Common Grammatical Errors

Some Basic Concepts

By definition, a sentence has the following properties:

it contains a subject
it contains a verb
it expresses a complete thought

E.g., the sentence "Japan prospers" has a subject: "Japan"; a verb: "prospers"; and
it conveys a complete thought or idea that makes sense.

Most sentences also have an object (receiver of the action); e.g., in the sentence
"John kicked the ball," the object is "the ball."

Run-on Sentences (fused sentences)

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

I jogged everyday,
for I wanted to get
fit.
I jogged everyday; I
wanted to get fit.
Run-on sentences occur when two
I jogged everyday I I jogged everyday. I
main clauses have no punctuation
wanted to get fit. wanted to get fit.
between them.
Since I wanted to get
fit, I jogged
everyday.
Trying to get fit, I
jogged everyday.

Comma Faults (comma splices)

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

I jogged everyday, I I jogged everyday, for Comma faults occur when two
wanted to get fit. I wanted to get fit. main clauses are joined by only a
I jogged everyday; I comma.
wanted to get fit.
I jogged everyday. I
wanted to get fit.
 Since I wanted to get
fit, I jogged everyday.
Trying to get fit, I
jogged everyday.

Sentence Fragments

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

Joe can balance a glass of Joe can balance a glass of

A sentence must have
water on his head. Without water on his head without
a subject and a verb.
spilling a drop. spilling a drop.

Faulty Subordination

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

Place what you want to emphasize in

I gazed out of the Gazing out of the
the main clause, not the subordinate
bus window, bus window, I
clause. Here the mugging should be
noticing a person noticed a person
emphasized and so should be in the
getting mugged. getting mugged.
main clause.

Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement

Rule: The verb should agree with the subject in terms of number (singular or
plural) and person (first, second, or third).
Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

The subject books is plural; therefore,

There is no books. There are no books.
the verb should be plural (i.e. are).

The subject she is in the second

person, and is singular; therefore, the
She like music. She likes music.
verb should also be in the second
person, and be singular (i.e.likes).
 Neither Tom nor Neither Tom nor "Harry" is singular, so the verb should
Harry were there. Harry was there. be also.

Neither Tom nor Neither Tom nor

"Others" is plural, so the verb should
the others was the others were
be also.
there. there.

All of the team All of the team was "Team" is singular, so the verb should
were there. there. be also.

All the players was All the players were "Players" is plural, so the verb should
present. present. be also.

There are a variety There is a variety of

"Variety" is singular.
of books. books.

There is a lot of Both are correct. The first is correct

birds here or there since "lot" is singular. The second is
are a lot of birds correct because it is gaining
here. acceptance through popular use.

Here is wealth and Here are wealth and

"Wealth and beauty" is plural.
beauty. beauty.

She is one of the She is one of the

best doctors who best doctors who "Doctors" is plural, so the verb should
has graduated from have graduated be also (i.e. "have").
here. from here.

Note that "I often forget" and "I

"I forget" or "I
I've forgotten. forgot my umbrella yesterday" are
forgot".
correct.

Errors in Noun-Pronoun Agreement

Rule:Pronouns should agree with their nouns in terms of number (singular or

plural), person (first, second, or third), and gender (masculine or feminine).
Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

Did everyone Did everyone

Everyone is singular, so the pronoun should
remember their remember his
be as well.
assignment? assignment?

It was them who It was they who The nominative case (I, you, he, she, it, we,
 you, they, who) is used following some
called. called.
form of the verb to be.

If I were him, I If I were he, I

As above.
would go. would go.

It is me. It is I. As above.

A simple rule-of-thumb is to use "who"

when "he" would also make sense; and use
Whom will Who will
"whom" when "him" would also make
succeed? succeed?
sense (e.g. "Him will succeed" does not
sound right, while "he will succeed" does).

As above. "You gave it to he" does not

Who did you Whom did you
sound right, while "you gave it to him"
give it to? give it to?
does. Thus, use "whom".

The objective case of pronoun (i.e. me, you,

It belongs to he It belongs to him
him, her, it, us, you, them, whom) is used as
and I. and me.
the object of a preposition, such as "to".

The objective case of pronoun (i.e. me, you,

Sam hired he. Sam hired him. him, her, it, us, you, them, whom) is used as
the object of a verb.

