Missing Word
Missing word errors make this list because we are too often in a hurry when we edit. Our brains are great. We can read right through sentences and put in the words that need...
Category: Level 3 pages
Faulty Sentence Structure
Have you ever had a teacher say, “That sentence starts one way and ends another”? If you have, don’t feel bad. Others make this same mistake all the time. Sometimes, we simply lose our...
Missing Comma with Nonrestrictive Element
Just as you should not put commas around essential or restrictive information in a sentence, you must remember to put commas around information that is non-essential or nonrestrictive. If the information is not essential...
Verb Tense Shift
You want to be sure that you are always consistent with your verb tense. When you shift verb tenses for no reason, and this is an easy mistake to make, you can really confuse...
Missing Comma in Compound Sentence
When you join two independent clauses (complete sentences) with a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet—also known as the FANBOYS), you must place a comma before the coordinating conjunction. The rule...
Apostrophe Errors
Apostrophes give many writers a lot of trouble. Sometimes, you might be tempted to put an apostrophe where it does not belong, such as when you are simply making a word plural. Other times,...
Run-On Sentences
Fused or Run-On Sentence A fused sentence is sometimes called a run-on sentence. The concept is simple. If your teacher marks fused sentence or run-on on your paper, it’s because you have put two...
Comma Splice
Many students think a comma splice is just any kind of comma error, but a comma splice is a very specific type of comma error. A comma splice occurs when you use a comma...
Pronoun Agreement
Pronoun agreement can be trickier than it might seem on the surface. The rule is that we must make sure our pronouns agree in number and gender with the nouns they are replacing. For...
Poorly Integrated Quote
Any teacher who has ever assigned and graded writing has probably complained about this error. Too often, beginning writers will simply “plop” a quote into a paragraph without any set up or context. This...