How many writing mistakes can you find?

Can you find all of the mistakes in the paragraph below? Note: We're not trying to trick you. Every error below is a common mistake by businesspeople every day.

Nothing is more embarassing than making a writing mistake. Of course, we all think its funny when we spot a mispelled word in magazine ads or on billboards. If one of your employee’s are making the the mistakes, it can be disasterous. And if you have a typo in a memo to the boss, how do you think they will view your professionalism? These kind of mistakes can be prevented, irregardless of the persons job title. The people that make the mistakes can seriously effect how other’s view you’re company. That can cost any organization money and hurt it’s profits. 

Okay, how did you do? If you found all 16, then you're brilliant.

To see the answers to this quiz, go to the PBP Executive Reports site.

Comments

[Joseph Chowning]

I found 16, then read the key and found that I had missed one (I missed "The people that...." in the next-to-last sentence).

I would also say, however, that you did not include starting the sentence with "And" as a mistake, and this clearly is to me. Since it is supposed to link two sentences or parts together, you cannot begin a sentence with it. (I know there are probably differing schools of thought on that, but my high school and college writing teachers/professors would not have condoned that one....)

All-in-all, it is a great exercise! Thanks!

[Mike Riordan]

Just for fun, I ran the paragragh through spell and grammar checker which found only nine errors. And I concur with Joe above about starting a sentence with "and."

[Heather]

Irregardless is not a word.

[No Bull Blog]

That's why this test is fun. Spellchecker misses a lot of errors. As for the "And" sentence, most English teachers will cringe. We don't advocate "formal" English in business. "Informal" is more conversational and easier to read. So we're okay with the occasional sentence starting with "And."

[Travis Roberts]

The "And" at the beginning of the third sentence is a glaring mistake to me that you often see in magazines and newspapers. Although this may have become acceptable, it bothers me every time I see it. I was ingrained in me to never start a sentence with the word "and".

[Travis Roberts]

I just noticed a mistake in my post. Oh well, I can't correct it.

[Scott Bradley]

I think it's funny that, when I started ready another article on the same bulletin, I found the following mistake...and just after reading the article above. I've copied and pasted it below. I comes from the "Blunders" column. Notice that it is missing the word "to" where I've placed the underscore in the middle of the point. (Though I've probably made mistakes of my own in posting this.)
***
2) Sadly, he was also unable to extend the digit he most wanted to proffer.
A Tampa Bank of America branch refused to cash a check for Steve Valdez, who was born without arms and wears a pair of prosthetic devices, because he is unable __ provide a thumbprint — even though the check is drawn on his wife’s account and Valdez presents two forms of identification. A spokeswoman later says the company apologized to Valdez and “should have offered alternative requirements.”
***

[Healthcare Office Worker]

I found all sixteen plus the "And" error. The premise of the paragraph was that a boss would be unimpressed. However, in my situation it IS the boss who uses atrocious grammar and spelling.

[BENNIE]

Look up irregardless and let me know what you find...in the encarta dictionary north america version it is a word, but it means the same thing as regardless. this is actually an ongoing debate that has gone on for years.

[BENNIE]

To continue; spell check does not recognize it as a word, so go figure!

[Chabela]

The 'And' at the beginning of a sentence is no longer considered an error. English rules change all the time. How about, "most importantly?" An adverb to modify and adjective? This one is grossly incorrect. What about, "bring it with you when you go." Whatever happened to "take it with you when you go" "...bring it to me..." is correct. It depends on direction. To No Bull Blog: "and." not "and". Numerals over 10 are numbers, i.e., sixteen should be 16.

[Ray]

hmmmmmmm, let's see, I think the "answer " has made an error....... in the ".....regardless of the person's job title."

Shouldn't the spelling of "person's" actually be "persons' job title" In the answer presented, "person's" should be read "person is", which makes no sense. It would read .......regardless of the person is job title."

[No Bull Blog]

No it should not be persons'. Person's is correct. Person is singular. In this case, the 's makes it possessive. If it was more than one person, then it should be "people."

[Bob Beecher]

"person's" is correct. It's the possessive case. The job title belongs to the person. It is not a contraction for "person is"

[Nina]

Irregardless is not a word - it's probably in Encarta because so many people use it incorrectly.

Regardless means "without regard" and the prefix 'ir' - means without
e.g. irreverent - without reverence

So how can someone be without without regard? Can you tell this is my pet peeve?