Beech Tree News Network

I’ve become a stickler for grammar. I blame every single one of my English teachers in school.  I always took an interest in it.  When you’re in school, you especially need to know how to spell.  That sounds trivial, doesn’t it? Well, not to businesses.  If you can’t spell correctly, you probably won’t be getting the job.  Some may even tell you to learn how to spell or go back to school.
This is the one that gets to me: “Let me ax you a question”.  So, you’re going to cut my head off with an ax? If you do that, I can’t answer the question. The word is “ask”, by the way.  There is also an issue of too many exclamation points and question marks.  I suppose those extra points and marks are for extra emphasis? Alright, I’ll admit that I’ve been guilty of the extra marks on occasion.  I’ve never done it for a paper.  I’ve done it on my sports blog once or twice.  I’m not proud.
I’ll do an extra exclamation point or question mark every now and again.  I’ve noticed, however, that some that do this all the time, though.  Before this costs you professionally, I’m going to ask you to please stop.  Even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal at first, it will eventually get on some nerves.  Maybe those nerves belong to a person with the authority to fire you.  It’s a best bet to work on the habit so you can change it now, not while working on your resume for your next job.
I’d like to thank my English professors for beating into me that grammatically correct way. They taught me the difference between and when to use these: who and whom, which and that, lay and lie, different than vs. different from, and affect and effect (which I still have to look up now and again).  This is why the internet is so useful.  If you’re not sure about something, look it up.  It won’t mean that your teachers have failed.  It’ll mean that you value your work enough to get it right.  It could be the difference between employment and non-employment. 

Hello.  My name is Andy Sullivan.  I received my bachelor’s degree in business from Mid-Continent University in June 2009.  I began writing for beechtree in July 2009.  I enjoy writing, photography, watching basketball and football, and playing guitar.  I also write a blog that encompasses sports and entertainment, called Sports and More, at http://andyuk79.tumblr.com If you have any comments, please leave them in the space below.  Thanks for reading!