumsy in the extreme, and so grammatical habit dictates that ‘I’ become the last listed subject pronoun if there is more than one. It would be the same if other pronouns are used with it. For example:

‘You and I went to the cinema.’ Not…

‘I and you went to the cinema.’

And it’s the same if there are three or more subjects or subject pronouns:

‘Jane, Tom and I went to the cinema.’ Or…

‘She, he and I went to the cinema.’

Let’s look at some more example sentences that include this mistake.

‘Neither you nor me wanted to do it.’ ‘You and I…’

‘She asked him and I if we could do it.’

‘She doesn’t like you or I.’

The final two examples above make the exact same mistake, but with the object pronoun. ‘Me’ is the object, not ‘I’. Of course, removing the other object ‘you’ would make this really obvious. For example:

‘She asked I if we could do it.’

‘She doesn’t like I.’

It just sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

It’s a simple mistake, but often the simplest mistakes are the easiest to make. So, when it comes to using ‘I’ and ‘me’, just use them individually in the sentence (without any other subjects or objects) and you will quickly see which makes sense.

The post I Vs Me: A Common Grammar Mistake appeared first on Linguix Blog.

But in business, obviously, it’s better to keep those mistakes to a minimum. If you are going to make mistakes, then follow this advice:

·  Don’t make the sort of simple mistakes that ruin your credibility (see the list below)

·  Don’t make them at the start of an email, post or communication where it will be blindingly obvious and give an immediate bad impression.

·  Try to learn from your mistakes and make improvements in the future.

·  Get others to help you by proofreading your text.

·  Proofread it yourself too (it’s amazing how many people don’t do this!)

So, what are the typical grammar mistakes that people make, and what can be done to fix them?

Sentence structure

This is a typical mistake as, of course, the structure of English is unique to the language. Other languages do not have the same structure and are all unique, and so trying to apply those structures with English words is just going to sound strange.

Unfortunately, this type of mistake is almost inevitable because, with a lack of knowledge, language learners will always revert back to their mother tongue for inspiration. A typical example is when speaking about possessions. Whereas saying ‘the pen of John’ would make perfect sense in all the romance languages, in English the more common ‘John’s pen’ would be used. Although the first structure is possible, it is considered extremely formal.

Adverbs cause problems too because the position of the adverb depends on what it is being used for. So, whereas it might be acceptable to say ‘always I am late’ in another language, in English it should be ‘I am always late.’

What is the solution to mistakes when English sentence structure? One approach is to look at a typical English sentence (in a newspaper, on a website, etc.) and identify all of the parts of speech. A part of speech is just the official name of a type of word – a noun, verb, adjective, etc.

Once you are able to easily identify all the parts of speech in a sentence (and you can use an online dictionary to help you) you can then start to appreciate the typical combinations that are used in an English sentence, and in what order. Alternatively, once the sentence is written you could paste it into Linguix’s grammar checker.

Verb tenses, their relationships, and ‘signal’ words

Poor grammar often begins with a lack of understanding about when and how to use the different verb tenses in English. This could be a mistake of selecting the wrong verb tense (using the present continuous instead of the present simple – ‘I’m believing you’ instead of ‘I believe you’, for example) or using the wrong combination.

Poor use of ‘signal’ words is typical. For example, ‘since’ is only used with present perfect and past perfect, not past simple (‘I did it since yesterday’ is a typical example of this mistake in practice).

Frequently review all the tenses in English to make sure you understand how to create the structure and why/when you need to use them. The most fluent speakers of English (or any language) are able to use different tenses together easily and without problems. To do this, you must understand the relationship between all the tenses, and also understand what ‘signal’ words are used with which verb tenses.

Definite Article ‘The’

Articles are different in all languages. Also, in English, there are many rules about when you should and shouldn’t use them. The result is that almost everyone makes mistakes with articles – even after speaking English for 20 years people can still make mistakes.

‘We want to establish the trust’

Unfortunately, mistakes of this kind can undermine the credibility of a sentence, so learning the rules of when (and when not) to use ‘the’ is of paramount importance. Here is a quick list for reference:

·  When we have referenced something before.

·  When something is specific.

