Common Errors Explained

 

I have been asked to produce a guide to some of the more common technical errors made in personal statements.  This is, of course, not a complete list of all common errors, as that would be far too long!!  Instead, I have restricted myself to those errors likely to appear in personal statements.  They are split into four sections:

 

 

 

Common Grammatical Errors

 

However

Generally, this word appears at the beginning of a sentence.  Its task is to link the idea in the sentence it begins to the one in the sentence immediately before it (it is a connective, but not a conjunction). 

 

e.g.

Jane’s writing skills are excellent.  However, she does need to make sure her handwriting is legible.

 

The very common error is to try to use it to join two sentences together, as in the example below.  In fact, it cannot join two sentences together as it is not a conjunction. 

 

e.g.

Jane’s writing skills are excellent, however, she does need to make sure her handwriting is legible.

 

This is always wrong!

 

The probable reason for this error is that the word does not necessarily have to appear at the beginning of a sentence to fulfil its job of linking two ideas together.  Good writers will alter its position to keep their writing varied in structure.

 

e.g.

Jane’s writing skills are excellent.  She does, however, need to make sure her handwriting is legible.

 

All we’ve done here is to move the word from first position in the sentence to one in the middle of the sentence.  Its effect is the same.

 

For example

This phrase shares the same common error as “however”.  Again, it is most usually to be found at the beginning of a sentence, and, again, its job is to link the idea in the sentence it begins to the one in the sentence immediately before it (it is another connective, but not a conjunction).   

 

e.g.

Jane’s writing skills are excellent.  For example, she recently achieved full marks in her English language investigation coursework.

 

The common error, again, is to try to use the phrase to join those two sentences together as if it were a conjunction.

 

e.g.

Jane’s writing skills are excellent, for example, she recently achieved full marks in her English language investigation coursework.

 

This is always wrong!

 

Again, it is perhaps because the phrase does not necessarily have to appear at the beginning of a sentence to fulfil its job of linking two ideas together (as with “however”) that people have been misled. 

 

e.g.

Jane’s writing skills are excellent.  She recently achieved full marks, for example, in her English language investigation coursework.

 

Another very common error with this phrase is to use it properly at the beginning of a sentence, but then to leave that sentence incomplete, as in the following example.

 

e.g.

John is accomplished in a range of subjects.  For example, English and maths.

 

The error here is to miss out the subject and verb of the second sentence. 

 

e.g.

John is accomplished in a range of subjects.  For example, he excels in English and maths. 

 

Here he is the subject and excels is the verb.

 

Could of/have/’ve (etc.)

Could, should, would, might, may, can, will (etc.) are all used as modal verbs.  Under those circumstances, the word of can never follow them.  It should always be have. 

 

e.g.

It is always

I could have won the race.

 

It is never

I could of won the race.

 

The error has occurred because of the way we often contract these verbs in speech.  Thus, “would have” becomes “would’ve”.  In speech, this sounds like “would of”, but this can never be right.

Who/Whom, Whoever/Whomever

The distinction between these two is dying out in common usage.  It’s unlikely many readers will notice if you simply use who and never bother with whom.  However, it’s perhaps worth getting it right in formal writing. 

 

Who is the subject form of the pronoun, while whom is the object form.  If the word is being used as a subject (i.e. as the person or thing carrying out the action of the verb in a clause), it should always be who.  If it is being used as the object (i.e. the person or thing upon which the action of the verb is carried out in a clause), whom should be used.

 

e.g.

Who kicked John?

 

Here, Who is the subject of the clause as it refers to the person or thing doing the kicking.

 

John kicked whom?

 

Here, whom is the object as it refers to the person or thing being kicked.

 

You apply the same rules for whoever and whomever. 

 

It sounds simple, but sometimes it can get quite tricky.  If in doubt, stick to using who throughout (fewer people will notice, if any), or ask an English teacher.

I/Me/Myself

This is similar to the who/whom issue.

 

I should be used when it refers to the subject of the clause.

 

e.g.

I lifted the chair.

John and I lifted the chair.

 

In both of these cases, I is the subject of the clause (i.e. I is the one “doing” the verb).

 

Me should be used when it refers to the object.

 

 

e.g.

John lifted me into the chair.

John gave the chair to me.

