Back in 1819, the British poet John Keats wrote of instead of have in a letter. Go to this link (Full text of “The Letters Of John Keats Volume Ii”) to read the letter: “Had I known of your illness I should not of written in such sorry phrase in my first letter.”

It’s the same mistake students make today. Here’s the correct version: “Had I known of your illness I should not of written in such sorry phrase in my first letter.:

There’s a useful lesson here: don’t assume that every mistake is a sign that language skills are deteriorating. Writers have always made mistakes – and always will.

There’s one difference, however: nowadays we have superb grammar checkers and spellcheckers. There’s no excuse for careless writing mistakes anymore.

Poet John Keats by J. Severn