Common Writing Errors

#1 Number ONE

• Write out numbers ten and under. Always. Unless you are quoting someone who didn’t.

#2

•Alot is two words. So is atleast. I CANNOT stress this enough.

#3• Many have criticized the degree to

which Americans revere personal freedom.

• Machiavelli uses stories of actual princes to support his argument.

• The Prime Ministers memoirs contain numerous inaccuracies.

• For now, the conspirators aspirations survive.

#4 Apostrophes

• Used to show possession, not plural• Avoid using contractions (A personal preference)• NO ABBRIEVATIONS

#5

• Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda = HAVE, not of

• First off= of all• Infamous= famously bad not extra

famous

#6• Then vs. Than • Then is used as a time expression. • Examples: • I'll see you then.

I'll be at the party. We can speak then.

• Note: It is not used in the form "different than" which is used for comparisons.

• Than is used for comparisons. • Examples: • He's lived here longer than I have.

His skills are very different than mine.

#7• Do not confuse "effect" and "affect." "Effect" is

typically a noun, meaning some consequence or result. "Affect" is typically a verb, meaning to bring about an effect. (But note that "affect" also can be a noun meaning emotional expression, and "effect" can be used as a verb to mean to cause something to come into being.)

• The experimental manipulation caused an interesting affect.

• The experimental manipulation caused an interesting effect.

• The intervention did not affect the behavior of the therapy group.

  • The intervention did not effect the behavior of the therapy

group.

#8

• Subject/Verb Agreement• Find the subject of each sentence. • Find the verb that goes with the subject. • The subject and verb should match in

number, meaning that if the subject is plural, the verb should be as well and vice versa.

• Example: Students at the university level usually is very busy.

• Edited version: Students at the university level usually are very busy.

#9

• Example: Being a good friend involves good listening skills, to be considerate, and that you know how to have fun.

• Parallelism• Look through your paper for series of

items and make sure these items are in parallel form.

• Edited version: Being a good friend involves knowing how to listen, being considerate, and having fun.

#10

• Pronoun Reference/Agreement• Skim your paper, stopping at each

pronoun. • Search for the noun that the pronoun

replaces. • If you can't find any noun, insert one

beforehand or change the pronoun to a noun.

• If you can find a noun, be sure it agrees in number and person with your pronoun.

#11• In U.S. convention, when you close the quotation

the final punctuation always comes INSIDE the quotation marks (with the exception of colons[:] and semi-colons [;]. Students should always put punctuation inside quotation marks at the end of a sentence. This is, of course, NOT the case when the sentence does not end at the end of the quotation. The most obvious and frequent example of that is when you end the sentence with a citation. In that case, the period comes after the parenthesis.

• For example:

“The Five Pillars of Islam are the principles that regulate the private lives of Muslims in their dealings with God” (Smith 160).

#12

• ~The window was broken.  •  ~All of the pie was eaten. • I broke the window.• I ate all of the pie.• Active v. Passive. • Active. Subject performs the action on a

direct object. • Passive. Direct object becomes subject

that was acted upon.

#13

• Use transitions when beginning the next part of your thesis.

• First, Second, finally, in conclusion, Additionally, etc

Finally, #14- Why so Tense?

• Many teenagers have turned to drug use when they felt pressured to fit in.

• However, you may choose to make your essay more immediate by placing the action in the present. This is also an acceptable writing style, especially for an essay which discusses an ongoing problem:

• Many teenagers turn to drug use when they feel pressure to fit in.

Can I change tense?

• Sometimes it is necessary to change tense. For example, if the time frame of the action changes from past to present, the tense should change to indicate this:

• Although it was only a four-hour ride from my home in Pennsylvania to my boyfriend’s home in Virginia, I was terrified. Looking back, I think my feelings may have been influenced by stereotypes of the Old South.

When is it wrong to shift tense?• If the action all happened in the same

time—past, present, or future—then the verbs should be consistent in tense. This “mistake” is often heard in speech, and it is even used in very informal writing. However, from a grammatical viewpoint, this type of unnecessary shift in tense should be avoided in more formal (such as academic) writing.

• I climbed out of the car, walked through the door, and prepared to meet “the parents,” but instead a large, honey-colored dog runs to meet me at the door.