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Friday Lessons with Uncle Jay
Understanding the most common grammar mistakes can help you improve your writing.
When you know which common grammatical errors to look for, it’s easier to act as your own proofreader and editor.
Run-on sentence or comma splice
A run-on sentence is a sentence that joins two independent clauses without punctuation or the appropriate conjunction.
A comma splice is similar to a run-on sentence, but it uses a comma to join two clauses that have no appropriate conjunction.
Fixing a run-on sentence or a comma splice can be accomplished in one of five different ways.
Incorrect sentence: “Rachel is very smart, she began reading when she was three years old.”
Solution 1: Separate the clauses into two sentences. “Rachel is very smart. She began reading when she was three years old.”
Solution 2: Replace the comma with a semicolon.
“Rachel is very smart; she began reading when she was three years old.”
Solution 3: Replace the comma with a coordinating conjunction.
“Rachel is very smart, for she began reading when she was three years old.”
Solution 4: Replace the comma with a subordinating conjunction.
“Rachel is very smart because she began reading when she was three years old.”
Solution 5: Replace the comma with a semicolon and transitional word or phrase.
“Rachel is very smart; as a result, she began reading when she was three years old.”
Pronoun disagreement
Some of the most common grammar mistakes are pronoun errors.
They occur when pronouns do not agree in number with the nouns to which they refer.
If the noun is singular, the pronoun must be singular.
If the noun is plural, the pronoun must be plural as well.
For example:
Incorrect: “Every girl must bring their own lunch.”
Correct: “Every girl must bring her own lunch.”
Pronoun errors are common in modern English, as writers try to avoid awkward phrasing or the implication of sexist language.
Although this is an admirable goal, it is still important to learn the correct grammar and use it in more formal situations.
Mistakes in apostrophe usage
Apostrophes are used to show possession.
However, you do not use an apostrophe after a possessive pronoun such as my, mine, our, ours, his, hers, its, their, or theirs.
For example:
Incorrect: “My mothers cabin is next to his’ cabin.”
Correct: “My mother’s cabin is next to his cabin.”
In the case of it’s, the apostrophe is used only to indicate a contraction for “it is.”
For example:
Incorrect: “Its a cold day for October.”
Correct: “It’s a cold day for October.”
Sentence fragments
Sentence fragments are also common grammar mistakes.
A sentence needs to have a subject and a verb.
A fragment often happens after another related idea has been expressed.
For example:
Incorrect: “Sharon stayed home from school the other day. Because she was sick.”
Correct: “Sharon stayed home from school the other day because she was sick.”
Missing comma in a compound sentence
A compound sentence expresses two complete and related ideas, and it usually includes a conjunction to connect these two parts.
There should be a comma before the conjunction to indicate the two ideas are related.
If that’s missing, it’s a mistake readers will notice.
For example:
Incorrect: “Jim went to the store and Ella went with him.”
Correct: “Jim went to the store, and Ella went with him.”
Ending a sentence in a preposition
Another common grammar mistake is ending a sentence with a preposition.
A preposition, by its nature, indicates that another word will follow it.
In casual conversation, this type of error is no big deal, but you should avoid this mistake in your writing.
For example:
Incorrect: “What reason did he come here for?”
Correct: “For what reason did he come here?”
Mixing up spellings
There are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.
If you mix these up, it can be an embarrassing mistake.
These are a few of the most commonly confused words:
“You’re” vs. “your”
“To” vs. “two” vs. “too”
“Weather” vs. “whether”
“There” vs. “their”
For example:
Incorrect: “There father went to school there.”
Correct: “Their father went to school there.”
Mixing up similar words
Sometimes, it’s not a matter of mixing up the spelling as much as an error in word choice.
There are many words that sound similar but have different meanings and spellings.
These include the following:
“Affect” and “effect”
“Except” and “accept”
“Comprise” vs. “compose”
“Further” vs. “farther”
For example:
Incorrect: “The rain had a good affect on the farmer’s field.”
Correct: “The rain had a good effect on the farmer’s field.”
Unnecessary commas
While commas are important for clarity and give the reader a chance to pause in the sentence, it’s possible to use commas when you don’t need them.
These unnecessary commas can be confusing to read, and they make writing look less professional.
Before you use a comma, think about why you’re using it.
If you aren’t sure it’s needed, double-check by reviewing comma rules.
For example:
Incorrect: “She had a stomach ache, because she ate too much ice cream.”
Correct: “She had a stomach ache because she ate too much ice cream.”
Mixing up possessive and plurals
People often get confused when adding an “s” to the end of a word.
When do you need an apostrophe?
In general, you use an apostrophe before an “s” to show possession or as a contraction, like “that’s” for “that is.”
If you’re just trying to say something is plural, you don’t need apostrophe.
Like most rules in the English language, this has some variation.
However, if you keep the general guidelines in mind, you’ll be correct most of the time.
For example:
Incorrect: “The dogs dish was full of bone’s.”
Correct: “The dog’s dish was full of bones.”- grammar.yourdictionary.com
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