Common Mistakes in Writing: Avoiding Major & Minor Errors

Errors, errors, everywhere!It is rare that anyone, regardless of education level, sits

down and pens a perfect draft the very first time he or she attempts writing a letter, paper, or any other type of written correspondence. We all make errors in our writing. Perhaps they are as simple as hitting the wrong keys on the computer, or maybe they’re due to a lack of understanding the constructs of the English language. Regardless of the reason, we all have struggled with writing at one time or another.

If you find that you have trouble identifying common writing errors in your own work, or even in the words of others, you are not alone. Perhaps it’s been a while since you attended school, or maybe you’ve forgotten those grammar lessons from high school. Regardless of the reason, it’s quite common to feel a bit intimidated when it comes to writing mistakes.

Chances are a brief review of common mistakes, and subsequent, careful proofreading of your work, will help you in becoming comfortable at not only recognizing common writing no-no’s, but also at avoiding the mistakes in the first place.

Major Errors

Sentence Fragment

Comma Splice

Run-on Sentence

Garbled Sentence

Faulty-Subject Verb Agreement

Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Misuse of Verb Forms

Before we begin . . .

Ask yourself how do we come to agree in the English language that a group of words and/or phrases is a sentence?

Do you remember . . .?

What is a Sentence?

Three elements constitute a word group being a grammatically correct sentence. Do you know what they are?

Subject

Verb

Complete thought

Sentence Fragments

A fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence but is missing a subject, verb, or complete thought

Only a piece of a sentence

Considered a serious writing mistake

Watch out for fragments (trouble spots)

A word group that starts with a prepositionA word group that starts with a dependent wordA word group that starts with an ‘–ing’ verb formA word group that starts with to and a verbA word group that starts with an example or explanation of something mentioned in the previous sentence

from Real Writings with Readings by Susan Anker

Sentence or Fragment?

Because I could not go to the store today.

Sentence or Fragment?

Because I could not go to the store today.

Fragment!

Sentence or Fragment?

Thinking she had been left by the bus driver, Kelly walked to school in the rain.

Sentence or Fragment?

Thinking she had been left by the bus driver, Kelly walked to school in the rain.

Sentence!

Sentence or Fragment?

The reason the college instituted the test was to gage student reading achievements.

Sentence or Fragment?

The reason the college instituted the test was to gage student reading achievements.

Sentence!

Sentence or Fragment?

Shut the door.

Sentence or Fragment?

Shut the door.

Sentence!Be observant for implied subject (in most cases

“you.) In this example, it’s implied, “You shut the door,” and therefore, technically this is not a

sentence fragment.

Sentence or Fragment?

That is the man. Who cheated me out of money at the supermarket.

Sentence or Fragment?

That is the man. Who cheated me out of money at the supermarket.

FRAGMENT!Be careful! Often times, fragments are embedded in the middle of a paragraph, and our natural tendencies to read and attempt to make sense will cause us to miss fragments.

Comma Splices

Comma splices are two complete thoughts (two sentences) joined together by commas

Common error among college composition students

Serious grade deductions

Comma Splices: Spot them?

Paula and Henry have been friends for a number of years, ever since first grade. They often help each other stay out of trouble, both of them, while good students, are a little bit wild and do not take their assignments seriously. Many people have thought Paula and Henry dated, but that is not the case, they are just good friends.

Comma Splices: Spot them?

Paula and Henry have been friends for a number of years, ever since first grade. They often help each other stay out of trouble, both of them, while good students, are a little bit wild and do not take their assignments seriously. Many people have thought Paula and Henry dated, but that is not the case, they are just good friends.

Run-ons

Run-ons are essentially what the name indicates: sentences that are thrown together without any punctuation to indicate where one ends and another begins.

Similar to comma splices, but in the case of regular run-ons, no comma is used

Often referred to as fused sentences

Run-ons

One time when I went to the store, I got scared to death a gunman came in and held customers and employees at gunpoint. I’d never witnessed such in my life. My hands were shaking, my legs went limp, my breathing became very difficult. That day forever changed my life. I no longer stop at convenience stores. I prefer to do my shopping in a more crowded place like Wal-Mart there the likelihood of the store being held up is significantly less that at conveniences stores they are not nearly as safe. That’s why I avoid them at all costs.

Run-ons

One time when I went to the store, I got scared to death a gunman came in and held customers and employees at gunpoint. I’d never witnessed such in my life. My hands were shaking, my legs went limp, my breathing became very difficult. That day forever changed my life. I no longer stop at convenience stores. I prefer to do my shopping in a more crowded place like Wal-Mart there the likelihood of the store being held up is significantly less that at conveniences stores they are not nearly as safe. That’s why I avoid them at all costs.

Garbled or Awkward Sentences

Garbled or awkward sentences can be caused by various reasons

The end result is a sentence that doesn’t fit in with those around it, either failing to offer support to the writing, or just in some fashion confusing the reader

Thorough proofreading usually finds garbled/awkward sentences

Garbled or Awkward SentencesThrough the years, I’ve found that it pays

to show kindness even when others do not do the same. Not everyone can prove it. There are times when kindness doesn’t seem like the best course of action; however, I believe one can’t fail if he shows his fellowman compassion. Early in childhood, many times while in pre-school before grade school, it was not uncommon an occurrence for me to get into brawls, even though usually I was shy, yet talkative. Back then, fighting resulted in a spanking. Though I didn’t appreciate spankings then, now I do. The corrective action helped me to understand that fighting is not the correct way to handle disagreements. It’s a motto I live by today.

