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10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid - Education - Nairaland

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43 Embarrassing Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Make / Some Grammatical Mistakes You Make And Things You Say Wrong. / 10 Grammar Mistakes That Almost Everyone Makes — And How You Can Avoid Them (2) (3) (4)

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10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by geek4k(m): 12:41am On Jul 17, 2018
If you want to write clear, correct English, you certainly need to pay attention to the grammar rules. To help you with that, we collaborated with the folks from Grammarly and Write To Done to create a list with 30 common grammar mistakes you should avoid. Enjoy!

Mistake 1: Using whom as a subject

INCORRECT: Fire personnel radioed deputies to stop the driver, whom, according to reports, appeared to have been under the influence of intoxicants.
CORRECT : Fire personnel radioed deputies to stop the driver, who, according to reports, appeared to have been under the influence of intoxicants.

In this sentence, the pronoun is the subject of the verb appeared and therefore requires the subject form who. The object form of who is whom, which functions as the object of a verb or as the object of a preposition:

"That is the man whom I saw at the window. (object of the verb saw)

Did he say to whom he sent the letter? (object of the preposition to)"

The misuse of whom as a subject frequently occurs when a phrase intervenes between the pronoun and its subject. Be especially careful with such expressions as “according to so-and-so,” “in my opinion,” “one suspects,” etc. Less frequently, but more embarrassingly, whom is sometimes substituted for who when little or nothing stands between it and its verb, as in this sentence taken from a news account: “An off-duty fireman whom lives in the area provided immediate assistance.”

Mistake 2: Unnecessary would in a wish about the past

INCORRECT: Ten Things I Wish I Would Have Known When I Was Twenty
CORRECT : Ten Things I Wish I Had Known When I Was Twenty

The opportunity for knowing the ten things existed in the past, but exists no longer. The tense required, therefore, is the past perfect (had + past participle).

Mistake 3: Dangling modifier

INCORRECT: At the age of four, Sam’s family moved from Florida, Missouri, to Hannibal.
CORRECT : At the age of four, Sam moved with his family from Florida, Missouri, to Hannibal.

Modifiers should be positioned as closely as possible to the element they modify. The modifying phrase “At the age of four” modifies “Sam,” not “Sam’s family.”

Mistake 4: Subject-Verb disagreement with delayed subject

INCORRECT: There goes Sally and Greg on their way to the movies.
CORRECT : There go Sally and Greg on their way to the movies.

Subjects and verbs must agree in number. When a sentence begins with here or there, the true subject of the sentence follows the verb. “Sally and Greg” is a plural subject, so the verb go must also be plural: “Sally and Greg go.”

Mistake 5: Incorrect use of object pronouns

INCORRECT: Me and my brothers all have college degrees in business.
CORRECT : My brothers and I all have college degrees in business.

Several English pronouns retain different forms that indicate their function in a sentence. Me is an object form. In the example, it is incorrectly used as the subject of the verb have. Other object forms often used incorrectly are him, her, us, them, and whom.

Mistake 6: Incorrect use of subject pronouns

INCORRECT: The owner was most kind to my wife and I as we toured the grounds.
CORRECT : The owner was most kind to my wife and me as we toured the grounds.

I is a subject pronoun form. It is correctly used as the subject of a verb. Its object form is me, which is used as the object of a verb or, as in this example, the object of a preposition (to). Not all English pronouns retain an object form. The pronouns that do have subject and object forms are he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them, and who/whom.

Mistake 7: Inappropriate use of reflexive pronoun forms

INCORRECT: Jack and myself built the company from scratch.
CORRECT : Jack and I built the company from scratch.

A pronoun that ends in -self or -selves is called a reflexive pronoun. This type of pronoun refers to a noun or personal pronoun that occurs elsewhere in the sentence. For example, “He cut himself shaving.” In this example, himself refers to the same person as the one meant by He. A typical error is to use a reflexive pronoun in place of a personal pronoun:

INCORRECT: Thank you for everything you did for myself and my family.
CORRECT : Thank you for everything you did for me and my family.

Note: A more polite usage is to put me last in the phrase: Thank you for everything you did for my family and me.

Mistake 8: Incorrect use of did instead of had in certain “if clauses”

One use of the conjunction if is to introduce a clause that states an action that would have changed an outcome. For example, “If I hadn’t missed the train, I would be in London now.” A common error is to use did instead of had, as in this headline:

INCORRECT: [Celebrity] thinks he would be dead now if he didn’t give up alcohol and drugs
CORRECT : [Celebrity] thinks he would be dead now if he hadn’t given up alcohol and drugs

The person mentioned in the headline actually said (correctly), “I honestly don’t think I’d be alive if I hadn’t stopped drinking.” The tense required is the past perfect (had + past participle).

