Top 10 Common English Mistakes

English is more than just a school subject. Beyond being a core component of the UK’s national curriculum, it’s the fascinating result of a unique blend of ancient languages. Originating from the West Germanic region, the language was brought to the British Isles. In today’s world, learning English has become a necessity for effective communication.

Have you ever considered what makes writing truly captivating?

Grammar is the framework that makes writing clear, detailed, and engaging. Common English mistakes are a significant barrier to effective writing. Many students struggle with clarity when it comes to advanced academic writing. However, there are persistent errors in academic writing that often go unnoticed, sometimes so minor that we don’t even pay attention to them. The first step towards improvement is recognizing these common mistakes in English grammar. This post will highlight ten such common errors and provide crucial corrective measures to enhance your grammatical accuracy in writing.

10 Common Mistakes in English

For your convenience, we’ve compiled a list of common English academic writing mistakes. Recognizing these errors is the first step towards improvement. So, let’s begin!

1- Spelling Errors

Spelling errors are a frequent occurrence in English writing. The likelihood of making these mistakes is particularly high with homophones – words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings, such as:

• Hour – Our
• Sell – Cell
• Blue – Blew
• See – Sea
• There – Their – They’re

Students often make these kinds of mistakes in their writing. For example:

• Incorrect: Madeline bought a new coarse pack.
• Correct: Madeline bought a new course pack.

2- Overuse of Adverbs

Another common grammatical mistake in English writing is the excessive use of adverbs. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, adding detail to your sentences. However, many students overuse adverbs, leading to clunky and redundant phrasing. For example:

• Incorrect: He ran very fastly in the marathon.
• Correct: He ran fast in the marathon.

In the first sentence, both “very” and “fastly” are adverbs modifying the verb “ran.” Grammatically, using multiple adverbs to describe a single action can often be redundant. The second sentence, using the single adverb “fast,” is more concise and correct.

3- Wordy Sentences

A recurring error in short stories, essays, and various forms of writing is the presence of wordy sentences. This means a sentence is cluttered with unnecessary articles or redundant words. This inflation of words can weaken the clarity and impact of your content. For example:

• Incorrect: It has come to our knowledge that your projects are not submitted yet, and we urge you to please submit them within the next hour.
• Correct: Your project is pending. Kindly submit it within an hour.

The corrected sentence conveys the same information more directly and concisely.

4- Punctuation Errors

The English curriculum in primary education emphasizes grammar, punctuation, and spelling (GPS). Despite this early focus, punctuation errors remain a common mistake for English language learners. A frequent error is the comma splice, which occurs when a writer incorrectly joins two independent clauses (complete sentences) with only a comma. For example:

• Incorrect: Allyn was hungry, she ate a whole pizza.
• Correct: Allyn was hungry, so she ate a whole pizza.

Adding the coordinating conjunction “so” creates a clear relationship between the two clauses. Another correct option is to separate the clauses into two sentences:

• Allyn was hungry. She ate a whole pizza.

You could also use a semicolon or an em dash. Proper understanding of punctuation is crucial for clear and grammatically correct writing.

5- Ambiguous Pronoun Reference

Ambiguous pronoun reference is a common mistake in English. Pronouns should clearly refer to a specific noun (their antecedent). When the antecedent is unclear, it can confuse the reader. For example:

• Incorrect: Larry had an appointment; therefore, could not deliver the parcel to him.
• Correct: Larry had an appointment; therefore, he could not deliver the parcel to Celery.

In the first sentence, it’s unclear who “him” refers to. The corrected sentence clarifies that “he” refers to Larry and “Celery” is the recipient of the parcel.

6- Sentence Fragments

A common mistake in English sentences is sentence fragmentation. A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence that lacks a main subject, a main verb, or both. For example:

• Incorrect: Making an assessment will help.
• Correct: The tutor should practice regular assessment in class.

Adding the noun “tutor” and the verb “should practice” creates a complete and grammatically correct sentence. While fragments can be used intentionally for stylistic effect, unintentional fragments are grammatical errors.

7- Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-verb agreement is another frequent mistake in English writing. Students often struggle with ensuring that the verb form matches the number (singular or plural) of the subject. The basic rule is:

• Singular subject takes a singular verb.
• Plural subject takes a plural verb.

For example:

• Incorrect: She eat her meal.
• Correct: She eats her meal.

For the third-person singular (she, he, it), the present tense verb usually takes an “-s” or “-es” ending.

8- Run-on Sentences

Run-on sentences occur when two or more complete sentences are joined together without proper punctuation or conjunctions. For example:

• Incorrect: Joe was playing in the garden Marline was watching the children.
• Correct: Joe was playing in the garden, and Marline was watching the children.

Adding a coordinating conjunction (“and”) or separating the sentences with punctuation (a semicolon or a period) corrects the run-on sentence.

9- Tautologies

Tautologies are the expression of similar ideas using different words within the same sentence or piece of writing. This redundancy is a common error in English writing, particularly in essays, and can weaken the impact and credibility of your work. It often results from a lack of brainstorming, mind mapping, and thorough proofreading.

10- Common Errors with Irregular Verb Forms

Incorrect use of verb forms is a frequent English error. This is particularly common with irregular verbs, where the past tense and past participle forms do not follow the regular “-ed” pattern. Some examples of regular verbs are:

• Participate – Participated – Participated

However, irregular verbs have unique forms, such as:

• Run – Ran – Run
• Come – Came – Come
• Go – Went – Gone

Pay close attention to verb conjugations, especially with irregular verbs, in your advanced English writing.