Most Common Mistakes in Writing
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.
It’s”
versus “Its .1. “”
(consistently the #1
problem in student papers)
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 theUVIC 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