Why does it seem that so few people know that "alot" isn't a word?

Hey Packerfan,

Well it could be a combination of reasons really, you said you went to a small school? so that probably means small class sizes too which would in turn mean that your teacher had more time to spend on your development. In larger schools sometimes there are more children per class than what would be advised for optimal learning. Supply doesn't always keep up with demand. This can sometimes cause children to miss out on certain things that to seem obvious to others.

I'd also say that not everybody who writes in English on the internet speaks it as a first language and if you aren't a native speaker this could easily go unnoticed.

Lastly small deviations like this don't always matter to people so much because as far as they're concerned when they're writing it's more about the sentiment than how grammatically correct the sentence is. You can still understand what they're saying after all.

I once knew a guy who was convinced "specific" was pronounced and spelled "pacific" simply because of the regional accent. The way we write and speak really can be a reflection of where we grew up.

I don't know, you'd think if they were on the internet enough they would get hammered till they remembered, we all seem to be grammar nazis here!

Seriously though, so many people just don't care about good grammar, they can use spell-check or auto-correct. They don't realise that learning these things is a life skill that will help you to in employment and everyday life, as well as make you look smarter!

It's been said before, but wouldn't it be a blessing if everyone who wanted to use the internet had to pass a grammar test? No more nasty grammar mistakes, making us all cringe. But then again, we'd lose a lot of fun, not being able to correct the grammatically challenged in smart and sarcastic ways, wouldn't we?

People are lazy. Some mistakes might not matter but I've seen book reviews with errors like you describe.

Some of us care though: http://www.squidoo.com/common-english-errors

People just don't care - it's in the way that we speak. Hella, I done it, etc/cantthinkofanymorerightnow and other improper grammar and slangs just encourage us to talk like that - it's just how English works. For some reason, little things like alot/a lot, they're/their/there your/you're affect/effect and other little changes can't stick to people's minds easily - in the time it would take to teach students these subtle differences you could be teaching something (useless) like direct objects, and that's just how our education works. None of it really makes sense. Just go with it, and correct people when they're wrong - they're not going to do it themselves.

yes i know lots get confused .. they say your an aussie..when they should say you're an aussie..some get a and when to say an confused also ☺

and its their own fault and they say there fault

and some may say im a which when they mean witch j/k there lol

and im going to go to the beach too..but there will just be the two of us..

It's not really taught after elementary school so people have to remember these rules. I was never taught this stuff after one day in 5th grade