You’ve Been Making These Grammatical Mistakes and Didn’t Even Realize
Grammatical errors are like prickles in the roses. No matter how beautifully you craft your paper, they will leave a permanent bad impression with your readers. There are fields, like- tenses and the punctuations, where people tend to make horrible grammatical mistakes without even realizing, and those can invite the ultimate turn off situations for their careers.
If you too are a victim, fret not – this guide by PenMyPaper will walk you through. This post will explain very simply and subtly how you can ensure zero grammatical mistakes lying in your copy. So let’s get into the most frequently made errors that each of us tends to make and the best possible ways to avoid them.
Why Don’t You Check Out Some Strict Grammar Rules?
Although being a high school, or a college, or a Ph.D. student, you are already quite accustomed with the basic grammar rules. So my job is not to teach you grammar. But yes, there are certain cases when some of you unintentionally leave the negative footprints by submitting a flawed paper. My job is to help you recognize and rectify them:
But one thing I have to mention prior to my explanations, please proofread your projects and assignments several times before submission. Proofreading and editing are the only ways to eliminate unavoidable errors.
Active vs. Passive
Most of us usually end up being the subject that the action is happening to instead of letting the subject carry out the action.
Confused? Take a look at the example:
The work was done.
Ok. Now tell me, who did the work? When you’re writing something like this, there is no subject that you are specifying. Probably the work was done by you, but some of the crazy people like me can also think that the zombies did the work. Instead of that, you could have written,
I did the work / The work was done by me
Understood the difference? Now don’t do it from the next time.
While Comparing Things
Remember, you can only compare things when two of them are at the equal stage. To understand it better, see the example:
The British culture is classier than the Americans.
What do you exactly understand by reading this line? Because I understand that British culture is classier than the people living in America. But I’m not getting the point why has the writer chosen these two things as the objects of the comparison, when both of them are not even linked. Are you?
The British culture is classier than the American culture.
Well, now it makes sense. Got my point? Keep it in mind while writing and don’t end up writing such horrible lines.
When the Modifiers are Misplaced
Make sure you are placing the phrases and descriptive words right beside the words you are willing to modify. Umm… Have a glimpse of the example:
He bought flowers to surprise his girlfriend from the market.
There is something really funny that I can point out in this sentence. It seems like he is willing to surprise his girlfriend from the market and that’s obviously not the thing he is intending to do.
He bought flowers from the market to surprise his girlfriend.
Yes, probably this is the appropriate line that fits perfectly with his intention. Hold on! Are you also going to write something scary like this? Please don’t. The reason is, even your perfectly written piece on compelling research paper topics can be dismissed if a mistake like this is clearly visible to your supervisor.
Subject-Verb Compliance
While drafting a sentence, the subject and verb must agree to each other, and that is the reason your sentences should be kept straight. See for example:
Each of the voters in the queue are waiting for their turns.
This is completely a wrong sentence and most of us may not recognize the fault in it. Remember, when there is ‘each of the something’ at the beginning of a sentence, it’s already evident that the subject is singular and the verb should come according to that.
Each of the voters in the queue is waiting for his/her turn.
This is right sentence formation that we should keep in mind. So next time you are going to write something starting with “each” or “every”, make sure you’re presenting the verb in the singular form.
Punctuate It Wisely
Punctuations are the most confusing characters in writing. Despite maintaining the correct grammar, we never really get well-versed with the punctuations. To excel the future opportunities, every student must cultivate a few basic things in their writing skills. Hopefully, this segment can help you wipe off some of your confusions.
If you still want to learn about it elaborately then consider contacting our essay writing service soon as you require.
Apostrophe
Making a mistake while placing an apostrophe is not as small an error as the apostrophe itself. People tend to use apostrophe even when they want to denote plurals.
Always remember, do not use an apostrophe if you want to make a noun plural; just add one ‘s’ at the end. An apostrophe is used to indicate possession. For example, Mike’s car – it means that the car belongs to Mike.
The Oxford Comma
Oxford comma is probably the most discussed grammatical conundrum. Some claim that it is not even a rule, just a difference in the ways of writing. Oxford comma is the last comma you place prior to the last item in a series of items.
The usage of Oxford comma is to specify the last item in the list as a distinct item and not something associated with the next segment. However, there are contradictions in the usage of the Oxford comma among the British and the American styles of writing. The British use it, the Americans don’t.
Hyphen and Dash
Another very native mistake that people do is confuse hyphen with a dash. Although they look almost the same, a hyphen (the small one) is used when you are combining two words to convey a single thing.
The dash (the big one) is used to end one part of the sentence. Also, to make you visualize the difference better, let me tell you, there are no spaces before or after a hyphen. But if you’re using a dash, the syntax is ‘word-space-dash-space-word’.
If aced to understand the characteristics accurately then you can prepare a winning powerpoint presentation for your class, as dashes and hyphens are more often used in this context.
The Semicolon and Comma Dilemma
People do not very often confuse the two punctuation marks, but there are instances nonetheless. Basically, a comma is used to separate two items in a string of similar objects.
A semicolon is used to pause a sentence and begin a new sentence. Confusing them can alter the meaning of the line by miles. So understand the difference before you unintentionally write something weird.
Ending Note: It should be taken into account that changing the grammar and restructuring an existing sentence and paragraph can lead to plagiarism. The purpose of learning grammar is to excel in your language and convey your ideas. But if you are copying an idea of someone else without giving proper credit, then you will have to face the consequences of plagiarism, which you can regret. So be true to your thoughts, and creativity, and don’t restructure or reframe any written piece by changing the grammar and using them as your original work.
To Wrap Up
As a responsible person that knows a language, it’s your duty to know and use the correct grammar in writing. In case you need an essay paper and your assignment submission date is near, contacting our PenMyPaper service can be a great option for you. You can even learn how to avoid plagiarism in case you intend to broaden your knowledge. Just give us a ping for any sort of assignment assistance you require.
