"GRAMMAR SLAMER"

When it comes to writing, there are five common grammatical errors people almost always make.

 Problem One: Punctuation.

According to the book Reaching Audiences is the most common problem many writers have. The most important thing to remember with punctuation is to NOT PUNCTUATE UNLESS YOU KNOW THE RULE – if you can’t justify the punctuation then you probably don’t need it. “When in doubt, leave the comma out.” One other minor note, if you find yourself with more than about three punctuation marks then it’s probably safe to say the sentence needs to be re-written.

EXAMPLE) Matt Murray had said about the film, “The tragedy does come out; he was living life to the fullest, and that’s what he wanted to do. But I can’t help to think there was something more.”

 Problem Two: Subject and Verb Agreement.

Most of the time people only make errors when it comes to collective subjects, nouns that only appear to be plural, yet are singular. Some collective subjects, however, have Latinate endings, in which they remain plural.

            EXAMPLE) The Girl Scouts is a fine organization.

            EXAMPLE) The alumni are returning for a 10yr. reunion.

It is also important to always remember that pronouns, such as “each,” “either,” “neither,” “anyone,” “everyone,” and “anybody” are singular; fractions and percentages are always singular as well. One last thing to remember is “either” is always paired with “or” and “neither” is always paired with “nor.”

EXAMPLE) A person could answer by saying either three-fourths of the pie is gone, or one-fourth of the pie is left.

 Problem Three: Using Pronouns.

Pronouns are little words that represent proper nouns, or antecedents. The purpose for using pronouns is to avoid tedious, and unnecessary repetition. Reflexive pronouns should only be used when a subject is acting upon himself, herself, or themselves. As far as “who” and “whom” are concerned, “who” replaces “he,” “she,” “we,” or “she”; “whom” replaces “him,” “her,” “them.”

EXAMPLE) Bob Marley was a very talented musician, who had such a positive outlook towards everything.

EXAMPLE) Bob Marley was always true to himself and his music.

 Problem Four: Sentence Structure.

Other than fragments and run-on sentences, writers also have issues with faulty parallelism, such as listing phrases, and modifier placements.

EXAMPLE) Instead of “She enjoys playing the guitar, and to go surfing,” say, “She enjoys playing the guitar and surfing.”

EXAMPLE) Instead of “After diner, he went swimming,” say, “He went swimming after diner.”

 Problem Five: Word Usage.

The misuse of a word is probably the second biggest problem in grammar. So often writers use words such as “effect” and “affect” without the understanding that each, although similar, has a different underlying meaning depending on the spelling.

            EXAMPLE) The humidity affected Sara’s hair.

             EXAMPLE) The effect of 9/11 was heart breaking.