The Grammar Police: Lesson One. There, they're and their.

Hello all,
 
Now I am aware that this is the internet, and people do not come here to Giantbomb to be lectured on correct sentence structure and grammar. Indeed people often intentionally type incorrectly on the internet as a way to kick back and as a means of convenience (e.g u r lame). 
However it is disheartening to see people make simple mistakes that I am certain carries over to their actual lives. Simple mistakes that are easily corrected when thought about. I myself am not the worlds premier writer or expert on grammar, and I often make plenty of mistakes. However there are some things that really irritate me and, no matter how much thought you put into your topics or threads, if you make one of these mistakes, it shows that you are not all that intelligent and essentially invalidates your arguments. I know that last bit was fairly judgemental but how you write can change the validity of the content.
 
So quite simply:
 
1. There = refers to a location or a particular point. Examples: Right = I am going over there. I see what you did there. 
                                                                                                  Wrong = Their is a fair point you have made.
2. Their = refers to ownership, something belonging or associated with one or more persons. Examples:
                                                                                                  Right = That is their opinion. I like their game collection.
                                                                                                  Wrong = I see what you did their.
3. They're = merely a contraction of 'they are'. Examples:
                                                                                                  Right = They're going to the ball game today.
                                                                                                  Wrong = They're games are amazing.
 
So to conclude, I know I'm going to come across as an English snob and a bit of a dickhead, but that's ok. If someone, somewhere, learns something from this, then I have achieved something. 
 
Cheers everyone.

Hello all,
 
Now I am aware that this is the internet, and people do not come here to Giantbomb to be lectured on correct sentence structure and grammar. Indeed people often intentionally type incorrectly on the internet as a way to kick back and as a means of convenience (e.g u r lame). 
However it is disheartening to see people make simple mistakes that I am certain carries over to their actual lives. Simple mistakes that are easily corrected when thought about. I myself am not the worlds premier writer or expert on grammar, and I often make plenty of mistakes. However there are some things that really irritate me and, no matter how much thought you put into your topics or threads, if you make one of these mistakes, it shows that you are not all that intelligent and essentially invalidates your arguments. I know that last bit was fairly judgemental but how you write can change the validity of the content.
 
So quite simply:
 
1. There = refers to a location or a particular point. Examples: Right = I am going over there. I see what you did there. 
                                                                                                  Wrong = Their is a fair point you have made.
2. Their = refers to ownership, something belonging or associated with one or more persons. Examples:
                                                                                                  Right = That is their opinion. I like their game collection.
                                                                                                  Wrong = I see what you did their.
3. They're = merely a contraction of 'they are'. Examples:
                                                                                                  Right = They're going to the ball game today.
                                                                                                  Wrong = They're games are amazing.
 
So to conclude, I know I'm going to come across as an English snob and a bit of a dickhead, but that's ok. If someone, somewhere, learns something from this, then I have achieved something. 
 
Cheers everyone.

You call them mistakes. Some would call it culture.

see?  
who needs elementary school when you have this guy?
 
thank you, kind sir!

Yeah I think people should learn that already... I mean, you should know what you're saying and what the words mean.  When it comes to good grammar and all that, I don't really care usually.  If I write the way I've actually been taught to, I'd just come off sounding too serious.

Their seems to be they're police out for some of there police problems.

" You call them mistakes. Some would call it culture. "

The grammar and spelling mistake on simple words such as those really annoy me. People also fuck up on "than" and "then". Admittedly, I didn't even know the difference.
 
Can't think of any other common simple mistakes in grammar or spelling.

" @Icil said:

" You call them mistakes. Some would call it culture. "

And some people rightly call bacterial overgrowth 'culture'. "

" @Icil said:

" You call them mistakes. Some would call it culture. "

And some people rightly call bacterial overgrowth 'culture'. "

" The grammar and spelling mistake on simple words such as those really annoy me. People also fuck up on "than" and "then". Admittedly, I didn't even know the difference.  Can't think of any other common simple mistakes in grammar or spelling. "

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @Icil said:

" You call them mistakes. Some would call it culture. "

And some people rightly call bacterial overgrowth 'culture'. "

Look at the examples the OP gave as 'wrong' sentences. Even though the wrong forms of words are used, you still understand the meaning, yes? Does 'their' really need three different forms, then? Why not three definitions? There's a very complex system of picking and choosing that manifests in the form of broken English. But it's only broken in convention, not in meaning. 
 
