Common Grammar Mistakes
(from the English Department)
Fragment (Frag)
To be a sentence, a word group must consist of at least one independent clause having a complete subject and a complete verb. It should express a complete thought.
Example: Students formed a study group to prepare for the midterm exam. Decided to study together for the rest of the term, and did well on the final. (No subject)
Example: The test that we studied for. (No verb in independent clause.)
Example: When you’re ready to take the test. (Not a complete thought.)
Runon (RO) (fs or cs)
Two ( or more) independent clauses must contain an appropriate connector or punctuation mark to join them. There are two types of runons: fused and comma spliced.
Example: The Muir Woods National Monument is located in Northern California its dominant tree is the coastal redwood. (Fused)
Example: The Muir Woods National Monument is located in Northern California, its dominant tree is the coastal redwood. (Comma splice)
Subjectverb Agreement(sv agr)
Present tense verbs must agree with (match) their subjects in number and person. Number means singular and plural. Person means first, second, and third.
Example: The slaughter of pandas for their pelts have caused the panda population to decline dramatically. (“Slaughter” is singular, and “have caused” is the plural form of the verb.)
Example: There was a social worker and a crew of twenty volunteers at the scene of the accident. (“Was” is the singular form of the verb, and the subject is plural.)
Pronoun Problems
Pronoun Agreement (pn agr)
Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number.
Example: When someone has been drinking, they are likely to speed. (“Someone is singular, and “they” is plural.)
Example: An employee on leave may continue their life insurance. (“An employee” is singular, and “their” is plural.)
Pronoun Reference(ref)
Pronoun references should not be ambiguous, broad, or implied.
Example: Tom told James that he had won the lottery. (Who won the lottery? The reference is ambiguous.)
Example: Especially in large cities, we are finding ourselves victims of serious crimes. We learn to accept this with minor gripes and groans. (The pronoun “this” is too broad. Be more specific.)
Example: In Euripedes’ Medea, he described the plight of a woman rejected by her husband. (Replace the pronoun “he” with the proper noun Euripedes. “He” cannot logically refer to the possessive modifier.)
Mixed Constructions (mix)
Faulty predication. This occurs when a subject and its predicate do not make sense together. This also includes the constructions “is where,” “is when,” and “the reason is because.”
Example: We decided that Tiffany’s welfare would not be safe living with her mother. (Doesn’t make sense.)
Other mixed constructions. The sentence starts out using one grammatical form and then changes, derailing the meaning of the sentence.
Example: Because television’s first transmissions in the 1920s included news programs quickly became popular with the public. (Two halves of the sentence to not fit together.)
Shifts (shift)
This category covers shifts (illogical changes) in personal pronouns and verb tenses.
Example: They usually enjoy feeling productive, but when a job is unsatisfying, you usually become depressed. (Pronoun has shifted.)
Example: There was no way I could fight the current and win. Just as I was losing hope a stranger jumps off a passing boat and swims toward me. (Shifts from past to present tense.)