Like it or not, words, spelling, and punctuation can leave a lasting impression on others. But even the most educated people often unknowingly make flubs. Inc. compiled a list of 43 everyday grammar mistakes you can avoid to help your professional correspondence more coherent:
• Honed in—To “home in” on something means to move toward a goal, such as “The missile homed in on its target.” To “hone” is to sharpen.
• Overuse of apostrophes—Apostrophes indicate one of two things: possession or letters missing, as in “Sara’s iPad” and “it’s” for “it is” (second i missing). They don’t belong on plurals. “FAQs,” for example, should not have an apostrophe. If you want to refer to your family but don’t want to list everyone’s first name write “The Johnsons” not “The Johnson’s.”
• Irregardless—This is not a word. It’s simply “regardless.”
• Per say or persay—Both are incorrect because the Latin phrase which means “in itself” or “intrinsically” is spelled “per se.”
