Even experienced writers make grammar mistakes. This guide covers the most common errors and shows you how to fix them. Use TextTally's word counter to track your writing as you practice these corrections.
1. Your vs. You're
"Your" shows possession, while "you're" is a contraction of "you are." Example: "Your writing is improving" vs "You're improving your writing." This is the most common grammar mistake in English.
2. Its vs. It's
"Its" shows possession, while "it's" is a contraction of "it is" or "it has." Example: "The company changed its policy" vs "It's important to check grammar."
3. Affect vs. Effect
"Affect" is usually a verb meaning to influence. "Effect" is usually a noun meaning result. Example: "The new policy affects productivity" vs "The effect was immediate."
4. There, Their, and They're
"There" refers to a place, "their" shows possession, and "they're" is a contraction of "they are." Example: "They're going over there to pick up their books."
5. Apostrophe Abuse
Apostrophes indicate possession or contractions, not plurals. "The 1990s" (not "1990's"), "CDs" (not "CD's"), "The Smiths" (not "The Smith's").
6. Run-on Sentences
Run-on sentences occur when two independent clauses are joined without proper punctuation. Fix them by adding a period, semicolon, or conjunction. Use TextTally to check your sentence length and paragraph structure.
7. Subject-Verb Agreement
The subject and verb must agree in number. "The list of items is long" (not "are long"). "Neither the teacher nor the students are ready" (the verb agrees with the closest subject).
8. Misplaced Modifiers
A misplaced modifier is too far from the word it modifies. "Walking through the park, the flowers were beautiful" implies the flowers were walking. Fix: "Walking through the park, I saw beautiful flowers."
Final Thoughts
Good grammar makes your writing clearer and more professional. Use TextTally's word counter to track your writing, and check out our blog for more writing tips.