Can you suck at grammer and have a successful blog

Good grammar is nice, but so long as it doesn’t make the information too hard to read, the quality of information can trump good grammar.

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There are a few grammatical errors I cant stand. The usual, your vs you’re, there their they’re, but a few errors here and there dont matter. Its more the message than the delivery. However a post like this would drive me away if it werent on purpose. No one wants to read an angsty teenagers blog. Like totally.

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Shoemoney, you’ve proved that grammer don’t matter. It ain’t nothin’ but a thing.

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I think most blogs are informal enough that a few grammar slips here and there are not the end of the world. However, I think poor grammar from sloppy typing or poor proofreading is probably more forgivable than just a basic lack of understanding of grammatical rules. Really poor written grammar can undermine your credibility if people just think you are a moron.

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well you might start with learning the difference between spelling and grammar, to help make your joke funny

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I think it depends on the topic and environment. If you are just ranting or “chewing the fat” then grammar is not as important as long as your ideas are being conveyed. However, if you are selling ad services or writing ad copy, then poor grammar shows a lack of professionalism. In my humble opinion.

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Grammar has always taken a distant second to content and quality of info on the internet. The internet lends itself so nicely to information sharing (what it was designed for after all) that IMO it’s near impossible to dissatisfy someone who finds quality information just because of your grammar.

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It depends on the source…

If I’m reading a ‘professional’ publication like a newspaper or magazine and the grammar and spelling are bad, yeah, it irks me. Journalists and newspaper/magazine editors have supposedly done years of study in the use of language to earn their positions. If they can’t get the little details right, then what about the big details?

For blogs the same sort of thing applies, but I’m less worried about it. My grammar isn’t that great, so even though I want to improve it, I’m not as worried. A blogger may not have spent years training in the use of apostrophes, so as long as I understand the message I’m happy. Even so, I still like to see a little care taken.

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Not really my grammar use to be terrible when I first started my company I had typo’s on the website and everything due to my lazy writing which of course its not like that any more we actually have a great a content writer, blog author that takes care of our content for our website, but reguardless your grammar will improve by blogging and read other people’s blogs speaking your reading popular blogs because most generally the more popular blogs are well written because the blogger writes a lot.

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WTF?! You spelled like 3 things wrong?! You’d think with all this success that you’d learn to appreciate it and do us all a favor and spell right. SHEESH. I don’t want to have to decode your posts everytime I want to read em.

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Grammar doesnt really bother me.
But i need to understand what the author want to say..

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Professional type site: yes
Blog: nope, as long as I can understand what they are talking about.

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Their vs. there, you really need to learn the difference, drives me nuts.

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Yes, I think spelling and grammar matter.
You spend a lot of effort making the page layout nice right?
Bad grammar says you just don’t care about the product you’re putting out there.

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Grammar is and has always been a side consideration in writing for the internet. When writing on a medium designed for information exchange content and quality will always reign supreme. As long as incorrect grammar does not completely shroud the information being presented it should have no influence on its effectiveness.

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It matters. Except when bloggers basically make fun of noobs with words such as “cuz, srsly, etc. kinda like icanhascheezburger

But when someone isn’t from an English speaking country and their English is poo, I can’t read it.

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Not really, but the effort counts. Like your effort to put as much errors in as little words as possible hehe. It really depends who is blogging. If somebody whos second language is English makes mistakes it is more okay as if a native English speaking guy does it. The errors made are usually not found by a spell checker and I can relate to them, because I make them myself.

At the end of the day does the message matter the most to me. I’d rather read a honest post with errors than a post that was going through the hands of an editor, where the original message got lost. It’s a blog for christs sake, not a print magazine that takes weeks to make with 50 people double-checking everything.

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Good grammer is essential. If you’re writing in instant messaging, then you can write whatever you want. But for publishing, grammer is essential, unless you like promoting bad grammer. I f**cking hate it when people use poor grammer online. Perhaps the only place where it’s excused is for shady SEO purposes. I actually think Shoemoney misspells to rank for gkeywords. After all, it shouldn’t be a problem for an authority site.

And there lies the contradiction in my comment… :/

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I think it matters. I do not have the best grammer in the world but if a blogs grammer is consistently bad I won’t read it for long. It does depend on the kind of blog it is though. If it is a personal blog then there can be more leeway. If it is a professional blog or company blog then they better spend the time on grammer and spelling.

