COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES

1. Subject-Verb Agreement Errors

The subject and verb of a sentence must agree with one another in number whether they are singular or plural. If the subject of the sentence is
singular, its verb must also be singular; and if the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.
Example 1:
Incorrect: An important part of my life have been the people who stood by me.
Correct: An important part of my life has been the people who stood by me.
Example 2:
Incorrect: The two best things about the party was the food and the music.
Correct: The two best things about the party were the food and the music.
2. Sentence Fragments
Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences that don’t have one independent clause. A fragment may lack a subject, a complete verb, or both.
Sometimes fragments depend on the proceeding sentence to give it meaning.
Example 1:
Incorrect: He gave his mother an extravagant gift after the argument. In spite of everything.
Correct: In spite of everything, he gave his mother an extravagant gift after the argument.
Example 2:
Incorrect: The boys snuck home late that night. Then waited for the consequences.
Correct: The boys snuck home late that night, then waited for the consequences.
3. Missing Comma After Introductory Element
A comma should be used after an introductory word, phrase, or clause. This gives the reader a slight pause after an introductory element and
often can help avoid confusion.
Example 1:
Incorrect: In case you haven’t noticed my real name doesn’t appear in the article.
Correct: In case you haven’t noticed, my real name doesn’t appear in the article.
Example 2:
Incorrect: Before she had time to think about it Sharon jumped into the icy pool.
Correct: Before she had time to think about it, Sharon jumped into the icy pool.
4. Misusing The Apostrophe With “Its”
You use an apostrophe with it’s only when the word means it is or it has. Without the apostrophe, its means belonging to it.
Example 1:
Incorrect: I don’t believe its finally Friday.
Correct: I don’t believe it’s (it is) finally Friday.
Example 2:
Incorrect: The cat was licking it’s tail.
Correct: The cat was licking its tail.
5. No Comma In A Compound Sentence
A comma separates two or more independent clauses in a compound sentence separated by a conjunction. The comma goes after the first clause
and before the coordinating conjunction that separates the clauses.
Example 1:
Incorrect: The man jumped into a black sedan and he drove away before being noticed.
Correct: The man jumped into a black sedan, and he drove away before being noticed.
Example 2:
Incorrect: She was beautiful and she was happy and she was full of life.
Correct: She was beautiful, and she was happy, and she was full of life.
6. Misplaced Or Dangling Modifier
A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it modifies or describes. Sentences with this error
can sound awkward, ridiculous, or confusing. A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence.
Example 1:
Incorrect: While walking on the sidewalk, Mary found a sparkly girl’s bracelet.
Correct: While walking on the sidewalk, Mary found a girl’s sparkly bracelet.
Example 2:
Incorrect: After finally setting off on the trail, the morning felt more exciting.
Correct: After finally setting off on the trail, he felt the morning was more exciting.
7. Vague Pronoun Reference
A pronoun can replace a noun, and its antecedent should be the person, place, or thing to which the pronoun refers. A vague pronoun reference
(including words such as it, that, this, and which) can leave the reader confused about what or to whom the pronoun refers.
Example 1:
Incorrect: When Jonathan finally found his dog, he was so happy. (The dog or Jonathan?)
Correct: Jonathan was so happy when he finally found his dog.

