Common Grammatical Errors

Its and it's are easy to mix up, but they have totally different meanings.andit'sThese two are all too easy to confuse, but they have completely different meanings.It'sIt's functions as a contraction of it. and is.ItsIts works differently; this word shows possession for the pronoun.it.

Its example: "I hate wearing this dress because its pockets are fake."

It's example: "It's going to be a long day."

The difference betweenaffect and effectYou can find the difference between affect and effect hard to grasp. Most of the time, effecteffect is a noun that means a result, whileaffectaffect is a verb that means "to influence." So, if you want to criticize your friend's study habits, you could either say, "Your Failure to study affects your grades. Or, "If you go to that Drake concert instead of doing your homework, it will have a negative effect on your grade."

If you are unsure which word to use, or do not want to look it up, use the word impact instead. Impact is a good word that gets credit, and it will send your meaning across most times.

Have you read sentences that seem to go on forever without breaks? You suffer through what you just experienced. This is called arun-on sentence. A run-on sentence shows two or more separate ideas without using punctuation or conjunctions to separate them.

A run-on sentence does not need to be long. Here is a short run-on sentence example: "I can't come with you to the movies I don't have enough money".While the sentence ideas are related, they are two separate ideas. You fix the sentence by adding a semicolon or a period between "movies" and "I," or by using a conjunction like "because" in the same spot.

It's also worth noting that not every long sentence is a run-on. Thelongest sentenceever written in English is 13,955 words long, but punctuation stops it from being a run-on sentence.

A sentence does not need to be long to be complete. Actually, acomplete sentencecan be as short as two words if it meets simple rules. Complete sentences must start with a capital letter and end with a period, exclamation point, or question mark. They must show a full idea. At least, they need a subject and a verb.

Take this sentence: "Sara has a beautiful face."Sara" is the subject, "has" is the verb, and "beautiful face" is the object. The sentence shows a full thought. Now, look at this similar phrase: "Sara's beautiful face." This is not a complete sentence. Without a verb, it does not show a full thought. Readers wonder, "Whatabouther beautiful face?

SemicolonsDescription of 'You Don't Know How Semicolons Work' in the list 'Common Grammatical Errors'

Description of 'You Don't Know How Semicolons Work' in the list 'Common Grammatical Errors'The semicolon stops confusion. Use semicolons instead of commas; this shows how to read the sentence.Using semicolons avoids confusion. If you use commas, reading the sentence becomes hard.

Someone calls an ATM an ATM machine. This shows redundancy; the M stands for "machine." Redundancy appears in other ways, too. For example, the phrase "a variety of different ideas". Variety means "different.", so the phrase is redundant.

Repetition and redundancy are not the same. Repetition can drive a point home as a literary technique. Redundancy means saying the same thing twice without adding meaning. Use repetition well; avoid redundancy.

Like many confused words, Your and you're sound alike but have totally different meanings. Your and you're sound similar, but they have totally different meanings.You're is a contraction of you.You're is a contraction of the words you. You're and are. The apostrophe replaces missing letters and spaces.Your is a possessive determiner and pronoun, meaning "belonging to you".Your is a possessive determiner and pronoun, meaning "belonging to you"..

Your example: "Your older brother is going to drive you to your doctor's appointment."

You're example: "You're going to have to come to work an hour early."

To, too, and two.These words sound and look alike. Mixing them up changes a sentence's meaning. Learn the difference; it is critical.To To can be the preposition before a noun or the infinitive before a verb.TooToo is an adverb meaning "excessively" or "also."TwoTwo is a number.

Examples of too: "I ate too many waffles," or, "There's no such thing as too many waffles."

Examples of two: "I have two marshmallows," or, "My girlfriend called me two hours ago."

Examples of to: "Please don't make me go to the school dance," or, "You have to walk the dog tonight."

Here'sanother set of wordsYou've definitely gotten wrong at least once.TheirTheir is the possessive form of they. Though traditionally plural, it is increasingly accepted as a singular replacement for his or her.They're is a contraction of the words.They're is a contraction of the wordsTheyandare.ThereThere is an adverb meaning "in or at that place." It is the opposite of "here."

Example of they're: "They're the worst bandI have ever heard in my life.

Example of there: "Do you think you'll go there for vacation?"

Use their: "They left their clothes all over the floor."

Figure out how to use commas.This explains where commas go.Mistakes fall into three groups: comma splicing, missing commas, and extra commas.

Comma splicing links independent phrases or clauses with a comma instead of a semicolon or two sentences. This creates run-on sentences.

Missing commas change sentence meaning. "Let's go clubbing, baby seals!" means something different than "Let's go clubbing baby seals!". An extra comma also confuses readers.

Know why you use an.This covers using apostrophes correctly., it is easy to remember how Use them. Apostrophes do two things. First, they make contractions. For example, You're using apostrophes wrong.You're using 'is' as a contraction for 'you'. Use contractions sparingly in formal writing. They remain grammatically correct.

The second use shows possession. If a noun ends with an apostrophe and an s, it means something belongs to that noun. "Anna's laptop," "JJ's ice skates," and "My mother's necklace" show this.

What if the noun ends with an s? Add an apostrophe and s to a personal name ("We saw Charles's one-man show"). If a plural noun already ends in s, just add the apostrophe after the s ("The artists' supplies covered the table").

Keep track of yourThis addresses verb tense mixing.Aware of the issue helps writers control it. When a sentence has multiple verbs, they must share one tense. Usually, this tense matches the rest of the passage.

The three basic tenses are past, present, and future. The past tense of jump is jumped.This deals with the comma.This covers the present tense. It is jumps.This deals with the comma.The future tense uses 'will jump'.This ends the sentence.If Yukiko jumped off the swing, she also climbed up a tree. Saying she climbs up a tree, or that she will climb up a tree, makes the reader unsure when the events happen.