John gave the chair to Dawn and me.

 

In all of these examples, me is used as the object of the clause (i.e. me is the one having the verb “done” to it)

 

Myself is usually not supposed to be used where I or me could also be used (though people do).  Instead, it is used as an intensifier.  As a result, there are few occasions where it should actually be used.

 

e.g.

I want to carry the chair myself.

 

Here, it is simply being used to intensify the meaning of the “I” already used as the subject of the sentence.  It could just as easily be removed altogether.

 

Fewer/Less

You should use fewer when you are referring a number of specific, individual things.

 

e.g.

We have fewer parts in this kit than the instructions suggest we should.

 

You should use less when you are referring to quantities that cannot be expressed as a number of specific, individual things (such as the volume of a liquid, or the amount of fear you have about doing something)

 

e.g.

I have less beer in my glass than you.

I am less fearful than I was before.

 

Interestingly, we use the word more in both cases to express the opposite meaning.

That/Which

The distinction between these two is a matter of debate.  The two are, largely, interchangeable in common modern usage.  Traditionalist grammarians, though, argue as follows.

 

That (relative pronoun) is restrictive – it provides essential information about its antecedent  (an antecedent is the noun that came before it and to which it refers). 

 

e.g.

The ball that broke the window belonged to Tony.

 

In this example, that refers to a specific ball (i.e. that particular ball responsible for breaking the window, not just any ball), thus restricting the meaning of the noun that came before it (The ball) to a particular, single thing.

 

Which is non-restrictive.  It is generally used just to add an extra, non-essential piece of information about the noun that it refers to (its antecedent).

 

e.g.

The ball, which belongs to Tony, broke the window.

 

Here, the phrase beginning with which is just giving us extra information about the ball.  It could easily be removed.

 

None is/None are

Quite a few people get hot under the collar about this one.  The truth is that modern usage is such that few would question the use of either.  If you don’t want to get involved in the intricacies of this one, just go for none is, as most people presume this is the formal, “correct” usage.  If you do want to know the truth, however, read on… 

 

The choice of is or are to follow none depends entirely on whether it is used as a singular or plural pronoun.  It can be used as both.  That’s because it always refers to its antecedent noun, and takes on the number of that noun (as do all pronouns used in this way).  An antecedent noun is, simply “the noun to which a following pronoun refers, and to avoid the repetition of which it is used.” (OED)

 

e.g.

Hobbies are important, but none are as important as work.

 

Here, Hobbies is the antecedent noun to which none refers.  As Hobbies is a plural, we should use are after none as none takes on the plural status of Hobbies.

 

A hobby is important, but none is as important as work.

 

Here, A hobby is the antecedent noun to which none refers.  As A hobby is a singular, we should use is after none as none takes on the singular status of A hobby.

Off of/Off, Inside/Inside of, Outside/Outside of, etc…

This is another one that’s in the process of change.  Traditional British usage suggests that off (or inside/outside) need not be followed by of as it serves to add no meaning.

 

e.g.

Get off the table

Get off of the table.

 

Here, the addition of of in the second example does not alter its meaning. 

 

In fact, the usage of off of is now so universal that it is largely accepted.

 

Common Punctuation Errors

 

Capitals

These are not really punctuation, but as they are a source of a great deal of confusion, I thought I’d include them here.

 

There is a tendency these days for writers to capitalise the first letter of any word that they happen to think is important at the point of writing it, for whatever reason (such as the name of the subjects they teach, or their job title, etc…).  This leads to all sorts of varied uses of capitals, and often in a single document a writer will forget to use even their made up rules in a standard way.  So, s/he might capitalise the name of a subject wrongly in the first paragraph, but then not capitalise another subject later on, and so on.  However, when sending out personal statements, we have to stick to one way of correcting such errors, so we choose to follow the accepted rules for capitals.  Here they are.

 

You should use capitals for the following:

·         The first word of a sentence

·         A proper noun

e.g. John, London, Tesco

·         The pronoun ‘I’

·         The name of a language

e.g. English, Spanish, Latin

·         The name of a nationality

e.g. English, Spanish, French

·         The name of an ethnic group

e.g. Afro-Caribbean, Caucasian

·         The name of a day

e.g. Monday

·         The name of a month

e.g. January

·         The first and all the major words (i.e. not of, the a, an, etc., unless they are the first word) in a title.

e.g. “The Guinness Book of Records”

·         The first word in a new utterance in direct speech.

