I through the ball? I threw the ball.

     The difference between through and threw. First off, they aren't even the same parts of speech. Threw is a verb, meaning it represents an action. Through is a preposition, meaning it indicates the spacial position of something. Therefore it would make no sense to use a preposition as a verb, which people SO often do.
     This is what I always see:
I was walking threw the yard.
      and
I through the ball to my dad.

     See the errors? In the first sentence, since it's not telling an action, the preposition should be used.
In the second sentence, it is supposed to be telling the action of throwing the ball to dad. Instead, it uses the preposition which is incorrect.

     I was on Twitter today and saw this mistake TWICE on my news feed. Twice. Then I really felt the need to rant and straighten this out because it's not just some "typo," people really have no idea the difference between the two.

That's defiantly not okay.

This is going to be short but sweet. And by sweet I mean sour. Do you know how to spell definitely? Do you REALLY know how? Are you sure you know how?

Guess what? Did you know that "defiantly" is not the same word as "definitely?"  Never has been, never will be. So please, for the love of whatever it is you believe in, stop writing "defiantly" when you mean "definitely!"

They're not the same word, and their definitions aren't remotely the same.  At first, I thought it was a common typo that occurred once-in-while. Then I realized that few people really know how to spell "definitely."

I genuinely hope this makes it easier on those of you who are "definitely-challenged."
Think about this for a second: "Definitely" comes from the word "definite." So remember, when you want to write this word out, think of its root word and you'll be mistake-free!

The 3 theres.

Their There and They're

We all learned the difference between these three words in middle school, maybe you reviewed it in high school a bit, but once college comes people forget their purpose in the English language.
Before I get into the three there's, you should know a tiny bit about the parts of speech so you aren't totally lost. Here's a few of the parts of speech...
Noun: name of anything
Pronoun: takes place of a noun (he, she, it)
Adjective: tell the kind of noun/pronoun; describes noun
Verb: action word (I hope you knew that one already)
Adverb: tells how something is done; describes verb
Interjection: shows surprise
Contraction: combining two words with an apostrophe to make a shortened version

First off, their. It is a pronoun that shows possession. Often, it is followed by a noun. 
Example: Please bring the money to their house

Once you know the why of things in the English language, you can use the words right because you understand the explanation of their usage.

Next, there.  It's simple Use this one to refer to any place. It can serve as a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, an adverb, and even an interjection. See above for their definitions.
Example: Over there is where we can sleep.

Finally, they're. This one should be the easiest to remember its function. It is a contraction that joins they and are. So really it's just used if you want to combine these two words. It is the combination of two parts of speech, a pronoun (as the subject) and a verb.
Example: They're not ready for the exam. 
See how they're joins they and are? That sentence means the same thing as, They are not ready for the exam. So remember: if you can replace they're with they are and it makes sense, you got the right one.

Your and You're.

For anyone who understands grammar, this is one of our BIGGEST pet peeves.  The reason why it bugs us grammar-sticklers is because it's not that hard, at all. It's so easy to just put an apostrophe and an re. Since it's so damn easy to do, this obviously means that people literally do not understand when to use you're and your. So let's go over it.

You're is a conjunction. This means that it connects two words with an apostrophe. How I think about: When what I mean to say is you are, then I know to use you're because, obviously this is what you are means.  My question is this- do people even know that you're is just a simplified version of you are? So whenever you what you mean to say is you are, remember: apostrophe re. All you're doing is taking out the a in are and replacing it with an apostrophe to show that you simplified the two words into the conjunction you're.
You are and you're MEAN THE SAME THING.

For example: You're weird looking. This can also be said as You are weird looking.
Next is your which I find much easier to understand because if you're not trying to say you are, then you use your every other time. It's that simple.  The word your is a pronoun, in possessive adjective form.  Think about what this means- it is showing possession and modifying another word (which is what an adjective does.)
For example: Is that your car?  your is modifying car and showing possession.

I sort of feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders after finally ranting like that. It's really not that hard to understand and I pity people who can't get it straight.

I did good.

     So I rewrote this about five times because I had no idea where to start.  There's so many grammatical errors that people commit over and over.  It literally drives me crazy. I know it may seem like it's not a big deal, but being able to speak and write well is so important. Notice how I didn't say "write good?" If you can sound eloquent and smart when you speak, it makes the difference. I promise.  Think about it.  If you're (no, not "your") at an interview and you use the wrong tense of a verb or, you incessantly say "I did good," you can end up sounding uneducated.
     Say it's been narrowed down to you and one other person for this job position.  You have equal experience and the employer thinks you could both be fit for the position. However, the other person speaks well and also knows that she is doing "well," not "good" today. Speaking improper English says so much about a person. It could potentially make-or-break this type of scenario. You are making audible the things you've learned in school when you speak. Talking like a caveman isn't okay.  You want to show that you paid (not payed) attention in school and actually know how to talk.
   So I just wanted to make a little introductory post that explains a bit about why I think it's important.

Description

     On this blog I am basically just going to address common grammatical errors made when writing and speaking. This includes spelling, sentence structure, formatting, and parts of speech.  I want to make people aware that how you present your words can make quite an impression on the person you're addressing, especially with things like resumes and papers. It may not seem like a big deal, but it can make a big difference.  I hope to make known the most common misconceptions in the English language because to me, knowing the basics is crucial.