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Description
Flashcards by Abbey Carter, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Abbey Carter
over 7 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| 1) Subject-Verb Agreement The subject and verb of a sentence must agree with one another in number whether they are singular or plural. | Example : Incorrect: An important part of my life have been the people who stood by me. Correct: An important part of my life has been the people who stood by me. |
| 2) Sentence Fragments Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences that don’t have one independent clause. A fragment may lack a subject, a complete verb, or both. | Example : Incorrect: He gave his mother an extravagant gift after the argument. In spite of everything. Correct: In spite of everything, he gave his mother an extravagant gift after the argument. |
| 3) Missing comma after introductory element A comma should be used after an introductory word, phrase, or clause. | Example : Incorrect: In case you haven’t noticed my real name doesn’t appear in the article. Correct: In case you haven’t noticed, my real name doesn’t appear in the article. |
| 4) Misuse of apostrophe in 'Its' You use an apostrophe with it’s only when the word means it is or it has. Without the apostrophe, its means belonging to it. | Example : Incorrect: I don’t believe its finally Friday. Correct: I don’t believe it’s (it is) finally Friday. |
| 5) No comma in a compound sentence A comma separates two or more independent clauses in a compound sentence separated by a conjunction. A comma goes after the first clause and before the coordinating conjunction that separates the clauses. | Example : Incorrect: She was beautiful and she was happy and she was full of life. Correct: She was beautiful, and she was happy, and she was full of life. |
| 6) Misplaced or Dangling Modifier A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it modifies or describes. A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence. | Example : Incorrect: While walking on the sidewalk, Mary found a sparkly girl’s bracelet. Correct: While walking on the sidewalk, Mary found a girl’s sparkly bracelet. |
| 7) Vague Pronoun Reference When replacing a noun, its antecedent should be the person, place, or thing to which the pronoun refers. A vague pronoun reference (e.g. it, that, this, and which)leaves the reader confused about what or to whom the pronoun refers. | Example : Incorrect: When Jonathan finally found his dog, he was so happy. (The dog or Jonathan?) Correct: Jonathan was so happy when he finally found his dog. |
| 8) Wrong Word Usage Using incorrect words can change the meaning of the sentence. There are a lot of words/phrases that are often misused in writing. | Example : Incorrect: She excepted his offer to drive her home. Correct: She accepted his offer to drive her home. |
| 9) Run-On Sentence A run-on sentence occurs when you connect two main clauses with no punctuation or connectives. | Example : Incorrect: She tried to sneak out of the house her mother saw her leaving. Correct: She tried to sneak out of the house, but her mother saw her leaving. |
| 10) Superfluous Commas This is when commas are used when they are not required or at all necessary. This is a common writing error. | Example : Incorrect: He wants to get a degree in engineering, or medicine. Correct: He wants to get a degree in engineering or medicine. |
| 11) Lack of parallel structure This occurs when two or more parts of a sentence are similar in meaning but not parallel (or grammatically similar) in form. It often occurs with paired constructions and items in a series. | Example : Incorrect: He wanted to learn more about careers in programming, engineering and biochemist. Correct: He wanted to learn more about careers in programming, engineering and biochemistry. |
| 12) Sentence Sprawl A sentence can become a burden to read when there are too many equally weighted phrases. | Example : Incorrect: Jason was planning to attend his friend’s wedding on June 30, but at the last minute he found out he had jury duty, so he couldn’t attend the wedding, and he felt really guilty about it. Correct: Unexpectedly Jason was called for jury duty and couldn’t attend his friend’s June 30 wedding. He felt guilty about missing it. |
| 13) Comma Splice A comma splice occurs when two separate sentences are joined with a comma rather than a period or semicolon. It is common when using transitional words, such as however, therefore or moreover. | Example : Incorrect: My intention was to take her out to dinner, however I decided not to invite her after all. Correct: My intention was to take her out to dinner; however, I decided not to invite her after all. |
| 14) Colon mistakes A colon is used after a complete sentence to introduce a word, phrase, clause, list, or quotation. The colon signals that what follows proves or explains the sentence preceding the colon. | Example : Incorrect: People move to Florida for: the warmer weather, the beach, and the theme parks. Correct: People move to Florida for three reasons: the warmer weather, the beach, and the theme parks. |
| 15) Split infinitives An infinitive is the word “to” with a verb. A split infinitive separates the word “to” and the verb with another word (often an adverb). There are no grammar rules that prohibit split infinitives, but many experts disapprove of them. | Example : Incorrect: She tried to quickly finish the book before she had to leave. Correct: She tried to finish the book quickly before she had to leave. |
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