In a day with e-mail, webcams, and IMing, there’s not much need for good grammar anymore. For most people, there’s not even a lot of need for basic grammar. Here’s an example of an email with poor grammar:

• will you be abl to pick me up and if so when and do you need my number

It’s not horrible grammar, but it’s not stellar either. It’s a big, run-on sentence. Run-on sentences are occasionally okay, but they have to make since.

Grammar can be tricky – there’s all sorts of quotes and commas andother various tricks to follow. Popular MySpace and Facebook bulletins don’t have much grammar at all.

• everyone party at jenz on friday !! be there or bee sqauree!

Poor spelling is a fallout, too. For people not used to the so called “net generation”, it’s a struggle to read these messages and decipher them. Even people used to the net generation have trouble, like me.

Here’s a few basic tips to make your stories, bulletins or emails more readable.

Use good capitalization skills.

Capitalization can be annoying – “So What Did You Do Last Night, Mate?” or, “sO, wHaT iZ up!”. But that’s really not the intended purpose of capitalization.

What needs to be capitalized:

• Names
• Street addresses (0002 Magnolia Street)
• Business Names (Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Long John Silvers’, Taco Bell)
• First word of every sentence
• Days of the week

Example of a poorly capitalized sentenced:

• hey marsha, are you going to that party on friday? i heard its gonna be kickin.

The correct sentence (as far as capitalization) should be, “Hey, Marsha! Are you going to that party on Friday? I heard it’s gonna be kickin’!”

Commas, exclamation points, periods, and apostrophizes are a necessary part of most sentences. Periods and commas are usually necessary. Question marks, too, are good – only for when people are asking questions, however.

Quotes

Use them around sentences when someone is speaking.

“Marsha! What’s up? Are you going to that party on Friday?”

Periods

Use them at the end of a sentence.

“Marsha, I heard you’re not going to that party on Friday. Want to do something else instead?”

Commas

Use them as a sentence break.

“Hey, Marsha, are you okay? I heard you’re not attending the party on Friday. Do have other plans, or do you want to do something else instead?”

Exclamation Points

Use them when someone is surprised, shocked, or happy.

“Hey, Marsha! I heard you’re not attending that party on Friday. That’s too bad! Do you have other plans, or do you want to get together and do something else instead?”

Apostrophes

“Hey, Tessa, thanks for asking. It’s my sister’s wedding anniversary Friday, and she’s having a party, so I’m kind of stuck there.”

I’m – abbreviation for I am

Sister’s – it (the wedding anniversary) belongs to my sister.

Question Marks

Use question marks when someone is asking a question.

“What about after that? The party isn’t until nine. Would you like to attend it?”

To get more in depth perception on grammar, check out a book on grammar. You can start at the very beginning or improve your grammar if it’s already stellar already.