I pity you for needing different forms of 'their' to get your message across. 'Dumb' people on the internet have figured out that you really need just one form, and the meaning gets across just fine. English evolves. The conventions they're using are wrong, sure, but wrong conventions doesn't mean English is being bastardized. It's being modernized. "

Their over they're on there grammer-knatzi mobile. Did I done it!

" Their over they're on there grammer-knatzi mobile. Did I done it! "

I am a fan of broken English. I think there's a beauty to how one can utilize partial words, or fragments, or grammatically incorrect phrases to get their point across. I think it's what lead me to rap music. 
 
However, I am driven mad by the complete lack of punctuation. Now, I'm not going to critique someone for using a colon instead of a semicolon. That's ridiculous, and I'm not that anal about it, but for the sake of flow, people need to use commas. I hate having to re-read someone's post because I don't fully understand how they wanted it to sound when read aloud. It's a problem, for the way you read a sentence can change the entire meaning of it, it's why sarcasm doesn't work on the internet.  
 
Also, and this is only formatting, I've noticed some people still posts walls of text. I remember a poster in another thread said something along the lines of: 
" Press the enter key once in a while. It's good for you. "  <---- Sound Advice  
 
Luckily, I think Giant Bomb is pretty good about this kind of stuff. Most people articulate their ideas well, and save for the occasional flame-war, everyone's pretty civil to each other. Intelligent conversation happens here, and that's rare for the internet.   

"However, I am driven mad by the complete lack of punctuation."

Look at the examples the OP gave as 'wrong' sentences. Even though the wrong forms of words are used, you still understand the meaning, yes? Does 'their' really need three different forms, then? Why not three definitions? There's a very complex system of picking and choosing that manifests in the form of broken English. But it's only broken in convention, not in meaning. 
 
I pity you for needing different forms of 'their' to get your message across. 'Dumb' people on the internet have figured out that you really need just one form, and the meaning gets across just fine. English evolves. The conventions they're using are wrong, sure, but wrong conventions doesn't mean English is being bastardized. It's being modernized. "

"And yet you yourself wrote this comment with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You're just trying to annoy people, and I'm not sure why. "

" @Icil said:

Look at the examples the OP gave as 'wrong' sentences. Even though the wrong forms of words are used, you still understand the meaning, yes? Does 'their' really need three different forms, then? Why not three definitions? There's a very complex system of picking and choosing that manifests in the form of broken English. But it's only broken in convention, not in meaning. 
 
I pity you for needing different forms of 'their' to get your message across. 'Dumb' people on the internet have figured out that you really need just one form, and the meaning gets across just fine. English evolves. The conventions they're using are wrong, sure, but wrong conventions doesn't mean English is being bastardized. It's being modernized. "

And yet you yourself wrote this comment with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You're just trying to annoy people, and I'm not sure why. "

As I mentioned in my original post, I am not trying to get people to write in a formal style. However, it irritates me when people get simple things wrong like the use of 'their, they're and there'. I believe that a lot of people who do this are not aware of the errors they are making and this simply makes their writing look less sophisticated at times when it actually matters. In school assignments, exams, application letters etc. This is the main purpose of my 'lesson', not to criticise people for the way they write on the internet, but to assist with those who are ignorant to the problems. The English language is indeed evolving, but these rules still exist for the time being.
 
Also to the guy who criticised the way I wrote, I don't think he understood the entire point of my thread. I stated myself that my writing style is not formally correct or the be all and end all. I do teach English, I have published works through university and am actually quite accomplished in this arena. I do have my own style of writing, which perhaps he failed to notice. People can write however they want to write, and I am happy for people to subvert conventions, but they should at least be aware of those conventions.

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @Icil said:

" You call them mistakes. Some would call it culture. "

And some people rightly call bacterial overgrowth 'culture'. "

Look at the examples the OP gave as 'wrong' sentences. Even though the wrong forms of words are used, you still understand the meaning, yes? Does 'their' really need three different forms, then? Why not three definitions? There's a very complex system of picking and choosing that manifests in the form of broken English. But it's only broken in convention, not in meaning. 
 
I pity you for needing different forms of 'their' to get your message across. 'Dumb' people on the internet have figured out that you really need just one form, and the meaning gets across just fine. English evolves. The conventions they're using are wrong, sure, but wrong conventions doesn't mean English is being bastardized. It's being modernized. "

I stopped caring about this a long time ago. The only thing that still pisses me off is "definately". It's definitely people!

