Grammar Saves Lives

Posted on 15 January 2018 by Rachel Gurnett

It’s not often that we get to write a genuinely life-saving post, but today, we may just be able to do so:

“Let’s eat Grandma!”

Wait. Read that again? That’s not quite right. Something is missing.

“Let’s eat, Grandma!”

With one simple comma, we have moved from a potential Goldilocks disaster to a catch up with family. Let’s take a look at another one.

“I like cooking my family and pets.”

Although we all have different passions and pastimes, I’m not sure I can encourage this one.

“I like cooking, my family and pets.”

A considerable improvement, I think you will agree.

How about when a simple instruction becomes slightly messier than you originally intended?

“We are going to learn how to cut and paste everyone.”

or

“We are going to learn how to cut and paste, everyone.”

No-one was harmed in the making of this post, but can you see the difference that simple grammar makes to statements and sentences? Grammatical mistakes are common and easy to make, but they can irritate some, embarrass others, and at sea could result in costly errors. If you struggle with grammar and punctuation take a look at these tools and tips to help you out.

PUNCTUATION

Whether expert or novice, we have all had to double check our punctuation at one point –my most searched grammar query is th difference between the colon and the semi-colon; I still couldn’t tell you which is which with much conviction. Luckily, there are countless websites that can help you out.

The BBC have released adult ‘skills-wise’ videos that give you outlines at different levels. If you'd like a maritime contextualised writing course you can check out Writing@Sea, which is part of our award-winning education package; Learn@Sea.

WHICH WITCH? THEIR ONE, OVER THERE. THEY’RE HIDING IT.

Homophones, or words that are pronounced the same way but have different meanings, can often trip people up. If you’re not sure double check. There are plenty of websites around that will help you to work out which one to use. Reed (a jobs site) has a helpful post on the most common mistakes seen on CVs.

CHECK, CHECK AND CHECK AGAIN

I can still hear my teachers drumming that into me when I was at school, and it’s as important now as it was then. Read over your work and look out for those easy mistakes. There is an excellent past post that goes into more detail about proof-reading your work. Whether you are writing an essay, CV or application, reading back over your work can help you to spot those little errors. Walking away from what you have written for a while can also help, as you glance over it with fresh eyes. If possible, ask a friend to take a look for you!