·         The first word in a direct quotation that is also the beginning of a complete sentence.

·         The name of historical periods/epochs.

e.g. the Middle Ages, the Ice Age

·         The name of annual/significant holidays

e.g. Easter

·         Religions and important religious terms

e.g. Christianity, God (not when referring to gods in general),the Bible, the Koran, Ramadan, etc…

·         Roman numerals (apart from when being used to number the introductory pages in many books)

You should not use capitals for the following

 

·         School subjects are not capitalised, unless they are the name of a language.

e.g. maths, history, English literature

However, titles of units/modules taught within a subject follow the same rules as for any other title.

e.g.       In English language, I teach the module “Editorial Writing”. 

In media studies, “Advertising and Marketing” is taught.

 

·         The word university on its own should not be capitalised.  It is capitalised when it forms part of the name of a particular university.

e.g. I hoped to go to university.  Getting into Southampton University was great!   

 

·         Seasons are not capitalised

e.g. summer, winter, autumn, spring

 

·         You do not need to capitalise names of places when they are used as part of a fixed expression (though you can).

e.g. danish pastry, russian roulette

Commas

The main error with these tends to be in missing them out, or putting too many in.  Some commas are grammatically necessary, while others are optional, and there are times when they simply should not be used.  I’m not going to go through all of them here, just the more common ones.

 

Lists

Lists of words or phrases require commas between them.

 

e.g.

I like football, cricket, rugby, tennis and baseball.

 

Introductory phrases and clauses

These appear at the beginning of a sentence.  Introductory clauses contain both subject and verb and are closely linked to (or dependant on) the main clause.  Introductory phrases are also linked to the main clause, but the do not have both subject and verb (they tend to refer to the subject of the main clause).

 

e.g.

After they washed the car, the girls put the hose away. (clause)

Reeling in the hose, the girls tidied up after themselves (phrase)

 

Introductory Words

Connectives like however, meanwhile, still, for example, nevertheless, etc. all tend to appear at the beginning of a sentence, and must be followed by a comma.

 

e.g.

Jane’s writing skills are excellent.  However, she does need to make sure her handwriting is legible.

John was finishing his dinner.  Meanwhile, Jane was doing her homework.

 

Other introductory words (usually other adverbs) also should be followed by commas.

 

e.g.

Unusually, I decided to stay in that night.

Angrily, I tore up the picture.

 

Linking Independent clauses with Coordinating Conjunctions

It’s possible you were taught not to do this when you were learning to write as a youngster.  That was wrong!!!  When you are joining two independent clauses together (clauses that could be sentences on their own, including a subject and verb and expressing a complete idea) with a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet), you should always put a comma before the conjunction.

 

e.g.

I sliced the bread, and I spread the butter.

I like to eat meat, but I don’t like fish.

I need to catch the train, or I will miss the concert.

 

Each of these examples has two clauses that could be independent sentences in their own right, so they’re called independent clauses (or main clauses).  I’ve joined them with coordinating conjunctions, so they all need a comma before the conjunction.

 

Parenthetical (or bracketing) Commas

These are very common, but often missed out.  We often take a clause and add extra, non-essential information to it.  When we do, we need to demarcate it with commas.  They’re called parenthetical commas because, wherever we do it, we could just as easily use brackets instead to show that the phrase contained is extra to the main clause. 

 

e.g.

My brother, who lives in Australia, is a great fan of motor sport.

 

In this example, you could easily remove the phrase in italics altogether.  The sentence would still make clear sense.  You could just as easily replace these commas with brackets as well! 

 

Comma Splices

Comma splicing is one of the most common errors in writing (and one of the most irritating for your English teacher).  It is where a writer inserts a comma at the end of a sentence, rather than a full stop.  It occurs because lazy writers just insert a comma as a do-it-all punctuation mark wherever they detect a pause or break in their writing.  To check for it, just look at what comes before and after the comma.  If both of these things could be a sentence on its own, you should not be using a comma.  Instead, you should be using a full stop (or question/exclamation mark), semi colon or coordinating conjunction (with a comma before it – see above).

 

e.g.

