Common Errors
in Writing
How to improve your
technical accuracy
The most common areas
where students make errors
are:
• Capital letters
• Punctuation, such as:
– Commas
– Apostrophes
– Speech marks
•
•
•
•
•
Word choice
Incomplete sentences
Run-on sentences
Tense
Spelling
Let’s start with capital letters
• Capital letters are used for 6 main reasons.
What are they?
– Starting sentences
– Proper nouns
– Writing the pronoun ‘I’
– Beginning the first word inside
speech marks
– For abbrievations such as CD or BBC
– To show yelling in speech by
capitalising THE WHOLE WORD
Capital letters – Practice!
Write out the following putting capital letters in the
right places:
1. the dog ran up to anne. she picked up the ball and gave it
to the owner.
2. I looked at sam and asked, “what day is it today?”
3. we went to hamilton yesterday. the rain never stopped all
4. day.
5. he wanted to watch shortland street, so i turned the tv on.
6. last year we went to france for our holidays. it was very
warm.
7. have you seen born free? it’s a film about lions in africa.
Capital letters – Answers!
Check your answers against the following:
1. The dog ran up to Anne. She picked up the ball and gave it
to the owner.
2. I looked at Sam and asked, “What day is it today?”
3. We went to Hamilton yesterday. The rain never stopped all
day.
4. He wanted to watch Shortland Street, so i turned on the TV.
5. Last year we went to France for our holidays. It was very
warm.
6. Have you seen Born Free? It’s a film about lions in Africa.
Punctuation - Commas
• There are three main reasons to
use commas:
1. To divide a sentence into parts,
making the ideas easier to read
and understand
2. To separate items on a list
3. To separate an explanation within
a sentence
Punctuation - Commas
• Commas are essential to tell your
reader when to pause in a
sentence. They can also change
the meaning of a sentence. For
example:
– Can we go see the tigers eat mum?
Or
– Can we go see the tigers eat,
mum?
Commas (cont’d)
1. To divide a sentence into parts, making the
ideas easier to read and understand. For
example:
– I told you, today you must clean your room
Or
– I told you today, you must clean your room
Commas (cont’d)
• Where do the commas belong in these
sentences?
– The lady put her seatbelt on a little bit annoyed
with her son
– The children sat down in their chairs silently
watching their teacher
– Quickly take the plate from that child
– He rolled onto the mat his legs tucked under him
and his hands stretched out
– If you can’t stop complaining go to your room
Commas (cont’d)
2. To separate items on a list. For example:
– I had to buy milk, spaghetti, mushrooms, meat
and bread at the supermarket.
Where do the commas belong in these sentences?
- I like bananas apples pears and plums
- She invited her neighbour teacher and coach to
watch her swimming race
- John came first Sam came second and Sally
came third
Commas (cont’d)
3. To separate an explanation within a sentence.
For example:
– Russell, my husband, will be here at eleven.
Where do the commas belong in these sentences?
- Mrs. Jones the teacher with the curly hair is
the one taking names
- Brendan crossed the road thank goodness
before the accident happened
- Snakes and spiders which I hate are commonly
found in Australia
Punctuation - Apostrophes
• There are two main reasons to
use apostrophes. What are they?
1. To show ownership of something,
eg. The dog’s bowl
2. When two words are contracted
into one, eg. It is = it’s
Apostrophes - To show ownership
• Ask yourself, who is the owner?
Then put the apostrophe after
the last letter of the owner’s
name.
• If the word doesn’t end in an S
add the apostrophe and an S
• If the word does end in an S, add
the apostrophe after the S
Apostrophes - To
show ownership
5rq
• For example:
– The man’s tie was crooked
– Our three cats’ bowls were full
Ask yourself, who is the owner? Then write the apostrophes
into the following:
1. My mothers necklace is broken
2. This is my brothers son
3. The old folks home is a nice place
4. The ladies meals were cold
5. The school teams coaches are very good
6. The dogs tail wagged
7. The two dogs tails wagged
8. James hat is silly
Apostrophes5rq
– Contractions
• Here are some contractions. Write out the words in full:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
I'm
you're
he's
she's
it's
we're
they're
isn't
aren't
can't
don't
who's
won't
could’ve
Apostrophes5rq
– Contractions
• Here are some contractions. Write out the words in full:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
I'm (I am)
you're (you are)
he's (he is)
she's (she is)
it's (it is)
we're (we are)
they're (they are)
isn't (is not)
aren't (are not)
can't (cannot)
don't (do not)
who's (who is)
won't (will not)
could’ve (could have)
Apostrophes5rq
– Contractions
• One more thing…
• Don't confuse the contraction it's (meaning, "it
is") with the possessive pronoun its:
– It's the first day of spring.