·  When something is unique or there is only one in existence.

·  With superlatives.

·  With rivers, mountain ranges and SOME countries

·  But not with names or people, places, etc.

·  And not when something is just an example of one thing.

Subject / verb agreement

One of the most ubiquitous mistakes in the English language is between the subject and the verb. Here are some classic examples:

She swim…

Everyone have…

It don’t….

This is grammar 101. Reverting back to an elementary grammar book and completing the exercises should see this problem resolved. Or once again, you can use the grammar checker as provided by Linguix’s AI-powered writing tool.

The post Common Grammar Mistakes that Kill Credibility appeared first on Linguix Blog.

That’s a good question, and here’s a rule for you: use ‘who’ when you are talking about people, and ‘that’ when you are talking about things.

And that’s the end of the lesson!

Except it isn’t, because things are a little more complicated than that.

Because ‘that’ can actually represent people too, and has been used in this way by a host of famous writers down the years. So, if your high school English teacher told you to live by the rule as mentioned above, then he or she was actually a little wide of the mark.

‘Who’ is a relative pronoun, as is ‘which’. It is definitely correct to say that ‘who’ is for when you are talking about people, and ‘which’ is for when you are talking about things. This rule is non-negotiable.

However, ‘that’ is an acceptable alternative as a relative pronoun when using both ‘who’ and ‘which’. However, ‘that’ can only be used as a defining relative pronoun, and in a defining relative clause. It cannot be used as a non-defining relative pronoun in a non-defining relative clause.

Are you confused yet?

Don’t be, because this can be explained quite simply so you never need to make this mistake again.

Defining relative clauses

Defining relative pronouns are used in defining relative clauses. Defining relative clauses are used when the subject or object needs to be defined in order to be identified. Here is an example:

‘He is the man.’

Now, the natural question this raises is, ‘who?’, because without defining this man, we have no idea who is being referenced.

‘He is the man who lives next to my sister.’

Now we can identify him (he’s the man who lives next to my sister).

Here’s another example using ‘which’.

‘This is the mug.’

But which mug are we talking about?

‘This is the mug which I use for all my hot drinks.’

Now we know!

These examples both include what are called ‘defining relative clauses’. In both of these examples, ‘who’ and ‘which’ can be replaced with ‘that’, because the pronoun is defining. So:

‘He is the man that lives next to my sister.’

‘This is the mug that I use for all my hot drinks.’

So, to answer the original question, there is no difference between ‘who’ and ‘that’ when the relative pronoun is defining.

Non-defining relative clauses

But relative clauses are not only used to define something. They can also be used to add information.

In this case, ‘who’ and ‘which’ are still distinguished by whether they are adding information about a person or a thing.

‘My brother, who is a keen runner, lives a healthy lifestyle.’

‘My car, which is a Ford, is red.’

Now, the commas are a bit of a giveaway. That’s because everything included inside those commas is simply additional information that (which) is not required to define the subject of the sentence. If you removed those clauses, the sentences would still make sense:

‘My brother lives a healthy lifestyle.’

‘My car is red.’

It is also important to remember that the words ‘who’ and ‘which’, in the original non-defining relative clause examples, cannot be replaced with ‘that’. So:

‘My brother, that who is a keen runner, lives a healthy lifestyle.’

‘My car, that which is a Ford, is red.’

This simply doesn’t work, and the standard ‘who’ and ‘which’ must be used.

So, to answer the original question once again (what is the difference between ‘who’ and ‘that’?) the answer is that ‘who’ is for when you are talking about people, and ‘that’ is nothing!

So, it really all comes down to whether it’s a defining relative pronoun, or not!

The post Who Vs That: A Common Grammar Mistake appeared first on Linguix Blog.

But let’s not be too quick to point the finger, because bad grammar certainly existed in the time when only a bird was capable of producing a tweet.

There is no doubt that social media has facilitated the use of bad grammar (and spelling) but it is certainly not the cause of it. We could speculate all day long as to why people don’t seem to care as much about the way they communicate their message anymore, but the fact is, as long as they get that message across, there are many who don’t seem to care about the ‘how’.

But here’s the thing: the way you communicate that message does say a lot about you. And in business, appearances are crucial.

