14 Common Grammatical Mistakes in English – And How to Avoid Them

1. Misplaced apostrophes

Apostrophes aren’t difficult to use once you know how, but putting them in the wrong place is one of the most common grammar mistakes in the English language. Many people use an apostrophe to form the plural of a word, particularly if the word in question ends in a vowel, which might make the word look strange with an S added to make it plural.

The rules:

• Apostrophes indicate possession – something belonging to something or someone else.
• To indicate something belonging to one person, the apostrophe goes before the ‘s’. For instance, “The girl’s horse.”
• To indicate something belonging to more than one person, put the apostrophe after the ‘s’. For example, “The girls’ horse.”
• Apostrophes are also used to indicate a contracted word. For example, “don’t” uses an apostrophe to indicate that the word is missing the “o” from “do not”.
• Apostrophes are never used to make a word plural, even when a word is in number form, as in a date.

How not to do it:

• The horse’s are in the field
• Pen’s for sale
• In the 1980’s
• Janes horse is over there
• The girls dresses are ready for them to collect

How to do it properly:

• The horses are in the field
• Pens for sale
• In the 1980s
• We didn’t want to do it
• Jane’s horse is over there
• The girls’ dresses are ready for them to collect

2. Your/you’re

We covered this one before in our post on homophones, but it’s such a widespread problem that there’s no harm in covering it again.

The rules:

• “Your” indicates possession – something belonging to you.
• “You’re” is short for “you are”.

How not to do it:

• Your beautiful
• Do you know when your coming over?
• Can I have one of you’re biscuits?

How to do it properly:

• You’re beautiful
• Do you know when you’re coming over?
• Can I have one of your biscuits?

3. Its/it’s

We said earlier that apostrophes should be used to indicate possession, but there is one exception to this rule, and that is the word “it”. Unsurprisingly, this exception gets lots of people confused.

The rules:

• “It’s” is only ever used when short for “it is”.
• “Its” indicates something belonging to something that isn’t masculine or feminine (like “his” and “hers”, but used when you’re not talking about a person).
• If it helps, remember that inanimate objects can’t really possess something in the way a human can.

How not to do it:

• Its snowing outside
• The sofa looks great with it’s new cover

How to do it properly:

• It’s snowing outside
• The sofa looks great with its new cover

4. “Could/would/should of”

This common mistake arises because the contracted form of “could have” – “could’ve” – sounds a bit like “could of” when you say it out loud. This mistake is made frequently across all three of these words.

The rules:

• When people write “should of”, what they really mean is “should have”.
• Written down, the shortened version of “should have” is “should’ve”.
• “Should’ve” and “Should have” are both correct; the latter is more formal.

How not to do it:

• We could of gone there today
• I would of done it sooner
• You should of said

How to do it properly:

• We could’ve gone there today
• I would have done it sooner
• You should’ve said

5. There/their/they’re

We’ve met this one before, too; it’s another example of those pesky homophones – words that sound the same but have different meanings.

The rules:

• Use “there” to refer to a place that isn’t here – “over there”.
• We also use “there” to state something – “There are no cakes left.”
• “Their” indicates possession – something belonging to them.
• “They’re” is short for “they are”.

How not to do it:

• Their going to be here soon
• We should contact they’re agent
• Can we use there boat?
• Their is an argument that says

How to do it properly:

• They’re going to be here soon
• We should contact their agent
• Can we use their boat?
• There is an argument that says

6. Fewer/less

The fact that many people don’t know the difference between “fewer” and “less” is reflected in the number of supermarket checkout aisles designated for “10 items or less”. The mistake most people make is using “less” when they actually mean “fewer”, rather than the other way round.

The rules:

• “Fewer” refers to items you can count individually.
• “Less” refers to a commodity, such as sand or water, that you can’t count individually.

How not to do it:

• There are less cakes now
• Ten items or less

How to do it properly:

• There are fewer cakes now
• Ten items or fewer
• Less sand
• Fewer grains of sand

7. Amount/number

These two work in the same way as “less” and “fewer”, referring respectively to commodities and individual items.

The rules:

• “Amount” refers to a commodity, which can’t be counted (for instance water).
• “Number” refers to individual things that can be counted (for example birds).

How not to do it:

• A greater amount of people are eating more healthily

How to do it properly:

• A greater number of people are eating more healthily
• The rain dumped a larger amount of water on the country than is average for the month

8. To/two/too

It’s time to revisit another common grammar mistake that we also covered in our homophones post, as no article on grammar gripes would be complete without it. It’s easy to see why people get this one wrong, but there’s no reason why you should.

