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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)
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: 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 i almost shear tias 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 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
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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 |
1 Like |
Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Giddymoney(m): 2:55pm On Jul 17, 2018 |
geek4k: 2 Likes
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Re: 10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid by Nasir123(m): 2:55pm On Jul 17, 2018 |
Your corrections don too many 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 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 |
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 i almost shear tias [/quote] |
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