It happens to the best of us…

You are cruising along in your writing, completely focused on what you want to say in your content.

Then you realize it.

Your grammar is not as great as it was back in your high school English class. In fact, it might downright suck. While you might think of yourself as a darn good writer, there are many common grammar mistakes that people make without even realizing it. Even seasoned writers can fall prey to improper grammar.

I’m sure you already know that simple grammar mistakes can lead to a loss of money. Your clients might not be willing to pay you as much if you are consistently making grammar mistakes, or writing mistakes. If you publish your own work, your readers might not continue to go back and read your articles with grammar mistakes sprinkled throughout.

So you could say that having stellar grammar will lead to higher-paying writing gigs and more readers to your work.

 

So in this post, I am going to go over the 6 common grammar mistakes that all writers make and how you can easily fix them.

Common Grammar Mistakes Even The Pros Make

Even though I have been a writer for a very long time, I don’t claim to be a grammar pro. I too have to brush up on the basics now and then.

So let’s get started…

Here are 6 common grammar mistakes writers often make and how you can avoid them.

1. Missing A Comma After Introduction

I bet you didn’t realize, people often forget a comma after an introductory element? To help avoid confusion, a comma is used to give the reader a pause. The comma is placed after an introductory phrase, word, or clause.

Example:

Correct: I bet you didn’t realize, people often forget commas.

Incorrect: I bet you didn’t realize people often forget commas.

2. Passive Voice

This is one that people mess up all the time! When your writing has a passive voice in it, the writing can seem unclear and muddled. It can also be very confusing to try and describe and fully understand how to avoid using passive voice, but I’ll do my best here.

Writers use passive voice when the object of the sentence is put at the beginning rather than the end of the sentence.

Example:

Correct: The debris covered the entire stretch of highway.

Incorrect: The entire stretch of highway was covered by debris.

 

In this example, the debris was the subject, and adding “was,” to the sentence makes it passive. Here are some great examples if you still don’t quite get the hang of it.

3. Vague Pronoun Usage

Pronouns are great to use and can shorten up sentences and help to get ideas across. The problem with pronouns is that they need to be used wisely, otherwise they will confuse your readers.

Example:

Correct: Susan was so happy when she found her cat.

 

Incorrect: When Susan found her cat she was so happy. (This is confusing because you can’t tell if the “she” is referring to Susan or the cat).

4. Using the Wrong Words

 

Using the wrong words in a sentence is another very common grammar mistake. Let’s be honest, the English language can be really confusing. We have many words that sound the same and are spelled differently and words that are spelled the same and mean different things. Other than the common ones that people mix up (their, there, and they’re-we’ll get to those in a minute), there are a lot of other words that sound the same but are spelled differently and mean very different things.

Here is a shortlist of words that people commonly mix up:

• Tack and Tact
• Moot and Mute
• Peek, Peak, and Pique
• Arc and Arch
• Affect and Effect
• Horde and Hoard
• Further and Farther

 

 

If you are unsure that you have the correct word for what you are trying to say, simply look it up. Does the word you are writing convey the meaning you are trying to convey?

 

5. Mixing Up Common Words

There, their, and they’re; its and it’s, and your and you’re. Let’s do a quick breakdown of what each one of these means and how you can easily remember to use the correct word in your writing.

There

 This signifies a place. For example, there is a new restaurant in town I want to try.

Their

 Signifies ownership by a group, plural. For example, I want to visit their new house.

They’re

 A contraction of “they are.” For example, They’re going to love the new recipe.

Its

 Signifies possession. For example, The dog is enjoying its bone.

It’s

A contraction of “it is.” For example, It’s going to be a long night.

Your

Signifies possession. For example, Can I borrow your cell phone to make a call?

You’re

 A contraction of “you are.” For example, You’re going to the game tonight, right?

6. Incomplete Comparisons

When making a comparison in your writing you need to actually compare something. If you don’t include the thing you are comparing, your reader will become confused.

Example:

Correct: My writing is better than it was a year ago.

 

Incorrect: My writing is better. (Better than what?)

Are you making some of these common mistakes? If so, fix them before they start to cost you money!