spelling mistake vs. grammar mistake

[Kendred]

A friend and I are having an argument over a mistake that was typed. The argument is whether or not he made a grammar mistake or a spelling mistake. This is the conversation we are having over the internet:

Friend: Why it it every time I walk past Trinity Church I get the overwhelming stench of chicken coop? Or is it the American Stock Exchange across the street?

Me: yay! my chance to be a spelling Nazi. *is

Friend: It would be grammar Nazi not spelling. I spelled "it" properly both times! Furthermore this was written on a cell phone while I was walking through Manhattan during rush hour!

Me: Technically its a misspell. You were intending on using "is." Just because you spelled another word correctly doesn't make it a non spelling mistake.

Friend: Naw, its grammatical. If you were to put this in Word, it would be a grammatical issue. The word "it" is spelled correctly, but the sentence does not make sense due to the misuse of a word. Furthermore, if I were to use the wrong for of "your" or "you're" is also grammatical and not spelling.

Me: Word calls it a grammatical mistake because as far as it knows all words are spelled correctly. the intended word is misspelled. its like saying I spelled "I was a goat" correctly when I intended to say "I saw a goat". if you meant to use it twice then it falls into a grammatical error.

Friend: I highly disagree, as does every English Professor I've ever had. Your logic is flawed.
Me: I'll need to check your sources before I concede.

Friend: The issue is you take into account intent. Yes in my sentence it is easy to know I indented to type "is" however: "words are misspelled these?" in this sentence the words are in incorrect places grammatically, by your logic, you'd say they words are misspelled, this is not the case. The words are grammatically misused.

This has now stirred my curiosity and would like to know who is correct.

[Barb_D]

It's a typo. It's neither a spelling errror nor a grammatical error. When someone knows the right word, it's not a grammatical error. When someone knows how to spell the intended word, it's not a spelling error simply because that person's finger hits the wrong key.

[billmcd]

A friend and I are having an argument over a mistake that was typed. The argument is whether or not he made a grammar mistake or a spelling mistake. This is the conversation we are having over the internet:

Friend: Why it it every time I walk past Trinity Church I get the overwhelming stench of chicken coop? Or is it the American Stock Exchange across the street?

Me: yay! my chance to be a spelling Nazi. *is

Friend: It would be grammar Nazi not spelling. I spelled "it" properly both times! Furthermore this was written on a cell phone while I was walking through Manhattan during rush hour!

Me: Technically its a misspell. You were intending on using "is." Just because you spelled another word correctly doesn't make it a non spelling mistake.

Friend: Naw, its grammatical. If you were to put this in Word, it would be a grammatical issue. The word "it" is spelled correctly, but the sentence does not make sense due to the misuse of a word. Furthermore, if I were to use the wrong for of "your" or "you're" is also grammatical and not spelling.

Me: Word calls it a grammatical mistake because as far as it knows all words are spelled correctly. the intended word is misspelled. its like saying I spelled "I was a goat" correctly when I intended to say "I saw a goat". if you meant to use it twice then it falls into a grammatical error.

Friend: I highly disagree, as does every English Professor I've ever had. Your logic is flawed.
Me: I'll need to check your sources before I concede.

Friend: The issue is you take into account intent. Yes in my sentence it is easy to know I indented to type "is" however: "words are misspelled these?" in this sentence the words are in incorrect places grammatically, by your logic, you'd say they words are misspelled, this is not the case. The words are grammatically misused.

This has now stirred my curiosity and would like to know who is correct.

As Barb_D has posted, it is a typographical error that usually results in a missspelled word/term. So, perhaps you could consider yourself correct if you would acknowledge that the misspelling resulted from strikink the wrong key.

[Natalie1991]

It is a spelling mistake. The sentance itself is fine, so it's not a grammar error. The word needs to be 'is' .... but the person writing it accidentally put 'it'.

[emsr2d2]

It is a spelling mistake. The sentence itself is fine, so it's not a grammar error. The word needs to be 'is' but the person writing it accidentally put 'it'.

I would call the original problem a typo not a spelling mistake. I think that the person typing either hit the "t" instead of the "s" accidentally, or was distracted and simply typed "it" twice, thinking she had typed "is" the first time.

A spelling mistake is, for example, your spelling of "sentence" as "sentance". I don't know why, but I don't think that you just accidentally hit the "a" instead of the "e". I think that you truly thought that "sentance" was the correct spelling (it's a very common error).