Download COMMON MISTAKES IN GRAMMAR Faulty Parallelism

COMMON MISTAKES IN GRAMMAR
Faulty Parallelism
Grammatically equal sentence elements should express two or more matching ideas or items in a series.
Incorrect:
Correct:
The candidate’s goals include winning the election, a health program, and education.
The candidate’s goals include winning the election, enacting a national health program,
and improving the educational system.
Run-on Sentences
A run-on is two complete ideas incorrectly joined. A comma splice is when the two ideas are joined by a
comma.
Incorrect:
Correct:
The cloth was very beautiful, it had intricate embroidery.
The cloth was very beautiful. It had intricate embroidery. (Make two sentences).
The cloth was very beautiful; it had intricate embroidery. (Add semicolon).
Tenses
Tenses should be consistent.
Incorrect:
Correct:
When it was her turn, she nervously walks up to the stage and begins her speech.
When it was her turn, she nervously walked up to the stage and began her speech.
Transitive vs. Intransitive Verbs
A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning.
Example:
My son ate the last piece of cake.
Please call your mother.
An intransitive verb does not need a direct object to complete its meaning.
Example:
The baby laughed.
Prepositions
A preposition is a word used to connect and relate a noun or pronoun to some other word.
Examples:
about/as/at/for/from/in/of/on/like/by/but/during/across
according to/along with/apart from/as for/aside from/except for/with regard to
Conjunctions
A coordinating conjunction connects sentence parts of equal rank.
Examples:
And (shows connections)
But/nor/yet (shows contrast)
Or (shows choice)
So (shows result)
Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to connect sentence parts.
Examples:
both…and
Either…or
Neither…nor
Not only…but also
Subordinating conjunctions connect two thoughts by making one dependent on the other.
Incorrect:
Although they tried to repair the tennis courts, but they were unable to get enough
funding.
Correct:
Although they tried to repair the tennis courts, they were unable to get enough funding.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.
Example:
My brother is a nutritionist.
My sisters are mathematicians.
“Everyone”, “someone”, “no one”, and “nobody” are always singular subjects.
Example:
Everyone has done their homework.
Adjective Clauses and Relative Clauses
An adjective clause is a clause that describes a noun.
Example:
The flower, which was red, smelled nice.
A relative pronoun is used to introduce an adjective clause.
Example:
The boy, who is 8 years old, comes visits the shop every day.
A relative clause gives additional information without starting a new sentence.
Example:
I was invited by the professor whom I’d met at the conference.
Count vs. Non-count Nouns
A “count noun” can have a number in front of it, whereas a “non-count noun” cannot.
Examples:
Count: 1 teacher, 2 books, 3 instruments, 4 people.
Non-count: luck, homework, advice
Articles (a, an, the)
A noun must be preceded by the proper article (a, an, or the).
Correct: He walked onto the balcony OR He walked onto a balcony
Incorrect: He walked onto balcony.
A/an/the works for count nouns. A/an is used when you mention the noun for the first time.
Example:
He noticed a bird flying towards him. He froze. The bird was coming closer and closer.
Gerunds
A gerund looks like a present participle (the “—ing” form) but functions as a noun in a sentence.
Examples:
Fishing is fun.
I enjoy writing letters.
I will call you after arriving at the office.
Pronoun Reference
Pronouns must clearly refer to definite referents (nouns). Use “it”, “they”, “that”, “these”, “those”, and “which”.
Incorrect: Einstein was a brilliant mathematician. This is how he came up with his theory.
Correct: Einstein, who was a brilliant mathematician, used his quantitative ability to come up with his
theory.
Apostrophe Use
Apostrophes indicate possessives and contractions but not plurals. “Its”, “your”, “their”, and “whose” are
possessives, but contain no apostrophes. “It’s”, “you’re”, “they’re” and “who’s” are contractions.