1. Grammar: Common Errors
And how to avoid them

2. 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.’”

3. 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!”

4. 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!”

5. 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.”

6. 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.”

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

8. 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?’”

9. 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.”

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

11. 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.”

12. 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.”

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. “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.

16. 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!