Garbled or Awkward SentencesThrough the years, I’ve found that it pays

to show kindness even when others do not do the same. Not everyone can prove it. There are times when kindness doesn’t seem like the best course of action; however, I believe one can’t fail if he shows his fellowman compassion. Early in childhood, many times while in pre-school before grade school, it was not uncommon an occurrence for me to get into brawls, even though usually I was shy, yet talkative. Back then, fighting resulted in a spanking. Though I didn’t appreciate spankings then, now I do. The corrective action helped me to understand that fighting is not the correct way to handle disagreements. It’s a motto I live by today.

Garbled or Awkward Sentences

Recognizing garbled/awkward sentences is a skill that matures as you advance as a writer. It’s often a matter of sound writing judgment. A good way to learn to recognize such sentences is by reading the work of your peers. Similarly, allow peers to proof your papers or essays. It’s often hard to gage when our own writing isn’t clear because we know what we meant when we wrote it.

Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement

Major problem for many students

Usually occurs because subject and verb are divided by prepositional phrases or other phrases or clauses

Must locate the subject of the sentence

Ask yourself if the subject is singular or plural

If the subject is singular, choose a singular verb

If the subject is plural, choose a plural verb

Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement

The athlete runs around the track.

Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement

The athlete runs around the track.

singular subject, singular verb

Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement

The athletes run around the track.

plural subject, plural verb

Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement

The man that lives over the hill scare us every time we walk by his house.

Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement

The man that lives over the hill scare us every time we walk by his house.

Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement

The man that lives over the hill scare us every time we walk by his house.

Notice “that lives” is a dependent phrase (noun phrase) modifying man

“over the hill” is a prepositional phrase

We are left with a singular subject, so it requires a singular verb

Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement

The man that lives over the hill scares us every time we walk by his house.

CORRECT!

Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Very confusing for many students

We hear faulty pronoun agreement many times a day during the course of conversations, broadcasting on television or radio, etc.

Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

The noun or pronoun that another pronoun refers to is called the antecedent. The antecedent comes before the pronoun in questionAntecedents usually found near the pronounBe careful because dependent clauses/phrases can separate the two and make agreement even more tricky

Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Everyone in the play should know their lines by Monday.

Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Everyone in the play should know their lines by Monday.In this case, the pronoun in question, “their” refers to everyoneWhile we used to hearing such statements, we have to remember that “everyone” is treated as “every single one”Singular “everyone” requires singular “his/her” for pronoun agreement

Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

The audience clapped their hands as Faith Hill ended her song.

Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

The audience clapped their hands as Faith Hill ended her song.In this case, we are looking at the subject “audience” and the word serves as the antecedent. “their” is the pronoun in questionEven though multiple people in the audience, it is one audience– a singular entityTherefore, “audience” requires “its” for pronoun/antecedent agreement

Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

The members of the Chamber of Commerce Board reversed its decision and allowed the adult video store to open within the city limits.

Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

The members of the Chamber of Commerce board reversed its decision and allowed the adult video store to open within the city limits.In this case, “members” is the subject and antecedent. “its” is the pronoun in questionThough there is only one Chamber of Commerce Board and it acts as single entity, in this case, “members” is plural and is the subject of the sentence.Therefore pronoun-antecedent agreement the “its” must be replaced with “their.”

Misuse of Verb Forms

Easily made errors, especially in compound/complex sentences

Verb tense (shifting tense) is a common writing problem

If you’re writing in the past tense, keep it in the past tense, etc.

Misuse of Verb Forms

A verb’s tense indicates the time– past, present, or future– of an event

Writers must remain consistent with uses of verb tense

Misuse of Verb Forms

The township bought a powerful new lawn mower which breaks down after two weeks

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

Misuse of Verb Forms

The township bought a powerful new lawn mower which breaks down after two weeksComplex sentence here with two verbsSince we began in the past tense with “bought” it is not correct to change to present tense with “breaks” Change “breaks” to “broke”; therefore, we are uniform in our use of past tense

Misuse of Verb Forms

The restaurant’s homemade bread is thick and crunchy. It was a meal within itself.

What is the problem?

Misuse of Verb Forms

The restaurant’s homemade bread is thick and crunchy. It was a meal within itself.

What is the problem?

“is” is present tense; “was” is past

Must change the tense to be uniform

Change both to “is” or both to “was” and establish proper tense; choose according to the situation, depending on what sense of time you wish to establish

Misuse of Verb Forms

Faulty use of past tense

To establish one event from an earlier one, use the past perfect tense (usually have or had, plus the verb)

Misuse of Verb Forms

The plane already finished rolling down the runway when it burst into flames.PROBLEM: Faulty tense CORRECTION: The plane had already finished [past perfect] rolling down the runway when it burst [simple past] into flames.This establishes that one event preceded another and gives our readers the appropriate sense of time

Source for Verb Forms slides: The Longman Writer by Nadell, Langan, Comodromos