Try stretching the sentence out: "He is as

He is as busy as He is as busy as
busy as I am busy, not "he is as busy as me
me. I.
am busy."

He was in the
He was in the Try stretching the sentence out: "He was in
same class as
same class as us. the same class as we were in."
we.

I trust Bob more I trust Bob more Try stretching the sentence out: "I trust Bob
than he. than him. more than I trust him."

Now skate Now skate Use the possessive case of the pronoun (i.e.
without me without my my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their,
helping you. helping you. whose) in sentences like this.

Dangling Modifiers

Rule: Avoid dangling modifiers (i.e. adjectives or adverbs that do not refer to the
noun or pronoun they are intended to refer to).
 Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

While I was The modifying phrase "while walking

While walking in
walking in the in the garden" does not refer to a
the garden, Bob
garden, Bob particular noun or pronoun (i.e. it
arrived.
arrived. dangles).

After watching the After watching the

movie, pizza was movie, we ate As above.
eaten. pizza.

Misplaced Modifiers

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

I could almost run I could run almost The first sentence does not mean what
all the way up the all the way up the it is intended to mean. The modifier
hill. hill. "almost" is misplaced.

I only want one. I want only one. Same as above.

"Were"to be used in the Subjunctive Mood

Rule: Use "were" in the subjunctive mood, i.e. when expressing a wish, regret, or
a condition that does not exist.
Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

If I was taller, I would If I were taller, I would This sentence is in the

be richer. be richer. subjunctive mood.

He treats him as if he is He treats him as if he

As above.
a child. were a child.

That, Which, and Who

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

 This is the book which he This is the book that he When commas are not
wrote. wrote. used, use "that".

This book, that is written This book, which is

When commas are used,
by Bob, is clear and written by Bob, is clear
use "which".
concise. and concise.

For persons, use "who".

He is the person that He is the person who
Do not use "who" for
wrote the book. wrote the book.
animals.

The President, which is The President, who is an For persons, use "who",
an avid golfer, was on the avid golfer, was on the even when commas are
course. course. used.

Note: Often the above pronouns can be omitted making a sentence more
concise. Thus:
This is the book he wrote. ("That" is implied.)
This book, written by Bob, is clear and concise.
He wrote the book.
The President, an avid golfer, was on the course.

Faulty Parallelism

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

Similar ideas should be

He has wealth, reputation, He has wealth,
expressed in grammatically
and is powerful. reputation, and power.
similar ways.

Not only did the horse Not only did the horse Similar ideas should be
lose, but the leg of the lose, but the jockey expressed in grammatically
jockey was broken. broke his leg. similar ways.

Mixed Constructions

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

He wondered whether she He wondered whether Don't mix a statement with

got his message? she got his message. a question.
 The reason is because I The reason is that I don't Don't mix two different
don't have enough money. have enough money. sentence constructions.

Split Infinitives

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

I need to "To prepare" is an infinitive. Splitting

I need to prepare
mentally infinitves with other words tends to be
mentally.
prepare. awkward.

Commas

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

I have apples, I have apples,

Use a comma before the last item in a series
oranges, peanut oranges, peanut
to avoid any confusion.
butter and jam. butter, and jam.

The dog was Use commas to separate adjectives that

The dog was wet
wet, cold, and could be joined with "and." You could say
cold and smelly.
smelly. that "the dog was wet and cold and smelly."

Don't use commas to separate adjectives

Captain Smith is Captain Smith is
that could not be joined with "and." It
a seasoned, naval a seasoned naval
would be ridiculous to say that "Captain
officer. officer.
Smith is a seasoned and naval officer."

Don't use a comma to set off clauses that

You stand in line, You stand in line
are short or have the same subject.
and I'll find a and I'll find a
However, always use a comma before
table. table.
"for", "so," and "yet" to avoid confusion.

Semicolons

Incorrect usage Correct usage Explanation

 The house is
old; however, it Use a semicolon with a conjunctive adverb
The house is
is sound. (e.g. nevertheless, however, otherwise,
old, however, it
The house is consequently, thus, therefore, meanwhile,
is sound.
old; it is, moreover, furthermore).
however, sound

Apostrophes

Correct usage Explanation

Tom Jones' car broke

down. Since there is disagreement on which is correct, both
Tom Jones's car broke are acceptable.
down.

Tom Williams' car broke

down.
Same as above.
Tom Williams's car broke
down.