– Our bird has escaped from its cage.
Punctuation – Speech marks
• Speech marks are used:
– For spoken words at the start of a
sentence, eg. “Two tickets to
Wellington,” he said.
– For spoken words at the end of a
sentence, eg. He said, “Two tickets
to Wellington.”
– For spoken words in the middle of
a sentence, eg. “Two tickets,” he
said, “to Wellington.”
Apostrophes5rq
– Speech marks
• Punctuation in speech marks:
– All full stops, question marks and exclamation marks
which are part of the spoken sentence, stay inside
the speech marks.
– When the sentence is ‘interrupted’ use a comma
then a full stop after the description
of who is speaking. Eg.
• “I’m happy at home,” she said. “It’s
the quietest place to be.”
Apostrophes5rq
– Speech marks
• When using speech marks you need to paragraph as
new people speak. For example, look at the
following passage:
“Hi Sally,” he said. “Hi,” she replied, smiling. “How are you?”
He asked. Sally shrugged. She wasn’t good but she wasn’t
going to tell him that. “Not too bad,” she said eventually.
• This should be paragraphed like this:
“Hi Sally,” he said.
“Hi,” she replied, smiling.
“How are you?” He asked.
Sally shrugged. She wasn’t good but she wasn’t going to tell
him that. “Not too bad,” she said eventually.
Apostrophes5rq
– Speech marks
• This is the same paragraph:
“Hi Sally,” he said.
“Hi,” she replied, smiling.
“How are you?” He asked.
Sally shrugged. She wasn’t good but she wasn’t going to tell
him that. “Not too bad,” she said eventually.
• It’s ok to keep the last lot of speech marks on the
same line as the description of Sally’s actions
because it is still about the same person.
Apostrophes5rq
– Speech marks
• Put the speech marks in and paragraph this
properly:
• How old are you? Malcolm asked. Well how old are you?
Sophie replied. Almost eleven. Kinda young to be out here
on your own. No. I’ve done it for ages. Sophie smiled.
Does that make it ok then? Malcolm shrugged. Who
cares? It’s not like anyone is wondering where I am. He
reached into his pockets and pulled out his phone.
Apostrophes5rq
– Speech marks
• It should look like this:
“How old are you?” Malcolm asked.
“Well how old are you?” Sophie replied.
“Almost eleven.”
“Kinda young to be out here on your own.”
“No. I’ve done it for ages.”
Sophie smiled. “Does that make it ok then?”
Malcolm shrugged. “Who cares? It’s not like anyone is
wondering where I am.” He reached into his pockets and
pulled out his phone.
Now onto word choice errors
• Quite often people confuse
these words in their writing:
– Your and you’re
– There, their and they’re
– To, two and too
– Hear and here
– Weather and whether
– Of and have
Word choice errors – Your and you’re
Your = something belonging to you, eg. your arm
You’re = you + are, eg. you’re early
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
–
–
–
–
Today, ____________ going to come to my house
This is my bag and that is __________ bag
Hey, ____________ 20 minutes late!
I look into __________ blue eyes and smile
Word choice errors – Your and you’re
Your = something belonging to you, eg. your arm
You’re = you + are, eg. you’re early
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
–
–
–
–
Today, you’re going to come to my house
This is my bag and that is your bag
Hey, you’re 20 minutes late!
I look into your blue eyes and smile
Word choice errors – There, their and
they’re
There = a place, eg. over there or I’ll be there
Their = a pronoun – belonging to a person, eg. their bag or it’s
theirs (instead on John’s bag) – note a way to remember that
this is about a person is the ‘I’ in their
They’re = they + are, eg. they’re late again
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
– Please put your shoes down ___________
– I’ll wash __________ clothes
– _____________ driving in the wrong lane!
