Common Grammar/Writing Errors
There, Their, and They’re
There --- location
Their – possession
They’re --- contraction for they are, and may not be used in formal writing! No
contractions!!!!
Theirselves vs. themselves (theirselves is IMPROPER English) NEVER,
NEVER USE!!!
Himself vs. hisself (hisself is INCORRECT! NEVER USE!!!)
You, Your, You’re
You – singular
Your – plural
You’re – contraction for you are, and may no be used!
******However, unless this word is in a direct quote, it may NEVER be used!
How do you change it? See Example below:
Bad Example:
In life, you should make good, sound, timely decisions.
Correct Example:
In life, a leader should make good, sound, timely decisions.
--NEVER use first person (“I believe”, our country, our troops, we will become
leaders of the future, etc.)
**When you start off with a phrase like “I believe”, you will almost
always have to say the word “you” to make the sentence work later.
*** Don’t use it!
PREPOSITIONS
Never end a sentence with a preposition. A preposition links nouns, pronouns,
and phrases to other words in a sentence. Here is a list:
About
above
according to
across
after
against
along
along with
among
apart from
around
as
as for
at
because of
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
by
by means of concerning
despite
down
during
except
except for
excepting
for
from
in
in addition to
in back of
in case of
in front of
in place of inside
in spite of
instead of
into
like
near
next
of
off
on
onto
on top of
out
out of
outside
over
past
regarding
round
since
through
throughout till
to
toward
under
underneath unlike
until
up
upon
up to
with
within
without
Common Grammar/Writing Errors
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
--A pronoun is a substitute for a noun.
--An antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers,
understood by the context.
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in three ways:
Person refers to the quality of being.
Number is the quality that distinguishes between singular (one entity) and
plural (numerous entities).
Gender is the quality that distinguishes the entities as masculine or feminine.
Person ----Incorrect sentence:
If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, you have to know the rules of the game.
Antecedent
a person (third person)
Pronoun
you (second person)
Conclusion
no person agreement
Solution: Although the antecedent and the pronoun agree in number, they do not
agree in person. This problem can be remedied in two ways.
Solution
Example
If a person wants to succeed in
Change the second person singular, you,
corporate life, he or she has to know
to a third person singular pronoun.
the rules of the game.
Change the third person singular
If you want to succeed in corporate
antecedent, a person, to a second person life, you have to know the rules of the
singular antecedent.
game.
Common Grammar/Writing Errors
Number --Incorrect sentence:
If anybody wants to succeed in corporate life, they have to know the rules of the game.
Antecedent
anybody (third person singular)
Pronoun
they (third person plural)
Conclusion
no number agreement
Solution: Although the antecedent and pronoun agree in person, they do not agree
in number. This problem can be remedied in two ways.
Solution
Example
Make the antecedent If people want to succeed in corporate life, they have to
plural.
know the rules of the game.
Make the pronoun
singular.
If anybody wants to succeed in corporate life, he or she
has to know the rules of the game.
Gender
Incorrect Sentence: If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, he has to
know the rules of the game.
Explanation
Antecedent a person (third person neutral singular)
Pronoun
he (third person masculine singular)
Conclusion no gender agreement
Solution: Even though there is person and number agreement between the
antecedent, a person, and the pronoun, he, there is no gender agreement; in other
words, the language appears to favor one sex over the other. This problem can be
remedied in two ways.
Solution
Replace the pronoun he
with he or she.
Example
If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, he or
she has to know the rules of the game.
Make the entire sentence If people want to succeed in corporate life, they have
plural.
to know the rules of the game.
Common Grammar/Writing Errors
Comma Splice
A comma splice is when you insert a comma where a period should be. Ultimately, you are
placing a comma in between two complete thoughts.
Example:
She went to the mall, she really needed new shoes.
Solution:
She went to the mall because she needed new shoes.
She went to the mall. She really needed new shoes.
Transitions in your paper
Tell your reader what to do with the information presented.
Whether single words, phrases, or full sentences, they function as "roadways" to understanding
the fullness of your argument.
Transitions signal relationships between ideas such as: “Another example coming up—stay
alert!” or “Here’s an exception to my previous statement” or “Although this idea appears to be
true, here’s the real story.”
Signals that you might need Transitions:
•
Your instructor has written comments like “choppy,” “jumpy,” “abrupt,” “flow,” “need
signposts,” or “how is this related?” on your papers.
•
Your readers (instructors, friends, or classmates) tell you that they had trouble following
your organization or train of thought.