The rules:

• “To” is used in the infinitive form of a verb – “to talk”.
• “To” is also used to mean “towards”.
• “Too” means “also” or “as well”.
• “Two” refers to the number 2.

How not to do it:

• I’m to hot
• It’s time two go
• I’m going too town
• He bought to cakes

How to do it properly:

• I’m too hot
• It’s time to go
• I’m going to town
• He bought two cakes

9. Then/than

Confusion between “then” and “than” probably arises because the two look and sound similar.

The rules:

• “Than” is used in comparisons.
• “Then” is used to indicate something following something else in time, as in step-by-step instructions, or planning a schedule (“we’ll go there then there”).

How not to do it:

• She was better at it then him
• It was more then enough

How to do it properly:

• She was better at it than him
• It was more than enough
• We’ll go to the baker first, then the coffee shop

10. Me/myself/I

The matter of how to refer to oneself causes all manner of conundrums, particularly when referring to another person in the same sentence. Here’s how to remember whether to use “me”, “myself” or “I”.

The rules:

• When referring to yourself and someone else, put their name first in the sentence.
• Choose “me” or “I” by removing their name and seeing which sounds right.
• For example, with the sentence “John and I are off to the circus”, you wouldn’t say “me is off to the circus” if it was just you; you’d say “I am off to the circus”. Therefore when talking about going with someone else, you say “John and I”.
• You only use “myself” if you’ve already used “I”, making you the subject of the sentence.

How not to do it:

• Me and John are off to the circus
• Myself and John are going into town
• Give it to John and I to look after

How to do it properly:

• John and I are off to the circus
• John and I are going into town
• Give it to John and me to look after
• I’ll deal with it myself
• I thought to myself 

11. Invite/invitation

This mistake is now so common that it’s almost accepted as an alternative, but if you really want to speak English properly, you should avoid it.

The rules:

• “Invite” is a verb – “to invite”. It refers to asking someone if they’d like to do something or go somewhere.
• “Invitation” is a noun – “an invitation”. It refers to the actual message asking someone if they’d like to do something or go somewhere.

How not to do it:

• I haven’t responded to her invite yet.
• She sent me an invite.

How to do it properly:

• I haven’t responded to her invitation yet.
• She sent me an invitation.
• I’m going to invite her to join us. 

12. Who/whom

Another conundrum arising from confusion over how to refer to people. There are lots in the English language!

The rules:

• “Who” refers to the subject of a sentence; “whom” refers to the object.
• “Who” and “whom” work in the same way as “he” or “him”. You can work out which you should use by asking yourself the following:
• “Who did this? He did” – so “who” is correct. “Whom should I invite? Invite him” – so “whom” is correct.
• “That” is often used incorrectly in place of “who” or “whom”. When referring to a person, you should not use the word “that”.

How not to do it:

• Who shall I invite?
• Whom is responsible?
• He was the only person that wanted to come

How to do it properly:

• Whom shall I invite?
• Who is responsible?
• He was the only person who wanted to come 

13. Affect/effect

It’s an easy enough mistake to make given how similar these two words look and sound, but there’s a simple explanation to help you remember the difference.

The rules:

• Affect is a verb – “to affect” – meaning to influence or have an impact on something.
• Effect is the noun – “a positive effect” – referring to the result of being affected by something.
• There is also a verb “to effect”, meaning to bring something about – “to effect a change”. However, this is not very commonly used, so we’ve left it out of the examples below to avoid confusion.

How not to do it:

• He waited for the medicine to have an affect
• They were directly effected by the flooding

How to do it properly:

• He waited for the medicine to have an effect
• They were directly affected by the flooding

14. I.e. and e.g.

These two abbreviations are commonly confused, and many people use them interchangeably. However, their uses are very different.

The rules:

• I.e. means “that is” or “in other words”. It comes from the Latin words “id est”.
• E.g. means “for example”. It comes from the Latin words “exempli gratia”.
• Only use “i.e.” and “e.g.” when writing informally. In formal documents, such as essays, it is better to write out the meanings (“for example” or “that is”).

How not to do it:

• He liked many different cheeses, i.e. cheddar, camembert and brie.
• He objects to the changes – e.g. he won’t be accepting them.

How to do it properly:

• He liked many different cheeses, e.g. cheddar, camembert and brie.
• He objects to the changes – i.e. he won’t be accepting them.

We hope you’ve found this a useful reference guide as you continue your journey to become fluent in English. If you’d like to learn even more about the ins and outs of English grammar, why not enroll on one of our English as a Foreign Language (EFL) courses this summer?

