Weddingbee PRO
… I learned from Weddingbee!
I think proper spelling and grammar is especially important when you’re a business professional, so I thought I’d write a post about it. Here is a list of the ten most common mistakes I come across on wedding and vendor blogs:
1) its vs it’s - It’s is not a possessive form, and always means it is.
2) You’re vs. your - You’re means you are and your is the possessive form of you.
3) Misuse of apostrophes to indicate possessives - Sometimes they’re left out, and sometimes they’re used when they’re not required.
4) Palette vs. palate - A color palette is different from having a refined taste palate.
5) Peek vs. peak vs. pique- To give someone a sneak peek vs. reaching the peak of a mountain vs. to pique someone’s interest.
6) i.e. vs. e.g. - i.e. means “in other words” and e.g. means “for example”. Most people use i.e. when they should use e.g. (I was totally guilty of this one!)
7) Compliment vs. complement - To pay someone a nice compliment is different from colors that complement each other.
8 ) I vs. me - Correct usages: Mr. Bee and I are going to move. This apartment belongs to Mr. Bee and me.
Incorrect usage: This apartment belongs to Mr. Bee and I.
9) Comma splice - A comma splice is when you join two sentences with a comma, but they each make sense as independent sentences.
I love Weddingbee PRO, it’s such an addictive site
I could turn that into two separate sentences, or add a semicolon since they are related thoughts.
I love Weddingbee PRO; it’s such an addictive site.
10) adieu vs. ado - I bid you adieu (goodbye) vs. Without further ado.
Bonus: stationery vs. stationary - I’ve already covered this in a previous post.
Want to brush up on your grammar? Check out The Elements of Style! Every grammar rule is also just a google search away. But I’m certainly no expert, so please feel free to chime in! 
What are some common grammar mistakes that you come across?
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@Miss Penguin: wait, you mean people type “wahlahh”? or, they pronounce “voila” that way…?
Here’s a rule that no one seems to remember, and it drives me nuts: commas and periods _always_ go inside quotation marks. Always. People always find creative reasons to abrogate the rule.
wow. I’m shocked - I’m a non-native speaker and even I know these basic grammar rules (but I make a lot of other mistakes )
I have a tip for determining whether to use “I” or “me.” Test out the sentence without referencing the other person. For example, one would not say “This apartment belongs to I” or “Me am going to the movies.”
Great post!
I’ve found that no one knows how to use ‘fewer’ or ‘less’. If you can count them, it’s fewer. If you can’t, it’s less. There are FEWER people here than I expected; it’s LESS crowded than I expected.
Pengy, I was just going to write the same thing!!! I have seen people write “wahlah” and I kind of shake my head in embarrassment…. people don’t know that “voila” is the French word that they’re always hearing people say??
I’m shocked that anyone actually makes these mistakes. Above the age of ten, that is.
@lou: Before I started editing for Weddingbee I was guilty of breaking many of these rules. Rule #1 was my weakness… I definitely didn’t know the difference between its and it’s. I’m not sure I ever even learned it…. and have no idea how I even went through college, now that I think about it! When editing, I still constantly miss the “palette vs palate” thing… it still takes a lot for it to register in my brain if someone has misused it, and also, if I see “stationary”, it still slips by me, no matter how much Mrs. Bee blogs about it! I think 95% of people type “stationary” in reference to paper goods… I’m just so used to it!
In every day life, one that really bothers me is: “I’m doing good.” It should be “I’m doing well” or else they’re always doing some good or charitable task, which isn’t usually the case!
My personal favorite is “their” vs “there”. It’s so basic, and I cringe at how often I see that mistake.
@Miss Penguin: I would like to thank you for editing my posts. I know I’m not the best at grammar.
Yes, thank you to both Mrs. Bee and Pengy for editing our post. I cringe when I think of all the errors I make.
And I second Miss Hot Cocoa- about the quotation marks- my boss does that and it drives me nuts!!
A mistake that always gets me is “lose” vs “loose”. The former means to misplace something and the latter is something that is not tight. I feel like people don’t make this mistake as much in real life, but on the net it’s rampant. (And yeah, I checked myself to make sure I was using that apostrophe in it’s correctly!)
I can’t stand it when people mean to say “sequins” but spell it “sequence”!!!
Laurel, I’m guilty. I really didn’t know. Thanks for the lesson.
Thanks for writing this post. Number 8 drives me up the wall.
Great post!! Grammar is a big pet peeve of mine, and since we’re in the written world and not the speaking world, I see it all the time!! I do see how the English language is the hardest to master, what with pear and pair, tear and tear, read and read. Up until a couple years ago, FI thought the Reading Railroad was the Reding Railroad!!
The misuse of the word ‘ambivalent’ really annoys me as well. It does not mean undecided. It does not mean “I don’t care”.
Related to #8 is the improper use of “myself.” That one really drives me batty, and it’s everywhere. “Eric, Gwendolyn, and myself are going to lunch.” Again, as Gemini606 suggested, test the sentence by taking out the other people. Would you really say “Myself is going to lunch?”
I’m with doctorgirl — misuse of “lose” and “loose” drives me crazy.
I learned all of these rules in high school rhetoric class. Do they not teach that anymore?
It bugs me when people use “infamous” instead of “famous.” “Infamous” means it’s famous but in a bad way.
E.g. Britney was infamous for stuffing her face with junk food at her wedding.
One that drives me crazy is making a last name plural - the Smiths vs. the Smith’s. The first refers to the Smith family and is the correct way to make a last name plural. The second refers to something that belongs to a person named Smith.
I don’t know why it annoys me when I see the apostrophe erroneously used when trying to make a last name plural, but it does!
I just thought of two more things that bug me:
1. When someone writes “should of” when it should be “should have.”
2. When someone writes “if I was a doctor” — it should be “if I WERE a doctor.” “Was” should never follow “if” — it should always be “were.” Once I learned this, I realized just how often people mess that up!
I always have issues with “effect” and “affect.” I used to be okay….until a friend of mine wanted me to explain it to her. I think I confused myself trying to explain, and now I’m all mixed up and use the wrong one all the time. Her suggestion was to just always use “uhhffect.” 
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Mrs. Bee, New York
Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet
Engagement Date: May 7, 2004
Wedding Date: March 5, 2005
Venue: Westside Loft, New York
About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
People write “viola” or “wahlahh” all the time when they mean “voila”