Grammar errors
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My experience is that some editors are not that good at grammar and especially punctuation. I encountered one who marked me off because I had used (properly, no less) a semi-colon.
Grammar and punctuation rules are not universal rules. I try to adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style. When I have complaints about my grammar and punctuation, I try to communicate to the editor that lacking any guidance in the shop guide, I utilized Chicago but if it is preferred that a different style be used I would happy to do so. If anything it puts them on notice that I know what I am doing. Never once have I had an editor suggest an alternative style.
Grammar and punctuation rules are not universal rules. I try to adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style. When I have complaints about my grammar and punctuation, I try to communicate to the editor that lacking any guidance in the shop guide, I utilized Chicago but if it is preferred that a different style be used I would happy to do so. If anything it puts them on notice that I know what I am doing. Never once have I had an editor suggest an alternative style.
No piece of software is going to 'understand' what you are saying. It must make assumptions regarding modifiers and what they are modifying. Commas are punctuation that even many style guides disagree on. For example, in a sequence such as, "Apples, oranges, and bananas." One style guide will tell you there should be a comma before 'and' while others will say there should not. I do everything in my power to avoid commas with ACL because they do not seem to like them at all. Personally I think of commas as taking a quick breath. That sentence could have been written as, "Personally, I think of commas as taking a quick breath." It has a slightly different meaning and emphasis with the addition of the comma. A piece of software could readily have treated the sentences with or without a comma to be grammatically correct, but it stands a chance of not accurately communicating my thought.
Exactly, Rousseau. Some are incompetent; some are trying to justify their jobs. Still others are fresh out of college and believe they know everything. I'm convinced that English is not the first language for many of them. I'm tired of it. When a job with such an editor is bonused and still sitting on the board, I let the scheduler know that she is having to pay more because of the choice of editors.@Rousseau wrote:
My experience is that some editors are not that good at grammar and especially punctuation.
Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.
@PasswordNotFound wrote:
[...]Still others are fresh out of college and believe they know everything. I'm convinced that English is not the first language for many of them.[...]@Rousseau wrote:
My experience is that some editors are not that good at grammar and especially punctuation.
There are many people just out of college who are quite good. And there are a few people I know who are still in high school who have excellent writing skills. The problem is not where someone is in her/his studies, but what he/she studies. An undergraduate studying history or literature (two fields with a great deal of reading) may have better language skills than someone with a graduate degree in a field which does not require broad reading (e.g. science, maths, and business).
Likewise, there are many people who have excellent English writing skills notwithstanding the fact that for them English is not a first language.
The editor I fear is the once good shopper who had decent, but not strong, writing skills. Such people may have found a way to excel in a particular writing format but are unable to recognize quality work which differs from their own style.
I would not mind if it did not lower my shopper rating. I will have to save all the narratives of my shop in the future. I saved some of them but not all of them.
I know you may not have put this post through your software, but can I gently point out that it has errors? Your question lacked a question mark, and you had a compound sentence with no comma. It is hard to proofread our own writing because our mind automatically reads what we intended to write. And, as others said, sometimes it is a style choice. I have done proofreading for an MSC before, and I promise there was no "justification of the editor's job." It was a RARE joy when there was a report that was received without needing much editing. My pay was the same whether it took me 10 minutes to edit or 2 hours. And it could take that if I had to keep going back to the shopper to get the darn answers.
@Threemom
This is a forum for people to learn and help each other. I did not think I had to put my post through grammarly. Thanks for pointing out the mistakes I made.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 01:47PM by breestjon.
This is a forum for people to learn and help each other. I did not think I had to put my post through grammarly. Thanks for pointing out the mistakes I made.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 01:47PM by breestjon.
@breestjon
Reading ThreeMom's post, I did not believe she was offended. I think she posted very tactfully and somewhat gently what others of us were thinking. Since you asked the opinions of forum members about whether it is possible that your mystery shopping reports have grammar errors, it seems quite relevant that your short post had multiple grammar errors.
I am not sure why you are so offended, but if you drop the defensiveness and keep an open mind, you might get her point. It's very relevant to your original post.
Reading ThreeMom's post, I did not believe she was offended. I think she posted very tactfully and somewhat gently what others of us were thinking. Since you asked the opinions of forum members about whether it is possible that your mystery shopping reports have grammar errors, it seems quite relevant that your short post had multiple grammar errors.
I am not sure why you are so offended, but if you drop the defensiveness and keep an open mind, you might get her point. It's very relevant to your original post.
My grammar needs work, i know. I write reports frequently for one company and depending on the editor, I could get two different feedback messages. I have one editor who loves how I write and is often pleased with my statements. I have another editor that says I repeat certain words too much. I like to say associate, cashier, representative and so on... It tells me not to name a name, so I just fill in with those words. Some folks like it, some do not. Some want stories that sound as if we are just speaking conversationally, others want a poetic narrative.Eh, we learn over time what each company/editor wants.
MegglesKat
I've always considered myself a good writer. Got good grades in English and writing courses. And yes I know how to use the semi-colon.
One shop I did early in my mystery shopping, I wrote the summary like I would an essay. I proof read everything before sending it. The editor came back to me that there were a lot of grammatical errors. I was smdh because I even printed out my report before sending it, and I couldn't see what he was talking about.
Now, I write everything in simple sentences. I haven't received constructive criticism since.
One shop I did early in my mystery shopping, I wrote the summary like I would an essay. I proof read everything before sending it. The editor came back to me that there were a lot of grammatical errors. I was smdh because I even printed out my report before sending it, and I couldn't see what he was talking about.
Now, I write everything in simple sentences. I haven't received constructive criticism since.
Not trying to be a smart ass, but shouldn't the gammatically correct title of this post be "Grammatical Errors" or "Errors in Grammar"?
