7 Spelling and Grammar Mistakes that Make You Look Not-So-Smart

The truth is that poor spelling and grammar can destroy a professional image in an instant.

Even in the age of emojis, Zoom meetings, texting and chats, proper written communication is a big part of business and how you write reflects on you, especially in your job search, where the competition is tight and small mistakes can cost you.

Bad grammar and spelling can make a bad impression, and that moment can make them pass you over, so don't let yourself lose an opportunity over a simple spelling or grammar mistake.

Here are some common spelling and grammatical errors that I see consistently in emails, cover letters and resumes, online media and publications.

Tip: If you know you sometimes make these errors, make yourself a little card-sized cheat sheet of the words to remember and keep it in your wallet for easy reference.

You're / You're

The apostrophe in the middle of a word tells you that it’s a contraction of two words and one or more letters is missing.

“You’re” is a contraction of "you” and “are.” But "your" and “yours” means it belongs to you, as in it's your car, the car is yours.

• you're = the shortcut for "you are"
• your / yours = belonging to you

You're going to love your new job!

It's / Its

This apostrophe is especially confusing, because while apostrophes are used in contractions, they’re also used to indicate ownership, as in "Dad's new car."

But "it's" is actually the contraction version of "it is" or "it has." "Its" with no apostrophe means belonging to it.

• it's = it is / it has
• its = belonging to it, no apostrophe, just like his and hers don’t need an apostrophe

It's important to remember to bring your telephone and its extra battery.

They're / Their / Theirs / There

Just like “you’re” and “it’s,” "they're" is a contraction of "they are."

And just like yours and its, "their" and “theirs” means belonging to them. This is “their” book. The book is theirs.”

And then there is "there," which refers to a place (notice that the word "here" is part of the word “there”, which is also a place – so if it says here and there, it's a place).

• they're = they are
• their / theirs = belonging to them
• there = a place

They're going to miss their teachers when they leave there, but the future will be theirs.

Loose / Lose

I confess this makes me the craziest, because these spellings really don't make much sense, so you just have to remember them, which is easier with some rhyming tricks.

• "Loose" is the opposite of tight, and rhymes with goose or caboose.
• "Lose" is the opposite of win, and rhymes with booze or cruise.

Honestly, it’s pretty ridiculous that these rhyming words are all spelled differently, isn’t it? And these are the worst.

I’m amazed at how confusing English can be... for example, compare the words "choose" and "chose," which are spelled the same as “loose” and “lose” except the initial sounds, but each word is actually pronounced differently.

So here are some memory tricks to try to remember:

• loose = “there’s a goose on the loose and it’s riding the caboose.” (Sing this like a little song with a funny visual and you’ll never forget it.)
• lose = "lose lost an O, where did it go?" is a memory trick that could help.

I never thought I could lose so much weight; now my pants are too loose!

Lead / Led

Another very common but glaring error to watch for is the present and past tense of “lead,” as in to lead the team to victory or play the lead in the play. The past tense of “to lead” is “led” which is pronounced, well, “led.”

The mistake many people make is spelling “led” as “lead,” but that’s the word for the graphite used in pencils that we call a “pencil lead” (pronounced “led”).

(And I know, the fact that the present and past tense of "read" are spelled the same, but prounounced differently, doesn't help at all, does it?)

But on this one, the verb “lead” means you're doing it in the present, and rhymes with deed. "Led" is the past tense of lead, and rhymes with sled.

So you can "lead" your current organization today, but you "led" the team in your previous job.

• Lead = present tense, rhymes with deed
• Led = past tense, rhymes with sled

My goal is to lead this team to success, just as I led my past teams into winning award after award.

A lot / Alot / Allot

First the bad news: there is no such word as "alot," so please stop writing it this way. "A lot" refers to quantity, and "allot" means to distribute or parcel out.

There is a lot of confusion about this one, so I'm going to allot ten minutes to review these rules of grammar.

Between you and I / between you and me

This one is widely misused, even by TV news anchors and journalists who should know better.

In English, we use a different pronoun depending on whether it's the subject or the object of the sentence: I/me, she/her, he/him, we/us, they/them.

The personal pronouns used to describe the subject of a sentence are I/she/he/we/they. The pronouns used to describe the object of the sentence are me/her/him/us/them.

As we learn to speak English, it oon becomes second nature for us to know which pronoun is correct, and we rarely make mistakes with the glaring exception of when we have to choose between "you and I" or "you and me."

We know to say "I love her" and not "me love she" and we know to say "he loves them" and not "him loves they."

And if you were talking about a secret between your friend and another person, you’d naturally say "I know there is a secret between you and her” and it would be super-weird if you said “I know there’s a secret between you and she.” Am I right?

And you’re not likely to say “him did a great job” or “them are going to leave early.” It is glaringly incorrect, which is what “between you and I” is to those who know the rules of English grammar. (And yes, the evolving nature of language is a worthy conversation, but not a priority when you are looking for a job.)

Here’s the easy way to know what’s right: replace the "you and I" or "you and me" with either "we" or "us" and you'll quickly see whether you need the subject or object version. 

Between you and me (us), here are the real secrets to how you and I (we) can learn to write better. 

These are some of the common errors I see, and I'm already starting a new list of others, so please share any of your own spelling peeves I may have missed!