Dear Casper: Can We Please Use Correct Grammar?
A personal pet peeve of mine is not using "there, their and they're" correctly, so here's a quick rundown to aid in your everyday texting and social media posts.
First, let me state that although I have some college schooling, I do not have a degree. Regardless, my high school graduate education is sufficient to know the difference in the correct uses of the three words.
Let me also state that my intention was not to come across as pompous or bougie (yes, that is the correct spelling; I'm not a member of Migos, so I don't care what the song says, boujee is not a word).
Let's get down it:
- There - in, at, or to that place or position; used in attracting someone's attention or calling attention to someone or something. Example: Stop right there.
- Their - of or relating to them or themselves especially as possessors, agents, or objects of an action. Example: Their house is always clean.
- They're - contraction for they are. Example: They're going to prom together.
I realize that often in text messages and social media posts, people are often in a rush and if I'm being honest, even I have been known to mess them up, but I try very hard to be grammatically correct at all times.
Look, it's just a pet peeve and I'm not your teacher or parent, but I am a bit of a "Grammar Nazis" (for lack of a better description), so I will more than likely call you out on it, if I notice.
My kids hate that I do it to them, but my mother and grandmother did it to me, so I'm just passing it on.
There, there, there... it'll be okay. #ThatWasFunny #SorryNotSorry