Are poor spelling and grammar really all that bad?

Melissa Wardell | August 11, 2015

 

At Write we’re constantly promoting the importance of good spelling and grammar. We run workshops, offer personalised training, rework documents, and write blog posts, all in an effort to help writers (and documents) be the best that they can be. And good spelling and grammar always play a part in these approaches to plain language.

But how much of an impact can poor spelling and grammar have on a reader? Is getting it right really that important?

How bad can it really be?

I recently decided that I had to get to the bottom of this. I wanted to know, from people who regularly receive and read important documents, how they really felt about the ‘odd’ spelling or grammatical error. And so I asked them.

I sent out the following sentence to a small but (from my perspective) influential group of contacts:

Michael and me have decided that the documnet, that we sent you today, is fine and theirs no further need for action.

The people I contacted ranged from company directors to the deputy editor of a newspaper through to a professor of philosophy. I asked each person whether they would question the professionalism of an individual or organisation that communicated this sentence.

A surprising amount of fervour

The feedback I received didn’t surprise me but the fervour of some of the responses did.

Every person I quizzed said they’d doubt the professionalism of a person who’d send this through.

Not only that, I would question whether or not the author was competent to review the document mentioned, and would have to follow up with them again to confirm someone competent had reviewed it.

Dave, chief policy analyst at a high-profile government department.

My reaction to the sentence is one of annoyance and the back part of my mind is almost certainly judging them … I wouldn’t hire someone who wrote like that.

Marina, company director.

Even if it were dictated to a totally incompetent typist I would wonder about their selection of staff.

Rosemary, author and academic philosopher

We all make mistakes

Although everyone I contacted doubted the competence of someone who’d write the ‘offending’ sentence, a couple did express at least a little forgiveness.

It’s all about context. We can all make some of those fundamental mistakes and the more comfortable the relationship between correspondents the more you can get away with.

Piers, deputy editor

The key is to always read over your email before you send it. Poor spelling and grammar always makes the reader feel a little bit superior for not making those silly mistakes themselves.

Rosemary, author and academic philosopher.

Rosemary added to her response that she’s often guilty herself of mistakenly writing ‘theirs’ instead of ‘there’s’. But she also noted that just one glance and would corrected it.

My conclusion on the importance of correct spelling and grammar

Correct spelling and grammar really do matter — a lot. And checking and rechecking is key.

Learn more grammar tips

If you understand the basics of grammar, punctuation, and word use, you can craft great documents. Find out how to fix problems in your writing so it’s professional and easy to read.

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(Last updated: November 2024)