âWrong Word
affect/effect, lay/lie, sit/set, who/whom, toward/towards, etc.
âVague Pronoun Reference
Confusing: Bob annoyed Larry, but that didnât stop him from asking for a meeting.
Clear: Bob annoyed Larry, but that didnât stop Larry from asking for a meeting.
âLack of Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Frequently Disparaged: Everyone withdrew their money.
Uncontroversial: Everyone withdrew his or her money.
Uncontroversial: People withdrew their money.
More about they and their as gender-neutral pronouns.
âMissing or Unnecessary Capitalization
Capitalize proper nouns: The names of things, such as the Golden Gate Bridge.
Lowercase common nouns: Descriptions, such as that famous bridge.
More about capitalization.
âUnnecessary Shift in Verb Tense
Wrong: John Wilkes Booth barricaded the door while Lincoln is watching the play.
Right: John Wilkes Booth barricaded the door while Lincoln watched the play.
More about mixing verb tenses and switching verb tense.
âSentence Fragments
Sentence fragments arenât always wrong, but donât use them accidentally.
Fragments: Because she was late. And I held the door.
More about sentence fragments.
âMonotonous Sentence Structure
Monotonous: We were late. I called the office. Bob answered the phone. Bob told Sue. Sue stalled the investors.
Better: I called the office because we were late. Bob answered the phone and told Sue, who stalled the investors.
More about sentence structure.
âAdjective Drift
Confusing: The property has seasonal creeks and trail access.
Clear: The property has trail access and seasonal creeks.
âUnnecessary Adverbs and Prepositions
Bloated: I was very angry that Bob sat down on the wet paint.
Better: I was furious that Bob sat on the wet paint.
More on adverbs and prepositions.
âParallelism Errors
Not Parallel: Kids like singing, chatting, and check their phones.
Parallel: Kids like singing, chatting, and checking their phones.
More about parallel construction.
âPassive Voice
Passive voice isnât wrong, but active sentences are often better.
Passive: The bell was rung by zombies.
Active: Zombies rang the bell.
More about active voice and passive voice.
ââThere Areâ Sentences
You can often improve on sentences that start with There are.
Not great: There are usually 54 cards in a deck.
Better: A deck usually has 54 cards.
More about sentences that start with There are and There is.
âJargon
Jargon: You can often improve on expletive sentences.
More Accessible: You can often improve on sentences that start with There are.
More about writing with jargon.
âMissing Comma After Introductory Element
Wrong: In the past we bought vinyl records.
Right: In the past, we bought vinyl records.
âUnnecessary Comma
Wrong: Bob likes pandas, and visits the zoo often.
Right: Bob likes pandas and visits the zoo often.
âComma Splice
Wrong: I ate cake, I played games.
Right: I ate cake, and I played games.
Right: I ate cake and played games.
More about the comma splice.
âRun-On Sentences
Wrong: I ate cake I played games.
Right: I ate cake, and I played games.
Right: I ate cake and played games.
More about run-on sentences.
âMissing Comma in a Compound Sentence
Wrong: All my friends came over for my birthday Tuesday and Bobby visited me the next day.
Right: All my friends came over for my birthday Tuesday, and Bobby visited me the next day.
âMissing Comma with a Nonrestrictive Element
Wrong: Shoes which are worn on your feet come in many styles.
Right: Shoes, which are worn on your feet, come in many styles.
More about commas and nonrestrictive elements.
âMechanical Problems with Quotations
In the U.S., periods and commas go inside the closing quotation mark. Semicolons, colons, and dashes go outside the closing quotation mark. The position of question marks and exclamation points varies: They stay with their question or exclamation.
Correct: She yelled, âHelp!â I won a copy of âWrecking Ballâ! She asked, âAre you hungry?â Did he just ask, âAre we in Hungary?â
More about punctuating quotations.
âQuotation Marks for Emphasis
Wrong: âFreeâ soda on Saturdays.
Right: Free soda on Saturdays.
âApostrophe Errors
Nouns take apostrophes to become possessive. Pronouns donât. Itâs means âit isâ or âit has.â Its is the possessive form of it. Acronyms, initialisms, and years donât take apostrophes to become plural (CDs, 1980s).
âUnnecessary or Missing Hyphen
Donât hyphenate phrasal verbs.
Wrong: Log-in to your account.
Right: Log in to your account.
Do hyphenate compound adjectives. These mean different things: silver jewelry cart and silver-jewelry cart.
âSpelling Errors
Remember to run a spellcheck. Itâs obvious but easy to forget.
âSearch for these words and phrases to do a quick check: there are, it is, its, itâs, your, youâre, their, and theyâre.
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