The 11 extremely common grammar mistakes that make people cringe—and make you look less smart: Word experts

By Kathy and Ross Petras for cnbc.com

No matter what type of work you do, good grammar is relevant for all organizations, and it can make a big difference in your career path.

As Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, an online repair manual company, wrote in a Harvard Business Review article, “if job hopefuls can’t distinguish between ‘to’ and ‘too,’ their applications go into the bin.”

A bit harsh? Sure, but he’s not alone. Again and again, we’ve heard managers complain about employees not knowing how to write a correct English sentence.

Here’s a look at 11 of the most common grammar mistakes — the ones we, as word experts and podcast hosts of NPR’s “You’re Saying it Wrong,” have heard about the most:

1. apostrophes

• Wrong: We need to get our sale’s numbers up.
• Right: We need to get our sales numbers up.

This is an example of the all-too-frequent attack of the unnecessary apostrophe. People see an “s” at the end of a word and think: Add an apostrophe!

But often they shouldn’t. You use an apostrophe in a contraction (e.g., “there is” to “there’s”) or to show possession (e.g., “the manager’s pet peeve”). You don’t use one if the “s” is there simply to make a word a plural.

2. everyday/every day

Wrong: He starts work everyday at 8 a.m.
Right: He starts work every day at 8 a.m.

Read more here.

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