Common Grammatical Errors and Frequently Asked Questions

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abbreviations

an or a

BBC or B.B.C.

BC and AD

contractions (Mr or Mr.)

e.g and i.e.

plurals (PCs or PC's)

accept and except

AD and BC

adjectives

an or a

auntie June or Auntie June

compound adjectives (e.g. 4-seater aircraft)

contractions (Mr or Mr.)

expressions like 3-and-a-quarter million

extremely-talented actor or extremely talented actor

hers or her's, ours or our's

hyphens in adjectives (e.g. 4-seater aircraft)

its and it's

Red Lion Lawn or Red Lion lawn

well-known actor or well known actor

adverbial clause

adverbial phrase

adverbs

"At 4 o'clock, she..." or "At 4 o'clock she..."

extremely-talented actor or extremely talented actor

well-known actor or well known actor

affect or effect

agenda (plural or singular)

alot or a lot

all or all of

alright or all right

amount, quantity and number

an or a

an or a (with abbreviations)

and in a list (with a comma or not)

"and I" or "and me"

and joining two sentences (with a comma or not)

and (starting a sentence)

apostrophes

could of, would of, should of

her's, our's, their's, your's

its and it's

possession

plurals

temporal expressions (e.g. 3 years' insurance)

you're and your

auntie June or Auntie June

autumn or Autumn
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being or been

"between you and I"

brackets for parentheses

but in a list (with a comma or not)

but joining two sentences (with a comma or not)

but (starting a sentence)
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can not

capital letters

Auntie June or auntie June

company or Company

however or However

capital letter for important words

common nouns

Red Lion Lawn or Red Lion lawn

points of the compass

proper nouns (names)

seasons

title case

collective noun (singular or plural)

colons

before a quotation

used to extend a sentence

commas

after an introductory phrase (e.g. On 4 Jul 1984,)

after an interjection (e.g. Yes,)

after long subject of a sentence

after transitional phrases (e.g. As a result,)

before and (in a list)

before and (joining two sentences)

before quotation marks

for parentheses

starting a new sentence after a comma

with adjectives

with vocative case (e.g. John,)

which (comma before or not)

comparatives and superlatives

most prettiest (errors with adjectives)

most fastest (errors with adverbs)

compound adjectives

extremely-talented actor or extremely talented actor

hyphen in a compound adjective (e.g. two-seater aircraft)

use of capital letters, italics and quotation marks

well-known actor or well known actor

3-and-a-half million or 3 and a half million

compound nouns

forming plurals

possessive forms of compound nouns (e.g. sister-in-law's)

with hyphens (e.g. cooking-oil)

conjunctions

in a list (with or without a comma)

joining two sentences (with or without a comma)

joining two sentences (using a semicolon)

starting a sentence

contractions (Mr or Mr.)

could of

criteria (plural or singular)
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dangling modifiers

dash used to extend a sentence

dashes for parentheses

data (plural or singular)

dots (three or four)

double negative with neither/nor
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east or East

effect or affect

e.g and i.e.

either and neither

double negative with neither/nor

plural

singular

ellipsis (three or four dots)

etc or ect

except and accept
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fewer or less

forty not fourty
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gerunds (past and present)
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her's

however or However

hyphens

after prefixes (e.g. ex-President)

compound adjectives (e.g. two-seater aircraft)

compound nouns (e.g. cooking-oil)

extremely-talented actor or extremely talented actor

well-known actor or well known actor
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i.e. and e.g.

if or whether

interjections

in official writing

punctuation

into, onto and up to

its and it's
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less or fewer

licence or license

lists including semicolons
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more lovelier

most fastest

"my husband/wife and I" or "...and me"
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no-one

none is or none are

north or North

number, amount and quantity

numbers

expressions like 3-and-a-quarter million

forty

starting sentences with figures

writing numbers in full
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onto, into and up to

or in a list (with a comma or not)

or joining two sentences (with a comma or not)

our's
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parenthesis

commas for parenthesis

end a parenthesis

parentheses (brackets, commas or dashes)

past or passed

plurals

agenda, data, criteria (plural or singular)

forming plurals

forming plurals of compound nouns

lion's instead of lions

none (plural or singular)

plural of abbreviations (PCs or PC's)

spoonsful or spoonfuls

possession

cat's dinner or cats' dinner

possessive forms of compound nouns (e.g. sister-in-law's)

Evans' report or Evans's report

John and Bill's report or John's and Bill's report

men's room or mens' room

practice or practise

prepositions

ending a sentence

following a preposition (who or whom)

with verbs (preposition required or not)

prepositional phrases (e.g. box of tapes) singular or plural

principal and principle

provided or providing
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quantity, amount and number

question mark inside or outside of quotation

quotation marks

colon before a quotation

comma before a quotation

punctuation before the quotation or not

punctuation inside or outside the quotation

singular quotation marks within doubles

tautology (e.g. so-called "clean" hands)
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semicolon

before transitional phrases (e.g. ...in the end; as a result,)

before and (joining two sentences)

for introduction (misuse)

mistakenly using a colon in place of a semicolon

separating list items

too many semicolons

used to extend a sentence

sentences

capital letters (including quotations)

ending a sentence in a preposition

extending a sentence with a colon

extending a sentence with a dash

extending a sentence with a semicolon

extending a sentence with three dots

starting a new sentence after a comma

starting sentences with figures

should of

so (comma after)

south or South

speech marks

colon before a quotation

comma before a quotation

punctuation before the quotation or not

punctuation inside or outside the quotation

singular speech marks within doubles

tautology (e.g. so-called "clean" hands)

split infinitive (e.g. to really try)

spoonsful or spoonfuls

spring or Spring

subject (long) grouped with a comma

summer or Summer

superlatives and comparatives

most fastest (errors with adverbs)

most prettiest (errors with adjectives)
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temporal expressions (e.g. 3 years' insurance)

that, which and who (comma before or not)

their's

these kind of

they're, their or there

three dots used to extend a sentence

too or to
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up to, into and onto

uncle Joe or Uncle Joe
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verbs

dangling modifiers

preposition required or not

re-word to avoid a dangling modifier

using past gerunds (e.g. Having played all night, she...)

using present gerunds (e.g. Spotting her error, she...)

vocative case (e.g. John,)
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well-known actor or well known actor

west or West

whether or if

which, who and that (comma before or not)

who or whom

following a preposition (who or whom)

who (comma before or not)

who's and whose

winter or Winter

would of
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you and I or you and me

you're and your

your's
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