British Literature

British Literature A Guide to Common Grammatical Errors

Sentence Fragment • An incomplete sentence (It may be missing a subject, a verb, or both; it may be a lone dependent clause.) • Examples: • With the long, golden wool. • Walking to the store. • My best friend Sahara who has a geep. • When the zombies attack the old barn. • To Fix: • Add what is missing or see if it should be connected to a preceding/following sentence.

Comma Splice • Two independent clauses incorrectly joined with just a comma. • Examples: • Geeps are adorable, I love them. • I want a baby geep to live at my house, it will be so happy there. • Ways to Fix: • Geeps are adorable, and I love them. • Geeps are adorable; I love them. • Geeps are adorable. I love them. • When I see an adorable geep, I love it. [re-write]

Run-on • Two independent clauses incorrectly joined. • Example: • Geeps are ridiculously sweet I would never dine on them. • Ways to Fix: • See Comma Splice Ways to Fix • Geeps are ridiculously sweet; therefore, I would never dine on them.

Lack of Subject/Verb Agreement • Subjects and verbs must agree in number. • Singular subject = singular predicate • Plural subject = plural predicate • Example of Error: • The dragon eat a geep. • They plays with the wool socks. • Ways to Fix: • Find the mistake. Fix it. • The dragon eats the geep. • They play with the wool socks.

Inconsistent Verb Tense • Playing fast and loose with verb tense… • Example: • John played with his new baby geep. He loves its adorable face. When he goes to sleep, he countedgeep instead of sheep. He decides he is a vegetarian, unless the meat presented was delicious. • Ways to Fix: • John played with his new baby geep. He loved its adorable face. When he slept, he counted geep instead of sheep. He decided he was a vegetarian, unless the meat presented was delicious.

Verb Tense Error • Next Tuesday, Tom bought a new shed for his geep. • Barnaby eated a carrot when he really wanted a pack of Thomas the Train fruit snacks.

Incorrect Usage • To, too, two • Its, it’s • Through, threw • There, their, and they’re • Etc. • Example: • When you go too the store, please by me to eggs.

Faulty Parallelism • Parts of a sentence are not in a grammatically similar form. • Examples: • I can tolerate running, swimming, cycling, and short walks. • I addressed the invitations slowly and with care.

Dangling or Misplaced Modifier • Examples: • While taking a nap, the geep destroyed its pen. • My sister bought a frog with the red hair. • The destroyed children’s book was tossed in the trash. • What are the problems here? • While I was taking a nap, the geep destroyed its pen. • My red-headed sister bought a frog. • The children’s destroyed book was tossed in the trah

Lack of Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement • Pronouns and their antecedents should agree in number and gender. • Examples: • The child misplaced theirgeep in the closet. • The lost children discovered its courage. • To fix… • The child misplaced HER geep… • The lost children discovered their courage…

Faulty Pronoun Usage • Using the incorrect pronoun case perhaps • Examples: • When he buys a taco for the geep, him wanted a meal for he. • The geep was their.

Vague Pronoun Reference (Ambiguous) • The reader is not really sure to whom the pronoun refers. • Louella visited Sally after her unfortunate hospital stay. • To whom is “her” referring…Louella or Sally?

Spelling Error • Spell words correctly. No textspeak. • Example: • Geep are the sweatestaminals in the wrld. They are the beast. They luv u 4eva. • To fix… • Use normal, appropriate language for writing.

Comma Needed • You need commas… • If you choose to use them to join two independent clauses. • In a list. • After an introductory phrase. • To set off an appositive • Example: • When you go to the store, please get me a geep.

Excess Comma • Never separate a subject from its verb with a single comma. • Examples: • When you go to the store, please buy me, a geep. • My friend, loves his geep.

Punctuation (Misc.) • Use the correct end punctuation. • Use colons correctly (probably to begin a list) • Use semi-colons correctly • Example • How do you like the geep! • Frasier makes adults happy; nevertheless small children like it.

Capitalization • Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives • ALWAYS capitalize I (that includes the I in I’m…) • Don’t capitalize random words just because you’re “feelin’ it”… • Examples: • Perhaps your baby geep sally would Like a trip to the zoo; i know I would.

By the way…do not use contractions in formal writing.

Weak, Awkward, Faulty, or Illogical Construction • Read your sentences aloud. If you have to stop because the flow is horrific, it is probably an awkward construction. • Possible issues: wordy, repetitive • You can hear an awkward sentence better than you can simply read it! • Example: • If you want a geep because a geep would make your bed then you should reconsider because a geep might not actually take the time, however little time it might take, to make your bed; however, with its bounteous love of decorum, it just might organize your life with its love.

Pet Peeves • Than vs. Then • It’s is a contraction for It is. Its means “belonging to it.” • There, Their, and They’re are 3 different words with different meanings. • Who’s vs. Whose • Definitely vs Defiantly (two different words) • Your, You’re

Pet Peeves continued: • Do NOT use weak sentence structure. For example, • I think…. • I feel… • I believe… • In my opinion, … • It makes you sound weak and uninformed. State your opinions as facts. Sound authoritative.

MORE… • Loose and Lose are two different words. • Affect is a verb. Effect is a noun. Use then appropriately. • Despite its use by former presidents and news anchors, “irregardless” is not a word. • A lot = two words! Always!!!!!!! • Do not over use exclamation points!!!!!!! It is annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!

British Literature