Example 2:
Incorrect: Don felt a lot of anger and bitterness as a result of Marie’s decision. This is what ended everything. (What ended everything? Don’s
anger and bitterness or Marie’s decision?)
Correct: Don felt a lot of anger and bitterness as a result of Marie’s decision. Her choice ended everything.
8. Wrong Word Usage
There are a variety of words and phrases that are commonly confused and misused in sentences. Using them incorrectly can change the meaning
of the sentence or simply reflect carelessness on the writer’s part. There are hundreds of these commonly confused words, so when in doubt,
always check the definition and correct spelling of the word.
Example 1:
Incorrect: She excepted his offer to drive her home.
Correct: She accepted his offer to drive her home.
Example 2:
Incorrect: It was a breathe of fresh air to meet someone so genuine.
Correct: It was a breath of fresh air to meet someone so genuine.
9. Run-On Sentence
A run-on sentence occurs when you connect two main clauses with no punctuation.
Example 1:
Incorrect: She tried to sneak out of the house her mother saw her leaving.
Correct: She tried to sneak out of the house, but her mother saw her leaving.
Example 2:
Incorrect: He ran through the field as fast as he could all the while rain was soaking him to the bone.
Correct: He ran through the field as fast as he could. All the while rain was soaking him to the bone.
10. Superfluous Commas
It’s common writing mistake to throw commas around liberally when they aren’t necessary. There are dozens of examples of this error, but here
are a few common mistakes.
Example 1:
Incorrect: The woman never went into the city, because she didn’t feel comfortable driving in traffic.
Correct: The woman never went into the city because she didn’t feel comfortable driving in traffic.
Example 2:
Incorrect: He wants to get a degree in engineering, or medicine.
Correct: He wants to get a degree in engineering or medicine.
Example 3:
Incorrect: Sam knew immediately, what was going to happen next.
Correct: Same knew immediately what was going to happen next.
Example 4:
Incorrect: Old cars, that have been left in a junkyard, are an eyesore.
Correct: Old cars that have been left in a junkyard are an eyesore.
Example 5:
Incorrect: The bouquet of flowers on the table, belongs to Mary.
Correct: The bouquet of flowers on the table belongs to Mary.
11. Lack Of Parallel Structure
Faulty parallelism occurs when two or more parts of a sentence are similar in meaning but not parallel (or grammatically similar) in form. It often
occurs with paired constructions and items in a series.
Example 1:
Incorrect: He wanted to learn more about careers in programming, engineering, biochemist, and research scientist.
Correct: He wanted to learn more about careers in programming, engineering, biochemistry, and research science.
Example 2:
Incorrect: The key directives of his boss were clear:
Meet monthly sales quotas.
Aggressive marketing techniques.
Reporting in every day.
Correct: The key directives of his boss were clear:
Meet monthly sales goals.
Practice aggressive marketing techniques.
Report in every day.
12. Sentence Sprawl
A sentence can become a burden to read when there are too many equally weighted phrases.
Example 1:
Incorrect: Jason was planning to attend his friend’s wedding on June 30, but at the last minute he found out he had jury duty, so he couldn’t attend
the wedding, and he felt really guilty about it.
Correct: Unexpectedly Jason was called for jury duty and couldn’t attend his friend’s June 30 wedding. He felt guilty about missing it.
13. Comma Splice
A comma splice occurs when two separate sentences are joined with a comma rather than a period or semicolon. Writers often create comma
splices when using transitional words, such as however, therefore, moreover, nevertheless, or furthermore.
Example 1:
Incorrect: My intention was to take her out to dinner, however I decided not to invite her after all.
Correct: My intention was to take her out to dinner; however, I decided not to invite her after all.
Example 2:
Incorrect: My sisters and I love to go shopping, we then have lunch together when we’re done.
Correct: My sisters and I love to go shopping. We then have lunch together when we’re done.
14. Colon Mistakes
A colon is used after a complete sentence to introduce a word, phrase, clause, list, or quotation. The colon signals that what follows proves or
explains the sentence preceding the colon.
Example 1:
Incorrect: People move to Florida for: the warmer weather, the beach, and the theme parks.
Correct: People move to Florida for three reasons: the warmer weather, the beach, and the theme parks.
15. Split Infinitives
An infinitive is the word “to” with a verb. A split infinitive separates the word “to” and the verb with another word (often an adverb). There are
no grammar rules that prohibit split infinitives, but many experts disapprove of them. If the sentence sounds awkward by correcting the split, our
rule of thumb is to go with what makes the most sense in the context of your writing and for the ease of reading. (For example, “To boldly go
where no man has gone before” would sound awkward and less powerful as, “To go boldly where no man has gone before.”)
Example 1:
Incorrect: She tried to quickly finish the book before she had to leave.
Correct: She tried to finish the book quickly before she had to leave.
Example 2:
Incorrect: He wanted to gradually improve his strength by increasing the weight.
Correct: He wanted to improve his strength gradually by increasing the weight.
Identifying Sentence Errors Practice Questions
Each consecutive underlined section corresponds with an answer choice. Select the choice that has an error,
or select choice E for no error.

