Common Grammar Mistakes
1 min read
Errors to Watch For
Their/There/They're
Their: possessive (their car). There: location (over there). They're: contraction of "they are."
Your/You're
Your: possessive (your book). You're: contraction of "you are."
Affect/Effect
Affect: verb meaning to influence. Effect: noun meaning result. Exception: "effect" as a verb means to bring about ("effect change").
Who/Whom
Who: subject (who wrote this?). Whom: object (to whom did you speak?). Trick: if you can answer with "him," use "whom."
Dangling Modifiers
Wrong: "Walking down the street, the trees were beautiful." (Trees aren't walking.)
Right: "Walking down the street, I noticed the beautiful trees."
Run-On Sentences and Comma Splices
Two independent clauses need proper connection: a period, semicolon, or conjunction with a comma. Never join them with just a comma (comma splice) or nothing at all (run-on).