Today, we continue our series on ways to improve your writing by examining another major problem we found in our client’s writing. After style issues, grammatical errors comprised 21% of all writing errors! In this post, let’s look at what mistakes were most common and how to fix them. We also provide you a curated list of additional resources that will help you proofread and revise grammatical mistakes and strengthen your writing skills!
The Most Common Grammar Errors in Writing
While there are kinds of grammar problems, we will focus on the top 5 most common mistakes.
- Determiners: words that come before a noun or noun phrase and tell us if the noun is general or specific and often specify a quantity. This category includes articles (a, an, the) and determiner words such as this, that, every, each, which, and that. The most common issue concerns knowing which determiner to use or omit and when to do so.
- Prepositions: words that precede a noun or pronoun and show that word’s relationship to another word in the same sentence or clause. The hardest part about prepositions is that there aren’t many rules. When in doubt, use the tools we list below to double-check expressions!
- Subject-Verb Agreement: a concept that requires a subject and verb to agree in number (singular/plural). Problems most commonly arise when the subject is a noun phrase that contains a prepositional phrase.
- Verb Form: Six typical verb forms exist: the base (dictionary form), the infinitive (to+base), the 3rd person singular (verb+s), the present participle (verb+ing), the past simple, and the past participle (different verb tenses). Some verbs have fewer forms while the verb “be” has eight! The main sources of verb form confusion come from using the wrong participle and overusing the present participle (verb+ing form).
- Verb Tense Shifts: a problematic situation where we talk about one topic at a particular point in time but use two or more tenses to talk about it in the same clause. The rule is we should always use one tense or start a new clause or sentence to avoid verb tense shifting.
The following is a graph depicting the frequency of all grammatical errors surveyed during our study.
As you can see from the bar graph above, determiner-related problems constitute almost 60% of all the grammatical errors we found! In particular, an overwhelming majority of the issues involved article use.
Why is article usage the most common grammar mistake?
Articles such as “a,” “an,” and “the” are tiny words, and, yet, they play a significant role in telling us the specificity of a noun. For many of you who are ESL speakers, your native language might not have articles, so we can understand why it would be difficult to decide which article or determiner to use when writing in or speaking English. Article use can be tricky, but, hey, we do have some good news: at least the English language doesn’t have gender-specific articles like many romance languages!
Apart from not understanding the role of an article because it may be absent in your native tongue, another reason for article misuse is uncertainty about whether a noun is countable. While there are many exceptions to article use rules, the ones the English language does have largely relate to a noun’s countability. For additional information about how to use articles correctly, check out our detailed article and visual flowchart (click the link for the full article).
Why is using the correct article important?
Articles denote specificity and introduce context for a noun. That’s a lot for a word that has only one to three letters, right? To illustrate the importance of articles, let’s look at the following scenario.
Let’s say you’re talking to someone and you want to tell them you desire a car. You can say one of two statements: “I really want a car” or “I really want the car.” But do you want a car (any car) or do you want the car (a specific one you’ve seen or heard about)? Perhaps you want the latter, so you say, “I really want the car.” However, what if the person you’re speaking to doesn’t know about this dream car you’ve wanted for as long as you can remember? You would have confused the other person with your statement because you provided no details to clarify which car is “the car.” Likewise, if you had simply said, “I really want a car,” your listener would still be uncertain about which car unless you provided further details.
So, how do you fix this problem? You can correct this mistake in two ways: (1) start with “a car” and then explain it by using “the car” in a subsequent sentence that elaborates on which one or (2) use “the car” followed by a restrictive clause that precisely identifies the car you want. For example:
(1) I really want a car. In fact, I want one exactly like the car I saw parked in front of Joe’s house yesterday.
(2) I really want the car I saw parked in front of Joe’s house yesterday.
How can I fix the following common grammatical errors?
Determiner Misuse
- Articles
- To decide which article to use, first decide if you have a countable or uncountable noun. Then follow the rules in the attached flowchart and article. In short:
- If you have a noun + prepositional phrase that pinpoints one specific noun, use “the” in front of the noun.
- If you introduce a specific noun for the first time, use “a” or “an,” followed by “the” for subsequent mentions.
- If you mean “any” of that noun, use “a” or “an.”
- If you mean “all” members of that noun class (each and every one, generally), then, for countable nouns, use the plural + no article. For uncountable nouns, use the singular + no article.
- If you mean a category as a whole (and not each and every member of that category), use “the.”
Countable nouns:
- ✗ The apple is delicious. → ✓ Apples are delicious.
- ✗ I read the new book. The book was fascinating. → ✓ I read a new book. The book was fascinating.
Uncountable nouns:
- ✗ The water is healthy for you. → ✓ Water is healthy for you.
- ✗ I bought the water yesterday, and now I will put the water in the fridge. → ✓ I bought water yesterday, and now I will put the water in the fridge.
- Demonstratives (This/That/These/Those)
- Be careful about using demonstratives by themselves to start a sentence. If the context is unclear, make sure to add the noun after the demonstrative.
Rule
- this + singular noun (something nearby or recently mentioned)
- that + singular noun (something “over there”)
- these + plural noun
- those + plural noun
Examples
- ✗ This is good for you. → ✓ This exercise is good for you.
- ✗ We should adopt a new policy. That policy would help us streamline operations. → ✓ We should adopt a new policy. This policy would help us streamline operations.
- ✗ That would make her happy. → ✓ That promotion would make her happy.
