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comments, propaganda, and lies. The greatest many users that the use of apos-
challenge we face is to find the authenticity
behind every scenario presented in different
formats.
4�3�2 Possibility of linguistic errors
Our lives today are flooded with miscom-
munication. Social media and other forms of
communication have contributed greatly, but
they also have their drawbacks. People fail to
learn how to communicate correctly. While
we can communicate more conveniently with
people who are not in our proximity, there is
also a risk of misinterpreting messages. How-
ever, we can instantly gather information
from every corner of the world and establish
long-distance relationships.
Misunderstanding and misinterpretation are
very common in the messages and texts we
encounter in our day-to-day lives. Such misin-
terpreted ideas distort the actual intentions of
others. What we say in person is much differ-
ent from what we say through text messages,
not just by the words, but by the tone we use.
When we interact in person, the advantages of
body language and eye contact help us make
communication more effective. These ele-
ments are absent in textual communications,
leading us to many errors. Coupled with lin-
guistic errors, the very goal of communication
backfires. Here are a few examples of common
errors that appear on social media.
f Sentence starters and End-
ings:The writings on social media
reflect a violation of the basic rule
of the English language, which
states that every sentence should
start with a capital letter and end
with a full stop symbol, a question
mark, or an exclamation mark.
f Using Apostrophes to Make
Words Plural: There is a wide-
spread misconception among
174 SGOU - FYUGP - SLM - English for Communication
trophe makes a word plural. In-
stead of typing potatoes, they text
potatoe’s.
f Confusing ‘to’ and ‘too’: The in-
correct usage of these two words
is very common. “To” is a prep-
osition used to indicate direction
or motion. For example: I study
from 8 to 11. It can also be used
at the beginning of a sentence, for
example: To the store, I went yes-
terday, To be or not to be, that is
the question.
f ‘Too’ is an adverb describing
something excess or more. For
example: There are too many
people in the hall.
f It’s and Its: Many people con-
fuse “its” and “it’s”. “It’s” is of-
ten incorrectly used to indicate
possession, but actually “it’s” is
a contraction of “it is”. On the
other hand, “its” is the possessive
form of the third-person singular
pronoun. For example: The cat
licked its master. To clarify, here
is an example of “it’s” being used
correctly: It’s a rainy day.
f Your and you’re: We use ‘your’
when indicating possession or
belonging. For example: What is
your occupation? ‘You’re’ is a
contraction of ‘you are’. For ex-
ample: You’re an intellectual. Re-
member that ‘your’ is possessive,
while ‘you’re’ is a contraction for
‘you are’.
f Then and than: Although ‘than’
and ‘then’ may look similar, they
actually have different meanings
and functions. The key difference
between the two is that ‘than’ is
a conjunction, while ‘then’ is an