A blank canvas

an author’s
 How to use
THIS GUIDE
Self-edit
Before you publish, make sure you aren’t making
these common mistakes.

Keep track
Notice the mistakes you make; soon you’ll be
able to avoid them easily.

Get better
Once you master these common mistakes, you
can start writing better without worrying about
making little mistakes.
1 THE USE OF
”whom” and “who”
★ Who = subjective pronoun, like “he,” “she,” “it” – acts as a subject.
★ Whom = objective pronoun, like “him,” “her” “us”
2 THE USE OF
“lay” and “lie”
★ Lay – transitive verb; needs a direct subject and an object.
★ Lie – intransitive verb and needs no object.
3 CONTINUAL
& “Continuous”
★ Continual = something is constantly occurring, but with lapses in occurrences.
★ Continuous = something that continues without any stops or gaps.
4 THE USE OF
“whether” and “if”
★ Whether = conditional; used when there are two or more alternatives
★ If = no alternatives
5 THE USE OF
“farther” and “further”
★ Farther = used for physical distance.
★ Further = used for abstract lengths.
6 THE USE OF
“disinterested” and “uninterested”

★ Disinterested = someone who is impartial. No bias.

★ Uninterested = someone who really just couldn’t care less.
7 THE USE OF
“since” and “because”
★ Since = time-related..
★ Because = cause related..
8 THE USE OF
“bring” and “take”
★ Bring = moving an object towards something.
★ Take = moving an object away from something..
9 THE USE OF
“affect” and “effect”
★ Affect = almost always a verb; means to influence..
★ Effect = usually describes the result or an outcome. In some cases, is used
as a transitive verb..
10 THE USE OF
“i.e.” and “e.g.”
★ I.e. = you are describing the essence of something..
★ E.g. = basically used for listing down or enumerating examples..
11 THE USE OF
“which” and “who”
★ Which = refers to object/non-humans..
★ Who = refers to humans..
12 THE USE OF
“your” and “you’re”
★ Your = Possessive. Your dog, your bag, your car.
★ You’re = You + are. Describes a state of being. You’re a doctor. You’re a
teacher. You’re a child.
13 THE USE OF
”they’re” \ “there” \ “their”

★ They’re = they + are. Describes a state of being. They’re cooking.

★ There = location of something., I live there. I eat there. You work there.
★ Their = possessive. Their dog. Their house. Their apples..
14 THE USE OF
“it’s” and “its”
★ It’s – It + is. Describes a state of being. It’s a boy. It’s running.
★ Its – Possessive. Its tail, its eyes, its whiskers.
15 THE USE OF
“me” & “I”
★ I = Subject. Like he, she and it.
★ Me = Objective pronoun, similar to him, her, them.
16 THE USE OF
“peek” , “peak” , “pique”
★ Peek = you take a quick look at something.
★ Peak = the highest point of something, the peak of a mountain.
★ Pique = to provoke something.
17 THE USE OF
“complement” & “compliment”

★ Complement = something that completes or enhances something else.

★ Compliment = an expression of admiration for something or someone.
18 THE USE OF
“between” and “among”

★ Between = used when something is in the middle of two things.

★ Among = being located within a group of things.
19 THE USE OF
“then” and “than”
★ Then = used when you are situating events in time..
★ Than = used for comparisons.
20
THE USE OF
“could of” | “would of” | “should of”

★ All of them are wrong. Correct = could have, would have, should have.
★ Further = used for abstract lengths.
21 THE USE OF
“two” | “to ”| “too”
★ Two = Two dogs. Two cows. Two hands.
★ Too = As well.
★ To = Used for infinitive forms of verbs. To eat, to sleep, to breathe.
22 THE USE OF
“irregardless” and “unthaw”

★ These words do not exist.

They do not need prefixes to express what they are defining.
23 THE USE OF
“a lot” “alot” | “allot”
≠

★ Allot = means to assign.

★ A lot = means there are many.
★ Alot = is not a word..
24 THE USE OF
“loose” and “lose”
★ Loose = something is not tight.
★ Lose = means to misplace something.
25 THE USE OF
subject-verb agreement
★ “The use of pencils is required for the exam.”
★ “The problems of that boy are pressing.”
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