Mistake 9: Incorrect irregular verb forms

Most English verbs form the past and past participle by adding -ed to the base form. For example:
walk, walked, (has) walked
believe, believed, (has) believed
jump, jumped, (has) jumped

However, a few high-frequency verbs have irregular past forms, for example:
run, ran, (has) run
go, went, (has) gone
come, came, (has) come

Errors with irregular verb forms are becoming common in the media and in articles written by university graduates. Such errors are perhaps evidence that elementary school teachers no longer drill their students on the irregular verb forms. Here are typical errors:

INCORRECT: Mary loves to read, has ran for office and has an articulate way of telling it like it is.—Biographical note, KZNU.
CORRECT : Mary loves to read, has run for office and has an articulate way of telling it like it is.

INCORRECT: Deluna-Martinez is alleged to have went into one student’s account and dropped that student’s classes.—News item, KRCR
CORRECT : Deluna-Martinez is alleged to have gone into one student’s account and dropped that student’s classes.

INCORRECT: Deep Impact could have just so happened to hit one of these cometesimals, while the gas seen before impact might have came from a different region on the comet with different chemistry.—Scientific article, NASA site.
CORRECT : Deep Impact could have just so happened to hit one of these cometesimals, while the gas seen before impact might have come from a different region on the comet with different chemistry.

Note: A cometesimal is a “mini-comet.”

Mistake 10: Omitting that when it is needed after say

When there is no intervening conjunction, that may be omitted after the verb say:

"The witness said she overheard the defendant threaten to burn the man’s house down.

However, if a conjunction such as after, although, because, before, in addition to, until, or while intervenes between the verb say and its object, that is needed to avoid ambiguity:

INCORRECT: Santana said after he stopped recording, he watched for a few more minutes but never saw anyone perform CPR.
CORRECT : Santana said that after he stopped recording, he watched for a few more minutes but never saw anyone perform CPR.

https://www.dailywritingtips.com/10-grammar-mistakes-you-should-avoid/

48 Likes 9 Shares

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by MANNABBQGRILLS: 2:19am On Jul 17, 2018
Good thread.
We see those mistakes here everyday.

15 Likes 3 Shares

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by phemmyfour: 6:14am On Jul 17, 2018
100%

6 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by freethinker01: 9:44am On Jul 17, 2018
.

1 Like

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by mespusinglez(m): 10:38am On Jul 17, 2018
Who English Help? PIDGIN Is Our Official Language. #TeamPidgin

33 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by inoki247: 2:49pm On Jul 17, 2018
wu grammar epp. go nd teach Mr President how grammar can improve our Economy...

7 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by hemartins(m): 2:50pm On Jul 17, 2018
There are and would always be mistakes in English.

7 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by LazyNairalander(m): 2:50pm On Jul 17, 2018
Wow!
Gramarnazi oya come and see your people.




check my SIGNATURE

1 Like

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by tstx(m): 2:51pm On Jul 17, 2018
na wa ooo


see my signature
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by paymentvoucher: 2:51pm On Jul 17, 2018
;Dgrammar
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by dermmy(m): 2:51pm On Jul 17, 2018
mespusinglez:
Who English Help?
PIDGIN Is Our Official Language.
#TeamPidgin

Lol

1 Like

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by sexymoma(f): 2:52pm On Jul 17, 2018
Ma boss called a "Toyota Venza" "Toyota Benza" and I corrected him

"I want to get a Toyota Benza," and i said no sir it's called a "Toyota Venza"
next thing he said was, Keep correcting me while i keep making my money angry
i almost shear tias angry

21 Likes 1 Share

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Bustincole(m): 2:52pm On Jul 17, 2018
Habba - Habatically


Grammar na for dictionary

2 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Teyjhiri(m): 2:52pm On Jul 17, 2018
Hmmmm
Enlightening
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by flex04(m): 2:52pm On Jul 17, 2018
OP

na una naw, small mistake person go do una go dey shout

just like saraki over transmission trasmission

1 Like

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by abumeinben(m): 2:53pm On Jul 17, 2018
Mistake 6: Incorrect use of subject pronouns

INCORRECT: The owner was most kind to my wife and I as we toured the grounds. geek4k
CORRECT : The owner was most kind to my wife and me as we toured the grounds.

