Good points all, but I wish you would add one more example of a misused apostrophe: “it’s” when one means to say “its”. This error is so frequent, it’s almost worth its own entry.

Well, I’m almost gobsmacked. I do wonder at so many people “betting annoyed” by simple writing http://www.americashpaydayloan.com/title-loans-wv/ mistakes. The thing to ask yourselves: “is the meaning of the writer clear?” Some bloggers may not be blessed with a high level of writing capability, or perhaps even with English as their first language.

Your readers deserve the best posts you can possibly create, as does your blogging reputation

Actually, Dewey, you’re switcheroo (tucking away the qualifier ‘online’) would be an excellent remedy if and only if all three clauses were driven from the same verb:

But in your example, there is still a final clause that doesn’t derive its power from the same initial vowel. “Arranging” something is a separate and different action from making purchases.

The key to understanding why “Give Chris and I a call” is incorrect to know about subjects, objects, and indirect objects. Subjects *do* the action to an object, and indirect objects “benefit” from it or are otherwise related.

Way back when, English speakers showed whether a noun was a subject, object, etc. by adding suffixes to the end of the noun. This is called *inflection*. That way, the words could come in any order and the sentence would make sence. However, English speakers started to almost always use the “Subject – Verb – Indirect Object – Object” form, so they began to drop those endings.

But pronouns, like “I,” “you,” and the like still retain some historic inflection. That’s why we say “give him a call” instead of “give he a call.” Likewise, even though there is an “and,” the correct sentence is “Give Chris and me a call.” In that sentence, “Chris” and “me” are the indirect objects, and “call” is the direct object.

Gerald, it’s not really just a matter of “being annoyed.” Remember that a large part of Copyblogger’s content is dedicated to business, sales, and marketing blogging.

In other words, if you blog just for fun, it may not matter to annoy people with errors. Sure, the message will still be clear enough.

Brian. I’d like to see the confusion over when the apostrophe goes after the “s” in one of these. People assume it always goes after when the name ends with “s,” but it actually depends on whether it’s plural possessive or singular possessive.

Oh, yeah. And what about “weather” vs. “whether.” Sorry if someone mentioned that. I only had time to skim the comments.

Actually, Ramkarthik, you add just an apostrophe if the word ending in “s” is plural. technically, singular words ending in “s”, still get an “apostrophe s”.

Wonderful post. I see these mistakes so many times, especially the loose/lose and the “could of” ones, that I really want to tear someone’s hair out (and I don’t mean mine).

And there is a phrase that’s spoken more than written, but I still see it, and it kills me every time:

Indeed, the loose use of “loose” when “lose” is indicated should result in the author of of such loose text having to lose the right to post in any forum, even ones with loose rules

“I could care less” instead of “I couldn’t care less.” No one seems to realize if they “could care less” then they actually do care about the current subject.