If there’s one thing men and women can agree on, it’s this: poor grammar makes a person less attractive. This is what word game helper website WordTips found after surveying over 1,000 people who had actively dated in the past year about their biggest dating turnoffs.
According to the results, 51 percent of women and 39 percent of men view poor grammar and spelling as a big turnoff when they view someone’s online dating profile. This is the top answer for women and second to overly-edited photos for men.
Dating (and Spelling) by the Numbers
WordTips surveyed 1,006 people about the correlation of dating and good grasp of grammar, then published the results of the study called “Talk Nerdy to Me: Exploring the Roles that Spelling, Grammar, and Vocabulary Play in Dating and Attraction.” According to the results, women are twice more likely than men to find poor grammar a turnoff. The more interesting data set, though, is what specific grammar mistakes people find most unattractive.
For 74 percent of the people surveyed, the most unattractive mistake is messages that are too hard to understand. So, if you can’t explain or express yourself clearly in your online profile, those possible matches are going to swipe left on you.
Not surprisingly, the second-most unattractive grammar mistake according to the respondents is the wrong use of their/they’re/there (60%), followed by to/too/two (59%) and your/you’re (56%). So if you’re creating your dating profile (see what we did there?), make sure to apply the things you learned from your online classes in junior high school about grammar and spelling.
People also found shortening words, such as “you” to “u,” annoying, so is not using punctuation because it creates run-on sentences. Doing these things can make you look lazy. And if you can’t be bothered to spell out a three-letter word, people might see this as a reflection of your commitment—always taking the shortcut and
Smart is the New Sexy
If poor grammar is a turnoff for plenty of people, the opposite is true as well. A whopping 76 percent of survey respondents find people with a wide vocabulary more attractive. Of course, there are people intimidated by this, too. The results suggest that, though people with impressive vocabulary displayed on their dating profiles have double the chance to go on more than five dates in the past six months, those who use big words in private messages are often ghosted.
Still, if you have a great grasp of your language, people will perceive it as more attractive than you giving them gifts, paying for the date, or complimenting them.
So How Do You Get Better at Grammar and Spelling?
Keep in mind that mastering grammar and spelling does not only affect your dating life. These are skills that you will use throughout your life, such as when writing your résumé. Of course, there are plenty of ways to improve your skills in these areas, but the most important techniques are to read constantly and practice. You’ll be surprised at how much you’ll pick up on just by reading quality materials, such as books and news articles.
So if you’ve been feeling unlucky in love recently, look at your online dating profile again and focus not just on your gorgeous photos, but also on your grammar.