•
You tend to write the way you think—and your brain often jumps from one idea to another
pretty quickly.
•
You wrote your paper in several discrete “chunks” and then pasted them together.
•
You are working on a group paper; the draft you are working on was created by pasting
pieces of several people’s writing together.
The organization of your written work includes two elements:
(1)the order in which you have chosen to present the different parts of your discussion or
argument
(2) the relationships you construct between these parts.
Example:
El Pais, a Latin American country, has a new democratic government after having been a
dictatorship for many years. Assume that you want to argue that El Pais is not as democratic as
the conventional view would have us believe. One way to effectively organize your argument
would be to present the conventional view and then to provide the reader with your critical
response to this view. So, in Paragraph A you would enumerate all the reasons that someone
might consider El Pais highly democratic, while in Paragraph B you would refute these points.
The transition that would establish the logical connection between these two key elements of your
argument would indicate to the reader that the information in paragraph B contradicts the
information in paragraph A. As a result, you might organize your argument, including the
transition that links paragraph A with paragraph B, in the following manner:
Paragraph A: points that support the view that El Pais’s new government is very democratic.
Transition: Despite the previous arguments, there are many reasons to think that El Pais’s new
government is not as democratic as typically believed.
Paragraph B: points that contradict the view that El Pais’s new government is very democratic.
In this case, the transition words “Despite the previous arguments,” suggest that the reader
should not believe paragraph A and instead should consider the writer’s reasons for viewing El
Pais’s democracy as suspect.
Common Grammar/Writing Errors
Types of transitions:
1.
Transitions between sections—Particularly in longer works, it may be
necessary to include transitional paragraphs that summarize for the reader the
information just covered and specify the relevance of this information to the discussion in
the following section.
2.
Transitions between paragraphs—If you have done a good job of arranging
paragraphs so that the content of one leads logically to the next, the transition will
highlight a relationship that already exists by summarizing the previous paragraph and
suggesting something of the content of the paragraph that follows. A transition between
paragraphs can be a word or two (however, for example, similarly), a phrase, or a
sentence. Transitions can be at the end of the first paragraph, at the beginning of the
second paragraph, or in both places.
3.
Transitions within paragraphs—As with transitions between sections and
paragraphs, transitions within paragraphs act as cues by helping readers to anticipate
what is coming before they read it. Within paragraphs, transitions tend to be single
words or short phrases.
Effectively constructing each transition often depends upon your ability to
identify words or phrases that will indicate for the reader the kind of logical
relationships you want to convey.
LOGICAL RELATIONSHIP TRANSITIONAL EXPRESSION
Similarity
also, in the same way, just as … so too, likewise, similarly
Exception/Contrast
but, however, in spite of, on the one hand … on the other hand,
nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, in contrast, on the
contrary, still, yet
Sequence/Order
first, second, third, … next, then, finally
Time
after, afterward, at last, before, currently, during, earlier,
immediately, later, meanwhile, now, recently, simultaneously,
subsequently, then
Example
for example, for instance, namely, specifically, to illustrate
Emphasis
even, indeed, in fact, of course, truly
Place/Position
above, adjacent, below, beyond, here, in front, in back, nearby,
there
Cause and Effect
accordingly, consequently, hence, so, therefore, thus
Additional Support or
Evidence
additionally, again, also, and, as well, besides, equally important,
further, furthermore, in addition, moreover, then
Conclusion/Summary
finally, in a word, in brief, briefly, in conclusion, in the end, in the final
analysis, on the whole, thus, to conclude, to summarize, in sum, to
sum up, in summary
Common Grammar/Writing Errors
MLA format:
Sample first page in MLA (no title page necessary):
Smith 1
Pete Smith
Mrs. Napierala
English 12
12 October 2012
Building a Dream
During the 2000 football season the Purdue
Boilermakers won the Big Ten Conference title,
earning their first trip to the Rose Bowl in thirtyfour years, and played every game to a sold-out
crowd. Looking ahead…
Typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman OR Ariel Font, size 12.
Last name, space, and then hit the automatic # button for HEADER.
Title should be centered. No bold and MUST be size 12.
5-8 sentence paragraphs
Complex and varying sentence lengths and structures
Sophisticated vocabulary
Grammar and punctuation
Critical thought and analysis
Transitions
Claim, Evidence, Warrant Format.
Thesis statement should be the LAST sentence of Introduction paragraph.
Every paragraph should be indented.
Double spacing throughout, there should NOT be an extra line of space between
paragraphs.
No contractions. No first person (I, me, we). No second person (you, your)
Paper is organized!!!