{"id":2186,"date":"2021-03-13T13:23:07","date_gmt":"2021-03-13T12:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/blog\/?p=2186"},"modified":"2021-03-13T13:23:07","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T12:23:07","slug":"8-common-english-writing-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/8-common-english-writing-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Common English Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who needs Spelling Bee in the 21st century? Nowadays, you do not really need to memorize difficult long words as the spellchecker in your smartphone will do all the magic. However, error-free writing is not limited to how the words are written but also how they are put together. Sadly, but there are many grammar mistakes that a smartphone or a simple spellchecker would not be able to detect. Let us go through the most frequent yet subtle writing issues to avoid at all times.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Run-on sentences<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mary is a college student and she likes pancakes for breakfast.<\/span><\/em>
\nIf there is no specific connection between college and pancakes or studying and having breakfast then it is wrong to make a compound sentence. In general, it is better to avoid such constructions with the \u2019and\u2019 conjunction. What is good about run-on sentences is that it is very easy to get rid of them \u2013the is only one golden rule. Whenever you feel the urge to add a compound just put the full stop and write a new sentence:<\/span>
\nMary is a college student. She likes pancakes for breakfast.<\/span><\/em>
\nNow we have separated books from frying pans. Yay!<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Unclear Pronoun Antecedent<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

About a month ago the new neighbors with a dog moved into the apartment next to mine and I hated it with all my heart.<\/span><\/em>
\nUnless you are into creating extreme suspense, it is a huge mistake to make the reader guess. What was the object of the speaker\u2019s hatred? The neighbors\u2019 dog? The apartment? The fact that new neighbors moved in? It should always be clear both grammatically and contextually what does the pronoun refer to.\u00a0<\/span>
\nTo correct this mistake, we first need to decide what is the antecedent (the noun substituted by the pronoun) in the sentence.\u00a0<\/span>
\nAbout a month ago the new neighbors moved into the apartment next to mine with a dog. Their pet was barking so loud that I hated it with all my heart.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

3. Dangling Modifiers<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Peering into the ominous darkness her blood ran cold.<\/span><\/em>
\nThis mistake is really spooky since it brings to life inanimate objects (or at least gives them attributes of a living thing). Why? Because grammatically in this sentence it is the blood that is peering into the ominous darkness. If you\u2019d like to write and then present your beautiful dark story at a Twilight fanfic\u00a0<\/span>conference<\/span><\/a>, make sure to follow one simple rule: The action in the participle should be performed by the subject of the sentence. If it is not so, it needs to be paraphrased:<\/span>
\nPeering into the ominous darkness Liza felt that her blood ran cold.<\/span><\/em>
\nIn this sentence, we introduced the subject in the main clause \u2013 Liza. She is peering into the darkness and feels that her blood is running cold. No more black magic!<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Subject-Verb Agreement<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

An integral part of Tom\u2019s life are his friends who have always been supportive.<\/span><\/em>
\nIn most cases subject-verb agreement in number is obvious. However, some nuances should be taken into account. In the example sentence, everything seems logical but only until we identify the subject of the sentence \u2013 an integral part (singular). But what about \u2018his friends\u2019? \u2018His friends\u2019 is the nominal part of the verb. So, since we are required to agree in number the subject and the verb (in this case, only \u201cis\u201d as the only part of the verb that can be conjugated), The correct way will be:<\/span>
\nAn integral part of Tom\u2019s life is his friends who have always been supportive.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

5. Apostrophe Usage<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Its monstrous to misuse apostrophe especially in \u2018s when it stands for \u201cis\u201d.<\/span><\/em>
\nLet\u2019s make it clear: its as a possessive does not have an apostrophe but it\u2019s as \u201cit is\u201d has it. So the correct way is:<\/span>
\nIt\u2019s monstrous to misuse apostrophe especially in \u2018s when it stands for \u201cis\u201d.<\/span><\/em>
\nAlso, the apostrophe is used with genitive case: brother\u2019s, Da Vinci\u2019s, etc. This sign is also used with contractions, for example not \u2013 n\u2019t. Please mind its place too. Since in \u2018not\u2019 we take out letter \u2018o\u2019 \u2013 we place apostrophe instead of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Confusion of Homophones<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

She recalled on the evening when her boyfriend was telling her about the history of human rites<\/span><\/em>.<\/span>
\nOk, maybe this one will be detected by the spellchecker and will correct \u2018rites\u2019 to \u2018rights\u2019. But what about the following pairs:<\/span><\/p>\n