7.13: Editing Grammatical Errors
- Edit for common grammatical errors
Grammatically, writers tend to make their most obvious errors in the areas below.
Subject/Verb Agreement
This can usually be addressed by identifying each subject and verb in a sentence, ignoring the other words mentally, and making certain subjects/verbs match in number and sound.
- The word “and” linking two subjects makes them plural so you need to use the plural verb. For example, “Grammar and mechanics are related.”
- When subjects are connected by “or,” the subject closer to the verb determines the verb’s number, as in, “Either the punctuation marks or the usage is flawed.”
Pronoun Reference
Pronoun reference errors also make the list because pronouns seem to give a lot of beginning writers some trouble. A pronoun reference error occurs when you use a pronoun like he or she , and it’s not clear what that pronoun refers to. Here is an example:
- When Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were battling with their light sabers, he became angry .
Who does he refer to? It isn’t clear. A pronoun should clearly refer to its antecedent (the word it replaces), so if the antecedent is not clear, you need to revise. Here’s an example of how you might correct the pronoun reference error:
- When Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were battling with their light sabers, Luke became angry .
Verb Tense
You want to be sure that you are always consistent with your verb tense . When you shift verb tenses for no reason, and this is an easy mistake to make, you can really confuse your readers.
If you’re writing in the present tense, be sure you stay in the present tense. If you’re writing in the past tense, be sure you stay in the past tense. The exception would be if you need to shift tenses to tell a story, but that would be purposeful shifting. It’s the random, accidental shifting that causes the problems, as illustrated in this example:
- She grabs my hand then flipped me like I weighed nothing. This showed what a good self-defense course has done.
Here is what a corrected version of the sentence looks like:
- She grabbed my hand then flipped me like I weighed nothing. This showed what a good self-defense course has done.
It’s important to check verbs both for consistency and context.
Sentence Structure
Have you ever had a teacher say, “That sentence starts one way and ends another”? If you have, don’t feel badly. Others make this same mistake all the time. Sometimes, we simply lose our train of thought when we write, and we literally start a sentence one way and end it another, as illustrated in the following example:
- I occasionally get the urge to study late at night for instance my exams are going to take me longer than usual to study for because this works.
It’s tough to make sense of this sentence, right?
Of course, this is not the only faulty sentence structure error you might make. It’s important to pay close attention to your sentence structure to make sure you have both a subject and a verb. And, if you are listing items or phrases in a sentence, make sure you keep the items in your list in the same form. Doing so keeps your sentences “parallel,” which is a good thing.
Here is an example of a sentence without parallel structure:
- I start my day with breakfast, exercising, and checking out the latest blogs.
In the sentence above, breakfast is a noun, and exercising and checking begin verb phrases. The items in the list are not in the same form. Here is a correction where the items listed are in the same form:
- I start my day by eating breakfast, exercising, and checking out the latest blogs.
Run-ons and Fragments
You can address run-ons and fragments by identifying subjects and verbs. Sentence length can sometimes be a clue in helping you identify sentences that are too long.
Apostrophe Errors
Apostrophes give many writers a lot of trouble. Sometimes, you might be tempted to put an apostrophe where it does not belong, such as when you are simply making a word plural. Other times, you need to make a word possessive, but you might forget to use the apostrophe.
Then, of course, there is that whole its / it’s thing that confuses most everyone. Remember, the rule is to use an apostrophe when you need to show possession or ownership. The exception is with its .
Its shows ownership because it’s means it is . So, it’s like it’s is already taken, so its gets to be an ownership exception. To make sure you are using It’s correctly, just say it is when you read it. If it makes sense, you’re fine. However, if you’re trying to show ownership, and it is would not work in the sentence, you need to make the change to its . Otherwise, you might end up with a sentence like this:
- Its abundantly clear, to me, that creature’s of the night are just misunderstood and misguided beings who sometimes err in judgment and eat their neighbors’ as well as their neighbors families.
And, you would want a sentence like this:
- It’s abundantly clear, to me, that creatures of the night are just misunderstood and misguided beings who sometimes err in judgment and eat their neighbors as well as their neighbors’ families.
Commonly Confused Terms
Writers often also have trouble with some commonly confused terms. The chart below briefly describes a few.
| affect vs. effect | “Affect” is usually a verb meaning “to influence,” while “effect” is usually a noun meaning “outcome” or “result.” |
| it’s vs. its | “It’s” always means “it is,” while “its” always shows possession. |
| e.g. vs. i.e. | The abbreviation “e.g.” is Latin for exempli gratia and means “for example,” while “i.e.” is Latin for id est and means “that is.” |
| imply vs. infer | The word “imply” means “to suggest” or “to indicate,” while “infer” involves a person actively applying deduction. |
| that vs. which | The word “that” is used to define and limit a noun’s meaning, while “which” is used to provide descriptive information not central to the noun’s definition. |
Active and Passive Voice
Readers prefer sentences constructed with the active voice because they are more concise and direct. Consider the following revisions:
Passive
: Listeners are encouraged by the lyrics to cast aside their fear and be themselves.
Active
: The lyrics encourage listeners to cast aside their fears and be themselves.
Passive
: Alana’s toes were crushed by the garage door.
Active
: The garage door crushed Alana’s toes.
In both cases, the writer was able to eliminate the “be” verb (is, are, was, were), and the active sentences are less wordy.
Below is an accessible version of the above activity.
This draft contains 5 grammatical errors. Identify each one in the text box and check your answers:
Sports reporters and the media in general treat professional female athletes unfairly, as can be seen in the recent controversy over Serena Williams’ catsuit. Returning to tennis soon after giving birth to her daughter, Serena was advised by her doctors to wear something that would effect the blood flow in her legs due to her history of blood clots. To go along with her doctors’ request, Serena wore a black Nike catsuit to the French Open (Friedman). This suit, that Serena Williams tried to wear for her health, caused so much commotion that new rules about dress for women at the French Open are set in place. Elle magazine reporter Megan Friedman explains, “The rules won’t be as strict as Wimbledon … but they will be asking designers to give them an advance look at designs for players and will impose certain limits.” The fact that Serena Williams, someone who has won four Olympic medals, cannot wear something needed for health reasons is ridiculous. Not only have sportswriters stated their views on this issue, but now the people running these events are making rules against what female athletes can wear while performing their sport, inferring that female sports are more about fashion than athletics. Whether it is for health reasons or not. Women should be able to wear whatever makes them feel comfortable while they perform the sport they are good at.
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[reveal-answer q=”557120″]Show Answer[/reveal-answer]
[hidden-answer a=”557120″]1. Affect should replace effect in the second sentence. 2. Which should replace that in the fourth sentence. 3. The verb (are) should be in the past tense (were) in the fourth sentence. 4. Implying should replace inferring in the seventh sentence. 5. The second to last sentence is a fragment; it should be combined with the last sentence. [/hidden-answer]
Contributors and Attributions
- Obvious Grammatical Errors. Authored by : Karen Forgette. Provided by : University of Mississippi. License : CC BY: Attribution
- Image of the word grammar. Authored by : PDPics. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : pixabay.com/photos/grammar-magnifier-magnifying-glass-389907/. License : Other . License Terms : pixabay.com/service/terms/#license
- Active and Passive Voice. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/styleguide/wp-admin/post.php?post=821&action=edit . License : CC BY: Attribution
- 20 Most Common Grammar Errors. Provided by : Excelsior OWL. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/grammar-essentials/common-errors/ . License : CC BY: Attribution