Introduction
The primary purpose of this web page is to give students easy access to tools that might help their writing. Poor grammar or a dysfunctional writing style will create obstacles throughout your life, ranging from poor grades in college to ineffective essays on law school or grad school applications and unflattering job evaluations from employers or supervisors. I can not guarantee that this page will magically improve your grades, get you into Harvard Law School, or get you a raise and a promotion -- but I do hope that you find it useful.
NOTE: Some of the entries on this page were verified or extended with the help of Strunk and White's Elements of Style (3rd ed., 1979), Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (6th ed., 1979), Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers (5th ed., 1987), and the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (4th ed., 1995).
Top Twenty Specific Problems
The following links deal with the twenty most common problems that I have found in grading student papers. Students will laugh if I mention these problems in class, but almost every student paper will include at least one of these problems -- and I've seen more than a few papers and exams that make over half of these mistakes.
1. "It's" versus "Its"
(consistently the #1 problem in student papers)
- It's: A contraction, meaning "it is" (as in "It's time for dinner")
- Its: A possessive (as in "The dog was wagging its tail")
- See also The UVic Writer's Guide
- See also Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide
2. "To," "Too," and "Two"
(usually a close second behind it's-its)
- To: Basic multi-purpose function word (as in "My goal is to die a millionaire")
- Too: Adjective, meaning "very" or "excessively" (as in "The Tigers were too inexperienced to challenge the Yankees for the pennant")
- Two: The number between one and three (as in "Two losses to open a football season is two too many")
- See also The UVic Writer's Guide
3. "Who's" versus "Whose"
- Who's: A contraction, meaning "who is" (as in "Who's coming to dinner?")
- Whose: A possessive (as in "Whose dinner is this?")
- See also The UVic Writer's Guide
4. "Affect" versus "Effect"
- Affect (verb): "To influence" (as in "President Clinton hoped to affect the outcome of the Russian elections")
- Effect (verb): "To bring about" (as in "President Clinton hoped to effect a change in Russian policies")
- Effect (noun): "Consequence", "result" (as in "Every cause should have at least one effect")
- Affect (noun): Feeling, affection; the conscious subjective aspect of an emotion considered apart from bodily changes (pronounced AF-fect; this is probably NOT the word that you mean to use in international relations)
- See also The UVic Writer's Guide
- See also Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide
5. "There," "Their," and "They're"
- There: Refers to location (as in "that dog over there")
- Their: A possessive (as in "They're going to bring their new car")
- They're: A contraction, meaning "they are" (as in "They're on their way")
- See also The UVic Writer's Guide
6. "Accept" versus "Except"
- Accept: A verb, indicating one's consent or approval (as in "The president accepted his counterpart's proposal to submit their dispute to arbitration")
- Except: A preposition, conjunction, or verb, indicating exclusion or objection (as in "Every country except the United States agreed to accept the conference's recommendations")
- See also the UVic Writer's Guide
7. "Have" versus "Of"
- The correct phrases are "could have," "should have," and "would have" -- not "could of," "should of," or "would of."
8. "Principle" versus "Principal"
- Principle: A noun, meaning "a fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption" or "a rule or code of conduct" (as in "My principles prevented me from cheating on that final exam")
- Principal: An adjective, meaning "most important, consequential, or influential" (as in "The principal problem facing Bolivia's economy is the country's lack of a seaport")
- See also The UVic Writer's Guide
9. "Dominate" versus "Dominant"
- Dominate: A verb (as in "Mexico's soccer team is going to dominate the next World Cup competition")
- Dominant:An adjective (as in "The United States was the dominant economic actor after World War II")
10. "Lead" versus "Led"
- Lead (pronounced "led"): A metallic element (as in "Superman's X-ray vision can not penetrate lead-lined walls")
- Lead (pronounced "leed"): Verb, meaning "to guide" or "to direct" (as in "In the business world you must lead, follow, or get out of the way")
- Led: The past form of the verb "to lead" (as in "He led the llama to pasture")
11. "Populous" versus "Populace"
- Populous: An adjective, meaning "densely populated" (as in "A country's capital is not necessarily its most populous city")
- Populace: A noun, referring to a set of people living in a certain area (as in "The entire populace was affected by the radioactive fallout")
12. "Where" versus "Were"
- Where: Refers to a place or location (as in "Where do you think you are going?")
- Were: A past form of the verb "to be" (as in "they were going to the store")
13. "Than" versus "Then"
- Than: Used to compare (as in "I would rather receive an A than a B")
- Then: Refers to time / chronology (as in "He answered first one question, then another") or consequences (as in "if both countries are democracies, then they will solve their problems short of war")
- See also The UVic Writer's Guide
14. "Do" versus "Due"
- Do: A verb, meaning "to bring to pass," "to carry out," or "to accomplish" (as in "What are you trying to do?")