15 common grammar mistakes that can kill your credibility as a writer

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, it 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 its 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 breath 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.
• A 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 a 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.

As a serious author, you want to put your best foot forward with your writing. There are times and reasons to break some of the rules of grammar, but it’s wiser to break them knowing what they are and why you should stray.

Whenever you’re in doubt about a rule, take a brief moment to look it up. You’ll save yourself some embarrassment, and you’ll show your readers that you respect language and revere the art of writing well.

Classroom Quiet-Down Techniques

Classroom Quiet-Down Techniques

I really enjoy using collaborative learning in my classroom.  For more information on what that means, you can click here for my learning teams blogpost.  One downside of collaborative learning is the noise... It can get a little loud when 32 kids are talking to each other.  However, I've got a few tips that will hopefully keep you from raising your voice when you need their attention.

1) The "Clap Twice If You Can Hear Me" Strategy
When the teacher says, "Clap twice if you can hear me", the class claps twice and gets quiet.  I teach my students that I will only use this when I want their undivided attention, so the expectation is to be quiet as soon as possible so I can say what needs to be said.  If I need to say it multiple times, so be it.

2) The "Raise Your Hand If You Can Hear Me" Strategy
Sometimes, if my voice is tired and I want to whisper, I will put my hand up in the air and say (softly) "Raise your hand if you can hear me."  Eventually, the students notice their classmates raising their hands and get quiet in order to find out what's going on.  This is a fun one because there is always someone who doesn't notice why it's so quiet until it becomes an "oh" moment.

3) The Teacher Raising His/Her Hand Strategy
I like this strategy because I don't have to say anything.  I just slip my hand in the air and put a finger (sometimes 2, or 3 fingers) over my mouth.  Eventually the students join in and give me their attention.  This one might sound juvenile, but my students (middle schoolers) don't mind doing it.  I think they like acting like little kids sometimes... Who knew?!?

4) The Counting-Up Strategy
During a transition or a clean-up time, I simply say, "Let's see how long it takes you to ___________" (get quiet/clean-up/get ready/etc.).  As I start counting up, students will scurry around trying to finish as quickly as possible.  Very cute and fun!

5) The Three Xs On The Board Strategy
If I am allowing them to work collaboratively on an activity, I usually preface their work session by saying "Each time it gets too loud or I hear an off-task conversation, I will put an X on the board.  If we get to three Xs, this activity will become an independent task."

6) The Check-Your-Non-Existent-Watch Strategy
If I am standing in front of the class and (clearly) waiting for them to be quiet, I will sometimes check my imaginary watch (I don't wear watches) and put my wrist up to my ear as though I'm checking to see if it's working... The obvious message being that we are wasting time.  This is weird enough that they usually understand what I'm trying to do and they get quiet.

7) The "Thank You To Those Of You Ready To Listen" Strategy
If there are a lot of students off-task or many students talking, I will try and take notice of those who are not... And I begin thanking them one-by-one.  The rest of the students want to be thanked, too, so they'll usually get with the program.

8) The There-Is-One-Kid-Distracting-Everyone Strategy
The key to all of these strategies is to make your classroom somewhere kids WANT to be.  I talk about this in detail in my What Is Obertopia? blogpost.  Even though most students really want to be in my classroom whenever possible, we all have bad/off-task/rough days.  If there is someone (or a couple of someones) determined to be a distraction for the day, I will give them an independent version of our day's activity and send them to a fellow social studies teacher.  I offer the same service to my fellow teachers.
If I have to send someone out (which is rare), it sends two messages:

ONE (to the misbehaving student): It is not okay to distract my class and if I choose to do so, I won't get to hang out in the awesome land of Obertopia.
TWO (to the rest of the students in my class): Mrs. Oberkofler really wants us to learn and she isn't going to let anything stand in our way.  I always want to be in Obertopia so I'm going to do as she asks.

9) The "You Have X-Minutes Left" Strategy
There is something about reminding kids about their limited time that really fires them up.  If possible, have a timer for everyone to see and assign "time-keepers" for your collaborative groups.

10) If all else fails, go with the much hated "Okay, If You Guys Want To Talk Now, Then I Guess Our Classwork Will Be Homework" Strategy
All of my activities could easily become homework if we don't finish in class.  If my students want to waste their class time with talking, then they can do their homework at home.  Of course, if students won't do their homework, this is meaningless.  That is why I have passed the "No HW Detention Law" in the land of Obertopia.  If students don't have their HW 3 times within a 9 week term, then they will have an after-school detention.  Whoops!  I also try to take note of the students who continually have homework because they are off-task during class, and it usually only take one email or phone call home to fix this problem.