***Edited because, dammit, I missed the first "R" in the word "Grammar".
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 04:22AM by Professional Guest.
***Edited because, dammit, I missed the first "R" in the word "Grammar".
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 04:22AM by Professional Guest.
@roflwofl
I understand what you are saying.
I understand what you are saying.
You also missed correcting "gammatically"
This goes to show we are not all perfect.
I dump my narratives in Microsoft Word, hit "spelling/grammar" and let it find my mistakes.
This goes to show we are not all perfect.
I dump my narratives in Microsoft Word, hit "spelling/grammar" and let it find my mistakes.
@Professional Guest wrote:
Not trying to be a smart ass, but shouldn't the gammatically correct title of this post be "Grammatical Errors" or "Errors in Grammar"?
***Edited because, dammit, I missed the first "R" in the word "Grammar".
Gammar is what my nephew called my mom when he was little, LOL. Nobody's prefect.
I was reading instructions for a shop from a well known and respected Prophet company and saw this error:
================================
"The mystery is still in them not knowing when your coming next "
===============================
It SHOULD BE "you're", as in: "not knowing when YOU ARE coming next". True, none of us are perfect, but when writing instructions, MS companies should AT LEAST have someone with correct knowledge of the English language to proof read instructions before they are posted. But as long as these same companies are as understanding of our errors as they expect us to be of their errors, then it's all good, and thankfully, there are good companies like that. It's the companies with the attitudes that rankle most of us here.
================================
"The mystery is still in them not knowing when your coming next "
===============================
It SHOULD BE "you're", as in: "not knowing when YOU ARE coming next". True, none of us are perfect, but when writing instructions, MS companies should AT LEAST have someone with correct knowledge of the English language to proof read instructions before they are posted. But as long as these same companies are as understanding of our errors as they expect us to be of their errors, then it's all good, and thankfully, there are good companies like that. It's the companies with the attitudes that rankle most of us here.
Those of you who have proofed the MSCs guidelines, flagged errors, and sent them back for corrections raise your hand... 
@apercu wrote:
You also missed correcting "gammatically"
This goes to show we are not all perfect.
I dump my narratives in Microsoft Word, hit "spelling/grammar" and let it find my mistakes.
@Professional Guest wrote:
Not trying to be a smart ass, but shouldn't the gammatically correct title of this post be "Grammatical Errors" or "Errors in Grammar"?
***Edited because, dammit, I missed the first "R" in the word "Grammar".
Thank you! Thank goodness, it wasn't a post about spelling.
***Edited because I pressed the "enter" key before I could even type a response!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 06:17PM by Professional Guest.
I'm blushing now, because indeed I haven't contacted them! Just posted here!@JASFLALMT wrote:
Those of you who have proofed the MSCs guidelines, flagged errors, and sent them back for corrections raise your hand...
This week I wrote everything in simple sentences and the editor commented back, don't do that in the future, write in paragraph. Another company wants things in different lines in simple sentences. Makes it hard when working for so many companies.@Lurezia wrote:
I've always considered myself a good writer. Got good grades in English and writing courses. And yes I know how to use the semi-colon.
One shop I did early in my mystery shopping, I wrote the summary like I would an essay. I proof read everything before sending it. The editor came back to me that there were a lot of grammatical errors. I was smdh because I even printed out my report before sending it, and I couldn't see what he was talking about.
Now, I write everything in simple sentences. I haven't received constructive criticism since.
You can write simple sentences in a paragraph. It just means don't write compound sentences. Break up a compound sentence into two separate sentences.
@guysmom wrote:
I'm blushing now, because indeed I haven't contacted them! Just posted here!@JASFLALMT wrote:
Those of you who have proofed the MSCs guidelines, flagged errors, and sent them back for corrections raise your hand...
Oh well the MSC you posted about only had one error. I wouldn't bother letting them know about that probably unless I knew someone fairly well at the MSC and then I would politely mention it. But, I have on two occasions in the past 10 years edited MSCs guidelines because there were multiple errors, and one of those times it was in the MSCs sample narrative! I found 5 or 6 errors in the sample narrative portion of the guidelines alone. I was kind of embarrassed for them. I noticed the next time I did the report that the guidelines had been corrected.
*Edited for a typo, LOL.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 07:31PM by JASFLALMT.
Adore, why not place notes in your files regarding certain MSC that preferred certain writing structures. So when you are doing your reports, you can refer back to your notes and write the report in the style that the MSC wants it in. For example, on MSC wants to have the associate's name included in the report/narrative. Another MSC wants a complete play-by-play on what went on during your shop. Oh, and don't forget to break up your narrative into manageable paragraphs.
Some MSCs include notes in the report as a reminder to refer to employees by name or by title; whether or not to include race or weight/build as part of employee description. That's very helpful when writing the report.
catgranny, there are a few MSCs who want everything in one paragraph.
@JASFLALMT wrote:
Those of you who have proofed the MSCs guidelines, flagged errors, and sent them back for corrections raise your hand...
My hand is up. I have done so, and received thanks.
Customer Impact always shows in their sample to call all by name...they want you to use names throughout report, i like that better than associate, but, every MSC is different. Give em what they want....
Live consciously....
Oh lord that brings to mind the MSC that wants you to write in the third person for everything. You can't use I, me, etc.
I had an editor write to me and tell me to use a real word next time... I used the word 'cobbled'. It's still a word, according to Google.
MegglesKat
OMG, I used to get those Hooter's shop offers all the time. I cringed though because the project details was loaded with grammatical errors and typos. Hard to take the MSP seriously when they don't even bother to proofread their project details.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2016 05:14AM by Lurezia.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2016 05:14AM by Lurezia.
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