10. 'His & Hers'
Another case of the misplaced apostrophe, and theres just as much nonsense about using this one, too. It feels like just as many people dont use an apostrophe with mens as add an apostrophe in hers, which leads you to suspect that no one else was paying as much attention as you were in English class. You can appreciate the confusion if you were naming a person, an apostrophe would of course be necessary. Im going to Sarahs house for dinner. Take out the name, and its pretty much Russian roulette as to whether youll find an apostrophe in there or not.
Things to look out for: Behaving in the same way, Yours, Its, and 'Ours' are equally likely to become victims of the misplaced apostrophe.
9. Missing Hyphens And Plurals
Pet peeve #421 for the grammar Nazi: A lack of understanding when it comes to hyphens and plurals. When reading a colleagues annual newsletter at Christmas, you find yourself regaled with tales of how their son, turning sixteen-years-old this year, celebrated and it makes you want to explode. The same can be said about looking up a ten year old Scotch for your father-in-laws birthday. If youre reading this, chances are this needs no further explanation, because you already know when to use and when not to use a hyphen, when an s is necessary, and just about every other grammatical rule Standard English has in its textbooks.
8. The Ease Of Getting Me Or I Right, Without Anyone Succeeding
Its one of the easiest rules to teach admittedly, whether or not its even touched upon at school is another matter entirely yet one of the most common mistakes to appear in everyday English. Sammy and me are just going to the shops, Mum. Sarah, Jess, and I versus you, Mark, and Tony. With one sentence, the problem can be solved (and taught). Imagine if it were just you, taking all the other names out of the equation, what would you say then? I am just going to the shops, Mum. A+.
7. Seeing Ect.
Close, but no cigar. Whether it gets pronounced correctly isnt really the question here, whats going to bother your typical grammar Nazi is the fact that et cetera has been mistakenly abbreviated here. Like the Ladies sign on the toilet door that sits beside Mens, you could argue with yourself that technically, ect. could be dropping the first t, the e after the c, and then the era after the second t, thereby giving the ect. abbreviation. Youd be fooling nobody, though, least of all yourself. That's just not how it's done.