Grammar: Common Errors And how to avoid them

Your vs. You’re “Your” Possessive pronoun Ex: “Your car” or “Your homework” “You’re” Contraction of “you are” Ex: “You’re screwing up your writing by using “your” when you mean ‘you are.’”

It’s vs. Its “It’s” Contraction of “it is” or “it has.” Ex: “It’s an apple!” “Its” Possessive pronoun Try saying your sentence out loud using “it is” instead. Does it still make sense? Ex: “This apple still has its stem!”

There/Their/They’re There/Their They’re Always do the “That’s ours!” test: Are you talking about more than one person and something they possess? If so, “their” will get you “there.” Ex: “Their homework is over there, on the table.” They’re Contraction of “they are” Ex: “Have you met her family? They’re awesome!”

Affect vs. Effect Effect Affect Most often a noun Verb Ex: “Your ability to communicate clearly will affect your income.” Effect Most often a noun Ex: “The effect of poor grammar on a person’s income is well documented.”

Then vs. Than “Then” Many different meanings, including: At a point in time In addition to Ex: “First we had milkshakes, then we went to the movies.” “Than” Compares two different things Ex: “This is bigger than that.”

Loose vs. Lose “Loose” Adjective “Lose” Verb Don’t mess this up! If your pants are too loose, you might lose your pants!

Me, Myself, and I Me/I Choose between them by removing the other person. Ex: “Anna made a cake for me (and my brother).” Ex: “(My brother and) I got a cake from Anna.” Myself There are only 2 proper ways to use “myself”: “Many despise asparagus, but I myself tolerate it. I thought to myself, ‘Why?’”

Apostrophes Contractions Ex: Do not  don’t Possession You need an apostrophe in two cases: Contractions Ex: Do not  don’t Possession Ex: “Frank’s apostrophe mean the apostrophe belongs to Frank.”

Could’ve, Would’ve, Should’ve Contractions Correct: “Could have,” “Would have,” and “Should have” WRONG!: “Could of,” “Would of,” and “Should of”

Complement vs. Compliment Something that adds to or supplements something else, or the act of doing so Ex: “That scarf really complements your outfit, Rachel!” Compliment Something nice someone says to/about you “That scarf really looks good on you, Rachel.” Technically, this is also a compliment, but it uses the word “complement.”

Fewer vs. Less Fewer If you can count it, use “fewer” Ex: “Robert has written fewer poems since he got an office job.” Less If you can’t count it, use “less” Ex: “Sonia has less incentive to do what I say.”

Historic vs. Historical An important event Ex: The day all the students turn their essays in on time will be a historic moment. Historical Something that happened in the past Ex: JFK’s assassination was a historical event.

Principal vs. Principle Noun: highest in rank or the main participant Ex: Mr. McCready is the principal of the school. Adjective: most important of a set Ex: One of the principal characters of To Kill a Mockingbird is Scout Finch. Principle Noun: fundamental truth, law, or standard Ex: Equality is one of the principles of American society.

“Literally…” “Literally” means that exactly what you say is true – no metaphors or analogies. Everything else is figurative Ex: You would not say “I’m literally dying of shame” unless you were physically expiring.

Dangling Participle Occurs when you order a sentence in a confusing way Ex: “After rotting in the cellar for weeks, my brother brought up some oranges.” Better: “My brother brought up some oranges that had been rotting in the cellar for weeks.” This means that your brother is a zombie that delivers fruit. Yikes!