- ✗ Cats are feisty. Those animals are very independent. → ✓ Cats are feisty. These animals are very independent.
- ✗ What do you want to do with these boxes over there? → ✓ What do you want to do with those boxes over there?
- Other vs. Another
- The words “other” and “another” to refer to alternatives, more of something or a different thing. Click on the image below to see a flowchart showing how to use these words. Essentially, the difference between “other” and “another” depends on the number of choices or possibilities you refer to.
- ✗ I have two books left. Take this one. Thanks, but I want the another. → ✓ I have two books left. Take this one. Thanks, but I want the other one.
- For additional resources, please click on the following links:
- Education First: http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/determiners/
- Pearson Edurite: http://english.edurite.com/english-grammar/determiners.html
Incorrect Prepositions
- Prepositions in the English language are tricky. The good news is that if you are trying to reduce wordiness, you can often replace verbal and prepositional phrases with strong verbs! When you need to use relation-building words, however, here are a few tips:
- Prepositions in idiomatic expressions are fixed. They may not follow the normal use patterns for a preposition, so when in doubt, double-check a dictionary like Merriam-Webster’s.
- Never use two prepositions back-to-back. We often do so in speech, but in writing, this bad habit should be avoided. For example, “I had to get off of the train.” → “I got off the train.”
- Though we have few rules about choosing the right preposition, click on the attachment listed at the top of this page to see a list of commonly used prepositions (general meanings and example sentences included).
Below is an infographic prepared by Grammar.net, which highlights the differences between 14 pairs of commonly confused prepositions.
- You can use sites like Google Book’s N-gram Viewer, which scans text in books published from 1800 to 2000. It then plots how often a phrase occurs. If you are debating about which preposition to use, type in the various versions of the phrase you want (separated by commas) and hit “enter.” The frequency of the phrases will be plotted on a graph, and you should choose the phrase with the highest occurrence as of 2000 (unless you want to use language specific to an earlier time!). As you can see from the sample search result below, the phrase, “to conduct research on,” use the correct verb-preposition combination.
- For additional resources, please check out the following links:
- Englishgrammar.org: https://www.englishgrammar.org/commonly-confused-prepositions/
- Grammar.net: http://www.grammar.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Prepositions700x1150.png
- Google Book’s N-gram Viewer: N-gram Viewer
Subject-Verb Agreement
- Keep in mind that verbs must agree in number with their subjects. The most common error involving subject-verb agreement arises from using prepositional phrases. Remember that the verb must agree with the noun before the preposition.
- ✓Noun1 + Preposition + Noun2 + Verb that agrees with Noun1
- ✗ The way in which we communicate with others have changed dramatically. → ✓ The way in which we communicate with others has changed dramatically.
- For additional resources, please check out the following links:
- Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/01/
- Grammarbook.com: http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectVerbAgree.asp
Verb Form Confusion
- The two most common errors associated with verb form are using the wrong participle and overusing the present participle.
- Wrong Verb Participle
- Be careful with irregular verbs. When in doubt, use a dictionary like Merriam-Webster to confirm the correct spelling.
- British and American English may have different spellings for certain verb participles. For example, “learned” is used in the US, while “learned” and “learnt” are both accepted in the UK.
- Present Participle Overuse
- Generally, use the present simple tense to discuss general facts, habits, and the state or condition of something.
- Present progressive (verb+ing) is used for temporary actions and to express intent to do a future action. It is used when you want to point out that something is happening during the progression of another action.
✗ I visit my sister this week. → ✓ I am visiting my sister this week.
- For additional resources, please click on the following links:
- Grammarly verb tense review: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/verb-tenses/
- Grammarly verb forms: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/verb-forms/
- EF Education First verb tense review: http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/verbs/
- John Jay College, CUNY’s overview of English verb tenses: http://resources.jjay.cuny.edu/erc/tutoring/pdfs/27.pdf
- University of Victoria’s guide to simple present vs. present continuous: http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/simcon.htm
- Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) verb tense overview: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/01/
Verb Tense Shifting
- When talking about a topic, verbs in the same clause should use the same tense. Mixing verb tenses can confuse the reader about the time covered by the sentence.
- ✗ Joe watched the movie and laughs out loud. [Joe finished the movie and is now laughing? This sentence doesn’t make sense, right?] → ✓ “Joe watched the movie and laughed out loud,” [Joe completed these actions, and logically, did so at the same time] or “Joe is watching the movie and is laughing out loud” [Joe is currently performing these actions simultaneously].
- While talking about a specific subject, double-check tenses in consecutive clauses or sentences.
- ✗ Joe eats chocolate whenever he got upset. → ✓ “Joe eats chocolate whenever he gets upset,” [Joe currently has this habit] or “Joe ate chocolate whenever he got upset” [Joe no longer has this habit].
- Of course, sometimes it makes sense to mix tenses, particularly when you are showing a progression of actions.
- ✓ I am editing the book that I wrote. [Naturally, to edit a book, it must already be written.
- For additional resources, please click on the following links:
- Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/verb-tense-consistency/
- Daily Writing Tips: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/beware-the-shifting-tense/
We hope that the above information provides you with a good overview of how to correct the grammar issues in your writing. Don’t feel overwhelmed by the long list! It’s impossible for us to remember all these rules each time we write. Rather, focus on one aspect until you perfect it, then move on to the next. Also, check out our English editing services–which include a suite of revision services such as paper editing, essay editing, book editing, and even script editing–to help you clean up these types of errors and more!