This is an example of a comma splice (which is always wrong)

 

I like football, I hate baseball. 

 

You could rewrite this accurately in any of the following ways:

 

I like football. I hate baseball. 

I like football; I hate baseball. 

I like football, but I hate baseball. 

Apostrophes

There are only two reasons for using apostrophes. 

 

Omission (creating contractions)

The first is where two words have been joined together and one or some of the letters have been left out (omission) to shorten them (contractions).  Here, wherever letters have been omitted, an apostrophe should appear.

 

e.g.

Do not – don’t

I am – I’m

Could have – could’ve

 

Possession

The other reason for using apostrophes is to indicate that one part of the sentence belongs to another (possession).  This is the one that tends to cause most problems, though it’s fairly simple really.

 

e.g.

In the following sentence, the ball belongs to the child (singular), so we add an apostrophe followed by an s after the word child to show this.

 

·         It is the child’s ball.

 

In the next example, the ball belongs to the children (plural, but not ending in s), so the same rule is applied.

 

·         It is the children’s ball.

 

In the next example, the ball belongs to the boys (plural, ending in s), so we add the apostrophe without an s after the word boys to show it refers to more than one boy.

 

·         It is the boys’ ball.

 

If we were to move the apostrophe in the last example to appear before the s (and, therefore, after the word boy), then we would be indicating the ball belonged to one boy (i.e. singular).

 

·         It is the boy’s ball.

 

If we are adding an apostrophe to a singular word that already ends in s, we can choose either to add the apostrophe and an s as before, or we can simply add the apostrophe and omit the s, as long as it is clear.

 

·         It is James’s ball.

·         It is James’ ball.

 

You should never use apostrophes when adding an s just to make a word a plural, even when adding it to initials or numbers. 

 

For the experts out there, there is, however, one situation in which it’s ok to add an apostrophe to letters of the alphabet when pluralizing.  That is when not doing so would make your writing difficult or impossible to understand without doing it.

 

e.g.

There are two u’s in queue.

 

In this example, omitting the apostrophe would make it very difficult to read the sentence accurately.

 

Similarly..

 

It is best not to use e.g.’s in formal writing.

Semicolons

My advice is, if you’re unsure about these, choose alternatives instead.  However, here are the rules.

 

A semicolon has two major uses.  The first is to separate items in a list where each item is a phrase, rather than a single word (though commas can also be used).  If one or some of the phrases in the list contains commas anyway, then you should use semicolons to separate each phrase to avoid confusion.

 

e.g.

My favourite things include walking in the park; eating at good restaurants; playing football, though less often these days; and reading, of course.

 

The second major use is to join two independent clauses (clauses that could be sentences on their own).  This should only be done where those two clauses are closely linked. 

 

e.g.

I like football; I hate baseball. 

 

A good way of checking to see if a semicolon can be used in this way is to mentally replace it with a full stop.  If it still makes clear sense, the semicolon is probably ok, unless, of course, it should be a colon (see below). 

Colons

Colons are used after an independent clause where the words that follow the colon explain the independent clause that came before it in some way, or where what follows is a list. 

 

e.g.

The reason for my dismissal was obvious: I had lost the company a great deal of money.

The school has a number of separate blocks: history, science, English and art.

 

What follows the colon may be anything from a single word to a series of independent clauses, as long as they explain whatever came before the colon in some way.

Inverted Commas

These should be used for the following reasons:

·         Direct quotation of someone else’s words, either written or spoken

·         For citing titles of books (and their chapters, if named rather than numbered), plays, poems, essays, newspapers (and their articles), magazines (and their articles), TV/radio programmes, films, songs, short stories, etc…  These days, however, the use of italics in place of inverted commas is more and more common as word processors replace handwriting, though mainly for major titles.

·         Around words being used in an unusual or ironic way.

·         Direct speech (I have not explained this in full as it’s unlikely to occur in a personal statement).

 

Common Spelling Errors the Spellchecker Misses

 

I’m assuming that everyone will be using their (not so) trusty spellcheckers when writing personal statements.  For that reason, I’ve only included common spelling errors that the spellchecker won’t notice here.

 

There/Their/They’re

Rather than explaining these in full, just stick to the following guide:

 

·         Their can only be used to state that something belongs to something else.