You mean objective for subjective pronoun?
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by uriris: 2:53pm On Jul 17, 2018
Who English help?
Instead of encouraging us on how to speak and write yoruba, Igbo and Hausa languages very well.

4 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Donopsiano(m): 2:54pm On Jul 17, 2018
insightful, meaningful, resourceful but how will i use it to negotiate with this garri ijebu woman so that man go fit belleful

10 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by wildcatter23(m): 2:54pm On Jul 17, 2018
This is very good to know but I don't see how this is going to change the price of cement anytime soon

2 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Hurbarogaybrell(m): 2:54pm On Jul 17, 2018
Obaro Gabriel one cannot speak blunder in peace again

1 Like

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Giddymoney(m): 2:55pm On Jul 17, 2018
geek4k:
If you want to write clear, correct English, you certainly need to pay attention to the grammar rules. To help you with that, we collaborated with the folks from Grammarly and Write To Done to create a list with 30 common grammar mistakes you should avoid. Enjoy!

Mistake 1: Using whom as a subject

INCORRECT: Fire personnel radioed deputies to stop the driver, whom, according to reports, appeared to have been under the influence of intoxicants.
CORRECT : Fire personnel radioed deputies to stop the driver, who, according to reports, appeared to have been under the influence of intoxicants.

In this sentence, the pronoun is the subject of the verb appeared and therefore requires the subject form who. The object form of who is whom, which functions as the object of a verb or as the object of a preposition:

"That is the man whom I saw at the window. (object of the verb saw)

Did he say to whom he sent the letter? (object of the preposition to)"

The misuse of whom as a subject frequently occurs when a phrase intervenes between the pronoun and its subject. Be especially careful with such expressions as “according to so-and-so,” “in my opinion,” “one suspects,” etc. Less frequently, but more embarrassingly, whom is sometimes substituted for who when little or nothing stands between it and its verb, as in this sentence taken from a news account: “An off-duty fireman whom lives in the area provided immediate assistance.”

Mistake 2: Unnecessary would in a wish about the past

INCORRECT: Ten Things I Wish I Would Have Known When I Was Twenty
CORRECT : Ten Things I Wish I Had Known When I Was Twenty

The opportunity for knowing the ten things existed in the past, but exists no longer. The tense required, therefore, is the past perfect (had + past participle).

Mistake 3: Dangling modifier

INCORRECT: At the age of four, Sam’s family moved from Florida, Missouri, to Hannibal.
CORRECT : At the age of four, Sam moved with his family from Florida, Missouri, to Hannibal.

Modifiers should be positioned as closely as possible to the element they modify. The modifying phrase “At the age of four” modifies “Sam,” not “Sam’s family.”

Mistake 4: Subject-Verb disagreement with delayed subject

INCORRECT: There goes Sally and Greg on their way to the movies.
CORRECT : There go Sally and Greg on their way to the movies.

Subjects and verbs must agree in number. When a sentence begins with here or there, the true subject of the sentence follows the verb. “Sally and Greg” is a plural subject, so the verb go must also be plural: “Sally and Greg go.”

Mistake 5: Incorrect use of object pronouns

INCORRECT: Me and my brothers all have college degrees in business.
CORRECT : My brothers and I all have college degrees in business.

Several English pronouns retain different forms that indicate their function in a sentence. Me is an object form. In the example, it is incorrectly used as the subject of the verb have. Other object forms often used incorrectly are him, her, us, them, and whom.

Mistake 6: Incorrect use of subject pronouns

INCORRECT: The owner was most kind to my wife and I as we toured the grounds.
CORRECT : The owner was most kind to my wife and me as we toured the grounds.

I is a subject pronoun form. It is correctly used as the subject of a verb. Its object form is me, which is used as the object of a verb or, as in this example, the object of a preposition (to). Not all English pronouns retain an object form. The pronouns that do have subject and object forms are he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them, and who/whom.

Mistake 7: Inappropriate use of reflexive pronoun forms

INCORRECT: Jack and myself built the company from scratch.
CORRECT : Jack and I built the company from scratch.

A pronoun that ends in -self or -selves is called a reflexive pronoun. This type of pronoun refers to a noun or personal pronoun that occurs elsewhere in the sentence. For example, “He cut himself shaving.” In this example, himself refers to the same person as the one meant by He. A typical error is to use a reflexive pronoun in place of a personal pronoun:

INCORRECT: Thank you for everything you did for myself and my family.
CORRECT : Thank you for everything you did for me and my family.

