Being Thankful For Proper Use

Today after class was done I was asked to look over a friends' paper. I said "of course!". It made me just become thankful after all was said and done for being taught the right ways to spell certain things. Starting out reading it, I was sure that it couldn't be that bad. After reading it I began to think oh no.. here comes the marks. My biggest pet peeve, ever since I was taught this in middle school is the differences between the uses of "there, their and they're". I cringed when reading a sentence in the paper saying "I got there shoes from a local Macy's". Oh my word. I was just in such shock! If we notice it changes the complete context of the sentence structure. It just blows my mind. I then was forced to teach my friend the different uses of there, their and they're. I said that thEIr shows ownership where as thERe shows direction. That sentence was a major correction. I felt bad but at the same time I felt as though my friend should know because when it comes to papers in college, I felt as though that was a big deal. Also, the use of (') was needed in some things that showed contractions and ownership. Thank goodness for Mrs. Raymond, my middle school English teacher for emphasizing that. When reading a sentence "We then went to Johns house" also made me cringe. One thing I remember from middle school also is the need for ownership on something. I explained to my friend that when something shows ownership, there must me a (') to show it. John's house, because the house is Johns. After all was said and done, I did not want to seem like too much of a weirdo for knowing this stuff. I felt like I saved my friend from a lot of corrections that could have been wrong on her paper.I hope that she thanks me too :) .