10 COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN WRITING ENGLISH

osted on June 29, 2022By Charles Pertwee

LET’S LOOK AT 10 COMMON ERRORS PEOPLE MAKE WHEN WRITING – AND SOME IDEAS OR TIPS ON HOW TO NOT MAKE THE ERRORS.

Don’t worry, native speakers make these errors too!

First I need to address a common question:

USING CONTRACTIONS

• It’s essential to learn good exam technique for tests like IELTS and TOEFL. Otherwise, you won’t achieve the score you need and deserve.

Is this statement correct? No.

Why? Because this sentence uses contractions like it’s and won’t.

Do not use contractions in formal academic writing. They will decrease your writing score. 

For example:

• It is essential to learn good exam technique for tests like IELTS and TOEFL. Otherwise, you will not achieve the score you need and deserve.

The first three of the 10 common errors people make when writing English are homophones. 

They are words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings. These words are often confused, even by native English speakers.

1. YOUR VS YOU’RE

Here is an example sentence:

• Your resume is great, I think you’re the perfect candidate for the job.

Your is a possessive pronoun, it shows that something belongs to you – your pen, your car, your resume etc.

You’re is a contraction of you are. 

A simple way to check if you are using the right version of your is to say the sentence with you are instead.

• You are resume is great. 

That doesn’t work! So we need to use your.

• I think you are the perfect candidate for the job. 

That does work.

2. IT’S VS ITS

Here is an example sentence:

• This meat is past its expiration date. It’s green and smells bad.

Its, with no apostrophe, is the possessive word, like his and her, but for nouns without gender.

It’s is a contraction and should be used where a sentence would normally read it is.

Again – to avoid this error say your sentence out loud with it is instead. If it sounds strange its is probably the correct version to write.

• The meat is past it is expiration date. 

– that sounds weird – so its is the correct version to use.

• It is green.

That sounds good!

3. THERE, THEIR & THEY’RE.

Here is an example sentence:

• I ate all their cookies! They’re going to be angry. I am going to hide over there.

Their is the possessive form of they. 

• I ate all their cookies. 

– the cookies belong to them.

They’re always means they are. 

• They are going to be angry.

There is the most common. It has the word here in it, which is helpful because it’s often about location – in this example: 

• I am going to hide over there.

There is also used to act as the subject of a sentence, a dummy subject:

• There were no cookies left when we got home! 

To avoid using the wrong version say your sentence out loud with they are instead. So in the example above:

• There were no cookies left when we got home.
• They are were no cookies left when we got home. – that sounds wrong.

If it sounds strange it’s probably there or their. 

Then ask yourself – are you talking about a possession – something that belongs to more than one person? If not you probably need to use there.

The next two points are near homophones – So they are spelt differently and have different meanings, and almost sound the same.

4. LOOSE VS. LOSE

In an example sentence:

• If you lose too much weight, your clothes will be loose.

Lose is a verb which basically means: 

• to not have something anymore. 

In this case excess weight. 

Loose is an adjective that means: 

• something is not tight, not held firmly or attached. 

In this case, the clothes are not tight, they don’t fit close to the body.

Lose is also found in many very common idioms:

• lose your temper – that’s when you get angry about something. 
• lose touch with someone – that’s when you stop communicating with someone, usually because they do not live near you now:
• lose track of time – that’s when you forget to pay attention to the time.

Loose is also found in some good idioms:

• Have a screw loose – if someone has a screw loose they seem crazy.

• A loose cannon – that means they do whatever they want and nobody can predict what they are going to do.

5. AFFECT AND EFFECT

These are two of the most commonly confused words in English. Here is an example sentence:

• The heatwave didn’t affect me much, but it had a devastating effect on my elderly neighbors.

Affect is usually a verb, to influence someone or something, or cause them to change.

Effect is a noun and it is a change, reaction, or result that is caused by something.

So the heatwave didn’t influence me, but it caused a huge change in my neighbours who are old. 

Sometimes we even misuse words or phrases simply because we hear others use them incorrectly. Read on for a few examples.

6. DIFFERENT THAN VS. DIFFERENT FROM VS DIFFERENT TO

• Dogs are different from cats. 
• Dogs are different than cats.
• Dogs are different to cats.

Which is correct? When I was researching this one I realized that this is quite a controversial topic among grammar nerds.

I myself use different to a lot because it is British English. But I use from and than aswell, depending on how it’s going to sound – the rhythm of the sentence or phrase.

You will see and hear people use them interchangeably when writing and speaking, in books, in dictionaries etc.

However the consensus seems to be that it would be safest to write DIFFERENT FROM – when you are in an exam situation, for example – in a situation where your grammar is being judged and scored.

• Cats are different from dogs!

Emily is very/completely/entirely different from her sister.

Another example of people writing what they hear is:

7. COULD OF, WOULD OF, SHOULD OF

• She could of gone to any college she wanted to.
• I would of gone to the party, but I was tired.
• He should of told the truth about what he saw.

This is a great example of how difficult it can be to understand a native speaker when they are speaking normally. 

The correct spelling of these verb phrases is: 

• could’ve
• would’ve
• should’ve

They are contractions of could have, would have and should have.

When we speak and smush the sounds together it sounds like we are saying could of, would of, should of. 

8. FEWER AND LESS

• If fewer people used disposable water bottles, there would be less plastic in landfills.

• There are fewer cars here on the weekends, and there is less noise.

Basically, you use fewer if you can count the number of things – cars, plastic water bottles etc.

We use less when we cannot count the objects – less plastic, less noise etc. 

The two next points are to do with punctuation.

9. COMMAS IN A LIST

Commas are used to separate words and phrases when there are three or more of them in a sentence.

For example:

• Please get some milk, bread, and eggs from the grocery store. 

Do you see that comma before and eggs?

That is called the Oxford comma or the serial comma. Believe it or not, this is another source of controversy – a difference between American and British English.

In British English we generally don’t use the Oxford comma:

• Please get some milk, bread and eggs from the grocery store.

Calling it the Oxford comma might make you think that it is a British English thing, but it’s not. 

How you use commas in a list will depend on the specific writing style you follow or your teacher uses.

I don’t think it matters which style you use, there are no clear guidelines for IELTS for example. 

Whether you are taught to, or choose to, use the Oxford comma or not – remember that you need to use commas in a list to separate the items in your list. That’s just good punctuation. And you need to keep your style of punctuation consistent throughout whatever you are writing.

My final point is also to do with punctuation.

10. IMPROPER USE OF THE APOSTROPHE.

Here is an example:

• I’m very serious, You should read Charlie’s blog.

Basically, you use an apostrophe in two cases:

• For contractions. I am serious – I’m serious. Here the apostrophe shows there is a letter missing, namely the “a” of “am”.

• To show possession. Charlie’s blog means the blog belongs to Charlie.

But there are three different ways to use the possessive apostrophe – 

1. Use an apostrophe +”s” (‘s) to show that one person/thing owns or is a member of something:

• Charlie’s blog.
• Amy’s ballet class.

What if the name ends in “s”? 

It’s ok to add another apostrophe +”s” (‘s) to create the possessive form. It’s also acceptable to add just an apostrophe to the end of singular nouns that end in “s” to make them possessive. For example:

• Ross’ room.
• Ross’s sports team.

2. Use an apostrophe after the “s” (s’) at the end of a plural noun to show possession.

• That is my parents’ bedroom.
• the Smiths’ car is outside.

3. If a plural noun doesn’t end in “s,” add an apostrophe + “s” to create the possessive form:

• the children’s rooms.
• the women’s march in Washington DC.