1. A Because of the Internet, B working at jobs C at home D have become much more common. ENo error.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
2. “Pull it out A by B its plug, not by the C cord,” said D dad. E No error.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
3. Symptoms of this illness A that warrant a doctor visit B includes fever, C vomiting, and diarrhea, as well as
the D loss of appetite. E No error.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
4. A Either Lisa or Karen B will always volunteer C their valuable D time to serve on our board. ENo error.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
5. The conversation with her A mother had a more profound B affect on her C than D she expected. E No error.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
6. The A President and the B Speaker of the House found the C Congressional Republicans’ filibusters to be D all
together specious. E No error.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
7. A Professor Lane, our B Computer Science teacher, was excited when he had the opportunity to meet C Bill
Gates, the D president of Microsoft, Inc.E No error.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
8. Do you think A they B will C except our plan D without an argument? E No error.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
9. “They A had went to the lake B without me C by the time D I got there,” said Jacques. E No error.
A. A
 B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
10. Work A as quick B as you C can but D as carefully as possible when you take the test. E No error.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
Answers – Identifying Sentence Errors
1. D: The error is “have become,” which should be “has become.” The plural form of the auxiliary verb “have”
is incorrect because the subject of the independent clause is “working,” which is singular and thus takes a
singular verb—i.e. “working has…” The other underlined sections are correct.
2. D: “Dad” is a name or proper noun and should be capitalized. “By” is a correct preposition to use here. “Its”
is the correct use of the third-person singular possessive impersonal pronoun. The punctuation at the end of
the quotation is correct.
3. B: “Includes” is incorrect because it is the singular form of the verb, but the subject, “symptoms,” is plural.
The verb should be “include.” The subordinating conjunction “that” introducing the dependent clause, and its
plural verb “warrant,” (A) are both correct. “…vomiting, and” (C) is punctuated correctly as the last in a series of
three or more words. The singular noun “loss” (D) is correct.
4. C: “Their” is incorrect because it is a plural third-person possessive pronoun, but the use of “either (A)…or”
indicates a singular form. It should be “her.” “Will always volunteer” (B) is a singular verb phrase and is correct.
“Time” (D) is correct regardless of whether it is modified by a singular (“her”) or plural (“their”) possessive
pronoun, e.g. “They both volunteered their valuable time.”
5. B: The correct noun for this meaning is spelled “effect.” “Affect” when it is a noun means mood or
emotional state, e.g. “The patient presented with a depressed affect.” When it is a verb, the meaning of
“affect” is related to the meaning of the noun “effect;” e.g. “The experience had a harmful effect on her, but it
did not affect her brother the same way.” “…her mother” (A) is correctly not capitalized as it is a noun, not a
name/proper noun (e.g. “Hello, Mother.”) The other underlined parts are correct.
6. D: This is incorrectly spelled as two words. In this sentence, it should be “altogether,” a one-word adverb
modifying the adjective “specious” and meaning “entirely” or “completely.” “All together” would be used for a
different meaning, e.g. “The family members were all together at the reunion.” The President (A), Speaker of
the House (B), and Republicans’ (C) are all correctly capitalized as they are titles. The adjective congressional
(C) refers to Congress (a proper name and thus capitalized), but as an adjective it is lower-case unless part of
a proper name.
7. E: There is no error in this sentence. Titles and proper names (A) are capitalized. Academic subjects or
departments are lower-case (e.g. department of computer science) unless they are adjectives (Computer
Science teacher) (B) or proper nouns (English, French, etc.) Bill Gates (C) is a proper noun, i.e. a name, and is
always capitalized. “…the president” (D) is correctly lower-case both because it is used after a name, and
because it is a used as a description rather than a title here.
8. C: The verb is misspelled here. For the correct meaning, it should be “accept,” i.e. to consent or agree to our
plan. “Except” means other than, besides, but, etc. Used as a verb as in this sentence, it would mean to make
an exception of our plan, which is incorrect as it contradicts the rest of the sentence (without an argument).
“They” (A) and “will” (B) are used correctly as subject pronoun and auxiliary verb. “Without” (D) is correctly
used as a preposition.
9. A: The correct form for the past perfect tense of the irregular verb “to go” is “had gone,” not “had went.”
“Went” is only used as the past tense, without the auxiliary “had.” The prepositional phrase (B) is correct. The
two parts of the dependent clause (C and D) “by the time I got there” are correct.
10. A: The error is “quick,” which is an adjective; here it should be the adverb “quickly” instead, describing
manner (how) to modify the verb “Work.” “…as carefully” (D) is an example of the correct usage. The other
underlined sections are correct.

1. He was quite amusing when he heard what hadhappened.

2. T u r n l e f t b y t h e c r o s s r o a d s w h e n yo u r e a c h i t .
 3. He has been working here for sometimes.

