Your words are the most powerful
weapons, and yet it’s easy to undermine
yourself in written communication by
violating simple rules of punctuation. It
takes a single tweet or text for you to
reveal flaws. Homophones – words that
sound alike but are spelled differently
are particularly tricky.
These are 28 of the most common
grammar mistakes.



1. Periods and
commas
Almost never do this: “Almost never do
this”. A period or comma goes inside the
quote, “like this.”

2. Commas and semicolons
Use a semicolon when you want to link
two independent clauses; otherwise, you
probably want to use a comma. By virtue
of definition, a semicolon links two
independent clauses that are related in
thought.

3. Spaces
If using a typewriter (or if specified), use
two spaces after a period. Otherwise, a
single space will do.

4. ! – exclamation point
One is more than enough. Sometimes the
saying goes, “quality is more important
than quantity.” Same applies here.


5. emoticons
Emoticons are definitely cute, but are not
punctuation. Do not use this in an essay.
You will probably fail!

6. It’s and Its
“It’s” is a contraction of it is. “Its” on the
other hand signifies that “it” possesses
something.
Ex # 1: The dog chewed on its bone.
Ex # 2: It’s raining.
In general, if you can rewrite the
sentence to say “it is” then “it’s” is
suitable. Otherwise, you want to use
“its”.

7. Then vs. Than
“Then” conveys time. “Than” is used for
comparison.
Ex # 1: We left the party and then went
home.
Ex # 2: We would rather go home than
stay at the party.


9. Close-minded, and closed-
minded
This is a trick question. “Closed-minded”
seems logical. It is considered a correct
spelling but the original spelling of this
word is “Close-minded.” The same goes
for “close-lipped” and “close-mouthed.”

10. Affect vs. Effect
“Affect” is a verb. “Effect” is a noun.
There are however, rare exceptions. For
example, someone can “effect change”
and “affect” can be a psychological
symptom.
Example: How did that affect you?
Example: What effect did that have on
you?

11. Your vs. You’re
“Your” is possessive; it is a possessive
pronoun. On the contrary, the latter is a
contraction of you are.
Example 1: You’re pretty.
Example 2: Give me some of your
whiskey.
In general, if the sentence can be
rewritten to say “you are” then “you’re”
is appropriate. Otherwise, “your.”


12. Which and That
This is one of the most common mistakes
out there, and understandably so. “That”
is a restrictive pronoun. It’s vital to the
noun to which it’s referring. e.g., I don’t
trust fruits and vegetables that aren’t
organic. Here, I’m referring to all non-
organic fruits or vegetables. In other
words, I only trust fruits and vegetables
that are organic. “Which” introduces a
relative clause. It allows qualifiers that
may not be essential.
Example br /> I recommend you eat only
organic fruits
and vegetables, which are available in
area grocery stores. In this case, you
don’t have to go to a specific grocery
store to obtain organic fruits and
vegetables. “Which” qualifies, “that”
restricts. “Which” is more ambiguous
however, and by virtue of its meaning is
flexible enough to be used in many
restrictive clauses. Example br /> The house,
which is burning, is mine.
e.g., The house that is burning is mine

13. Moot
Contrary to common misuse, “moot”
doesn’t imply something is superfluous. It
means a subject is disputable or open to
discussion.
Example br /> The idea that commercial zoning
should
be allowed in the residential
neighborhood was a moot point for the
council.

14. Envy and jealousy
The word “envy” implies a longing for
someone else’s good fortunes. “Jealousy”
is far more nefarious. It’s a fear of
rivalry, often present in $exual situations.
“Envy” is when you covet your friend’s
good looks. “Jealousy” is what happens
when your significant other swoons over
your good-looking friend.

15. Continual and continuous
They’re similar, but there’s a difference.
“Continual” means something that’s
always occurring, with obvious lapses in
time. “Continuous” means something
continues without any stops or gaps in
between.
Example: The continual music next door
made it the worst night of studying ever.
Example: Her continuous talking
prevented him from concentrating.

16. Nor
“Nor” expresses a negative condition. It
literally means “and not.” You’re
obligated to use the “nor” form if your
sentence expresses a negative and follows
it with another negative condition.
“Neither the men nor the women were
drunk” is a correct sentence because
“nor” expresses that the women held the
same negative condition as the men. The
old rule is that “nor” typically follows
“neither,” and “or” follows “either.”
However, if neither “either” nor
“neither” is used in a sentence, you
should use “nor” to express a second
negative, as long as the second negative
is a verb. If the second negative is a
noun, adjective, or adverb, you would
use “or,” because the initial negative
transfers to all conditions.
Example: He won’t eat broccoli or
asparagus. The negative condition
expressing the first noun (broccoli) is
also used for the second (asparagus)

17. Nauseous
Undoubtedly the most common mistake I
encounter. Contrary to almost ubiquitous
misuse, to be “nauseous” doesn’t mean
you’ve been sickened: it actually means
you possess the ability to produce nausea
in others. e.g., That week-old hot dog is
nauseous. When you find yourself
disgusted or made ill by a nauseating
agent, you are actually “nauseated.” e.g.,
I was nauseated after falling into that
dumpster behind the Planned
Parenthood. Stop embarra$$ing yourself.

