The most common errors students make in their writing.

1. The Most Common Errors Students Make

2.  Sentence Structure
 Deadliest Sins
 Indicate Weak Knowledge of How Sentences
Work
 Grammar
 Range From Dangerous to Annoying
 Mechanics
 Includes Spelling, Punctuation and Proofing

3.  Comma Splices
 Dangerous but not always deadly
 More than 5 can lower grade
 Run-on Sentences
 Deadlier than comma splices
 More than 5 can lower grade a couple of levels
 Fragments
 Deadliest of all
 More than 5 can result in a failing grade.

4.  Two complete sentences joined by a comma
 You knew the two sentences belonged together.
 But you chose the wrong method to join them

5.  I was hungry, I made lunch.
 Two independent clauses joined by a comma
 Commas generally join something that is a
sentence to something that is not.

6.  Find a comma
 Place finger over comma
 Read what comes before and after comma
 If both are complete sentences, you have a comma
splice.
 Repeat the process
 Shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.

7.  Make two sentences
 Join with semicolon
 Join with semicolon and connecting word
 Coordination
 Subordination

8.  I was hungry. I made lunch
 Structurally correct
 Simplest solution
 Use as fallback if nothing else works or comes to
mind
 Not usually the best choice
 Can make your writing choppy
 Can give bad impression
 That your sentences lack sophistication.
 That your sentences lack variety.

9.  I was hungry; I made lunch.
 Structurally correct
 Ideas must be closely related
 May not be the best choice
 Like periods, semicolons separate rather than join

10.  I was hungry; therefore, I made lunch.
 Structurally correct
 Transitional word helps join the sentences.
 Better than semicolon alone

11.  I was hungry, so I made lunch.
 Use a conjunction to join the two sentences.
 If there is a complete sentence on either side of a
conjunction, you must use a comma before the
conjunction.
 The conjunction coordinates between two
equals (independent clauses)

12.  Because I was hungry, I made lunch.
 I made lunch because I was hungry.
 One of the sentences has been turned into a
dependent clause
 If the dependent clause comes first, you will
need a comma.

13.  I was hungry I made lunch.
 The fender-bender of writing
 Two sentences jammed together without any
punctuation whatsoever
 Raises doubts about your understanding of how
sentences work

14.  Read out loud
 Gets ear involved
 Ear expects certain cues at end of sentence
 Changes in pitch
 Watch out for pauses
 If you have to stop to figure out what is going
on, there is most likely a problem.

15.  Same as fixing comma splices
 Two separate sentences
 Semicolon
 Semicolon with connecting word
 Coordination
 Subordination
 Throw away and write something completely
different

16.  Sentences that aren’t all there
 Missing subject
 Missing verb
 Missing complete verb
 Lacking auxiliary
 Missing subject and verb

17.  Dependent clause
 Which
 Others

18.  I made lunch. Because I was hungry.
 A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a
sentence.
 Often begins with Because
 Must be connected to an independent clause

19.  I made lunch. Because I was hungry.
 Usually can be fixed by connecting to the
sentence before or after it.
 I made lunch because I was hungry.
 Or
 Because I was hungry, I made lunch.

20.  He was very hungry. Which is true.
 Which introduces parenthetical material
 If used properly, which will have a comma before it.

21.  Easy to spot
 Unless it’s a question, if a sentence begins with
which, it is a fragment.
 Which car is yours? is okay.
 Which was true. is not.

22.  Join to sentence before
 Don’t forget the comma.
 He was very hungry, which is true.

23.  Missing subject
 Went to the store.
 He went to the store.
 Missing verb
 He very hungry.
 He is very hungry.
 Missing subject and verb
 At the store.
 He is at the store.

24.  Coordination
 Subordination
 Series
 Interrupter
 Parenthetical Expression

25.  Uses comma with conjunction that joins
independent clauses
 For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So are the
conjunctions.
 Think FANBOYS

26.  I was hungry, so I made lunch.
 Use comma if there is a complete sentence on
either side of the conjunction.
 I washed the dishes and took out the garbage.
 Complete sentence on only one side of the
conjunction.
 Do not use a comma.