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it doesn’t. just look at some of john chow’s posts

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As long as the blogger is able to convey the message, I don’t really care for the grammer. This post is an example of that

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I dont tink it mattars alot. LOL seriously people pick on my grammar and spelling all the time. Some even say stuff like “I can’t take advice from this blog” over crap like a comma or an apostrophe. To such folks I say begone! Blogging is about the content not the grammar. Nice post shoe!

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Obvious bad grammar and misspellings turn me off, and leads to a less esteemed opinion author. I would also be less likely to be influenced by this person’s thoughts.

However, if there’s a misspelling here or there, then it won’t matter too much to me as long as the content is good.

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Run on sentences are what drive me crazy. I think professionals should know how to use punctuation.

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Grrrr…do you know howe bad that waz to actually reed it and know whant to korrect it?

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As long as I understand what the writer’s mean, grammar is not a matter for me..

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I believe that spelling is important, but grammar can be mangled to a degree. As long a reader can follow my writing intelligently it doesn’t matter if a verb is in the right place or the apostrophe is correct.

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Considering this blog isn’t your main source of income, no, I don’t think it’s important. But if someone is depending on making income from their blog, then yes, good grammar is necessary. Unless of course you’re able to effectively convey your ideas/thoughts with poor grammar.. whatever works. Sounds like a successful link baiting attempt to me. You should do me next

http://www.nullamatix.com/this-blogs-seo-score-is-better-than-shoemoneys/

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the message is most important. To the extent that bad grammar takes away from the msg it matters too. Poor grammar will expose you to criticism from those that don’t like the message

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I’m very bad also with in the grammer department. But I don’t write to a blog, I make turn key kinds of sites and often have bad spelling on them. I never really notice until I look back at the site and see. Often also on DP forums I write Whatever I have to say then look back and notice all the mistakes! . All my posts have “last edited by ”
every single one! Lets hope I didn’t make any mistakes with this post. LOL

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Obviously your blog is very successful despite an occation use of the wrong word hear or their.

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Well I visit this site quite often so it must not

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I hate bad grammar and try to be as correct as I can in my writing. Of course on AIM or stuff like that I tend to use “u and r” or other common letters to replace words, but in my blogging or writing I try to use good grammar.

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As long as the intent is understandable, no big issue. I wish the tools of Word for grammer worked in blogger though. I hate reviewing a piece just to go…”Doh” and tweak a bunch of little stuff.

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as long as its understandable i don’t feel like its a problem. I hate being flamed because i forgot a comma. Who really gives a shit?

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* can’t
* don’t
* weren’t

@shoe: If/when you ever publish your eBook, I’d advise having it proof read but it’s all good.

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my grammar is awful
and english is not my first language also. but i don’t think as it matter so i can continue blogging freely.

*can you even understand what i am trying to say here

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Yes, if you are good at connecting to people.
Have you ever seen a plain spoken, folksy public speaker who breaks all of the “Rules”?
Did they just resonate with you because they seemed “Real”? Well, that’s the only way that you can succeed if you’re not a very good writer. People will overlook your warts if they connect with you.

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THE PAOMNNEHAL PWEOR OF THE HMUAN MNID Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. Can you?

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Agreed

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Yes Jacky, I completely understand what you are saying.

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I posted grammar being important for nor so famous bloggers 2 days ago. Nice coincidence.

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Oh, I also dont give a shit about correctly typing the ‘ in contractions. Its a waste of my time.

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It matters if you have a .edu blog. But who the F cares if you have poor grammar, but know how to make millions. Spelling is the only thing that matters, and you get google traffic from misspellings too. It just matters that you can convey your ideas to others.

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Good grammar isn’t all that important in many cases. But bad grammar is a serious distraction from your message. Case in point - this post.

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Yes, proper grammar and spelling matter to me — quite a lot, in fact. I weep inside for the death of this part of our civilization, but obviously the trend is to stop caring about such things.

It’s not just on the Internet — I’ve been seeing a lot more errors in professionally printed items as well (newspapers, magazines, posters, etc.) I’m constantly appalled that people will spend so much money to have these things printed, but not bother to proofread them properly. Where have all the copy editors gone? I dying breed, I fear; or maybe they’re just in hiding, afraid of being labeled “grammar nazis.”