- Due: Similar to "attributable to" or "because of" (as in "John's low grade on the test was due to his failure to study") -- also "something that is owed" (as in a debt or a right)
15. "Lose" versus "Loose"
- Lose: A verb, meaning the opposite of win (as in "It is most painful to lose to a hated rival")
- Loose: An adjective, meaning "not securely attached" (as in "The hinge was coming loose")
- See also The UVic Writer's Guide
16. "That," "Which," and "Who"
- That: A defining, or restrictive, pronoun. "That" is used to indicate which object is being discussed, and should not follow a comma (as in "The car that is parked in the garage is red")
- Which: A nondefining, or nonrestrictive, pronoun. "Which" adds some new detail about a specific object that has already been mentioned, and should follow a comma (as in "My new car, which is red, is parked in the garage")
- Who: A personal pronoun. "Who" should be used in place of "that" or "which" in discussing a person (as in "The student who did the most work got an A for the course" or "Bob, who did more work than his classmates, got an A for the course")
- See also The UVic Writer's Guide
- See also Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide
17. "e.g.," "i.e.," "etc.," and "et al."
- e.g.: "For example," from the Latin "exempli gratia" (as in "Research on the evolution of interstate rivalry (e.g., Hensel 1996)..."). See also Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide
- i.e.: "That is," from the Latin "id est" (as in "The goal of this web page -- i.e., improving your writing skills -- is...")
- etc.: "And so forth" / "and others of the same kind," from the Latin "et cetera." See also the UVIC Writer's Guide
- et al.: "And others," from the Latin "et alii" [masc.], "et aliae" [fem.], or "et alia" [neutral] (as in "Singer, et al., found an important difference between the 19th and 20th centuries").
18. "Now," "Know," and "No"
- Now: Refers to the present time (as in "What we need now is a good rainstorm")
- Know: A verb, reflecting recognition or understanding (as in "I know everything there is to know about this subject")
- No: The opposite of yes (as in "No, you can't eat that last cookie!")
19. "Border" versus "Boarder"
- Border: In international relations, the line on a map that separates two or more geographic units.
- Boarder: "One who boards," such as someone who is paying for meals and lodging or someone whose job involves going aboard seagoing vessels.
- So the correct international relations term is "border," as in the "Canadian border." A "Canadian boarder" refers to someone from the Great White North who is renting a room, rather than a line on a map separating Canada from Minnesota or New York.
20. "Block" versus "Bloc"
- Bloc: In international relations, a combination of individuals, groups, or countries united by treaty or sharing a common purpose.
- So the correct international relations term is "bloc," as in the "Western bloc" and "Soviet bloc" in the Cold War. A "Soviet block" would be a small cube of wood with a hammer and sickle or pictures of Lenin (making for a very unusual child's toy).
General Problems
Problems with Commas
(always a serious problem, for both students and professionals)
- Comma Usage (from Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide)
- Using Commas (from the Purdue OWL)
- Proofreading for Commas (from the Purdue OWL)
- Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences (from the Purdue OWL)
- Commas After Introductions (from the Purdue OWL)
- The Comma vs. the Semicolon in Compound Sentences (from the Purdue OWL)
- Enclosing parenthetic expressions between commas (from Strunk's The Elements of Style)
- Place a comma before and or but when introducing an independent clause (from Strunk's The Elements of Style)
- Do not join independent clauses by a comma (from Strunk's The Elements of Style)
Other Punctuation Issues
- Punctuation (from the Purdue OWL)
- Punctuation (from Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide)
Apostrophes
- The Apostrophe (from the Purdue OWL)
- Apostrophes (from Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide)
Subject-Verb Agreement (singular-plural issues)
Sentence Structure
- Dependent and Independent Clauses (from Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide)
- Sentence Fragments (from the Purdue OWL)
Word Usage
(my top twenty problems listed above include a number of word usage issues, but a number of other common word usage problems didn't make that list)
- A Dictionary of Usage (from the UVic Writer's Guide; the following problems are a few of my favorites from their guide that didn't make my top twenty list:)
- Irregardless (from the UVic Writer's Guide)
- You're vs. Your (from the UVic Writer's Guide)
Commonly misused expressions
- From Strunk's The Elements of Style
General Style Issues
- Writing with Clarity (from Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide)
- Writing with Grace (from Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide)
- Write for Your Audience (from Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide)
- Wasted Words (from Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide)
- Omit needless words (from Strunk's The Elements of Style)
http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~phensel/problems.html
Last updated: 1 October 2003
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Paul R. Hensel. All rights reserved.