COMMON STUDENT

WRITING MISTAKES
Check yourself, before you wreck yourself

SPELLING ERRORS
Many spelling mistakes occur when incorrect
homophones (words with the same pronunciation,
such as right, rite, and write) are used in a
sentence.
EX: Watch youre words! Spell-check may not sea
words that are miss used because they are spelled
rite!

SENTENCE
FRAGMENTS
A sentence fragment is a sentence thats missing a
subject (the thing doing the action) or a verb (the
action).
INCORRECT: An epic all-nighter!
Solution: Add a subject or verb to the fragment, as
needed.
CORRECT: I pulled an epic all-nighter!

WORDINESS
A sentence is wordy if it uses more words than necessary to
convey meaning. Wordiness often makes writing unclear.
INCORRECT: Jessica ended up having to walk all the way home
due to the fact that she missed the last train leaving Central
Station.
Solution: Identify long phrases that can be replaced with a single
word. Eliminate words that have the same meaning. Eliminate
weak words, such as basically and sort of. Eliminate
nonessential information.
CORRECT: Jessica walked home because she missed the last train.

SQUINTING
MODIFIERS
A squinting modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that
could modify the word before it or the word after it.
INCORRECT: Students who study rarely get bad grades.
Solution: Put the modifier next to the word it should
modify.
CORRECT: Students who rarely study get bad grades. OR:
Students who study get bad grades rarely.

S U B J E C T-V E R B A G R E E M E N T
Singular subjects take singular verbs and plural
subjects take plural verbs.
INCORRECT: Michael study at the library every day.
CORRECT: Michael studies at the library every day.

COMMA SPLICING
A comma splice occurs when you use a comma to connect
two clauses that could be sentences on their own.
INCORRECT: He bought back-to-school clothes, his mom
bought a scarf.
Solution: Add a coordinating conjunction after the comma, or
change the comma to a period, semicolon, or colon.
CORRECT: He bought back-to-school clothes, and his mom
bought a scarf. OR: He bought back-to-school clothes. His
mom bought a scarf.

SEMICOLONS
Semicolons are used to connect two independent clauses

that, though they could stand on their own, are closely

related. For example, you could use a semicolon in the
sentence: "Call me tomorrow; I'll have an answer for you by
then."
Notice that each clause could be its own sentence -- but
stylistically, it makes more sense for them to be joined. (If
there's a coordinating conjunction between the two clauses
-- like "and," "but", or "or" -- use a comma instead.)

SEMICOLONS CONTINUED
You can also use semicolons to separate items in a
list when those items contain commas themselves:
There are two options for breakfast: eggs and bacon,
which is high in protein and low in carbs; or oatmeal
and fruit, which is high in carbs but has more fiber.