Still, this trend is hardly surprising — in this age of instant information gratification, the focus is on speed, and proofreading is a speed bump.

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lol , im turkish and im writing in english now i study at arabic language and literature ,since i havent practised my english aproximately for 1.5 years and learning multiple langugaes at same time i forgot some grammatical rules, but my alexa rank rises day by day although my grammar isnt perfect.. check my wack grammar..

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It’s less the grammar. It’s the spelling.
I couldn’t read too much of the food you just gave us

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I think good grammar and spelling are important. I always try and pay attention to both in what I write, and I am irritated by writing with poor spelling and grammar. However, if someone provides useful content, I won’t stop reading just because of poor spelling and grammar, unless it is very bad.

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Grammer and Spelling are important. But Spelling is more important than Grammer. All we suffer with bad spelled words.

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I’ve got to say that I’m a bit of a grammar-whore. However, it depends on the site. If it’s someone’s general blog, I won’t tend to mind much. If on the other hand, it’s a company site, I will. It smacks of being unprofessional, and thus insinuates that you don’t care.

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Both Grammer and Spelling are important. Spelling is more important than Grammer. All we suffer from misspelled words.

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Bad grammar and spelling can be misleading. And funny at the same time. Just like Icanhascheezburger.com

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I trip over bad grammar and spelling when I’m reading. The experience becomes incongruous and it ultimately takes longer to digest. So it annoys me a little. If the content is engaging enough though, I tend to race on ahead regardless.

Grammar & Spelling score minus content quality score. Zero or less and it stays

Aside from the fact that simple spelling/grammar scoring is also one of the best ways to combat spam..

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I blog in English which is my second language, so you will find tons of grammar and spelling mistakes. Nobody really cares to much but once in a while I get a nasty comment of a reader getting frustrated at me ;). Oh well, I try my best.

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Not everyone has english as their first language, so being critical about spelling and grammar, is discriminating against people from other countries.

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English is not my native language. I must admit my english is quite awful. and I don’t even realize that ShoeMoney’s english is considered as sloppy. What matters to me is that you -Shoemoney- gave us lot of valueable knowledge & insight. That’s what matter the most. Your lack in english is in fact inspire me even more. That you are merely a human who can do wrong in something that you best at (blogging for money). So I don’t have to be perfect as well to achieve success

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Grammar and spelling are most important if you want to write for someone else. On your own blog you can get away with practically anything, but if you’re trying to write professionally (i.e. as a job), then good grammar is essential.

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My grandparents mostly came over from Europe and their grammar was not all that hot.

My parents first learned their English from my grandparents, so they still had some errors built in to the code. I learned English from them, and then mostly surfed during English classes in high school, and bailed out in 11th grade and went to college. I am now having to learn hard lessons by studying grammar now.

The only thing that really matters is whether people understand your communication. Obviously 10’s of thousands of people want to hear what you say.

The tricky part is that if you did not learn the rules by the people you grew up around, (I grew up on the outskirts of a pretty ghetto area), it definitely takes time to study the rules and be able to apply them.

What really matters in the end is whether you were understood. I understand you just fine, and obviously tens of thousands do also.

Truly, much respect,
dk

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Haha… OK Shoe, you asked for it.

You’re grammar isn’t that bad. I grew up in Texas, so trust me.

You’re punctuation isn’t that bad either.

But your spelling… Your spelling is total shit.

That said, since so many bloggers online have terrible spelling, it doesn’t bother me that much. Personally I try to eliminate basic spelling and grammatical mistakes, not for my own sake, but as a courtesy to my reader. I also believe that people tend to be more critical over time and are not so forgiving when these posts are read a few years down the road.

I just think good spelling and grammar reflect well upon the writer and also help your writing communicate with greater clarity. Communication is really the whole point of writing. Yes, it takes more work, but the writer becomes more aware and the reader more informed. I think improvement (however small) is a goal we should all strive for.

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In most cases you’ll be forgiven, but like anything else, if you’re in a place where it counts you better bring some game.

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You might not care, and you might not care what people think of you either. None of us can control what other people think of us, but they might think a lot less of us if we have poor spelling and grammar. Good thing that’s not our problem.

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I like the way Shoe wrote “GRAMMER” in the title

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Completely agree.

