10 Common English Grammar Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Grammar is essential to clear communication. No matter where you stand in your English learning journey or what years of practice you may have had under your belt, any error can lead to unnecessary confusion and lead to misunderstandings between parties involved.

Misplaced or dangling modifiers are one of the more frequent errors made by English learners, and represent words, phrases or clauses which do not logically correspond with what they modify.

1. Using the Wrong Pronoun

Use of an incorrect pronoun can leave readers puzzled over who or what something refers to. Furthermore, it’s essential that both it’s and their are used appropriately; one is an abbreviation for “it is,” while their is used to indicate ownership.

Misusing dangling modifiers is another common grammar error, often making your writing sound unprofessional. Avoid overusing should of, could of and wouldn’t of when not required and don’t overuse adverbs either as this will only serve to lengthen and informalise your text.

2. Using the Wrong Antecedent

Pronouns must agree with their antecedent in gender and number, yet some English learners fail to do this properly – for instance by mismatching singular pronouns with plural antecedents or vice versa.

Understanding grammar rules can help ensure you don’t make any errors when writing, though breaking some may sometimes make your point clearer. When editing, use a grammar guide as this will ensure common errors such as overloaded sentences and lack of parallelism aren’t missed out.

3. Using the Wrong Preposition

Misplaced and dangling modifiers are among the most frequent mistakes even native speakers make. To avoid confusion among readers and an awkward sounding text, any modifier should be placed close to its target word for which it modifies. Otherwise it may cause unnecessary disruption and sound awkward.

Some English speakers and writers tend to confuse “less” with “fewer.” To avoid making this error, simply use “less” when the object in question is plural and “fewer” for singular objects – this will ensure clear and concise writing.

4. Using the Wrong Adjective

One of the most frequent grammar errors is using inappropriate adjectives in writing, often leading to confusing or even amusing sentences. It’s essential that writers learn the difference between an adjective and noun as well as how best to employ each.

English sentences require that their subject and verb match exactly. If a subject is singular, its verb should also be singular. When using plural nouns containing “s” at the end or irregular endings like nouns that don’t include an “s”, always choose the word that best fits its context.

5. Using the Wrong Word

Use of inappropriate words can make your writing awkward or confusing, for instance when “really bad” fails to give enough detail while “that’s good” fails to convey how an action was carried out.

By choosing the wrong word, choosing incorrect modifiers may also lead to dangling modifiers – phrases or clauses which are improperly connected with their target words, such as when used incorrectly with them (‘its/it’s’, ‘your/you’re’ and there/their/they’re’ mistakes). Selecting appropriate words will enable you to write clearer and more polished sentences.

6. Using the Wrong Comparative

Comparative is a term in English used to compare two similar objects directly, and when used incorrectly can create confusion and ambiguity.

Sometimes a comparative requires adding “-er”, like smarter or faster. Other times it is not required at all – Joan writes better than any of her classmates in class is not an appropriate comparison as it doesn’t refer to any specific students from within her class.

7. Using the Wrong Apostrophe

Proper use of an apostrophe may seem complicated at first, but if you memorize its simple rules it will soon become second nature. Apostrophes indicate contractions and possessive nouns, placing where letters have been lost due to contraction.

Apostrophes may also be used to pluralize words, though only in rare circumstances. Instead of using “it”, “its”, or “theirs”, use an apostrophe with an “s” at the end to pluralise nouns.

8. Using the Wrong Verb

Each sentence in English requires both a subject and verb; otherwise, your writing will become incoherent and difficult for readers to follow. If either element is missing, your writing will become incomplete and difficult for people to understand.

Mixing verb tenses can also cause readers to become disoriented. Choose your tense early in your writing and stick with it; make sure it reflects the time sequence of your thoughts. In addition, avoid irregular verbs which form their past tense in unpredictable ways that might confuse readers.

9. Using the Wrong Subject

Subject and verb must agree, especially regarding pronouns; for instance, if a subject is singular then so must its pronoun be singular as well.

Selecting an inappropriate topic can leave your writing unclear and disjointed, leaving readers to doubt its accuracy and credibility.

Be mindful to always utilize a semicolon when linking independent clauses together, and avoid using “dangling modifiers,” or phrases or words which don’t relate directly to what they should modify.

10. Using the Wrong Punctuation

Misuse of punctuation marks can confuse readers and diminish the overall tone of your writing, such as misplacing an apostrophe or using it incorrectly for pluralization purposes; or leaving off punctuation marks such as semicolons and commas altogether.

Punctuation errors may seem minor, but they can make a major impactful statement about your writing. Be mindful of these mishaps as you compose, and use an online grammar checker to ensure all errors have been eliminated from your manuscript before moving forward with creating content with impact.