·         They’re can only be used wherever the words they are make sense too (it’s just a contraction of those two words).

·         For everything else, it’s got to be there.

It’s/Its

Another common “spelling” error is to mix these two up.

 

• It’s is a contraction of It is. 
• Its is an entirely different word.  It is the possessive form of the word it, meaning that something belongs to, or is associated in some way with, it. 

 

You can check for this simply by mentally substituting it is in place of its.  If the sentence still makes sense with it is inserted, then you know you should use the it’s spelling.  If it doesn’t, then you should use the its spelling. 

 

e.g.

The car will not start.  It’s clear that its engine is broken.

To/Too

The common error here is to use these two spellings interchangeably.

 

To is a preposition (put very simply, a word that indicates a relationship between a noun and another part of the sentence)

 

e.g.

I am going to the cinema

 

Here, to is used to indicate that the cinema is the place I is visiting, thus establishing a grammatical relationship between these two parts of the sentence.

 

To is also the first part of an infinitive verb

 

e.g.

to eat, to drink, to hope, to write…

 

Too can mean as well/also/in addition

 

e.g.

Can I come too?

 

Or it can mean “more than necessary”

e.g.

It is too hot in here.

Practice/Practise

The two different spellings you see above exist because one is a noun (practice) and one is a verb (practise).

 

e.g.

Noun (practice):

I put in a lot of practice to improve my skills.

Though the theory is simple, in practice, it is much more difficult.

The practice of cleaning as you go saves effort later on.

The doctor’s practice is situated on the high street.

 

Verb (practise):

I must practise my spellings to avoid making errors.

The need to practise is clear.

John practises regularly.

 

Advice/advise follow the same rule, but are easier to get right because we pronounce them differently. If you’re unsure, try mentally replacing the word practice/practise with the words advice/advise in the sentence you are about to write.  Whichever one seems to fit best will tell you which spelling of practice/ise to use.

 

e.g.

The need to advise is clear.

John advises regularly.

John gives a lot of advice.

Affect/Effect

The common error here is to use these two spellings interchangeably.

 

Affect is a verb

 

e.g.

I don’t want to affect your concentration by making any noise.

 

Effect is a noun referring to the result or consequence of something.

 

e.g.

If I make any noise, the effect will be to disturb you.

 

Perhaps the error here is caused by a second, but less often used, meaning for effect, which is to bring about something.

 

e.g.

This guide is intended to effect a change in the accuracy of people’s reference writing.

Principle/Principal

Principle usually refers to a fundamental moral belief about the right thing to do, or one of a basic set of ideas or rules in a particular profession (or similar).

 

e.g.

It is against my principles to steal.

 

Principal refers to the head of an organisation or group (often used to refer to the head of a college), or the most important or significant or highest in rank of a group of things.

 

e.g.

The college principal gave everyone the day off.

The principal reason for practising is to get better at whatever you’re trying to do.

Lead/Led

This one’s easy! 

Led is the past tense of to lead

 

 

e.g.

I led him to the exit.

 

Lead is a dense and heavy metal.

All ready/Already

All ready is a phrase (adjective) meaning fully prepared, though it is not often used.

 

e.g.

I am all ready for the race.

 

Already is a word (adverb) meaning that something has been previously completed or done.  This is the most often used.

 

e.g.

I have finished the race already.

All right/Alright

A good example of language in the process of change, both of these spellings are correct, and have the same meaning.  Alright is simply a contracted version of all right.  A few years ago, you would have been deemed incorrect to use the “alright” spelling.  It is now so commonly used that it has become accepted and can be found in all the major dictionaries.  

All together/Altogether

All together is an adverb, meaning “in total/in a group”.

 

e.g.

All together, there were 24 goals in the football tournament.

 

Altogether is also an adverb, but it means “completely/entirely”.

 

e.g.

We were altogether hopeless in the football tournament

Anymore/Any more

Unless you’re American, this should always be spelled as two words.  Don’t let Microsoft’s spellchecker fool you (it’s American!).

Anyone/Any one

Anyone is a pronoun meaning any person at all.

 

e.g.

I can’t find anyone.

 

Any one is an adjectival phrase (or a noun), meaning any single item from a group.

 

e.g.

Any one of those cars would be too expensive for me.