Let’s look at a few situations in which a workplace-related grammar gaffe could really have a negative impact on the bottom line of the business, and your individual reputation.

Bad grammar in emails

You are sending an email to a senior member of management, perhaps someone who, at least indirectly, has a role to play in your future career trajectory. What does bad grammar in your email say about your attention to detail or the value you place on the perception that colleagues (and by extension, clients) have of you?

Now it could be that this particular manager cares as little for grammar as you (may) do. But on the other hand, this person could see your error-strewn writing as a professional weakness that could well hold you back.

Bad grammar in marketing

The various ramifications of producing a grammatically incorrect piece of marketing material are probably quite obvious, and again the severity of doing just that will depend on your target audience.

Indeed, amongst younger, trendier audiences, inconsequential grammar oversights could make very little difference at all. But the thing about marketing material is that it is placed very much ‘out there’ for all to see. Any mistakes, no matter how trivial they may seem to you, are reflecting on your brand (and therefore you) in the most critical of ways.

There is an expression along the lines of ‘any publicity is good publicity’, but in terms of grammatical mishaps in your marketing campaigns, that is just not true.

Bad grammar in business literature

Business literature, such as company handbooks, is really just another piece of marketing material, except it could be that this time you are marketing to an internal audience. And as the author of that material, you are actually marketing yourself at the same time. The bad grammar here, as in an important email, is not going to reflect well on you at all.

Bad grammar on social media

Bad grammar is acceptable on social media, right? After all, it’s the Wild West of the written word!

Wrong! Because in amongst all the noise and lack of grammatical consideration are all those people and businesses that can truly define your future career. And in among that number are people who keep a close eye on such things. Again, it is all about accuracy, your attention to detail, and the level of care that you give to your reputation and the way that you are perceived. In business, that matters!

Bad grammar on your resume

Perhaps the biggest grammar ‘fail’ of them all. A mistake on a resume never looks good. If there is one piece of written material that says more about you than anything else, it is your resume.

So, take the time, due care and attention to put something together that is completely free from errors. Use an online writing assistant such as Linguix to help you, proofread it several times, and then get someone else to take a look. It really is important that you put your best foot forward on the marketing literature when the product is you.

Classic mistakes

The classic mistakes when it comes to grammar are oh so predictable. Here is a little list just to get started:

·  their / there

·  to / too

·  I / me

·  who / whom

·  which / that

·  is / are

·  its/it’s

The possibilities are perhaps endless, but it is the truly obvious mistakes that reflect worst of all. In most cases, it’s just a complete lack of proofreading. Don’t make that mistake!

The post Why Good Grammar is Crucial For Work appeared first on Linguix Blog.

But what are the other mistakes that should be avoided at all costs? Let’s look at the most essential to recognize:

You will make mistakes (and you should embrace those mistakes)

How does a young child know not to touch something that is very hot? Usually by touching it, and finding out the hard way. In fact, scholars believe that long-term memory is shaped by those experiences that teach us something important to remember for future reference.

Learning anything, therefore, means making the mistake at first, and then seeking a solution from that mistake. Plus, if you have a fear of making mistakes and getting things wrong, then all it serves in doing is making you less likely to produce the language. You won’t speak because you are afraid. That has no benefit at all. So, speak! Make mistakes! And then learn from them!

Don’t try to speak like a native, or with a preferred accent

Listen to natives: that’s really important while you are learning. But wishing to speak like them is an unrealistic expectation, as you will probably retain an accent in that language for as long as you speak it. And that’s okay!

Often people say that they want to learn to speak English with an American, or British, accent, for example. But here’s the thing: even many Americans couldn’t speak English in a British accent, or vice versa. And it really doesn’t matter at all!

In fact, when you are learning a language, it’s good to get exposed to as many different accents as possible, which is incredibly helpful for your diversity of understanding.

When you speak the language, the most important thing to do is to speak clearly, and at a speed that is comfortable for both you and the person that is listening. And your accent is uniquely yours, so don’t be ashamed of it!

