Grammar is complicated and you can make mistakes. These mistakes can distract readers from the ideas expressed in your writing ànd might make your writing for difficult to read. On the other hand, good grammar and writing can improve readers' opinion of your writing. Here are some common mistakes to look for
Using the wrong words
See the Commonly Confused Words page for specific examples
Comma splice
A comma splice is when you joined together two independent clauses that can stand alone.
- Travelling to that country is easy, getting a visa there is difficult
- I want to pass my exams, my parents will be happy
- The experiment failed, the temperature was not controlled sufficiently by the operator
Instead of a comma
- Use a conjunction to link/join the two clauses
- The experiment failed because the temperature was not controlled sufficiently
- Travelling to that country is easy, but getting a visa there is difficult
- Use a semi-colon
- I want to pass my exams; my parents will be happy
- Use a full stop
- The experiment failed. The temperature was not controlled sufficiently by the operator
- Rewrite the sentence
- If I pass my exams, my parents will be happy
Run-on Sentences
Run-on sentence are where two sentences are joined together without any punctuation, not even a comma splice (above)
- The results of the study were inconclusive more research needs to be done on the topic.
- The scientists compared the two samples the difference between them was not statistically significant.
These can be fixed the same way that comma splices can be fixed
- Use a conjunction to link/join the two clauses
- The scientists compared the two samples, but the difference between them was not statistically significant
- Use a semi-colon
- The scientists compared the two samples; the difference between them was not statistically significant
- Use a full-stop
- The results of the study were inconclusive. More research needs to be done on the topic.
- Rewrite the sentence
- The results of the study were inconclusive, suggesting that more research needs to be done on the topic
Literally
Literally means that exactly what you are saying is true. If you're thinking of using literally, try replacing it with actually and see if it still make sense, e.g. "His head literally exploded" - "His head actually exploded". Did his head explode? It did not!>
Verb tense agreement
In the context of a verb, tense refers to past present or future. You must be consistent with your tense - no time travelling allowed
- John tidied his room, eats his dinner and went to the pub.
- John tidies his room - past tense
- John eats his dinner - present tense
- John went to the pub - past tense
John did something in the past, is doing something now and is doing something else in the past. This doesn't make sense
This can be fixed by
- placing all John's actions in the past
- John tidied his room, ate his dinner and went to the pub.
- changing the order of John's actions
- John tided hs room, went to the pub and is now eating his dinner
Sentence fragments
Sentences need at the very least a subject and a verb. If you don't have a suibject and a verb, you don't have a sentence
Missing subject
- Met a friend and went to the cinema - who met a friend?
- Writes a poor essay - who writes a poor essay?
Fix by adding a subject
- I met a friend and went to the cinema [subject - I]
- An unhappy student writes a poor essay [subject - an unhappy student]
Missing verb
- "An unhappy student" - what about them?
- "The elected official for our district" - does what?
Fix by adding a verb
- "An unhappy student will write a poor essay" [verb - writes]
- "The elected official for our district is incompetent" [verb - is]
A third type of sentence fragment is when you start with a conjunction such as since, because, although, while, when, where, before, or after and leave a question hanging:
- When she noticed it was missing (What did she do when she noticed it was missing?)
- While he was out (what happened while he was out?)
- Before I went to bed (what did I do before I went to bed?)
Fix by answering the question in the sentence
- When she noticed it was missing, she started to look for her keys
- While he was out, Mary came back home
- Before I went to bed, I brushed my teeth
Confusing pronouns
When you use a pronoun, you have to make clear the noun that it replaces.
- The bosses told the workers that they were getting a pay rise. [who was getting a payrise?]
- The car went over the bridge just before it fell into the water [what fell into the water?)
- Kerry told Ellen, she should be ready soon [who is ready soon, Kerry or Ellen?]
Rewrite the sentence to avoid confusion
- The bosses said that the workers would get a pay rise
- The bosses gave themselves a pay rise and told the workers about it.
- Just before the car fell into the water, it went over the bridge
- Just after the car went over it, the bridge fell into the water
- Kerry would be ready soon, she told Ellen
- Ellen would have to be ready soon, she was told by Kerry
