Errors ranked 'very serious' in Hairston's survey
A second batch of errors Hairston determined were considered
very serious by her respondents based on the number of times they
said the errors really bothered them or bothered them a little
compared to the number that were not bothered at all by the error.
Sentence fragments See the
top 20 writing errors grammar websites list.
Run-on sentences See the
top 20 writing errors grammar websites list.
Noncapitalization of proper nouns
Example: don and i went to the fair in walton friday.
Corrected: Don and I went to the fair in Walton Friday.
Would of
instead of would have
Example: Mary would of gone but she had to work. Corrected:
Mary would have gone but she had to work.
Lack of subject-verb agreement (non-status
marking)
Non-status marking agreement errors usually occur with compound
subjects. See the top 20 writing
errors grammar websites.
Insertion of comma between a verb and
its complement
Example: The current problem is, that the parts have not
arrived. Corrected: The current problem is that the parts
have not arrived.
Nonparallelism (also called faulty parallelism)
Example: A large tree along his property line has caused
his sidewalk to become warped, his driveway cracked and roots
have penetrated his sewer lines. Corrected: Roots of a
large tree along his property line have warped his sidewalk, cracked
his driveway, and penetrated his sewer lines.
Faulty adverb forms
Example: It is awful hot. Corrected: It is awfully
hot.
Use of transitive verb set for
intransitive sit
Example: Set on the bench and wait. Corrected:
Sit on the bench and wait.
Serious but not major errors
Respondents split in their views of most errors in the survey
materials, with a few saying a particular error bothered them
a lot, a few saying it didn't bother them at all, and the remainder
saying it bothered them a little.
Hairston noted that in comments on the survey, respondents indicated
they were far more concerned about the content of the writing
than with surface features other than spelling errors. They value
writing that is clear and concise.
Predication
errors
Predication errors are logical errors that arise when a subject
is linked to a predicate with which it is not logically compatible.
The most common types of predication errors occur in sentences using
one of these phrases: "is where," "is when,"
"is because."
Example: The reason he was fired was because he was drunk
at work. Corrected: The reason he was fired was that he
was drunk at work.
Dangling modifiers See the
top 20 writing errors grammar websites.
Use of I as an objective pronoun
Example: The prize went to Bob and I. Corrected:
The prize when to Bob and me.
Lack of commas to set off interrupters
like however
Example: The facts however are quite different. Corrected:
The facts, however, are quite different.
Lack of commas in a series
Example: The tank contained sand, rocks and shells. Corrected:
The tank contained sand, rocks, and shells.
Unwarranted tense switching
See the top 20 writing errors
grammar websites list.
Use of a plural modifier with a singular
noun
Example: These kind of shoes is cheap. Corrected: This
kind of shoes is cheap.
- ChompChomp
[See: Remember that a prepositional phrase will never contain
the subject of a sentence.]
Grammar websites for "moderately serious" errors
The "moderately serious" label reflects business people's reports
of how bothersome they found a particular error when they encountered
it in work-related reading.
Lack of possessive form before a gerund
Example: The cats digging in the garden annoys Mary.
Corrected: The cats' digging in the garden annoys Mary.
Lack of commas to set off a nonrestrictive
appositive
Example: My only son Eric is coming home. Corrected:
My only son, Eric, is coming home.
Inappropriate use of quotation marks
Example: The day before Christmas, kids are "wired."
Corrected: The day before Christmas, kids are wired.
Lack of subjunctive mood
Example: If I was rich, I'd buy you a candy bar. Corrected:
If I were rich, I'd buy you a candy bar.
Using objective pronouns as subject complements
Example: That is her now. Corrected: That is she
now.
Use of I as an objective pronoun
Example: The secretary made restaurant reservations for
him and I. Corrected: The secretary made restaurant reservations
for him and me.
Use of whoever instead of whomever
Example 1: We will hire whoever you recommend. Corrected:
We will hire whomever you recommend.
Example 2: Whoever we appoint will have to stand for election
in November. Corrected: Whomever we appoint will have to
stand for election in November.
GrammarBook
Use of the construction The situation
is . . .when
Example: The problem is when the parent cannot be found.
Corrected: The problem occurs when the parent cannot be
found.
See Predication
Failure to distinguish between among
and between
Example: Split the work between the three of you. Corrected:
Split the work among the three of you.
Comma splices See the
top 20 writing errors grammar websites list.
Websites for errors business people view as minor
A very common writing error that most teachers deplore, confusing
it's and its, was considered of minor importance
by business people Again, clicking a hyperlink will open a grammar
website page that deals specifically with the identified error.
Use of a qualifier before unique
Example: New Orleans is the most unique city. Corrected:
New Orleans is a unique city.
Writing different than instead
of different from
Example: John is different than all other boys I've dated.
Corrected: John is different from all other boys I've dated.
English
Daily
Use of a singular verb with data
Example: The data shows a different outcome. Corrected:
The data show a different outcome.
Use of a colon after a linking verb
Example: The boys are: Tom, Dick, and Harry. Corrected:
The boys are Tom, Dick, and Harry.
Omission of the apostrophe in the contraction
it's See the top 20
writing errors grammar websites list.
More on teaching grammar for writing
Click here to
return to the start of the written grammar thread from this
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on the thread from the list below:
grammar for writing
Published 2-Sep-2010; updated
14-Dec-2011
