1. Unnecessary Commas
When a part of a sentence is essential to that sentence’s meaning, it doesn’t need to be set apart by commas.
Wrong: The woman, who teaches my spin class, is blonde.
Right: The woman who teaches my spin class is blonde.
2. Possessive Apostrophes
Possessives show ownership. If a word is simply plural, it doesn’t need an apostrophe.
Wrong: The womens’ locker room is around the corner.
Right: The women’s locker room is around the corner.
3. Misplaced Modifiers
A modifier should go next to the word it’s modifying. If it’s anywhere else in the sentence, it can confuse the meaning.
Wrong: I sipped an iced coffee wearing red lipstick.
Right: Wearing red lipstick, I sipped an iced coffee.
4. Dangling Modifiers
Unlike misplaced modifiers, dangling modifiers happen when the modifier is implied, and not explicitly mentioned in the sentence.
Wrong: After reading the book a second time, it’s still confusing.
Right: After reading the book a second time, I still find the plot confusing.
5. Fewer Versus Less
Use fewer when you’re talking about countable objects and less when you’re talking about general or intangible concepts.
Wrong: I ate fewer than three chocolates today, which is a win in my book.
Right: I ate less than three chocolates today, which is a win in my book.
6. Split Infinitives
An infinitive is a verb preceded by “to”. A split infinitive is when there is a word or multiple words between the “to” and the verb.
Wrong: My boss asked to quickly meet about the presentation.
Right: My boss asked to meet about the presentation quickly.
7. Subject/Verb Disagreement
When the subject of a sentence must agree with the verb in number and person. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural as well, and vice versa.
Wrong: The group of students are learning to speak Italian.
Right: The group of students is learning to speak Italian.
8. Who Versus Whom
Who is a subjective pronoun while whom is an objective pronoun. Substitute “who” with the subjective pronouns “he” or “she and “whom” with the objective pronouns “him” or “her.”
Wrong: Who should I vote for in the election?
Right: Whom should I vote for in the election?
8 Grammatical Errors You Really Need to Stop Making
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