Top 8 Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

You would be a rich person by now if you had a dollar for all the grammar mistakes you have made throughout your life. But you do not get paid for committing grammar mistakes and typos. 

Remember, readers, take into account several conventions based on your audience, goal, and writing scenario.

In this way, they rate your writing. For example, a digital marketer count characters for writing his meta title, description, and body of the article. This is how the readers judge his writing skills.

You should hone your writing skills in order to save time, money, and embarrassment. Following are the top 8 common writing mistakes that you should avoid:

Irregular verb forms

Using irregular verb forms in your writing is not a cakewalk, even if you are a native writer. Thus, you should master this grammatical principle.

Many students frequently use incorrect irregular forms without even recognizing them. As a result, these irregular forms carry a stigma that can negatively impact your writing's credibility. 

Look at these common verbs conjugation mistakes:

He seen vs. He saw

Wrong: He seen the web series last night.

Correct: He saw the web series last night.

He been vs. He has been

Wrong: He been in the market.

Correct: He has been in the market.

He done vs. He did

Wrong: He done this project efficiently.

Correct: He did this project efficiently. 

They was vs. They were

Wrong: They was about just to start riding.

Correct: They were about just to start riding.

Run-on sentences

Run-on sentences are among the most common mistakes students commit while writing their assignments.

A run-on phrase comprises two or more independent clauses not linked correctly. As a result, there are multiple run-on sentence mistakes that writers make. One of these errors is not including a comma before a coordinating conjunction. 

Wrong: I love writing but the deadline is coming I am feeling panic.

Correct: I love writing, but the deadline is coming; I am feeling panic.

Each clause must be separated from the others with punctuation or a comma and conjunction. 

Subject-verb disagreement

In all languages, the subject strongly connects with the verb in terms of number and gender. However, because English does not conjugate verbs to reflect the subject's gender, you just need to focus on the subject's number. 

For example, if the subject is a singular or plural noun?

Wrong: The struggles that he faces while working hard for his exams is intense. 

Correct: The struggles that he faces while working hard for his exams are intense.

The subject "struggles" does not match the verb "is" in this case. Because there are multiple conflicts, the verb should be "are."

Consider another example:

Jack and Anderson are running a marathon in February.

Comma splices

Comma splices and run-on sentences are linked together. Therefore, it can be said that all comma splices are run-on sentences.

Wrong: He was feeling thirsty, he drank the whole bottle.

Correct: He was feeling thirsty. He drank the whole bottle.

Correct: He was feeling thirsty; therefore, he drank the whole bottle.

What is a comma splice?

It is called a comma splice when a writer links two independent sentences with a comma rather than coordinating conjunction or a period.

The comma has its own functions, but one of these is not to connect two independent sentences. 

Periods and commas both have their distinctive functions. Also, you can use semicolons in place of coordinating conjunctions like "and," "but," and "so."

Pronoun-antecedent disagreement

Read these two examples:

Wrong: Rutherford had a card for Victoria but failed to deliver it because he was in her way.

Correct: Rutherford had a card for Victoria but failed to deliver it because Jacod was in her way.

Readers need to know who you refer to when you write the pronoun "her" or "him." Uncertainty and vagueness appear when a pronoun lacks a clear antecedent.

Spelling mistakes

Even though technology now helps us check our document's accuracy, spelling errors are among the top eight writing blunders. This is because spell checkers cannot detect many misspellings; they are more likely to overlook homonyms, compound words spelled wrong as separate words, and proper nouns, especially names.

After running the spell checker, you need to double-check for spelling errors.

Overuse of comma

We are frequently faced with whether or not to put a comma. However, if we use them in places that are not essential, we risk obscuring rather than clarifying our point.

Remember, you should not use commas to separate limiting factors from the meaning of the words they alter.

Read the below-mentioned example:

Wrong: Many children, of businessmen, walk home alone from the playground.

There is no need for a comma to separate the limiting term of businessmen from the rest of the sentence, which is important to identify which businessmen are being discussed. When coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, still) does not unite elements of a compound phrase, do not put a comma before it.

Because it unites two sentences that modify the same verb, there is no need to place a comma before the word in this case.

Plus, avoid using a comma between a subject and a verb.

Consider this example:

Wrong: Finally, the students, sat down after the punishment.

Also, you need to avoid putting a comma between a preposition and an object.

Wrong: On his way hostel from the university, he bought a piece of cake at, the bakery.

Sentence fragment

A sentence fragment is a portion of a sentence considered a whole sentence. The following examples show how to make sentence fragments:

In the absence of a subject

Wrong: The American colonists showed resilience against British imposed taxes. Thus led the foundation for American Revolution.

Correct: The American colonists showed resilience against British imposed taxes. Thus they led the foundation for American Revolution.

Without a complete verb

Wrong: The red rose blooming in the garden.

Correct: The red rose was blooming in the garden.


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