– __________ is plenty of food in the fridge
– I don’t know how ____________ so successful
Word choice errors – There, their and
they’re
There = a place, eg. over there or I’ll be there
Their = a pronoun – belonging to a person, eg. their bag or it’s
theirs (instead on John’s bag) – note a way to remember that
this is about a person is the ‘I’ in their
They’re = they + are, eg. they’re late again
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
– Please put your shoes down there
– I’ll wash their clothes
– They’re driving in the wrong lane!
– There is plenty of food in the fridge
– I don’t know how they’re so successful
Word choice errors – To, two and too
To = a place, eg. ‘send it to Wellington’
Two = the number 2
Too = as well as or a lot, eg. ‘I’m going too’ or ‘there are too
many people’ - remember this by thinking: in ‘too’ there are
too many o’s!
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
– There are ______ cats on the lawn
– There are ________ many cats on the lawn
– I got the cat ______ sit on the lawn
– I wish I had a cat ________
– Go over _______ pat the cat
Word choice errors – To, two and too
To = a place, eg. ‘send it to Wellington’
Two = the number 2
Too = as well as or a lot, eg. ‘I’m going too’ or ‘there are too
many people’ - remember this by thinking: in ‘too’ there are
too many o’s!
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
– There are two cats on the lawn
– There are too many cats on the lawn
– I got the cat to sit on the lawn
– I wish I had a cat too
– Go over to pat the cat
Word choice errors – Hear and here
Here = a place, like there, eg. ‘come here’
Hear = to listen eg. ‘can you hear me?’ – you can remember this
because it has the word ‘ear’ in it!
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
– I can ___________ the music
– Please put your shoes __________
– __________ is today’s weather
Word choice errors – Hear and here
Here = a place, like there, eg. ‘come here’
Hear = to listen eg. ‘can you hear me?’ – you can remember this
because it has the word ‘ear’ in it!
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
– I can hear the music
– Please put your shoes here
– Here is today’s weather
Word choice errors – Whether and weather
Weather = the rain, sun, snow etc
Whether = suggests doubt or alternatives, eg. he doesn't know
whether she's in Britain or whether she's gone to France
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
– The __________ is crazy today
– I don’t know ____________ or not I have English first
– ____________ or not we play rugby depends on the
_____________
Word choice errors – Whether and weather
Weather = the rain, sun, snow etc
Whether = suggests doubt or alternatives, eg. he doesn't know
whether she's in Britain or whether she's gone to France
• Write out the following with the correct words in the gaps:
– The weather is crazy today
– I don’t know whether or not I have English first
– Whether or not we play rugby depends on the weather
Word choice errors – Of and have
Which do you think is correct:
“I should have done that”
Or
“I should of done that”
?
The correct answer is the first one – it is always ‘have’. The only
reason people think it is ‘of’ is because ‘of’ sounds like the
contracted version of ‘should have’:
“I should’ve done that”
This is still ‘have’ but it sounds like ‘of’. It is always ‘have’!!!
Now let’s discuss incomplete
sentences
• What does a sentence need to
be complete?
– Subject
– Verb
– Complete idea
A sentence without one of these
things is an incomplete sentence
and is grammatically incorrect
Complete sentences need:
the person, place, or thing performing or doing the
action
1
Subject
2
Verb
3
complete idea
the person, place, or thing
performing or doing the action
the action
1
Subject
2
Verb
3
so the reader isn't left waiting
Complete idea
for another word
the reader isn't left waiting for another word
the action
Complete sentences need (con’td):
• Have a look at this sentence: I hit the ball
• Subject=I
• Verb=hit
• Is it a complete idea? Yes.
Therefore, this is a good sentence. The ball is a
direct object. Not all sentences require a direct
object.
Complete sentences need (cont’d):
• Not all sentences require a direct object. For
example: Birds fly
• Subject=birds
• Verb=fly
• Is it a complete idea? Yes.
There is no direct object here; however, it is still
a complete idea and a good sentence.
Complete sentences need (cont’d):
• Here’s another example: I take
• Subject=I
• Verb=take
• Is it a complete idea? No. This sentence
requires a direct object. (This sentence is
called a sentence fragment or incomplete
sentence.)