So "police" is just a nicer way to say "Nazi" now? 

" So "police" is just a nicer way to say "Nazi" now?  "

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @Icil said:

" You call them mistakes. Some would call it culture. "

And some people rightly call bacterial overgrowth 'culture'. "

Look at the examples the OP gave as 'wrong' sentences. Even though the wrong forms of words are used, you still understand the meaning, yes? Does 'their' really need three different forms, then? Why not three definitions? There's a very complex system of picking and choosing that manifests in the form of broken English. But it's only broken in convention, not in meaning. 
 
I pity you for needing different forms of 'their' to get your message across. 'Dumb' people on the internet have figured out that you really need just one form, and the meaning gets across just fine. English evolves. The conventions they're using are wrong, sure, but wrong conventions doesn't mean English is being bastardized. It's being modernized. "

" @DOUBLESHOCK: yea, I don't expect that people will use nothing but formal language. It's more for when I see people making mistakes with words like 'there' that makes it clear that these are mistakes they naturally make and it effects all their writing. Thanks for your feedback "

I love you're blog.

Its not that hard, if you pay attention to what your typing.

This is the way I see it: If the people you're trying to educate didn't pay enough attention in English class to learn the difference between 'there', 'their' and 'they're', I seriously doubt they're gonna pay attention to this blog post.

Your very nice for teaching people grammer.  They're minds should be uplifted with knowledge now.

The gammar police they live inside of my head.

if i was doing an english exam, i would do it properly. however, since i'm on an internet forum with generally intelligent people i can hope that they'll be able to decypher my myriad of grammatical mistakes.

Runnin' from the po-lice, thats write

If you judge someone's argument based on their grammar mistakes, that's a flagrant fallacy.  But I have to admit that I have similar negative feelings if someone's consistently egregious with their mistakes (see what I did just now?  I hope not).  A personal pet peeve is its and it's.  
 
Languages, though, have been evolving for about as long as they've existed, and all these grammar and spelling rules are largely an attempt to stem the tide of change that is natural in language.  Given that, and the fact that I'm just as capable of fiddly mistakes that someone could nerd out and judge harshly, I prefer to take this tack:

I do my best not to judge others for crappy spelling and grammar, but I reserve the right to feel joy and kinship with someone who's willing to put in the extra effort to do things close to some species of correct.  Effort in general, I think, is what should be rewarded in these cases anyway. At the same time, I'm also happy to see when someone willingly bends the rules to make this imperfect structure obey them better.

I remember there by tHere, and here is a location. They're is an easy one its just they are. And all that's left is their.

There really isn't any need to be posting this on Giant Bomb. People really should chill out a bit.

" @Captain_Insano said:

" @DOUBLESHOCK: yea, I don't expect that people will use nothing but formal language. It's more for when I see people making mistakes with words like 'there' that makes it clear that these are mistakes they naturally make and it effects all their writing. Thanks for your feedback "

Your next lesson should be on the proper usage of effects and affects... "

When will we discuss effect and affect?

i dnt now wat ur talkng abot i punksuate all the time gr8 and theirs neva any1 complainin usally

" @Fbomb said:

" @Captain_Insano said:

" @DOUBLESHOCK: yea, I don't expect that people will use nothing but formal language. It's more for when I see people making mistakes with words like 'there' that makes it clear that these are mistakes they naturally make and it effects all their writing. Thanks for your feedback "

Your next lesson should be on the proper usage of effects and affects... "

Oh yes! Please do the lesson on "affect" versus "effect." At my last job, I derailed a meeting for thirty minutes when I brought that up and we still couldn't figure out what the difference was. If that makes me an idiot, then fine. I'm comfortable with that. Looking back, there were at least eight people with laptops that could have Googled it. Perhaps they were the idiots. As far as the topic of this thread is concerned, I don't really worry about it too much. Sometimes, when typing something out super-fast, I'll confuse "since" with "sense." I usually catch it before I post, but sometimes I don't. I'm willing to cut people some slack. However, if I see an entire post that's littered with typos and punctuation errors, I'm less inclined to take what they say seriously (assuming that I can even be bothered to finish the post.) "

" You call them mistakes. Some would call it culture. "

Now teach us "whom" and semi-colons.

Learn to use commas the next time you want to act like a grammar nazi. Thanks.