Critical Grammar[1]
The following errors are by far the most
common mistakes that writers make.
Master these and you’ll sound fluent and even polished. Learn what error patterns you have and work
towards getting rid of them. The codes
used are included also you can learn what your mistakes are when your teacher
marks your essays.
Sentence
Fragment: Code: frag
A sentence is a complete thought. It has a subject and a verb
(predicate). Any sentence that does not
make sense by itself and cannot stand alone is a fragment.
Examples:
´
Jane promises to address the problem of
limited parking. If she is elected president.
ü Jane
promises to address the problem of limited parking if she is elected
president. (correct, attached to a
complete sentence)
´
Violence has caused great concern among
those living in the core area. So that survival has become their primary
aim.
ü Violence
has caused great concern among those living in the core area. Survival has become their primary aim. (correct, turned into complete sentence)
Solutions:
¨
Attach fragments to complete sentences.
¨
Turn the fragments into a complete
sentence.
Comma Splice: Code: CS
When two independent sentences (complete
thoughts) are joined by a comma.
´
Quitting smoking is easy, I’ve done it
dozens of times.
ü Quitting
smoking is easy, and I’ve done it dozens of times. (correct, coordinating conjunction)
ü Quitting
smoking is easy. I’ve done it dozens of
times. (correct, period)
Solutions:
¨
Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction
(and, but, or)
¨
Use a semi-colon (;)
¨
Use a period and make separate sentences
¨
Attach one of the sentences by making it
dependent on the other sentence
Fused Sentence: Code: FS
When two independent sentences (complete thoughts) are without any punctuation.
´
Quitting smoking is easy I’ve done it
dozens of times.
ü Quitting
smoking is easy; I’ve done it dozens of times.
(correct, semi-colon)
ü Quitting
smoking is easy because I’ve done it dozens of times. (correct, one sentence made dependent on the other one)
Solutions:
¨
Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction
(and, but, or)
¨
Use a semi-colon (;)
¨
Use a period and make separate sentences
¨
Attach one of the sentences by making it
dependent on the other sentence
Subject-Verb Agreement: Code: SV agree
The subject of a verb and the verb must
agree. Often, problems with
subject-verb agreement are because of the words that come in between the
subject and the verb.
´
High levels of air pollution causes
damage to the lungs.
ü High
levels of air pollution cause damage to the lungs. (correct, the verb changed to agree with the
subject)
ü A
high level of air pollution causes damage to the lungs.
(correct,
the subject changed to agree with the verb)
Solution:
¨
Determine what the true subject of the verb
is and make the verb agree with that, rather than with a word in between.
Dangling or Misplaced Modifier: Code: mod
When a phrase or string of words describing
a verb, noun or pronoun is placed inappropriately.
´
Coming home from school, my dog met me in
the yard. (It sounds like your dog was
coming home from school!)
ü When
I got home from school, my dog met me in the yard. (correct, it’s clear that you got home from school, not the dog)
´
Throw the cow over the fence some hay. (It sounds like you are going to lift the
cow and throw it over the fence!)
ü Throw
the cow standing behind that fence some hay.
(correct, it’s now clear where the cow is)
Solutions:
¨
Rewrite the sentence and place the
offending phrase in a more appropriate place or change the wording.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement: Code: PRO agree
A pronoun must agree with the word it
refers to, its antecedent.
´
A medical student must study hard if
they want to succeed. (‘student’ is singular; ‘they’ is plural)
ü Medical
students must study hard if they want to succeed. (correct, ‘students’ is plural and ‘they’ is
plural)
Solution:
¨
Check pronouns to see if they agree with
the words they refer to.
Pronoun Reference: Code: REF
Sometimes the words that pronouns refer to
are not clear or vague or ambiguous.
´
When Phil set the pitcher on the glass
table, it broke. (pronoun reference is
unclear and the reader doesn’t know if the table broke or if the pitcher broke)
ü When
Phil set the pitcher on the glass table, the pitcher broke. (correct)
Solution:
¨
Rewrite to make the reference clear.
Parallel Construction: Code: //
Words and phrases in a sentence must be
balanced to sound fluent.
´
Susan was generous, intelligent and a free
spirit. (sentence is not parallel
because two adjectives (generous, intelligent) are put together with a noun
(free spirit))
ü Susan
was generous, intelligent and free-spirited.
(correct)
Solution:
¨
Determine what words or phrases are out of
balance and change them to match the others.
Shifting Verb Tense: Code: TENSE
Writers may change verb tenses back and forth
between past and present.
´
Michael goes into the store and browses. After a while he bought a
Slurpee. (verb tense is
inconsistent: ‘goes’ and ‘browses’ are
present tense, while ‘bought’ is in the past tense)
ü Michael
went into the store and browsed.
After a while he bought a Slurpee. (correct, ‘goes’ and ‘browses’ changed to past tense to agree
with ‘bought’)
Solution:
¨
Check your verbs and see if the tenses are
consistent.
Passive Voice: Code: PASSIVE
The passive voice is a construction where
the subject follows the verb. This is a
weak way of writing.
´
The ball was hit by the girl.
ü The
girl hit the ball. (correct, active
voice)
Solution:
¨
Rework the sentence into the ‘active’ voice
so that the subject is ‘acting’ on the verb or so that the subject leads.
Plural Form: Code: Pl
Writers sometimes confuse the plural and the possessive form. Remember that the ‘apostrophe – s’ is for possession.
´
Over fifteen thousand teen’s and
their parent’s flocked to see Marilyn Manson at the stadium. (plural form needed but the apostrophe shows
the possessive)
ü Over
fifteen thousand teens and their parents flocked to see Marilyn
Manson at the stadium. (correct)
Solution:
¨
Use the ‘apostrophe – s’ to show possession
not plural.
¨
Remember that ‘it’s = it is’ and ‘its =
possession’.
Example: A:
Where is the cat’s toy?
B: Its toy is behind the chair.
A: Where is it?
B: It’s over there.
Proofreading
If you understand the following proofreading signs that your teachers mark in your assignments and essays, you can focus on these problems to improve your writing.
Awkward Construction
Code:
awk
Sometimes a sentence isn’t exactly
grammatically wrong but it comes across as awkward and doesn’t flow. You need to rework the sentence to get a
better effect.
Spelling
Code:
sp
One Word
Code: after
wards
Weak or Non Existent Topic Sentence
Code:
TS
Start a New Paragraph
Code:
¶
Omit
In the end,