Top Twenty Specific Problems in Writing

Most Common Mistakes in Writing

http://www.paulhensel.org/teachprob.html#specific

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)

• 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 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