Sunday, September 27, 2015

Topical Guide - Jeffrey Herbert

While reading in the Topical Guide, I have found some great grammar and editorial tips that have helped me in my writing. I write a lot of brand content for the digital marketing agency I work for. Some of these rules have made my life so much easier when writing! The first one I really benefited from is the rule for “more than/over.” I would always write sentences like, “Over 50 people attended the event this weekend,” and it was wrong this whole time. I will now always remember to use “more than” for figures and amounts and “over” when referring to a spatial relationship (as the text phrases it).

Another mistake I would commonly make was mixing up “farther/further.” The two stand for quite different meanings. “Farther” is used when referring to actual distance where “further” refers to degree, time or quantity. One little letter can make all the difference when writing, so it’s always important to go back and proofread every last word. Not doing so can be costly!


In the world of grammar and editing mistakes, I found the greatest error of all time. It’s rather obvious, but in case you can’t see it, “hoping” is spelled completely wrong. I found this card at my friend’s house for her mother who just had surgery. I don’t know if this painful error is helping the recovery process at all, but it’s the thought that counts, right?


1 comment:

  1. Nice post! An instructor told me that "farther" is for physical distances and "further" is for conversations about ideas and time. Your definition clears a lot up. The mistake on the card is made me chuckle. It's the thought that counts, right? Unless your friend's mother was English teacher...

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