Don’t concentrate only on grammar, or only on vocabulary

Language is made up of many elements, so focusing too much only on one aspect is always a mistake to make. Grammar is important, but it is nothing without the vocabulary you need to express your ideas, and good pronunciation of those words so people understand you. Likewise, words are useful but must be used within the correct sentence structure to make any sense. Learning combinations of words in their correct grammatical forms is always a good approach.

And remember that there are four key skills involved in any language: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Try to give sufficient time to develop all of these four key skills to get to where you want to be in that language.

Not learning with materials that interest you

What is the purpose of language? It’s to communicate. But communicate what? Well, the answer to that is all of the thoughts and feelings that you have, and to then be able to talk about all the things that you need and want to talk about.

So, when learning a language, don’t spend time learning it in the context of topics and interactions that are relatively meaningless to you. “Is there a bank near here?’ How often are you going to need to say this, especially if you have GPS on your smartphone?!

Instead, learn the practical language, and learn with materials that are attached to your interests. Here are some simple examples:

·  Read articles about topics that you are interested in.

·  Watch the types of movies, TV shows and documentaries that you would normally watch in your own native language

·  Play video games, if video games are your thing, but in the target language, and interact with people online in that language

·  Watch sports, again if sports are your thing, but with the TV commentary in your target language.

·  If you love reading, read. If you don’t, then don’t!

·  Listen to music in the target language, reading and then singing along to the lyrics.

This is simple, practical advice. The point is, if something doesn’t interest you, then you lose the motivation to learn. And the motivation to learn is everything!

Share your experience

Don’t undertake the experience of learning a language alone. That means you need to share your experience with anyone you can find who a) has a similar objective b) is enthusiastic about your goal c) can help you.

Sharing means communicating (and asking for corrections), frequenting online forums to discuss the language with others who are doing the same as you, getting loved ones to help test you and challenge you, or anything else you can think of that involves other people.

Quite simply, don’t try to do this on your own!

The post 6 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Learning a Language appeared first on Linguix Blog.

If you want to be taken seriously as a business professional, it’s essential that the grammar and spelling of your posts reflect your commitment to accuracy. And here are the most typical mistakes to look out for.

There or their

These words sound the same (this is what is called a homophone in English), but other than that fact, the meaning of the two words is different enough to be easily established in context.

‘there’ has multiple functions, but is usually used to define place (over there) or the existence of something (there are many restaurants in the city).

‘their’ is the possessive of ‘they’ (it’s not our car, it’s their car).

The easiest rule to use is to think if the word means ‘it belongs to them’ or not!

To or too

This mistake is ubiquitous across the internet. The pronunciation of the words may be the same (another homophone), but again the meaning, and usage, is completely different.

‘to’ is a preposition or part of the infinitive form. Here are some examples:

‘I went to Florida.’ (a preposition)

‘I want to be an astronaut.’ (part of the infinitive)

‘too’ is an adverb used to mean ‘as well’, or to symbolize there is more of something than is considered good. Here are examples:

‘I went to the meeting too.’ (as well)

‘There are too many things to do.’ (the number of things to do is more than can be considered achievable)

it’s or its

This rule needs clearing up once and for all.

‘It’s a beautiful day today.’ (it’s = it is, so the apostrophe represents the missing ‘i’)

‘The dog is chasing its tail’ (its = possessive, so no apostrophe is used)

The problem is that the second example above can seem to fly in the face of normally established rules: we use apostrophes for possessives (for example, John’s T-shirt, Mary’s pen, Canada’s Government)!

But if you think about it, we never use apostrophes in the possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, our, their). So that’s why we don’t use it with ‘its’ either.

Punctuation in general

One glance down a regular Twitter feed and you could be forgiven for thinking that companies are now making keyboards without punctuation symbols. Of course, this is not the case.

There are some differences of opinion when it comes to things such as commas (the Oxford comma for example, which is placed before the final ‘and’ in a list of items), and there can even be different interpretations when it comes to using colons (:), semi-colons (;) and the em dash (–), although strict grammarians would voice concerns about some of these ideas.

But when it comes to using a simple period or placing commas in positions in sentences where you would clearly pause, or using apostrophes to signify ellipsis (missing letters), the rules are non-negotiable. The result is that your text becomes almost impossible to read. It’s not a good look.

