Overuse of apostrophes
Apostrophes indicate
one of two things: Possession or letters missing, as in "Sara's iPad"
and "it's" for "it is" (second "i" missing). They
don't belong on plurals. When you have more than one of something there's no
need to add an apostrophe. Same thing with your last name. If you want to refer
to your family but don't want to list everyone's first name write "The
Johnsons" not "The Johnson's." Years also shouldn't have
apostrophes. For example, "1980s" is correct but "1980's"
is not.
Lay vs. Lie
Generally, if you can replace the word
in question with some variant of "put" or "place," use
"lay." If not, use "lie." So, it should be "I need to
lie down" and "He laid his keys on the table." "Lying down"
gets confusing when you're talking about doing it in the past, however. For
example, it should be "Mark lay on the bed after coming home from work
yesterday."
Affect and effect
Maybe you've never mastered the difference between
"affect" and "effect.” If that's you, it's time to understand
these words now. "Affect" is a verb that means to do something that
causes an "effect," which is noun. Just think of the "a" in
"affect" also is used in "action," which is what verbs do.