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lmao. well done wit the vocabulabry! HAHA! good post. enjoyed the grammar jokes!

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Good grammar never ever offend anyone - but poor grammar does. And there is your answer!

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Wow, thanks for the link Shoe Obviously you have proved grammar doesn’t matter in your case! I think it’s because you have so much proven success people don’t care. I think it all depends on the blogger but thought I’d write on it as it’s an interesting little topic.

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i’ve always hated when people do not use grammar the right way

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So long as the content is interesting/useful and generally understandable I dont think it matters. There are always going to be people who moan, but if you start correcting grammar, they’ll always find something else to moan about.

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Not to me, If the content is good then who cares,

I mean seriously , how many peeeeeple rally have good garmer without mircosoft werd

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If you don’t have good content then grammar is important because having bad grammar is distracting. If you have good content, bad grammar is fine. Grammar is important for people who haven’t established credibility otherwise.

it’s akin to walking into a meeting with a suit. Business people expect a suit, so unless you’re wearing one you better be pretty good.

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Grammer and spelling matter a little bit. It took me twice as long to read your post this morning as it would have without the included errors. But, I was still able to understand, and enjoy, what you wrote. And yes, I know there are probably spelling and grammatical errors in my comment.

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Seriously folks, this is the Internet. 80% of the ‘net population speaks “lolz” and 19% speak fluent l33t. The remaining 1% of you use english, so you’re pretty much outnumbered and nobody much gives a shit about your desire for proper spelling and grammar. Like, hello, nobodyz usin ur language anyways dw33bs.

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The most important thing you need to sell in your blog is your personality. I think at one time or another we’ve all met very personable, charismatic people who may not have had the best grammar. As long as you succeed in selling yourself, who gives a f%$k about how “proper” your language is.

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Oh, my, yes, grammar matters. Do I expect perfection in every post I read or write? No. But do I expect a working knowledge of the way the language works? Hell yes! In fact, that’s the whole point behind my blog (grin)

(Oh, and it’s grammAr, with an “A”–you’ve got it spelled with an E in your title. Did I mention that I also think spelling counts?)

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I disagree with your comment ” you have good content, bad grammar is fine”. Your good content will most certainly suffer if your grammar is bad.

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Well before I read Shoemoney, I would have said that grammar is important. But now, naw. I’d much rather have a bank account like Jeremy’s than be a starving intellectual.

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If you were born in the U.S., grammar shouldn’t be a problem. Unless you failed the school system or something. lol

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Is Correct Spelling Important?

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I aulaclty cluod uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid — aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are pelacd, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be in the rghit pclaes. The rset can be a taotl mses and you sitll can raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh, and I awlyas thohugt slpeling was imtorpant. Just geos to sohw…

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I would not stop reading because of your bad grammar and spelling, mainly because the content you produce is interesting and valuable to me. That said, I notice and often wish you’d use a spell checker.

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First rate grammar and proper linguistics is imperative. That being said, I also feel it is a reflection upon the writer’s intelligence, edcuation and experience. It is simply a joy to read a blog that is dripping with eloquence and fascinating ideas. Having the ability to wield the English language with panache and vigor will stimulate and captivate the reader.

K Thx Bai! Peace out!

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It doesn’t matter that much to me but I do pick up on the misspellings and think “Shoe must have not proof read this blog post” when I’m reading the posts.

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I think he deliberetely spelled things wrong in this post. (Note: I did the same in this comment)

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Basic grammar isn’t that hard of a concept to grasp. It’s not a big enough issue to drive people away from your blog, but it sure helps those who read it. If a 5th grader can do it, so can you.

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Grammar is not synonymous with ‘good writer’. People are willing to overlook typos/mistakes, but they are not willing to overlook writing that is just plain bad.

Many people have a great writing voice and can connect with their readers because of it, regardless of grammar.

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I think it matters. Not enough to get me to stop reading, but it just irks me every time. There’s just the tiniest whiff of disrespect to your reader around the whole thing…but then again, some of the most smart/creative people I know/read are perpetrators of the crime, and I still read them (you!).

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Erica,

are you saying I drive you crazy

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But on the other hand’ I’m sure that you will agree that good content/bad grammar is always a better combination than bad content/great grammar.

