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You like someone else’s profile, they swipe right on you too: it’s the start of a new love story. What starts with a match like all the others, quickly turns into a personal conversation with a flirty tone . Everything seems to be going great, until – you guessed it – the first spelling mistakes appear. You hope they are typos, but somewhere you already know how this is going to end: next .
If you hate spelling and grammatical errors, you’re not alone. New research from dating app Hily underlines this. The app’s creators surveyed 3,400 women and 3,600 men to find out just how important good grammar and spelling are when it comes to online dating. Is avoiding spelling and grammar mistakesat all timesimportant at all times while dating?
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Spelling mistakes are not okay
The research shows that 30% of female respondents are annoyed by spelling mistakes. Men, on the other hand, have much less trouble with it. Only 17% of men find a spelling mistake annoying. Despite the fact that correcting someone is anything but sexy, and sometimes even unwanted, the research shows that it is done frequently on dating apps. More than a quarter of men (27%) and more than a third of women (36%) say they correct someone else’s spelling mistakes.
One in five respondents say that making the occasional mistake is no problem. They even find it cute and endearing. It shows that we can be attracted to people who make mistakes , and not just to those who have perfect command of the written word. But what if you don’t make a (typing) mistake occasionally, but structurally?
According to the results, one in ten women would never date a bad speller. More than half of female respondents would only consider it if they really liked the person. Men, thankfully, are more forgiving. Three in five men say they don’t care about their date’s spelling at all, and only 5% of male respondents would not date someone who is bad at spelling.
Who is not prepared to forgive a spelling mistake? Grammar Nazis, according to the research. A small group of singles takes grammar and spelling mistakes very seriously. For this group, amounting to 3% of the respondents, mistakes are unacceptable. Ultimately, that says more about them than about the person making the mistake(s).
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Sign of sloppiness… or stupidity
Previous research from Tilburg University shows that typos in a dating profile are seen as a sign of sloppiness. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, language errors leave an even worse impression.
According to the same study, language errors – such as those with that swap – are perceived as a signal of lower intelligence. Or in other words: you seem dumber if you make language errors . This is confirmed by the recent study in which 15% of respondents indicate that they judge a person’s intelligence based on their grammar and spelling.
If you count yourself among the illiterate, you are not lost. Singles on dating apps may prefer to date someone who does not make spelling and grammatical errors, but correct spelling alone will not get you very far. The respondents indicate that they prefer someone who is ‘fun to be with’ over someone who is good at spelling. However, it can never hurt to keep typos and spelling errors out of your dating profile. If only to please the grammar Nazis.
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Prevent typing and spelling errors
Do you like to light the barbecue ? Do you live in a single-family home ? And are you looking for your partner in crime ? If you use one of these sentences, you are making mistakes that others will be extremely annoyed about. Your dating profile functions as a business card or advertisement. If you make multiple typos and grammatical errors in it, it will be noticed immediately. In the best case scenario, it only distracts from the big picture . In all other scenarios, it is extremely annoying.
What you say and what you have to offer suddenly becomes less important. Poor grammar and multiple spelling mistakes give the impression that you are lazy and stupid. If you don’t bother to correct typos and spelling mistakes, it can seem like you don’t care. Follow these tips to avoid typos and spelling mistakes.
1. Use a word processor
Write the profile text in Word or another word processor. These word processors have a spell checker that allows you to check the text for typos and spelling errors. Simple typos are marked in red, while other errors are automatically changed to the correct spelling. If you perform a full check, you will also receive suggestions to improve the text.
2. Don’t rely entirely on spell checker
Spell check is incredibly useful for detecting simple errors, but it is not flawless. We all know that it does not find everything. From incorrect reference words to incorrect compounds: spell check is not always correct. Therefore, never rely entirely on spell check. Technology is great… when it works.
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3. Check the text later
After writing the text, you deserve a break. Not because the text is ready to be published, but to give your eyes some rest. Because you are so familiar with what you have just written, your eyes do not catch the mistakes. Two d’s in a row will immediately correct your brain to a single d . Therefore, take a step back from the text and come back later to check it again.
4. Read it ‘backwards’
If you don’t have the luxury of a break, it can help to read the text from beginning to end. Start with the last sentence, then read the sentence above it, and continue until you reach the beginning. If you follow this strange method, you will notice that every sentence seems ‘new’.
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5. Have someone look at it
If you stare at the same text for hours, you will miss mistakes that others will not miss. However, a fresh pair of eyes will spot the mistakes right away. Therefore, ask someone else to read the text. As a bonus, they can give you suggestions on how to improve the text.
6. Write it with care and attention
Treat your profile text as an important piece that is viewed by thousands of eyes. You don’t want your typos to distract from what is really going on, do you? You should give the same attention and care to the profile text you write . After all, it is also read by thousands.
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