Ten Common Grammatical Errors

chillibreeze writer — Nita Patel

Learning the rules of grammar can be a tortuous process for some. As students, our essays were often returned with red circles and question marks over seemingly innocuous words and some of us thought our teachers a tad too pedantic. Should we place such importance on grammar? After all, text messages and chat room conversations manage perfectly well without the rules of grammar!

Call me old school, but I think that rules for language exist for a good reason. Mark Twain once said "Ignorant people think it is the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it is the sickening grammar that they use".

Ever heard of the joke about a panda? The panda goes into a bar, eats a snack and then shoots someone. The panda’s ‘not guilty’ plea is based on a badly punctuated wildlife manual, which reads "PANDA. Large, black-and-bear like mammal native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves". Lynne Truss made this joke famous when she penned a book titled ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’ and I thoroughly recommend it.

The book has endless witty anecdotes on how misplaced punctuation can cause endless confusion, and provides a convincing argument on why we should give careful consideration to the meaning of what we say. Bad grammar interrupts the flow of reading and the essence of what we are seeking to convey is often lost.

Where do grammatical errors crop up? Well, just about everywhere. I have spotted them on signage used in fancy restaurants, national newspapers, and classy magazine articles. Here is a list of my favorite grammatical errors.

1. It’s vs. It is

The confusion between "it’s" and "its", is widely prevalent and crops up time and time again. "It’s" is a contraction of two words: it is. The marker for possession is ‘its’, and is akin to his or hers.

Examples

It’s a lovely day.

The dog lost its collar.

It’s a shame that the dog lost its collar.

2. Whose vs who’s

Here is another similar confusion that slips through the radar, but nonetheless high on the irritability causing factor and hence worthy of a mention. Who’s means "who is", where the apostrophe denotes an "i". Whose is a possessive word, similar to the "its" mentioned above.

Examples

Who’s that handsome boy over there?

Whose lovely blouse is this?

Who’s that elegant woman whose blouse looks stained?

3. Loose vs. Lose

What’s the problem with an extra ‘o’? In this case, the addition of an extra ‘o’ to the word lose, alters the meaning completely. "Loose" is an adjective and refers to something unsteady, ill-fitting or unconfined. "Lose" is a verb which means to mislay or suffer defeat.

Examples

An ill-fitting garment can be loose.

You lose your marbles when they accidentally drop out your pocket.

If the saddle is loose, then the horse may lose its rider.

4. Advise and Advice

Advice is a noun and denotes something that we give, whilst advise is actually a verb, involving the act of doing it. Remember from your English grammar lessons that a noun is a person, place, or thing, whilst verbs describe an action.

Examples

These notes advise you on grammar.

These notes give good advice for improving grammar.

I advise that the best way to learn is to seek good grammar advice.

6. Discreet vs Discrete

Discreet and discrete may not be as commonly used as the words already discussed, but they are often used incorrectly. To add to the confusion, both words are adjectives. Adjectives give an extra bit of detail to a noun. "Discreet" means being careful or not so obvious. Discrete, with the "e" after the ‘t", is used when we want to say that something is separate or different from something else.

Examples

Not wanting to be rejected, he was discreet with his true feelings.

The Siberian tiger is quite discrete from the Indian tiger.

6. i.e. vs e.g.

The antiquated language of Latin still has its uses and Latin words still crop up in our daily speech. Many of our most common phrases are Latin words, such as veni vidi vici, pro rata, in situ, ad hoc. Two of the most commonly confused and misused Latin phrases are exempli gratia (e.g.) and id est (i.e.). Exempli gratia means "for example". It is used before giving examples of something. Id est means "that is" or "in other words", is used before clarifying the meaning of something. If you remain baffled by Latin, then try remembering "i.e." as "in effect”, and "e.g." as "example given".

Examples

Latin phrases have the advantage of multum in parvo, i.e. conveying much in few words

Many English words are taken directly from Latin, e.g. ambrosia, agenda, apex, confer, exit, verbatim, veto, via

I should add that the Americans favour a comma after "e.g" and "i.e.", whilst the British generally do not have a comma after these words.

7. Using the Apostrophe

If you follow some simple rules, placing the apostrophe correctly is a clinch. Apostrophes are used in three ways. In the first instance, they are used as contractions, whereby "is not" becomes "isn’t" and "can not" becomes "can’t". Secondly they are used to show possession, whereby Sam’s ipod means the ipod that belongs to Sam. In the case of plurals such as "girls" where there is more than one girl, then the apostrophe is placed after the "s". But for words that are plural without an "s" at the end, them we would use s’ at the end to show possession. Confused? Well here are plenty of examples to get it clear in your head.

Examples

The girls’ books are on the table (when there is more than one girl).

The boy’s feet were dirty (when there is one boy).

Jaswinder and Anand’s apartment (when there is joint possession).

The men’s motorbikes all fell over (when plural forms do not end in "s")

The fairy’s wings glowed in the night (referring to the wings of a single fairy).

The fairies’ wings glowed in the night (referring to the wings of more than one fairy).

The mountain’s glacier was melting as the warm weather approached (referring to a single mountain).

The mountains’ glaciers were melting as the warm weather approached (referring to more than one mountain).

8. Different than vs different from

This one is quite subtle and many succumb to this grammatical error. When things are different from one another, then we use "different from" and using "different than" is a grammatical eyebrow-raising gaffe.

Example

This new vacuum cleaner is different from the old one.

This new vacuum cleaner is different from the old one and it is better than the old one.

9. Me, Myself, and I

People seem to be frightened of using "me". A common error is using "I" when they should have used "me". "Give me a ring" has the right ring about it, while "give I a ring" or "give myself a ring" sounds incorrect.

But when you add another person to these statements, that’s when the error occurs. "Give Raymond and me a ring" is correct, while "give Raymond and I a ring" or "give Raymond and myself a ring" are incorrect. What about myself? "Myself" has two good correct uses: reflexive and intensive. In it’s reflexive use, ‘myself" often reflects back to the subject. In its intensive use; "myself" places an emphasis on "me" or "I" in the sentence.

Examples

Jenny and I went swimming.

Mother drove Pia and me to the pictures.

I have decided to withdraw myself from the competition.

I asked myself, what does it mean.

Many people are fascinated by spiders, but I myself detest them

I myself have seen the monster this afternoon.

10. Affect vs Effect

These words confuse the best of us. "Affect" is a verb meaning "to influence". "Effect" is a noun meaning " something that happens as a result".

Example

Pollution may affect the incidence of asthma.

The effect of his loud snoring was to keep me awake at night.

The law will come into effect from next month.

He His solo performance had such an effect on the crowd.

His solo performance affected the crowd.

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Nita writes for chillibreeze.

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