18. Irony and coincidence
Too many people claim something is the
former when they actually mean the
latter. For example, it’s not “ironic” that
“Barbara moved from California to New
York, where she ended up meeting and
falling in love with a fellow Californian.”
The fact that they’re both from California
is a “coincidence.” “Irony” is the
incongruity in a series of events between
the expected results and the actual
results. “Coincidence” is a series of
events that appear planned when they’re
actually accidental. So, it would be
“ironic” if “Barbara moved from
California to New York to escape
California men, but the first man she
ended up meeting and falling in love
with was a fellow Californian.”

20. Fewer and less
Another common mistake, “less” refers to
quantity and “fewer” to a number. For
instance, Facebook has fewer than 5,000
employees, but I got less sleep than you
last night.

21. Whether and if
Many writers seem to a$$ume that
“whether” is interchangeable with “if.” It
isn’t. “Whether” expresses a condition
where there are two or more alternatives.
“If” expresses a condition where there
are no alternatives. e.g., I don’t know
whether I’ll get drunk tonight. e.g., I can
get drunk tonight if I have money for
booze.

22. Run-on sentence or
comma splice
A run-on sentence is a sentence that joins
two independent clauses without
punctuation or the appropriate
conjunction. A comma splice is similar to
a run-on sentence, but it uses a comma to
join two clauses that have no appropriate
conjunction.
Fixing a run-on sentence or a comma
splice can be accomplished in one of five
different ways br /> Separate the clauses into
two sentences.
Replace the comma with a semi-colon.
Replace the comma with a coordinating
conjunction–and, but, for, yet, nor, so.
Replace the comma with a subordinating
conjunction–after, although, before,
unless, as, because, even though, if,
since, until, when, while.
Replace the comma with a semi-colon
and transitional word–however,
moreover, on the other hand,
nevertheless, instead, also, therefore,
consequently, otherwise, as a result.
For example br /> Incorrect: Rachel is very
smart, she began
reading when she was three years old.
Correct: Rachel is very smart. She began
reading when she was three years old.
Correct: Rachel is very smart; she began
reading when she was three years old.
Correct: Rachel is very smart, and she
began reading when she was three years
old.
Correct: Because Rachel is very smart,
she began reading when she was three
years old.
Correct: Rachel is very smart; as a result,
she began reading when she was three
years old.

23. Misplaced modifiers
To communicate your ideas clearly, you
must place a modifier directly next to the
word it is supposed to modify. The
modifier should clearly refer to a specific
word in the sentence. For example br />
Incorrect: At eight years old, my father
gave me a pony for Christmas.
Correct: When I was eight years old, my
father gave me a pony for Christmas.

24. Pronoun Errors
Pronoun errors occur when pronouns do
not agree in number with the nouns to
which they refer. If the noun is singular,
the pronoun must be singular. If the
noun is plural however, the pronoun
must be plural as well. For example br />
Incorrect: Everybody must bring their
own lunch.
Correct: Everybody must bring his or her
own lunch.
Many people believe that pronoun errors
are the result of writers who are trying
to avoid the implication of $exist
language. Although this is an admirable
goal, correct grammar is still important.

25. Impactful
It isn’t a word. “Impact” can be used as a
noun (e.g., The impact of the crash was
severe) or a transitive verb (e.g., The
crash impacted my ability to walk or hold
a job). “Impactful” is a made-up
buzzword, colligated by the modern
marketing industry in their endless
attempts to decode the innumerable
nuances of human behavior into a string
of mindless metrics. Seriously, stop
saying this. Impact is a noun, not a verb.
A plane can crash on impact. You can
have an impact on something. But you
cannot impact something. (When you are
tempted to use “impact” as a verb, use
“affect” instead; see #1.)


26. Care less
The dismissive “I could care less” is
incorrect. If you could care less about it,
then you’re saying you could care less
about the topic, and you’ve lost the
impact you meant to have. To use this
phrase correctly, insert the word “not”
after the word “could,” as in, “I could not
care less.”

27. Irregardless
This word doesn’t exist. The word you
should use is “regardless.”


28. Apostrophe usage
Apostrophes are used to show possession.
However, you do not use an apostrophe
after a possessive pronoun such as my,
mine, our, ours, his, hers, its, their, or
theirs. For example br /> Incorrect: My
mothers cabin is next to
his’ cabin.
Correct: My mother’s cabin is next to his
cabin.
In the case of it’s, the apostrophe is used
to indicate a contraction for it is. For
example br /> Incorrect: Its a cold day in
October.
Correct: It’s a cold day in October.


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Op can u space ur work?
At least start each point in a new line