HTML Tip:
Top 10 Spelling Errors

by Larisa Thomason,
Senior Web Analyst,
NetMechanic, Inc.

Is there anything worse than leaving a careless spelling or grammatical error on your Web page? You may proof the page ten times without finding it, but a visitor will find it immediately and be happy to alert you to it. Most word processing and HTML coding packages include spell checkers but unfortunately, spell checkers do only that - check spelling. Just because you spell a word correctly doesn't mean that it's the correct word!

Here are the top ten errors you're likely to notice when visiting Web pages. Use it as a beginning checklist to eliminate spelling and grammar errors from your own pages.

1. It's and Its

This is such a common error that you should routinely use the search function on your word processor or Web page editor to look at every instance individually to make sure you're using the correct word.

It's is a contraction meaning "it is" while its is the possessive form of it.

It's never a good idea to get between a dog and its favorite chew toy.

2. You, Your, and You're

This is another very common error that needs to be checked using the search function. While the previous example is a grammatical error, the confusion of you and your is usually a typo. You're is the contraction of "you are" and some people confuse it with your.

Since all three words are spelled correctly, spell checkers won't flag them. Then you end up with jewels like this on your Web page:

Don't delay! Place you order now! We offer free shipping if your in the United States.

Would you trust your credit card to that site?

3. Lose and Loose

Loose can have several meanings in English and is used an adjective, adverb, or a verb (although that's not very common). Here are some sample uses:

But lose is always a verb:

4. Compliment and Complement

These two homophones trip up even the most careful writers.

If you like your mother's new wallpaper, you'll compliment her on her decorating skills.

Complement has meanings in grammar, medicine, mathematics, and music, but it's most commonly used to indicate that something completes a set or matches it well.

When you compliment your mother's wallpaper, you might note how well the soft green color complements the off-white carpet.

5. Principal and Principle

A principle is a basic truth, policy, or action. People dedicate their lives and careers to upholding principles of truth and justice. Principals are people who uphold standards of good behavior in schools.

A school's principal should always stick to her principles.

Remember children: the principal is your pal!

6. Except and Accept

Except connotes exclusion or something left out, like an exception to the rule.

Accept means that you're receiving something, joining a group, entering into an agreement, etc.

I'd accept your romantic marriage proposal - except for one problem. I'm already married.

7. Affect and Effect

Affect is a verb: it acts upon something, someone, or an emotion, while effect is a noun. The words sound almost identical in conversation, but it's important to get them right in print!

The discovery that his wife could control the weather affected her husband rather badly.

The so-called "Wealth Effect" affected total consumer spending and debt levels far more than economists anticipated.

8. Peak and Pique

A peak is the top of a mountain or the highest point in something's development or intensity. Pique refers to an emotion - usually anger or curiosity.

In a fit of pique, the rock climber hurled his partner's favorite harness off the highest peak.

9. Assure, Insure and Ensure

The best explanation comes from the Dictionary.com site:

Assure, ensure, and insure all mean "to make secure or certain." Only assure is used with reference to a person in the sense of "to set the mind at rest": assured the leader of his loyalty. Although ensure and insure are generally interchangeable, only insure is now widely used in American English in the commercial sense of "to guarantee persons or property against risk."

I assure you that the insured property owner is taking steps to ensure your safety.

10. Moot and Mute

How often have you heard someone insist: "it's a mute point!" Well, if it's a topic that's incapable of making a sound, they're correct. But more often they're really trying to say that it's a moot point - or one that's irrelevant.

Since the point was already moot, Abby stood mutely in front of the teacher.

Special Bonus Error! Me, Myself and I

You see a lot of usage errors with these three words. Generations of schoolchildren grew used to constant correction about the use of me in sentences. While most learned that "Bob and me want to go" is incorrect, they never learned the correct usage of the word me.

Would you please call Bob or me before you leave? Is perfectly clear and acceptable.

Yet, well-meaning people substitute either I or the reflexive pronoun myself instead. How often do you hear or read something like this:

Would you please call Bob or myself before you leave?

Yuck! Take Bob out of the sentence and you're either asking the person to "call I before you leave" or "call myself before you leave." Neither one sounds or looks very attractive.

Don't be afraid to use the word me in sentences, but take care to use it correctly!

Unfortunately, even the best spell checker won't find these errors. Use NetMechanic's HTML Toolbox to find misspelled words, coding errors, and code that may cause browser compatibility problems. It's an easy-to-use online tool you can use to quickly identify and fix most problems on your page.

That gives you ample time to carefully proofread and eliminate all of our Top 10 errors!