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7 Handy tools to check your spelling and grammar

Dave Garbe, the owner of the design agency Solve Web Media in Cornwall, tells a story that is typical of his early days in the industry. I was in the process of hanging one hundred posters that I had designed for an event. Someone pointed out to me that I had misspelled the name of the event that was emblazoned across the cool design that I was so proud of as I was pasting up the last one in a massive public space as I was doing so. It was necessary to disassemble everything, pack everything up, and start over from scratch.

Any designer who asserts that they have not been subjected to something comparable is likely lying. Even if you are really good at spelling and grammar, and even if you make sure that everything is checked by multiple people, at some point in your professional life, an error of some kind is going to slip through the cracks.

Nevertheless, this does not make it a valid practice. Because you only get one shot at making a good first impression with clients, it is critical that you use proper spelling and grammar in all aspects of your work, from emails to the finished product of design work. In this article, I will first take a look at some of the most typical errors in spelling and grammar checker that creative people make, and then I will discuss some free tools that are available to help correct these errors.

This very article, in accordance with the precept of Sod’s Law, might contain a typographical error. If you find it, please let us know about it via Twitter, and you will be granted complete permission to make fun of it.

1. “Who” or “Whom”

The question of whether to use “who” or “whom” in a given sentence is one that stumps a lot of people. But if you want to take a shortcut, just replace this word with “he” or “him” and listen to both versions to determine which one sounds more natural.

If “he” is correct, then “who” should be used. If you mean “him,” then you should use “whom.” It’s possible that the words in the sentence will need to be rearranged slightly, but after you’ve done it a few times, it will become much simpler. Take, for instance:

Is the question “Who took my pen?” correct? or “Whom stole my pen”?

Answer: It sounds natural to say “He stole my pen,” but saying “He stole my pen” sounds ridiculous. So the answer is “Who.”

Is the question “To whom should I speak?” or “Who would you recommend I speak with?”

Answer: “He should I talk to” (or even better, “I should talk to him”) is a more natural-sounding way to phrase the question than “I should talk to he” or “He should I talk to.” So the answer is “Whom.”

2. “They’re”, “Their” or “There”

At school, all of us were taught the distinction between the words “they’re,” “their,” and “there.” And yet, it’s not uncommon for people to get these two things confused in their emails, and even more seriously, in their finished publications and design work. A quick refresher on the distinction is provided here.

“They’re” is short for “they are.” For instance, one might say, “They are prepared to leave at this time.”

The preposition “their” indicates that someone or some group of people are the owners of something. Take the sentence “They all took out their credit cards,” as an example.

The word “there” can refer to a location or a position. For instance, “Wait over there for a few minutes, and I’ll be with you as soon as I can” is an example of a sentence that can be used.

3. “Your” or “You’re”

Another common mistake that even well-educated people, who should know better, frequently make is confusing the words “your” and “you’re.” How to tell which one to use is as follows:

• “You’re” means “you are”. For instance, one could say, “You have excellent spelling and grammar.”
• The word “your” indicates that you are the owner of something. For instance, one might say, “Oh, dear, it looks like your house is on fire.”

4. “Its” or “It’s”

People frequently get “it’s” and “its” mixed up because they unconsciously apply the rule that they learned in school, which states that an apostrophe followed by a S is used to imply possession.

However, the word “it” is the only exception to this rule because of its singular nature. You DO NOT include an apostrophe in a sentence in which you are stating that “it” is the owner of something. So:

“It is” is what “It’s” refers to. Take for instance the phrase “It’s not a far walk from here to the station.”

“Its” implies possession. Take, for instance, the phrase “I love California. I adore the pleasant climate, the beautiful beaches, and the positive spirit of the people who live there.

5. “Affect” or “Effect”

People frequently switch between the use of the verbs “affect” and “effect,” even though they mean the same thing. However, their significance cannot be compared in any way.

• To “affect” something is to have an effect on it. For instance, “My inability to write has been hindered by the sprain I sustained in my wrist.”
• To “affect” something is to cause it to occur, and this is typically understood in a political or administrative context. Take, as an illustration, the statement that “The new government wants to effect major change in the housing market.”

6. “Literally”

When you say something “literally,” you are indicating that the words you are using should not be interpreted as an exaggeration or a metaphor, but rather that they mean exactly what they say.

If you were to say, for instance, that Lewis Hamilton was “on fire” during his most recent race, most people would assume that you meant to convey the idea that he was competing at an exceptionally high level. If, on the other hand, his car had experienced an engine failure that resulted in flames breaking out, you might want to qualify your statement by saying that he was “literally on fire.”

Sadly, in recent years, this word has been subjected to widespread misinterpretation, and in today’s day and age, even trained professionals frequently misuse it.

• People use it in a way that is completely contrary to what it actually means. A well-known illustration of this is the statement once made by the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg, who said, “You see people literally in a different galaxy who are paying extraordinarily low rates of tax.”
• Additionally, people use it as a synonym for “very” and “really.” Take, for instance, the phrase “I was literally hungover.” Even though this is not the most serious mistake that can be made, you will come across as much more knowledgeable if you simply use the words “very” or “really.”