Capital letters

Acutely connected to the blatant disregard for periods is the capital letter. Or the random capital latter that is now seen so frequently.

The rules in English regarding capitals are quite clear: use them at the start of a new sentence, or for names of people, places or organizations. There really isn’t much that sits outside of these rules. However, one look at the music world will tell you that artists are now taking liberties with capital letters that may, or may not, be deliberate attempts to revolutionize the language.

But here’s a simple piece of advice. Use capitals when you should, and don’t use them when you shouldn’t. Also, don’t write entire words in capitals, because it looks like you’re shouting.

These are far from the only types of mistakes you can expect to see on social media posts. Just take a couple of minutes to check it out for yourself and you will see a host of misspelled words, a total disregard for punctuation, and an approach to capital letters that will leave you wondering if that person’s keyboard is broken.

Don’t be that person. Don’t be that business. Take the time out to proofread your post before you publish it, and use a professional writing tool such as Linguix to help frame your words and check your spelling and grammatical construction as you go.

The post The 5 English Mistakes That (Unfortunately) Characterize Social Media Posts appeared first on Linguix Blog.

This is a practical approach to take.

Then there is another group of staunch grammarians who fight the corner of correct grammar application. Unfortunately, among this number are a small number of pedants who relish pointing out others’ mistakes, which only succeeds in adding more numbers to the first group mentioned. Fortunately, they are the minority, because within this grammarian grouping are people who realize that, although not a matter of life and death, good grammar symbolizes, and achieves, so much.

Your grammar says something about you

Like it or not, the way that we speak and the way that we write says something about us: it communicates an idea to the other person that can be hard to undo once established. Of course, our unique accent is a part of this, but unlike our grammar, our accent is part of our identity and is therefore not something we have chosen or something of which we should be ashamed.

But with grammar, whether it is on your resume, on a social media posting, or as part of your brand literature, sloppiness, or incorrect usage, is just a bad look!

President Trump, who is a serial Tweeter, has often fallen into the trap of using bad grammar…

‘It would be great for the Republican Party of Nevada, and it’s unity…’ (it’s = its)

‘How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife’s campaign…’ (was = were)

But President Trump is far from alone in that:

‘The Iraqis need to be very much involved. They were the people that was brutalized by this man.’ (George W. Bush) (was brutalized = were brutalized)

‘It’s just about impossible to find a matter of justice he hasn’t tackled and someone who isn’t more uniquely qualified to lead the FBI.’ (Barack Obama, who should have said ‘someone who is’, to avoid the double negative)

Urope (7^th President Andrew Jackson, attempting to spell “Europe”)

American presidents are a rarefied breed, but the importance of leaving a good impression is just as important for us everyday folk in more or less everything we produce. Speaking informally with friends is one thing, but having mastery over our grammar in formal situations does reveal us in a good light. History shows us that.

Good grammar fosters clear communication

Those who are rather lackadaisical about their grammar will often utter the words ‘But you know what I mean, don’t you?’ The problem is that the answer to that question is not always ‘yes’.

The fundamental point of using the correct language is that it is the best way to accurately convey your message. In a work context, there can be little space for misunderstanding. Indeed, misunderstandings can prove expensive. Hence, clear and succinct communication, delivered with the correct grammatical forms to aid understanding, is vital.

And you can certainly apply this message to marketing. Think about a marketing slogan that leaves the target audience wondering what the message is trying to say. Is that an effective means of marketing to somebody, if they are not sure what you are even trying to say?

That’s the confusion bad grammar causes. And here are some classic examples:

‘So fun, they won’t even know their learning.’ (A toy retailer, getting their ‘theirs’ and theres’ mixed up)

‘Perfection has it’s price.’ (a famous beer brand not having much luck with its ‘its’)

Language is worth using correctly

The final argument for good grammar is one that appeals to romance: the beauty of language. If the practical elements of using correct grammatical forms don’t persuade you that language is worth using correctly, then it is worth considering the gift that we have been passed down through the generations. It is a gift that makes us distinctly human after all.

The power of words has been the engine behind all of man’s historical achievements. Why take liberties with something so powerful?

