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Do you use correct grammar/spelling on the Internet? | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 59 comments | Search Discussion
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  • (Score: 1) by stingraz on Tuesday October 07 2014, @06:23PM

    by stingraz (3453) on Tuesday October 07 2014, @06:23PM (#103242)

    Actually (as a non-native speaker myself), I can usually tell by the errors that people make whether they're native speakers or not... Native speakers' errors are often brought about by phonetic guesswork when someone doesn't know the correct spelling, but roughly the way it should sound. The there/their/they're category is a good example of this; another would be "definately" or "existance", which would not happen to e.g. a French speaker. A non-native speaker is more likely to have learned a word or phrase consciously, including the right spelling.
    On the other hand, non-native speakers are prone to bring syntax or vocabulary over from their own native language... Apparently, it is perfectly possible to write German sentences with English words, which is completely unreadable for English speakers :-)