4. He stopped to see if he could picked up the trail.

5. Although he jumped aside, but the stone hit him.

6. I decided to climbed to the top of the hill to get a better view.

7. He jumped down after shouted a warning to those standing below.

8. After a few minutes, I look up and saw that it wasgetting dark.

9. I s a w t h e b l i n d m a n c r o s s e d t h e b u s y r o a d w i t h o u t a n yh e l p .

10. The robber gave the victim with a hard blow.

Answers

1. H e w a s q u i t e a mu s e d w h e n h e h e a r d w h a t h a d h a p p e n e d .
2. T u r n l e f t a t t h e c r o s s r o a d s w h e n yo u r e a c h i t .
3. He has been working here for some times.
4. He stopped to see if he could pick up the trail.
5. A l t h o u gh h e j u m p e d a s i d e , y e t t h e s t o n e h i t h i m .
6. I d e c i d e d t o c l i mb t o t h e t o p o f t h e h i l l t o g e t a b e t t e r v i e w .
7. He jumped down after shouting a warning to those standing below
8. After a few minutes, I looked up and saw that it was getting dark.
9. I saw the blind man crossing the busy road without any help.
10. The robber gave the victim a hard blow.

1. It is raining when I got home last night.

Answer

It was raining when I got home last night.

* Use past progressive for a longer action that was interrupted by a shorter action in the past.

2. My sister is annoying today, but usually she is nice.

Answer

My sister is being annoying today, but usually she is nice.

* Use a progressive tense (present progressive is used here) for actions and (some) adjectives that are temporary.
Your sister is not annoying; she is only being annoying today. For adjectives, this generally applies to adjectives
that require an action (e.g. being silly, being rude) and not states (dead, tired).

3. I have not ate anything today.

Answer

I have not eaten anything today.

4. If I am a child, I would play outside.

Answer

If I were a child, I would play outside.

* Second conditional = If + past tense, subject + would/could/might. The second conditional is used for unreal
situations. Fact: You are not a child. But, if you were a child, you would play outside.

5. Everyone have seen that movie.

 Answer

Everyone has seen that movie.

6. If we will be late, they will be angry.

Answer

It we are late, they will be angry.

* Being late is a real possibility, so you should use the first conditional. First conditional = If + subject + present
simple, subject + will.

7. My father is thinking that I should stop smoking.

Answer

My father thinks I should stop smoking.

* In this sentence, the verb think is a state verb. It is generally not used in the progressive (~ing) tense.

8. Look! It is snow.

Answer

Look! It is snowing.

9. I fell asleep while I watched TV.

Answer

I fell asleep while I was watching TV.

*After while use past progressive. Again, this is a longer action (watching TV) that was interrupted by a shorter
action (fell asleep).

10. I have lived in Canada since 10 months.

Answer

I have lived in Canada for 10 months.

11. There is a warm country.

Answer

It is a warm country. / That country is warm.

*In the above sentence, ‘There‘ is an adverb that indicates a place. An adverb should not be the subject of a
sentence. Instead, use ‘It’ as the subject. It is a pronoun.

12. I have not an iPhone .

Answer

I do not have an iPhone.

* People do not say “I have not (something)” anymore. This is old-fashioned English.

13. I haven’t ever been to Korea.

Answer
I haven’t been to Korea. / I have never been to Korea.

* ‘ever’ is only used with the present perfect in questions. It is not used in statements.

14. The students have a good time in class today.

Answer

The students are having a good time in class today.

* The verb have is a state verb, so it shouldn’t be used in the progressive (~ing) tenses. However, to ‘have a good
time‘ is an expression (just like have a baby, have a party). These expressions are actions, so they can be used in
the progressive tense.

15. John probably isn’t going to come to school tomorrow.

Answer

John probably won’t come to school tomorrow.

* use will for predictions. Use be + going to for plans that are already decided.

16. If the world ended tomorrow, I will be very sad.

Answer

If the world ended tomorrow, I would be very sad.

* This is the second conditional. It is for a present unreal condition. There is a very low chance the world will end
tomorrow. The speaker does not believe it will happen. Therefore, to show that it’s not a real possibility, we use the
second conditional.

17. I still did my homework at 10:30 pm last night.

Answer

I was still doing my homework at 10:30 pm last night.

* Use past progressive for actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past.

18. He can speak Japanese because he was born in Canada.

Answer

He can speak Japanese even though/although he was born in Canada.

* These ideas contrast each other, so we should use ‘even though/though/although‘.

19. Lee afraid of snakes.

Answer

Lee is afraid of snakes.

* afraid is an adjective. A verb is still needed.

20. The students were not interested in the lesson because it was bored.

Answer

The students were not interested in the lesson because it was boring.