Complete and incomplete sentences:
• Decide which of the following is a complete or incomplete
sentence:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
In the novel Noughts and Crosses.
The train was late.
Although it was raining.
I like to go to the bookstore.
My mother, my sister, and I.
On the book cover.
We looked at the new books.
The books on the shelf.
The blue book cover.
I love to read mystery books.
We bought four great books.
Are good books.
Complete and incomplete sentences:
• Decide which of the following is a complete or incomplete
sentence:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
In the novel Noughts and Crosses. Incomplete
The train was late. Complete
Write out the
Although it was raining. Incomplete
incomplete sentences
I like to go to the bookstore. Complete
and turn them into
My mother, my sister, and I. Incomplete complete sentences by
On the book cover. Incomplete
adding information.
We looked at the new books. Complete
The books on the shelf. Incomplete
The blue book cover. Incomplete
I love to read mystery books. Complete
We bought four great books. Complete
Are good books. Incomplete
So what is a run-on sentence?
• When a sentence has too many
ideas and runs on too long, it is
called a run-on sentence.
• A run-on sentence is a sentence
that really has TWO sentences
(or complete ideas) INCORRECTLY
combined into one. It is okay to
combine two sentences into one,
but you must follow some rules.
Run-on sentences (cont’d)
• Have a look at this sentence:
I saw a teacher who cares
• And this sentence:
I saw a teacher. Who cares?
There is a big difference in the meaning of these two!
Using full stops (and other forms of punctuation) and
knowing when to end a sentence are very important. If
you don't end a sentence appropriately, the intended
meaning can be changed, or it can be misunderstood.
Sometimes the meaning is simply incomprehensible.
Run-on sentences (cont’d)
• Here’s another example:
John takes the train to school mum
catches the bus
• There are two complete ideas here:
– John takes the train to school
– Mum catches the bus
The best way to fix this run-on sentence is to either
add a conjunction such as ‘and’ or put in a full stop
and make it two separate sentences.
Run-on sentences (cont’d)
• Here’s another example:
John takes the train to school and mum catches the
bus but only on Mondays when Dad takes the car to
work because he works far away and it can be difficult
for him to get to work when it is raining which it often is
on Mondays but when it’s not raining he sometimes
takes the bus too.
• There are many complete ideas here! They have been joined
together by conjunctions. Conjunctions are ok but it is best to
limit them to two per sentence, then begin another
sentence. Otherwise it becomes much too long.
• If you are unsure of when to start a new sentence or put in a
full stop, try reading it aloud. You will naturally pause in
places, and that is where the full stop should go!
• Rewrite the sentence above into smaller complete sentences.
Tense
• You need to make sure that your use
of tense is consistent.
– If you want to write it as if your
character is experiencing the events
while the reader is reading, use the
present tense.
– If your character is reflecting on
events that have already happened,
use the past tense.
• Of course in some stories there is a
combination of both what is
happening in the here and now and
what has already happened. You
need to be careful to indicate this
change to the reader.
Tense (cont’d)
• What is wrong with the following example?
John took the train to school and mum
catches the bus.
• What about this?
I watched as John got onto the bus. He looks
back at me and smiles.
The tense is inconsistent in both of these.
Rewrite them both in past tense.
Tense (cont’d)
• Rewrite the following in past tense:
– She’s not from Wellington
– We are reading a novel
– I carry the bag
– He is wearing an old shirt
– We walk down the street
– She swims well
– The dog barks
– We run quickly
Tense (cont’d)
• Rewrite the following in past tense:
– She was not from Wellington
– We were reading a novel
– I carried the bag
– He wore an old shirt (or he was wearing an old shirt)
– We walked down the street
– She swam well
– The dog barked
– We ran quickly
Tense (cont’d)
• From present to past – make the following changes:
– Is/am to was
– Are to were
– Add ‘ed’ to a word – eg. Change smile to smiled or walk
to walked etc.
– Change the word to the past tense version – eg. Run to
ran or sit to sat or wear to wore etc.
These are just some basic rules to
help you with tense but they are not
foolproof! The best thing is to read
your work aloud while editing it.