Mistake #1: Its versus It’s

Example: The class lost it’s privileges.

False Assumption: If you want to show possession, you must use an apostrophe.

The Truth: It’s always equals “it is.” The possessive form of the word is always its, without

an apostrophe.

The Correction: Ask yourself, “Do I mean it is?” If not, skip the apostrophe.  Similar common

errors include the misuse of there/their/they’re and who’s/whose. Be sure to avoid

these errors as well.

Mistake #2: Pronoun/Antecedent Disagreement

Example: Every person (antecedent) must make their (pronoun) own decisions.

False Assumption: To stay gender neutral, you can use their instead of his or her.

The Truth : While you are canceling out gender, you are also making the reader think that you

can’t match up singular and plural words.

The Correction: Use his or her. The sentence above, for example, could be written like this:

“Every person (antecedent) must make her (pronoun) own decisions.” Or you can

change the singular antecedent to a plural. In this case, you could write: “All

people (antecedent) must make their (pronoun) own decisions.”

Mistake #3: Lack of Parallel Structure

Example: All Sophia ever wanted was to finish high school, to graduate from college, and a

good job.

False Assumption: As long as a series of words has the same topic, parts of speech do not have to

match up.

The Truth: Using parallel structure will make your sentence much clearer. It will keep the

reader’s focus on the idea at hand and off the nagging feeling that the sentence

doesn’t sound right.

The Correction: Make sure that terms in a series are always the same part of speech. If you end

one verb with -ing, end them all with -ing. If you begin your list with a noun, stick

to nouns throughout. Here’s a better version of the sentence above: “All Sophia

ever wanted was to finish high school, to graduate from college, and to find a

good job.”

Mistake #4: Run-on Sentences

Example: John left before Sue could make her point, so she was angry, she chose to stay

silent, however, rather than express her true feelings and risk hurting his.

False Assumption: When you’re on a roll, keep going until you complete your entire thought.

The Truth: Independent clauses that contain a subject and a verb can be joined only with

certain conjunctions such as and, but, and so. In addition, when you connect too

many clauses in one sentence, you increase the chance of losing your focus and

confusing your reader.

The Correction: Break down run-on sentences with periods or semicolons. This will allow you to

keep the point of a sentence clear and to better control the pace of your text. The

example above should be made into two sentences by inserting a period after the

word angry.

Mistake #5: Spelling Errors

Example: Common spelling errors are too numerous to list here.

False Assumption: Spelling doesn’t count.

The Truth: In this day and age, errors in spelling are perceived as laziness or carelessness on the part of the writer.

The Correction: Use a spell-checker, proofread your text, and then have someone else proofread it.

This may seem like overkill, but spell-checkers won’t catch certain spelling and

grammatical errors, so it’s important to proofread as well.