Note: A more polite usage is to put me last in the phrase: Thank you for everything you did for my family and me.

Mistake 8: Incorrect use of did instead of had in certain “if clauses”

One use of the conjunction if is to introduce a clause that states an action that would have changed an outcome. For example, “If I hadn’t missed the train, I would be in London now.” A common error is to use did instead of had, as in this headline:

INCORRECT: [Celebrity] thinks he would be dead now if he didn’t give up alcohol and drugs
CORRECT : [Celebrity] thinks he would be dead now if he hadn’t given up alcohol and drugs

The person mentioned in the headline actually said (correctly), “I honestly don’t think I’d be alive if I hadn’t stopped drinking.” The tense required is the past perfect (had + past participle).

Mistake 9: Incorrect irregular verb forms

Most English verbs form the past and past participle by adding -ed to the base form. For example:
walk, walked, (has) walked
believe, believed, (has) believed
jump, jumped, (has) jumped

However, a few high-frequency verbs have irregular past forms, for example:
run, ran, (has) run
go, went, (has) gone
come, came, (has) come

Errors with irregular verb forms are becoming common in the media and in articles written by university graduates. Such errors are perhaps evidence that elementary school teachers no longer drill their students on the irregular verb forms. Here are typical errors:

INCORRECT: Mary loves to read, has ran for office and has an articulate way of telling it like it is.—Biographical note, KZNU.
CORRECT : Mary loves to read, has run for office and has an articulate way of telling it like it is.

INCORRECT: Deluna-Martinez is alleged to have went into one student’s account and dropped that student’s classes.—News item, KRCR
CORRECT : Deluna-Martinez is alleged to have gone into one student’s account and dropped that student’s classes.

INCORRECT: Deep Impact could have just so happened to hit one of these cometesimals, while the gas seen before impact might have came from a different region on the comet with different chemistry.—Scientific article, NASA site.
CORRECT : Deep Impact could have just so happened to hit one of these cometesimals, while the gas seen before impact might have come from a different region on the comet with different chemistry.

Note: A cometesimal is a “mini-comet.”

Mistake 10: Omitting that when it is needed after say

When there is no intervening conjunction, that may be omitted after the verb say:

"The witness said she overheard the defendant threaten to burn the man’s house down.

However, if a conjunction such as after, although, because, before, in addition to, until, or while intervenes between the verb say and its object, that is needed to avoid ambiguity:

INCORRECT: Santana said after he stopped recording, he watched for a few more minutes but never saw anyone perform CPR.
CORRECT : Santana said that after he stopped recording, he watched for a few more minutes but never saw anyone perform CPR.

https://www.dailywritingtips.com/10-grammar-mistakes-you-should-avoid/

2 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Nasir123(m): 2:55pm On Jul 17, 2018
Your corrections don too many shocked

1 Like

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by MorataFC: 2:55pm On Jul 17, 2018
Hmmmm
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Nobody: 2:56pm On Jul 17, 2018
Wo e koshi lo jare. Na that one I go dey think when Buhari with his English don almost win 2019election again. No lemme vex biko

3 Likes 2 Shares

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by faruz: 2:57pm On Jul 17, 2018
.i was expecting Grammernazi to be the author grin

3 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Dollabiz: 2:58pm On Jul 17, 2018
Ok
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by AreaFada2: 2:59pm On Jul 17, 2018
Nice.
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Newpride(m): 3:00pm On Jul 17, 2018
Inasmuch the speaker and the speakee understand the msg bn passed, there’s no need killing urself over the language that’s alien to u. Not a single Bleep shall be given on speaking correct English language that will soon be outdated.

Our yoruba language is the best.

5 Likes

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Nobody: 3:01pm On Jul 17, 2018
To WHOM IT MAY CONCERN DON'T USE "WHOM" IT IS WRONG.

1 Like

Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Bossontop(m): 3:01pm On Jul 17, 2018
undecided
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by unadeymadkwa: 3:01pm On Jul 17, 2018
Our CEO can barely speak English. In fact the guy no go school. But him get brain die. He even employ one specialist like that way get PhD. So Tell me who English hep.
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by monaPhilz: 3:03pm On Jul 17, 2018
"I want to get a Toyota Benza," and i said no sir it's called a "Toyota Venza"
next thing he said was, Keep correcting me while i keep making my money angry
i almost shear tias angry[/quote] grin

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