Most Common Grammatical Errors in Writing

English is a global language and is one of the most spoken languages around the globe. Because of its status as a global language many countries have incorporated it into their official affairs and education. Students are being taught English from their primary classes. In many countries the correspondence is now done in English. But since many people are not native speaker, they tend to make grammatical errors in their scripts. Even if they are native speakers, grammar is a difficult thing to get hold of and perfect it. In the flow of speaking English fluently you can make many grammatical errors as well as when you’re fully engrossed in writing and are not paying much attention to grammatical rules.
One reason for making grammatical mistakes can be that English grammar is very complicated, it has rules as well as exceptions from those rules at the same time. It is difficult to understand where to use the rule and where not to. Similarly, language acquisition is a lifelong process and doesn’t stop, however if your basis is weak the entire language structure will be shaky. To avoid such mistakes its essential when English is being taught it must be taught properly. But now since the deed is done we can still try and fix things so that we don’t face embarrassment in front of our teachers when we hand in an assignment. Here are ten extremely common mistakes people and especially students make when writing their papers.

Using appropriate Articles:

Many English learners are often confused where to use a, an and the. Despite it being a simple concept many people make mistakes very often.

A is used for any one thing for example, I have a paper due on Monday.
An is used if there’s a vowel in the beginning of the word for example, There’s an exam coming up this Tuesday.
And finally the is a definite article and talks about something in particular for example, I love the ice cream shop near my house. Misuse of articles is a rookie mistake and very basic.

Commas

Many of us have no idea what commas do and what is the right place to insert them. Commas are used to link two coordinating sentences together. For example: I was sleeping, and my mother woke me up. More so, you can use commas to separate things when listing them for example: I went to the grocery store and bought an apple, a banana, an orange and a pineapple. You can also use commas after there is an introductory adverb in the start of the sentence. For example: Surprisingly, the shirt was cheaper than I had expected. Improper use of comma can make the reader question your language skills.

Its or It’s

This is probably the most common mistake writers or students make in their scripts. They often confuse between the two.

Its is a possessive pronoun and is used when you’re talking about something belonging to someone for example: Its his car he can do whatever he wants with it.
On the other hand, it’s is a contraction of the words it and is. It can be used like: It’s not my fault you fell off the stairs. This is also very confusing for people who are native English speakers.

Their, There and They’re

This is also a very common mistake made by English learners as the three words are homophones and sound very similar.

Their is a possessive pronoun and is used to show belonging, that too of more than one person, for example: this is their classroom.
There is an adverb of place and talks about where something is taking place for example: she is standing there.
They’re is a contraction of the word they and are. It can be used like: They’re singing happy songs.

Then or Than

Intermediate level learners are mostly the ones who make the mistake of then & than.

Then is commonly used as an adjective and adverb. For example, as an adjective you can use it as: we had lunch then we went to see a movie.
Than is used to compare two things together. For example, Sarah is shorter than her sister.

Among or Between

Between is used when you are talking about two or more definite things however among is used when talking about a group and the constituents are not defined.

Subject Verb Agreement

Many non-native learners are completely unaware of this concept. This means that in a sentence the subject and the verb must both agree with each other in number. For example, if the subject is singular the verb will be plural. Like Tim likes to read in the park. Here the subject is Tim and is singular but the verb reads is plural. If the subject was plural the verb would be singular for example, Tim and Ashley like to read in the park.

Since and For

Since is used to refer to particular time in the past for example I have been walking since 7.45 in the morning.
For is used to talk about a particular amount of time, for example I have been working here for ten years.

Farther or further

Farther is used for actual physical distance for example,: how much farther do we have to travel? In this case they are asking how many more miles or kilometer do they need to travel more.
Whereas, further talks about the metaphorical difference. For example, Sir can you please further explain this theory? Here the student is asking the teacher to go in more detail of the theory and doesn’t talk about any physical distances.

Using Improper Tenses

Many people when narrating a story or event use improper sentences confuse themselves between simple past tense and present perfect tense. To avoid these mistakes students must pay very close attention to tenses and try to learn them. If all English learners rectify these grammatical errors their writings skills will improve exponentially.