Anyway/Any way

Anyway is an adverb meaning “in any case”.

 

e.g.

I don’t care, anyway.

 

Any way is an adjectival phrase (or a noun), meaning any specific method, or route, etc.

 

e.g.

You can do this any way you want to.

A part/Apart

A part means a specific section or segment of something.

 

e.g.

I gave a part of my winnings to my friends.

 

Apart means to be separate from something.

e.g.

I hate being apart from my wife.

Coursework

The correct spelling of this is coursework - it is a single word (as is, of course, homework). 

Extracurricular

The correct spelling of this is extracurricular - it is a single word. 

Everyday/Every day

 

Every day means each day

 

e.g.

I read every day.

 

Everyday means commonplace

 

e.g.

I had to wear my everyday jeans as my best ones were being washed.

Into/In to

Into is a preposition (see above).  It usually refers to someone or something entering a particular place:

 

e.g.

Go into the lounge and switch off the TV.

 

It can refer to taking up an occupation:

 

e.g.

He is going into business.

 

It can also refer to time:

 

e.g.

The party went on into the early hours of the morning.

 

It can also refer to being particularly keen on something:

 

e.g.

Jane is really into hockey.

 

In to is written separately when the to is forming part of an infinitive verb:

 

e.g.

I am going in to get my coat.

 

Here, the to is simply the first part of the infinitive verb to get (put simply, an infinitive verb is a verb with to in front of it, such as to hope, to eat, to climb, etc.)

Maybe/May be

Maybe (adverb) means perhaps:

 

e.g.

Maybe you could visit Tony soon.

 

May be (verb) is a form of the verb, to be, indicating something may or may not take place. 

 

e.g.

I may be visiting Tony soon, but I am not sure.

Focused/Focussed

Either of these spellings is correct, but the single S version is by far the most commonly used.  Whichever way you choose, just make sure you stick to it throughout the piece.

 

 

Erroneous or Made Up Rules & Miscellaneous

There are a number of so-called rules that many people swear by that are actually not rules at all.  I’ve included a list of some of them here,

 

Split Infinitives

An infinitive is a form of verb.  It is made up of the word to, followed by the verb itself.

 

e.g.

to walk, to hear, to be, to climb, to succeed…

 

Many people believe you should not put any words in between the to and the verb part of an infinitive.  This is not true.  If splitting an infinitive can be avoided and the sentence kept fluent, then fine! If not splitting an infinitive makes your sentence clumsy, go right ahead and split it.

 

e.g. 

In the following examples, the last two options both make clear sense and read fluently.  The first two, however, are very clumsy indeed.

 

I am going quickly to unbutton my coat. (not split)

I am going to unbutton quickly my coat. (not split)

I am going to unbutton my coat quickly. (not split)

I am going to quickly unbutton my coat. (split)

Ending a Clause With a Preposition

Many grammarians suggest we should not do this.  This is a made up rule, however.  Once again, if you need to end a clause or sentence with a preposition to keep it fluent, go ahead and do it.  There is a universally quoted statement, apparently made by Winston Churchill, in which he ridicules this erroneous “rule”:

 

This is a rule up with which I will not put.

 

Here, in order to follow the rule and avoid ending with the preposition with, he ends up with a ridiculously convoluted sentence that is difficult to understand.  If we unravel the syntax, though we end on a preposition, it makes much more sense:

 

This is a rule that I will not put up with.

Beginning Sentences With Conjunctions

You may have been taught never to begin a sentence with a conjunction, such as and, but, so, because, etc…  Again, this is not true.  Many writers do this very effectively in order to achieve a clear emphasis.

 

e.g.

Many people believe in astrology.  But how could such an obviously ridiculous idea convince so many? 

None is/None are

See my explanation in the “Common Grammatical Errors” section above.

Fascinated

There’s nothing at all wrong with this word.  However, it is often overused by personal statement writers.  If you can find an alternative word, or a phrase in its place, it’s worth using.

More Common Errors…

As I said, I restricted myself to the errors that come up most often in personal statements.  If, however, you want to read about more, there is a much more comprehensive list to be found at the following website:

 

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors

 

Be a little careful with this site, though, as it originates in America, so a few of the spellings will be different over here.  There are many other such guides out there!  Have fun.

 

JRA 2007