The post Why Good Grammar is Important appeared first on Linguix Blog.

Quite simply, to many people, simple grammatical and spelling errors reflect badly on you, and can be a sign (rightly or wrongly) of some deeper personality defect, such as laziness, carelessness, or even (perhaps unfairly) a lack of education and or general intelligence.

Indeed, research conducted in the Netherlands found this to be true in terms of online dating: that careless mistakes send out entirely the wrong message to potential mates.

With this evidence in mind, what are some of the most obvious errors to watch out for?

Careless spelling

There are two types of spelling mistakes. The first involves words that you may genuinely not know how to spell (such as the word onomatopoeia, meaning words that represent a sound – ‘bang’, for example), and then words that you know how to spell, but you misspell due to carelessness (too/to/two!)

And let’s be honest, with an absolute plethora of spell- and grammar-checking software out there (like Linguix), there is really very little reason to make any spelling mistakes, simple or otherwise.

The fact is, most of these mistakes are made because we do things in a hurry. We often type on our phones while on the go, so it is inevitable that mistakes will be made. That’s why it is so important to re-read everything you have written before you hit ‘post’ or ‘send’.

If people see your sloppy spelling mistakes as you just not taking the time to be careful, then they are probably right. And is it really unfair to then let this influence their judgment of you on an online dating site? After all, all people can do is interpret all of the images and text in front of them to ascertain what kind of person is on the other side?

The same study in the Netherlands discovered that sloppy spelling actually influenced perceived attractiveness. So that means bad spelling and grammar can actually make you less attractive to the other person on the online dating site! So, if you want to be gorgeous, use spell-check, and proofread!

Random (or missing) punctuation

People like to show off their personality with the way they use emojis and exclamation points, but overdoing it with this punctuation tool, or likewise being careless with commas and periods, can also have an effect on the way that you are perceived on an online dating site.

Your quirkiness with the exclamation points may be seen less positively by others (are you shouting? Or are you constantly amazed by everything!!!!!!!!)

And don’t forget that missing punctuation can also lead to misunderstandings. Sometimes serious!

Capital letters

There is a correct way to use capital letters, but even more interestingly perhaps, the way that people use capital letters has come to symbolize their personality, at least according to research conducted into some online daters. The use of correct capitals, although correct, may in fact represent a sort of conservatism in the person, while someone who uses all lower case may be seen as being a bit more relaxed. Undoubtedly, over-use of caps (LIKE THIS) is to be avoided at all costs, as it can look unnecessarily aggressive, or shouty!

But what about the typical demographics of these grammar-focused daters?

Age

Unsurprisingly, the research conducted in the Netherlands focused on older online daters. Younger people tend to be a little more relaxed about things, but that still doesn’t mean that poor grammar and spelling will not reflect badly on you.

Gender

According to research conducted by Zook, an online dating website, women care more about correct grammar and spelling in profiles and online messages than male daters. Perhaps that is because women look at the bigger picture in general when considering the suitability of a date. 65% of women polled by Zoopla considered it a potential reason to say ‘no’, while only 40% of men agreed. We can only speculate as to the reasons for this!

In summary

If you are trying to make a good impression, everything is important. And in the sphere of dating, where choices are so arbitrary anyway, why give someone the reason to ignore your profile, when you could be giving them the reason to give you a chance! And this, it seems, is particularly true if you are looking to attract a slightly older female companion!

The post Why Good Grammar is Important When Online Dating appeared first on Linguix Blog.

Think about a work email that contains simple errors that you missed, or even going to the trouble to getting a brochure printed or sign made, only to discover that there is a ridiculous mistake included that ruins the credibility of what you have done. What about the power of a Tweet or Facebook post that takes the edge of your message through a simply-yet-glaring mistake?!

It can and does happen, to all of us, and we all have our own little areas of English where we make repeated mistakes.

The trick is to be careful in the first place, be aware of your problem areas, and then proofread everything that you produce before you send it/post it/publish it/print it and so on. Here are some particularly frequently made (and simple) mistakes to look out for:

Unwelcome apostrophes

‘I have two meeting’s tomorrow.’

