Good Grammar Costs Nothing (Almost)

For those of you who have yet to sign up for a "Write More Good" copywriting workshop (like the one at The Smart Center Santa Fe June 21–25), here's a bit of free knowledge from me to you. For those who've already made a financial commitment to improving your writing skills, don't worry. We don't cover this stuff much in the workshop, so you'll still get your money's worth with tons of fresh content. In fact, anyone who cares to follow this new string of posts should simply consider it "bonus" material.

But enough about that. You're here to read about grammar.

Notice that I didn't write, "YOUR here to read about grammar." Because that's incorrect.

And that's just the kind of thing you'll find me citing here -- those tricky little choices one faces each and everyday.

Wait. It's actually "every day." "Everyday" means "common" or "ordinary."

See?

Let's review:

1. You're vs. Your

Your = Belonging to You. Look at your belly-button. It's yours. You own it.

You're = "You Are." Any time you see an apostrophe in a word, that means it's (it is) a combination of two separate words. You're currently reading my blog = "You are currently reading my blog." I'm not readingyour blog. You're reading mine.

2. Everyday vs. Every Day

Everyday = Ordinary. Misusing "everyday" is an everyday occurrence.

Every Day = Daily. Every day (every day) / every day (every day) / every day Elvis Costello writes the book.

Stay tuned for more posts under the label "Good Grammar Costs Nothing."