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Exactly, a few errors here and there are perfectly understandable, especially if the information which is being published is great but, of course, there will always be a point when readers will say that enough is enough

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I agree that when you are offering certain services, being professional is a must but as far as blogging is concerned, things are a lot more personal and, as such, the occasional error will be forgiven

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You are correct and let’s face it, it’s always better to have a few folks “complain” over some grammar mistake then about the quality of your content

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Sure, grammar is important but having something to say is far more important than knowing how to say it.

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There are far more important things than grammar as people definitely prefer a few errors here and there which come as a result of the fact that something was written in a hurry rather than an awful/boring writing style.

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It’s always funny to see people obsessively correcting someone else his grammar.

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Yea but i think content is more important than grammar

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Puny grammar always makes the writer look bad. If that writer doles out information you desperately need, it’s a lot easier to be forgiving. But when his readers have other choices, the smart ones will wander off.

I wrote for many years without strong grammatical skills and got along OK because of editors. Then, I had to start teaching. Motivated by fear of student abuse, I spent a couple of years studying grammar and spelling rules. (This actually was kind of fun.)

I found my writing was greatly improved, not only by the clarity but by a kind of strength and confidence. Like being a by-the-ear musician and suddenly getting the ability to read music.

It is never too late to learn. I recommend “The Elements of Style” as a starting point. Killer book, short read.

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I dont think it matters as long as the reader can understand the point. It is just nice to have but if not it doesn’t matter.

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Well I wrote a post my my new blog today about the same thing, the Grammar Fairy left a comment regarding the wrong use of the word “there” and how it turned him off from my site. I really feel abd for the bloggers from countries who don’t speak english with this guy floating around.

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I couldn’t care any less about dangling participles, but basic sentence structure and good spelling can mean the difference between someone taking you seriously and someone thinking you are just another stupid kid with an attitude.

Learning good grammar is a simple way to gain an advantage in business. People should consider that.

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I had have at least two comments on my two most popular posts (over 10000 uniques in total) about complaints with my grammar. I think it needs to be readable but the odd mistake here and there will not stop you from being taken seriously. Or is that srsly? LOLZ.

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I agree, a brilliant mind does not mean good grammar. In fact, some people think so fast that they have a lot of trouble typing thei rthoughts, let alone use good grammar.

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As long as I can read it that is what matter, I do not have time to worry about your grammar

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No disrespect but if you do alot of blogging you do your best at spell checking, but if you sometimes forget or get too busy —- Please forgive us grammar challenged

Cheers

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I think it depends largely on the audience. If writing for business, then yes it matters. Sloppy spelling and bad grammar present an image that often doesn’t match the message businesses wish to portray. On the other hand, if your blogging for personal enjoyment, then grammar is less of a factor.

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hahhaha.. john chow suggests one has to have a perfect grammar

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128 bit encryption can also be broken. That doesn’t make it fun or convenient though does it?

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Hint: When John Chow speaks, cover your ears or take out your shotgun.

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I prefer good grammar on my blogs, but it doesn’t really matter to me what others do. Personally, I’d rather cash one of your checks and have bad grammar than have great grammar alone.

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sometimes when you have a great content, readers don´t analyze the grammar…

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Several people told me how my English improved over time and this is because of my blogging. I was writing a lot more and with the increased amount of time spent on writing, my English, including my Grammar got better. You should read some of my older stuff from lets say one and a half years ago hehehe.

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Every blogger should know how to use grammar and punctuation properly.
However, if they deliberately choose to ignore grammar and punctuation rules (in order to increase the effect of what they are trying to say) then that is a different matter.
James Joyce knew his grammar and punctuation better than most. But he deliberately chose to ignore it many of his great works of fiction.

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Yes, but i think the we are on the way of a new english that may be called “webingish”.

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In the end, I agree, it all boils down to the quality of your content: if you offer great information, visitors won’t care about a few grammar errors here and there, as long as you don’t go over-board.

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Actually, it’s no that they don’t know how to use grammar and punctuation but rather the fact that, being in a hurry every now and then, the occasional grammar error is inevitable.

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Yes, of course you can have then an succesfolblog.

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Grammar is important to me. I’d get annoyed if I kept correcting the mistakes in my head.

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Some things slip by people but if mistaken excessively, I think people would notice.

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Spellinig and grammer ain’t the same?

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