Common mistakes in English

-Aditdasdasdya Tiadasdsawari Se ECT

Before we get down to serious business lets have a look at a great o!edy when english goes wrong"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

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It is rare that anyone, regardless of education level, sits down and pens a perfect draft the very first time he or she attempts writing a letter, paper, or any other type of written correspondence. We all make errors in our writing. Perhaps they are as simple as hitting the wrong keys on the computer, or maybe theyre due to a lack of understanding the constructs of the English language. Regardless of the reason, we all have struggled with writing at one time or another.

entence !ragment Run"on entence #arbled entence

$sk yourself how do we come to agree in the English language that a group of words and%or phrases is a sentence& 'o you remember . . .&

(hree elements constitute a word group being a grammatically correct sentence. 'o you know what they are&

Subject Verb )omplete thought

$ fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence but is missing a sub*ect, verb, or complete thought +nly a piece of a sentence )onsidered a serious writing mistake

$ word group that starts with a preposition $ word group that starts with a dependent word $ word group that starts with an ,-ing verb form $ word group that starts with to and a verb $ word group that starts with an e.ample or e.planation of something mentioned in the previous sentence

/ecause I could not go to the store today.

/ecause I could not go to the store today.

Fragment!

(hinking she had been left by the bus driver, 0elly walked to school in the rain.

(hinking she had been left by the bus driver, 0elly walked to school in the rain.

Sentence!

(he reason the college instituted the test was to gage student reading achievements.

(he reason the college instituted the test was to gage student reading achievements.

Sentence!

hut the door.

hut the door.

Sentence!
Be observant for implied subject (in most cases you.) In t is e!ample" it#s implied" $ou s ut t e door"% and t erefore" tec nically t is is not a sentence fragment.

(hat is the man. Who cheated me out of money at the supermarket.

(hat is the man. Who cheated me out of money at the supermarket.

F&'()*+,!
Be careful! -ften times" fragments are embedded in t e middle of a paragrap " and our natural tendencies to read and attempt to ma.e sense /ill cause us to miss fragments.

Run"ons are essentially what the name indicates1 sentences that are thrown together without any punctuation to indicate where one ends and another begins. imilar to comma splices, but in the case of regular run"ons, no comma is used +ften referred to as fused sentences

+ne time when I went to the store, I got scared to death a gunman came in and held customers and employees at gunpoint. Id never witnessed such in my life. 2y hands were shaking, my legs went limp, my breathing became very difficult. (hat day forever changed my life. I no longer stop at convenience stores. I prefer to do my shopping in a more crowded place like Wal"2art there the likelihood of the store being held up is significantly less that at conveniences stores they are not nearly as safe. (hats why I avoid them at all costs.

+ne time when I went to the store, I got scared to death a gunman came in and held customers and employees at gunpoint. Id never witnessed such in my life. 2y hands were shaking, my legs went limp, my breathing became very difficult. (hat day forever changed my life. I no longer stop at convenience stores. I prefer to do my shopping in a more crowded place like Wal"2art there the likelihood of the store being held up is significantly less that at conveniences stores they are not nearly as safe. (hats why I avoid them at all costs.

#arbled or awkward sentences can be caused by various reasons (he end result is a sentence that doesnt fit in with those around it, either failing to offer support to the writing, or *ust in some fashion confusing the reader (horough proofreading usually finds garbled%awkward sentences

(hrough the years, Ive found that it pays to show kindness even when others do not do the same. 3ot everyone can prove it. (here are times when kindness doesnt seem like the best course of action4 however, I believe one cant fail if he shows his fellowman compassion. Early in childhood, many times while in pre"school before grade school, it was not uncommon an occurrence for me to get into brawls, even though usually I was shy, yet talkative. /ack then, fighting resulted in a spanking. (hough I didnt appreciate spankings then, now I do. (he corrective action helped me to understand that fighting is not the correct way to handle disagreements. Its a motto I live by today.

(hrough the years, Ive found that it pays to show kindness even when others do not do the same. 3ot everyone can prove it. (here are times when kindness doesnt seem like the best course of action4 however, I believe one cant fail if he shows his fellowman compassion. Early in childhood, many times while in pre"school before grade school, it was not uncommon an occurrence for me to get into brawls, even though usually I was shy, yet talkative. /ack then, fighting resulted in a spanking. (hough I didnt appreciate spankings then, now I do. (he corrective action helped me to understand that fighting is not the correct way to handle disagreements. Its a motto I live by today.

Recogni5ing garbled%awkward sentences is a skill that matures as you advance as a writer. Its often a matter of sound writing *udgment. $ good way to learn to recogni5e such sentences is by reading the work of your peers. imilarly, allow peers to proof your papers or essays. Its often hard to gage when our own writing isnt clear because we know what we meant when we wrote it.