The paragraph: organization

A topic sentence to a paragraph is what a thesis to an essay.

Topic sentence

The topic sentence is a statement of the subject, or topic, of the paragraph, often found at
the beginning of the paragraph. It may introduce an impression to be developed in
specific details, or a point to be examined, or a question to be answered. .Sometimes the
topic sentence is a complete statement of the main, or topic idea. Besides, the topic idea
may be repeated or restated at the end, following the details of the discussion.

For example:

Hong Kong is faced with the difficult problem of illegal immigrants. Thousands of
people enter Hong Kong illegally every year. They hope to make a lot of money.
However, they don't realize that they have to work very hard to earn their money and that
the cost of living is very high. They expect life to be easy. In fact, they find that it is very
tough. As a result, some of them turn to crime. Unfortunately many people try to get here
that the police has a hard time to keep them out. It is a difficult problem but we must do
what we can to solve it.

`Hong Kong is faced with the difficult problem of illegal immigrants.' is the topic
sentence. The second sentence explains what the illegal immigrants are and what they
aim at.

Then, it is followed by what they have mistaken. Finally, it comes to the consequence of
the mistake and why it costs a difficult problem to Hong Kong.

Occasionally the topic sentence appears toward the middle of the paragraph, or even at
the end, preceded by a series of details that build to it. The topic sentence is said to be
implied when the details make the point without an explicit statement of the topic idea.

Main and Subordinate ideas

In longer paragraphs, the main idea may be distinguished by repeating or restating it in

the conclusion. When one organizes the paragraph, one has to keep in mind that the
beginning and ending are usually the most forceful parts because of their importance.

The paragraph: Methods of Development, Definition

Definition

Definition is the most fundamental way of developing and analyzing ideas. A writer has
to define the terms to show the direction of the essay. For example, “Hong Kong is a place
where East meets West. It is a stop en route of foreign visitors who traverse east and west.”
Readers must know the directions before they can predict what they are going to read.
How complete the definition is and what kind the writer uses depends on how much
specific information is needed.

For example:

Pollution is anything that makes our living environment dirty or messy, e.g. noise, air,
land and water.

The simplest kind of definition is to point to an object; pollution. But usually we want to
know the characteristics of the object - or at least know as much as can be stated about it.

To inform　 these characteristics, the author may begin with the denotative meaning of
the word which is with the etymology. The word "university"　 comes from the　" uni",
meaning "one' , and "ver" means "turn". This explains its original meaning: an
organization that turns all knowledge into one. However, they are not the whole of its
current meaning. Currently, a university is an institution that teaches and examines
students in many branches of advanced learning, awarding degrees and providing
facilities for academic research. The purpose of etymological definition is to illuminate
the current meaning,　 and occasionally to argue that a word should return to its original
meaning, if the two are different. The word silly originally meant `innocent' or `blessed'.
Its meanings today suggest simple-mindedness or thoughtlessness.(a silly question).

Most definitions are concerned with current meanings that people attach to words. The
most common of these definitions are called denotative and connotative. Denotative
definition singles out an object: it identifies the class (the origin) of objects to which the
word belongs, then distinguished the word by specific difference from all other members
of the class. The origin may be extremely broad or extremely narrow.

Connotative definition presents ideas and impressions, the emotional feeling we associate
with a word. The word "red" has a precise denotation - the color of fresh blood- and a
range of connotations. It may imply danger if it is related to blood, or happiness if it is
related to a Chinese wedding.

The Sentence-addition & Modification

As a paragraph usually begins with a topic sentence that states the subject or central
ideas, so the sentence may begin with a main clause that performs a similar job:

School uniform also serves as a constraint on students' misbehavior outside school. When
students are wearing school uniforms, they may avoid misbehavior that will ruin the
reputation of the school, such as smoking and shoplifting. Students in school uniforms
are also forbidden to go into video game centers. It is not uncommon that triad members
and gangsters hunt for preys at the centers, thereby, to a certain extent; school uniform
can wall away gangsters from students.

The additions – that will ruin the reputation of the school, such as smoking and
shoplifting. - make the "misbehavior" specific. Notice that these appositive (adjacent
words or phrases that explain or identify another word) are considerably longer than the
noun. English sentences can be modified endlessly. They are not, however, because the
reader would soon lose sight of the central ideas. The length of a sentence often depends
on how many ideas and details a reader can grasp.