1. According to Katie Rojas

2. #12: Hyphenated Words Use only when combining two words to make an adjective or when using multiple words to express one idea: Correct: Taylor’s happy-go-lucky personality kept her upbeat even when disaster occurred. Correct : Even though my brother tried to beat me at chess, the game was one-sided in my favor.

3. #11: The Oxford Comma Not including the comma preceding the final item in a series. Incorrect: Kittens, pandas and monkeys are my favorite animals. Correct: Kittens, pandas, and monkeys are my favorite animals. *Not a true grammatical rule. However, MLA and APA documentation styles require the usage of the oxford comma, meaning that most (if not all) academic writing should include that comma.

4. #10: Using Colons Properly Do not use a colon immediately after “are”: Incorrect: The items that I need to bring to the party are: paper plates, knives, and cupcakes. Correct: I brought the following items to the party: paper plates, knives, and cupcakes.

5. #9: Incorrectly Formatting Titles Quotation Marks Usually short written works (or parts of a whole) Articles (from Newspaper or Database) Short stories or poems Book chapters or specific web site pages Essays Italics/Underlining Usually long, complete works Books Movies Plays Newspapers Databases

6. #8: Misplaced Modifiers Do not modify the wrong subject and cause confusion: Incorrect: The girl, arranging the tablecloth neatly, covered the surface. Correct: The girl neatly arranged the tablecloth and made it cover the entire surface.

7. #7: Semicolons Use only to separate two independent clauses that can stand alone as complete sentences: Incorrect: She turned the light on; causing a bright light. Correct: She turned the light on; the beam lit up the dark attic. Incorrect: He wanted to play many sports; soccer, basketball, ice hockey, and baseball. Correct: He wanted to play many sports; he especially desired to play soccer, basketball, ice hockey, and baseball.

8. #6: Periods with Quotation Marks and Parentheses Periods and Quotation Marks: Periods always go inside. Incorrect: Stephanie said, “Life is good”. Correct: Stephanie said, “Life is good.” Periods and Parentheses (when citing): Periods go outside. Incorrect: “Research is crucial for mankind.” (Wade, 2012, p. 56) Correct: “Research is crucial for mankind” (Wade, 2012, p. 56).

9. #5: Indicating Possession Forgetting to use an apostrophe: Incorrect: The monkeys bananas. Correct: The monkey’s bananas. OR – The monkeys’ bananas. Usage depends on the number of monkeys.

10. #4: Parallel Structure Not being consistent with parts of speech all throughout a sentence Incorrect: Stacy walked the dog, fed the cat, and milks the cow. Correct: Stacy walked the dog, fed the cat, and milked the cow. Incorrect: Ben had three goals that day: to exercise at the gym, to win the lottery, and ace his test. Correct: Ben had three goals that day: to exercise at the gym, to win the lottery, and to ace his test.

11. #3: Subject-Verb Agreement Using the incorrect tense of a verb with the subject: Incorrect: Ninety dollars were too much to pay for the air conditioner. Correct: Ninety dollars was too much to pay for the air conditioner. Incorrect: The procedure involving three stages require the patient to receive medical counseling from the doctor beforehand. Correct: The procedure involving three stages requires the patient to receive medical counseling from the doctor beforehand.

12. #2: Noun/Pronoun Agreement Using a pronoun that does not agree with the noun in number: Incorrect: Everyone took their notebooks out and studied for the test. Correct: Everyone took out his or her notebook out and studied for the test. Incorrect: The crowd screamed as the musician walked out on stage and turned toward them. Correct: The fans in the crowd screamed as the musician walked out on stage and turned toward them.

13. #1: Comma Usage Comma Splice/Run-on Sentences: Incorrect: I went to the store, I bought milk. Correct: I went to the store; I bought milk. Not using a comma following the dependent clause in a complex sentence: Incorrect: When she wrote a chapter of her book she felt a sense of accomplishment. Correct: When she wrote a chapter of her book, she felt a sense of accomplishment. Using a comma before necessary clauses: Incorrect: Maria received a discount on her purchase at Barnes and Noble, which was expected because she works for the bookstore. Correct: Maria received a discount on her purchase at Barnes and Noble which was expected because she works for the bookstore