It is astonishing how many home inspectors are posting advice or opinions full of spelling mistakes - and I do not mean accidental typos. If these fellows issue equally poorly written inspection reports - lawyers hired to solve disputes on behalf of disgruntled customers will have a field day in arguing that a home inspector who cannot even write properly, may also be incompetent.
Particularly home inspectors who seek “professional recognition” should at least make an effort to prevent embarrassing spelling mistakes. I always have ensured that my inspection results were described and spelled correctly - because English is not my mother tongue.
I agree with this also and do check my spelling on the reports.
The MB is filled with little errors and does not reflect on a HI’s ability to do a proper inspection. It does take away from the credibility of InterNachi as a whole.
All computers have spell check and grammar. No it will not pick up every mistake but should be used to give proper professional image to InterNachi that is viewed everyday by the public.
The times there are mistake on the heading are sometimes left for days. This should not be done. The advance feature can be used on the bottom of the message board for correcting this and should be used to correct the headings at least.
I just got a private e-mail about my heading that I didn’t even notice until he pointed it out.
I put Indorsed again instead of Endorsed.
I hate the English language. LOL
I guess I need to eat my words on my MB comment.
Just so we all know the difference.
Indorse means
To give one’s name or support to; to sanction; to aid by approval; to approve; as, to indorse an opinion.
Most spelling/grammer/vocabulary mistakes are due to one simple fact… people have a tendency to spell the way that they speak. It’s kind of funny sometimes, that the U.S. and Canada has many regional dialects, but the English Language (U.S.) has (n)one.
It always amazes me when “colleagues” are trying to criticise my opinion or to prove me wrong. The reason for my posting was to raise the issue that home inspectors should at least be capable to spell the items they have inspected correctly. It was certainly not my intent to suggest that home inspectors should be in command of “Shakespearian English” or its grammar and punctuations.
Rudolf
This is a MB i really do not think most are to worried about being proper here, and I am sure their reports are just fine. Chill and enjoy, good post However we all need reminders .
To join words used as single adjective before a noun: It was a well-paved highway.
No hyphen is used:
a. When the compound adjective follows the noun: The highway was well paved.
b. When the first word is an adverb ending in -ly: The neatly cut lawn was much admired.
With compound numbers from 21 to 99 and with fractions: twenty-two, fifty-first, three-fourths.
Note: Some authorities write fractions without the hyphen: three fourths.
A compound adjective containing numbers is also hyphenated: a ten-year old boy, a forty-hour week, the hundred-yard dash, a ten-dollar bill, a *two-room *apartment, two- and three-story houses.
To avoid ambiguity:
One sense: She recovered her pillow from the dog.
Other sense: She covered her pillow in red silk.
Misleading: Along came *fifty foot *soldiers.
Clear: Along came fifty foot-soldiers.
With prefixes ex, self, all, and the suffix elect: ex-President Hoover, self-confidence, all American, Senator-elect Smith.
Note:
a. Bi and tri are not hyphenated prefixes: triweekly, bimonthly.
b. Semi is hyphenated only (1) when combined with words beginning with* i* (semi-independence); or with proper noun (semi-Russian); otherwise, it is not hyphenated (semiannual, semiprofessional, etc.).
To indicate hesitation or stutterings: “I’m g-g-glad,” she said.
To indicate words that spelled out: “She wants a d-o-l-l,” her mother said.
For syllabication (a division between syllables at the end of a line): . . . The classroom can a accommodate thirty pupils.
Note: The hyphen is placed at the end of the first line, at the beginning of the second line. Consult a dictionary if you are uncertain where a word is divided.
Ray – You explained the hyphen very well but what about the dash? -
My dictionary says a single dash is used to indicate a pause, or hesitation in speech or to introduce an explanation of what come before it. “I think you should have - told me,” he replied.
A pair of dashes is used to indicate asides and parentheses, like the use of commas as explained above but forming a more distinct break; People in the north are more friendly–and helpful–then those in the south. It is sometimes used to indicate an omitted word, for example a course word in reported speech: “-- you all,” he said.
