Most Common Grammatical

Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

(Part I)
1. Its/its
Apostrophes should be used to indicate possession, but there is one
exception to this rule, and that is the word it. Unsurprisingly, this exception
gets lots of people confused.
The rules:

Its is only ever used when short for it is.

Its indicates something belonging to something that isnt masculine

or feminine (like his and hers, but used when youre not talking
about a person).

If it helps, remember that inanimate objects cant really possess

something in the way a human can.

How not to do it:

Its snowing outside

The sofa looks great with its new cover

How to do it properly:

Its snowing outside

The sofa looks great with its new cover

2. Could/would/should of
This common mistake arises because the contracted form of could have
couldve sounds a bit like could of when you say it out loud. This
mistake is made frequently across all three of these words.
The rules:

When people write should of, what they really mean is should
have.

Written down, the shortened version of should have is shouldve.

Shouldve and Should have are both correct; the latter is more
formal.

How not to do it:

We could of gone there today

I would of done it sooner

You should of said

How to do it properly:

We couldve gone there today

I would have done it sooner

You shouldve said

3. There/their/theyre
Weve met this one before, too; its another example of those pesky
homophones words that sound the same but have different meanings.
The rules:

Use there to refer to a place that isnt here over there.

We also use there to state something There are no cakes left.

Their indicates possession something belonging to them.

Theyre is short for they are.

How not to do it:

Their going to be here soon

We should contact theyre agent

Can we use there boat?

Their is an argument that says

How to do it properly:

Theyre going to be here soon

We should contact their agent

Can we use their boat?

There is an argument that says

4. Fewer/less
The fact that many people dont know the difference between fewer and
less is reflected in the number of supermarket checkout aisles designated
for 10 items or less. The mistake most people make is using less when
they actually mean fewer, rather than the other way round.
The rules:

Fewer refers to items you can count individually.

Less refers to a commodity, such as sand or water, that you cant

count individually.

How not to do it:

There are less cakes now

Ten items or less

How to do it properly:

There are fewer cakes now

Ten items or fewer

Less sand

Fewer grains of sand

5. Amount/number

These two work in the same way as less and fewer, referring respectively
to commodities and individual items.
The rules:

Amount refers to a commodity, which cant be counted (for instance

water).

Number refers to individual things that can be counted (for example

birds).

How not to do it:

A greater amount of people are eating more healthily

How to do it properly:

A greater number of people are eating more healthily

The rain dumped a larger amount of water on the country than is

average for the month

6. To/two/too
Its easy to see why people get this one wrong, but theres no reason why
you should.
The rules:

To is used in the infinitive form of a verb to talk.

To is also used to mean towards.

Too means also or as well.

Two refers to the number 2.

How not to do it:

Im to hot

Its time two go

Im going too town

He bought to cakes

How to do it properly:

Im too hot

Its time to go

Im going to town

He bought two cakes

7. Then/than
Confusion between then and than probably arises because the two look
and sound similar.
The rules:

Than is used in comparisons.

Then is used to indicate something following something else in time,

as in step-by-step instructions, or planning a schedule (well go there
then there).

How not to do it:

She was better at it then him

It was more then enough

How to do it properly:

She was better at it than him

It was more than enough

Well go to the baker first, then the coffee shop

8. Me/myself/I
The matter of how to refer to oneself causes all manner of conundrums,
particularly when referring to another person in the same sentence. Heres
how to remember whether to use me, myself or I.
The rules:

When referring to yourself and someone else, put their name first in
the sentence.

Choose me or I by removing their name and seeing which sounds

right.

For example, with the sentence John and I are off to the circus, you
wouldnt say me is off to the circus if it was just you; youd say I am
off to the circus. Therefore when talking about going with someone
else, you say John and I.

You only use myself if youve already used I, making you the
subject of the sentence.

How not to do it:

Me and John are off to the circus

Myself and John are going into town

Give it to John and I to look after

How to do it properly:

John and I are off to the circus

John and I are going into town

Give it to John and me to look after

Ill deal with it myself

I thought to myself

9. Invite/invitation
This mistake is now so common that its almost accepted as an alternative,
but if you really want to speak English properly, you should avoid it.
The rules:

Invite is a verb to invite. It refers to asking someone if theyd like

to do something or go somewhere.

Invitation is a noun an invitation. It refers to the actual message

asking someone if theyd like to do something or go somewhere.

How not to do it:

I havent responded to her invite yet.

She sent me an invite.

How to do it properly:

I havent responded to her invitation yet.

She sent me an invitation.

Im going to invite her to join us.

10. Who/whom
Another conundrum arising from confusion over how to refer to people. There
are lots in the English language!
The rules:

Who refers to the subject of a sentence; whom refers to the object.

Who and whom work in the same way as he or him. You can
work out which you should use by asking yourself the following:

Who did this? He did so who is correct. Whom should I invite?

Invite him so whom is correct.

That is often used incorrectly in place of who or whom. When

referring to a person, you should not use the word that.

How not to do it:

Who shall I invite?

Whom is responsible?

He was the only person that wanted to come

How to do it properly:

Whom shall I invite?

Who is responsible?

He was the only person who wanted to come

11. Affect/effect
Its an easy enough mistake to make given how similar these two words look
and sound, but theres a simple explanation to help you remember the
difference.
The rules:

Affect is a verb to affect meaning to influence or have an impact

on something.

Effect is the noun a positive effect referring to the result of being

affected by something.

There is also a verb to effect, meaning to bring something about

to effect a change. However, this is not very commonly used, so
weve left it out of the examples below to avoid confusion.

How not to do it:

He waited for the medicine to have an affect

They were directly effected by the flooding

How to do it properly:

He waited for the medicine to have an effect

They were directly affected by the flooding

12. I.e. and e.g.

These two abbreviations are commonly confused, and many people use them
interchangeably. However, their uses are very different.
The rules:

I.e. means that is or in other words. It comes from the Latin words
id est.

E.g. means for example. It comes from the Latin words exempli
gratia.

Only use i.e. and e.g. when writing informally. In formal documents,
such as essays, it is better to write out the meanings (for example or
that is).

How not to do it:

He liked many different cheeses, i.e. cheddar, camembert and brie.

He objects to the changes e.g. he wont be accepting them.

How to do it properly:

He liked many different cheeses, e.g. cheddar, camembert and brie.

He objects to the changes i.e. he wont be accepting them.

Labels: Business English, Common Grammatical Mistakes, English Grammar, English Writing