27.  Adds conjunctive adverb to an independent clause
 Turns into dependent clause
 Dependent clause must be joined to an
independent clause (complete sentence).
 If dependent clause is left to stand by itself, it
will be a fragment

28.  Because I was hungry, I made lunch.
 The word because turns “I was hungry” into a
dependent clause.
 If the part that cannot stand alone (dependent
clause in this case) comes first, it must be
followed by a comma.
 Short prepositional phrases are an exception.

29.  I made lunch because I was hungry.
 If the part that cannot stand alone (dependent
clause in this case) comes last, do not use a
comma.

30.  Use commas to separate items in a series.
 I went fishing with Bob, Mary, and Ted.
 The comma before the last item is optional.
 But be consistent.

31.  Is inserted into an otherwise perfectly good
sentence.
 Test: If you remove the interrupter, you should
have a complete sentence left over.

32.  Mary, unfortunately, was drunk last night.
 Word unfortunately is inserted as a comment
into the middle of a sentence.
 If you take out unfortunately, you will still have a
complete sentence left: Mary was drunk last night.
 You must use a comma on both sides of the
interrupter.
 Unless at beginning or end

33.  Do you remember, Mary, how drunk you were last
night?
 Interrupters are also used when you write or
speak directly to someone.
 Again, take out the interrupter, and you still
have a sentence left over: Do you remember how
drunk you were last night?

34.  Dates and addresses are also interrupters.
 On October 6, 1989, Mary Louise Smith was
born.
 Living in Lillington, NC, has its benefits.
 His address is 123 Elm
Street, Greensboro, NC, 28325.
 In every case, a complete sentence is left over after
you remove the interrupter.

35.  Parenthetical expressions contain extra, non-vital
information.
 Also known as nonrestrictive clauses
 Parenthetical expressions must be set off by
commas on both sides.
 Unless at the beginning or end of the sentence

36.  Bob, who is 21, wrecked his car yesterday.
 Two-part test:
 If expression is removed, there must be a
complete sentence left.
 Removing the expression must not change the
fundamental meaning of the sentence.

37.  The man who stole my car was arrested.
 Passes part one of the test.
 There is a complete sentence left over when you
remove the expression: The man was arrested.
 Does not pass part two:
 Removing the expression changes the meaning of the
sentence.
 Therefore, do not use commas.

38.  Use pronoun who to refer to people.
 Who is used for both parenthetical and
nonparenthetical expressions.
 Use that or which to refer to nonpersons.
 Use that for nonparentheticals
 Use which for parentheticals

39.  Semicolons
 Colons
 Question Marks
 Quotation Marks

40.  When in doubt, cut it out
 No rule that requires them
 Correct usage is simple
 Only use where you would otherwise use a
period.
 Ideas in two sentences must be closely related.
 Correct: I was hungry; I made lunch.
 Incorrect: I was hungry; I bought a new pair of
shoes.

41.  Also used in complex series
 Where one or more of the items contains a
comma
 I went fishing with Bob, who is 21; Mary, who is
18; and Fred, who is 30.
 In this case you must use a comma before the last
item in the series.

42.  Do not capitalize the first word that follows the
semicolon.
 Proper nouns are an exception
 Bob was hungry; he made lunch.

43.  Introduces something to follow
 Could be series
 But does not have to be
 Could be a single item
 Must have complete sentence before the colon

44.  I went fishing with: Ted, Mary and Bill.
 This use of the colon is incorrect.
 There is not a complete sentence before the colon
 I went fishing with the following people:
Ted, Mary and Bill.
 Correct usage
 Complete sentence before the colon

45.  Capitalization depends on what follows the colon
 If what follows is a complete sentence, capitalize
the first word.
 I found the source of the leak: A pipe was
broken.