Why has the word ‘meetings’ got an apostrophe? Think about the reasons for using an apostrophe:

1) Because it is a possessive

2) To signal ellipsis (something missing, such as a letter – used in contractions)

Which one is this?

It’s neither – it’s a plural, so no apostrophe should be used!

One word to be very careful with is when you use ‘it’ as a possessive = its. Note there is no apostrophe, which is to distinguish the word from the contraction of it is.

Confusing homophones

Their, there or they’re?

Too, to, or two?

As long as you know the difference between the meanings of these words, you should never really make a mistake. But people do, frequently! Even native speakers have problems when they are communicating quickly. If you stop and think, it should be easy to distinguish between them. So:

their = belonging to them (It’s their car, not ours!)

there = a pronoun representing a place or the existence of something (It’s over there!)

they’re = they are (They’re too busy to come!)

too = as well, or to say that there is an excess of something (I liked it too, although it was too long!)

to = a simple preposition (We went to Spain!)

two = a number (We went two years ago!)

99% of the time, these mistakes are just carelessness. So be careful!

Similar sounding words

Then or than? Specially or especially? Affect or effect? Lose or loose?

Now, all of these pairs of words sound similar but are far from the same. Mispronouncing while speaking is very possible, but when you are writing, there is no reason for making these mistakes as long as you 1) understand that these words are different and 2) know what each word means. Here we go:

then = after, or at that time (We went to the cinema, then we went home.)

than = a preposition used in comparatives (I’m taller than you.)

specially = done in a special way (I got these shoes specially made.)

especially = one above all others (I like movies, especially westerns.)

affect = the verb (Smoking affects your health.)

effect = the noun (Smoking has a negative effect on our health.)

lose = a verb meaning the opposite of ‘win’ (I hope we don’t lose the match.)

loose = an adjective meaning the opposite of ‘tight’ (My trousers are very loose.)

They are different! Now just be careful!

Making mistakes with the subject and verb complementation

This is usually a learner mistake but is an error that can also be made when proper proofreading is not performed. Let’s have a look at a few example mistakes:

‘She have been living here for 10 years.’

She has…

‘My brother play football.’

My brother plays…

‘The people is very happy.’

The people are…

Learn the grammar rules first, and then make sure you proofread everything, checking for this precise type of mistake in particular.

Spelling

Spelling is a contentious issue, mostly because some people think it’s really important while others think it is not important at all. Certainly, with the increase in mobile communication devices and instant messaging, the way that we chat with words has become a little more fluid: ‘How R U?’

But, of course, there is a time and a place for every type of communication. And in a professional context, it’s important to be as accurate as possible.

Of course, word processing software will help you correct your spelling mistakes, and there are really useful tools such as the Linguix AI-powered writing assistant which will help you correct mistakes as you write.

But how many times have you read something on Twitter, for example, that has lost its message, gravitas or even meaning through poor spelling and grammar?

It’s always a good idea to be able to trust yourself to recognize some of your most common mistakes when it comes to spelling. Here are some typical categories of mistake:

‘ie’ or ‘ei’

This causes a lot of heartaches.

In school, many native speakers are taught a rule to tackle this problem: ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’.

The problem is that this rule is so regularly broken that it’s barely worth having it at all.

Here are some examples:

receipt (actually follows the rule)

their (doesn’t follow the rule)

achieve (follows the rule)

foreign (doesn’t follow the rule)

Double letter or not?

There is a rule in English that when you make a participle of a word (for example, run – runner) then you double the consonant if the last three letters of the original word (in this case ‘run’) are consonant-vowel-consonant. This really helps.

However, then there are loads of other words that you just have to remember. For example:

embarrassed

accommodate

disappoint

Have you ever been caught out by one of these classic words? Learning by heart is the only way.

‘a’ or ‘e’ (or ‘i)?

We’ve all been there: saying a word over and over to try and remember if that vowel sound is an ‘a’, or an ‘e’. It could even be an ‘i’! One thing is for sure, the pronunciation isn’t going to help you.

Here are some classic examples:

acceptable (not acceptible)

calendar (not calender)

separate (not seperate)

Don’t let your writing lose its message through a litany of simple spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes. Be aware of where your weaknesses lie. And proofread!

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