46.  If what follows is not a complete sentence, do not
capitalize the first word.
 With the exception of proper nouns
 I found the source of the problem: a broken
pipe.

47.  Go at the end of questions
 Sin of omission
 Proofread out loud!
 Two types of questions
 Direct: What time is it?
 Requires a question mark
 Indirect: I wonder what time it is.
 This is a statement, not a question
 Should be followed by a period

48.  In American English, periods and commas always
go inside quotation marks
 “I’m hungry,” Bob remarked. “I’m not going to
wait for dinner.”
 “I just read Poe’s ‘Annabelle Lee.’”

49.  Colons and semicolons always go outside of
quotation marks.
 Mary said she was “too tired”; I think she was
making excuses.
 There are two reasons I like the poem “love is”: It
captures the essence of love, and it does so by
using words we would never associate with love.

50.  Location of question marks depends on where the
question is located
 If quoted material is a question, question mark
goes inside.
 “Where is the restroom?” Bob asked.

51.  If question is part of a larger sentence that
contains the quote, question mark goes outside.
 Who said, “It’s hot in here”?
 Same rule applies to exclamation points

52.  Vague pronouns
 Pronoun too far from antecedent
 Pronoun itself is vague
 Pronoun–antecedent agreement
 Pronoun must agree in number with its
antecedent

53.  A substitute noun.
 He, She, It, They, Them, Their, I, Me, Mine, You,
Yours, etc.
 Otherwise, you would find yourself saying, “David
woke up and put on David’s slippers, went to David’s
bathroom, and brushed David’s teeth.”
 Antecedent is noun pronoun refers to
 Relationship must be clear

54.  Pronoun-antecedent relationship unclear
 Pronoun could refer to more than one person
 Mary told her mother that she hated her hair.
 Pronoun could be too far from antecedent
 Use a noun form every second or third sentence

55.  Watch out for this.
 A demonstrative pronoun
 Used when you can point to an object.
 This is a pencil.
 Don’t use this to refer to an abstract concept.
 Welfare fraud is a growing problem. Something
must be done about this.

56.  Pronoun, antecedent must agree in number.
 Each student should turn their work in on time.
 Antecedent (student) is singular
 Pronoun (their) is plural
 Make both singular or both plural
 Students should turn their work in on time.
 Each student should turn his or her work in on time.

57.  Subject and verb must agree in number.
 One of the boys are going to bed.
 Subject (one) is singular.
 Verb (are) is plural.

58.  One of the boys are going to bed.
 Prepositional phrase gets in the way
 Noun in prepositional phrase is often right next to the
verb.
 Subject and verb are never in a prepositional phrase.
 Say sentence without prepositional phrases.
 One is going to bed.

59.  Refers back to a noun
 Cannot be used by itself
 Myself is the biggest culprit
 The tickets were given to Dana and myself.
 Usage is incorrect because myself does not refer back
to a noun.
 I hurt myself.
 Usage is correct because myself refers back to a
proper pronoun I.

60.  Taking long way around
 Subject of sentence becomes object.
 Active Voice: I read the book.
 Subject is I
 Verb is read
 Object is the book
 Passive Voice: The book was read by me.
 Object has become subject
 Sentence picks up two extra words

61.  Not necessarily bad—unless overused
 Watch for excess numbers of present
participles
 Was going, is going, am going, were going, etc.
 Avoid using too many prepositional phrases
in a single sentence.
 Prepositional phrases start with preposition and
end with noun
 In the car, under the table

62.  Items in a series must have same grammatical
structure.
 Incorrect: When I grow up I want to be a
doctor, lawyer or teach English.
 Correct: When I grow up I want to be a
doctor, lawyer or teacher.

63.  Trick is to become familiar with the words you
misspell
 Then you can look them up
 If a dictionary is not available, substitute a word
you can spell.
 Keep a list of misspellings
 Probably won’t be more than 20 words
 Read over list frequently.