How To Avoid Grammatical Mistakes In English?

How often do you feel like you have to play catch-up whenever it comes to implementing new technological tools in the classroom? Know that you are not alone. That's how a lot of educators feel, but thankfully there are methods to employ in the classroom with technology that can alleviate some of the stress. In this article, we'll go through a few of them. Read on whether you're interested in boosting student interest or just want some time-saving tips.

How to Correct Common Grammar and Spelling Mistakes

Avoid Depending on Grammar and Spell Checking Tools

While spell check might be a useful technological tool, we also know that it has its limitations. What's worse is that it isn't always correct. And the so-called grammar checker in Microsoft Word... I'm guessing you've seen some photographs that speak to its "usefulness," such as the ones below:

Check It Over With a Reliable Source

Have a reliable friend or colleague read over your application materials (cover letter, essay, and resume) before you hit "Send" or hand them in by hand. It's easy to notice typos, weird sentences, and other blunders when staring at the exact piece of work for hours on end. If you bring in a new pair of eyes, you'll see them right away. They may also offer suggestions for how you might enhance your writing.

Don’t Check for Mistakes as Soon as You’re Done Writing.

When it comes to proofreading, it's best to wait until you've had some distance from the work. You may not see the faults because your writing is so familiar to you, or your brain may rapidly correct the inaccuracies and trick your eyes into thinking they were never there. Taking a break is the most direct method of avoiding this issue. Have a stroll. Have a nice, long shower. Get comfortable in front of the TV and take in multiple episodes of your current show of choice. You should take some time off.

Try something that will keep you away from the internet for a while, since this will help you forget what you've read and allow you to approach it with fresh eyes when you return. Although some people can finish proofreading in under an hour, others find that they need to wait until the next day to get started. Determine your most effective time management strategy, such as starting your writing early to allow for adequate time for editing and proofreading, and stick to it.

Your Essay Should Be Proofread "Backwards," From the End to the Beginning

People who can't afford to follow Tip #3 will find this approach useful. The paper is needed in five minutes, and you haven't even had opportunity to go for walk or have a shower because you procrastinated or miscalculated how long it would take. Now what? Instead of taking a chance and handing in an unpolished draught, try reading your essay "backwards," starting with the last phrase and working your way up. This may not be the most pleasant way, but it is really effective; the strangeness of the exercise, paired with the strangeness of each line afterwards, will make your work seem "fresh." You should try it out and see whether you like it.

Consult a Dictionary

Perhaps one members of staff is already "reading" a dictionary this year, which some of you may recall from our essay on the value of reading books. His goal was to broaden his vocabulary to include unusual and intriguing terms like "abapical," which he had never encountered before. A dictionary is the best resource for ensuring correct spelling. There are many dictionaries available online:

Writing Errors That Are Often Made

Adverb Abuse

In English, adverbs are words that modify verbs and usually finish in -ly. The occasional use is fine, but too many of them point to sloppy verb selection. The adverb "very fast" enhances the meaning of the verb "ran" in our example; however, does it get a more vibrant word picture for the reader? Suggest a more exciting verb such as "sprinted" instead.

Overuse of Prepositions

Prepositions are words that are typically placed in front of pronouns and nouns to indicate movement, place, or time. Excessive use of prepositional phrases, such as "over the top" or "of the hill" in the first line, will make your writing cumbersome. It's best to keep things as easy as possible.

Squinting Adjectives

Squinting modifiers are those that, depending on their placement in the sentence, can affect either the phrase before or after them. To fix a squinting modifier, shift it so that it clearly modifies the word you intend (in the following statement, is the subject slowly listening to music or slowly suffering a headache?).

Mistake using Lie or Lay

The intransitive verb "lie" denotes that it does not require an object, so it can be used to describe simply stretching out on the bed for a nap. The transitive verb "lay," on the other hand, is used to place or set an object elsewhere, like plates on a table. The verb "laid" is a transitive one, therefore it takes an object.

The "lay" or "lie" thing may require some getting accustomed to; after all, they are frequently misused. But if you thrown aside your spoon before you're full, you can avoid having to take a nap because of a food coma.

Confusing Pronoun Use

Readers need to know who is being referred to when you employ these pronouns "her" or "him." An unindicated pronoun creates room for interpretation.

Our illustrative sentence for ambiguous pronouns leaves the reader wondering whoever the second "he" refers to. Is John the one who got in the way or is there another he at play here? The updated example makes clear that "he" relates to Tim, the card-blocking Helga. Verify that every pronoun you use has a proper antecedent.

Split Infinitives

Splice is a verb that implies to link or connect. A comma splice occurs when a writer combines two whole sentences into one without using a stop or coordinating conjunction. People tend to either use too many commas or none at all. Using commas to create natural breaks in a sentence makes reading more enjoyable. Commas, like apostrophes, can completely alter the meaning of a sentence and makes reading a nightmare if they are used incorrectly.

The comma serves several purposes, but joining two complete thoughts isn't one of them. The period is especially irritated when the comma overshadows him. Both periods and commas are necessary in some contexts, but they should never work together outside of a semicolon. Also, semicolons can be used in place of coordinating conjunctions like "and," "but," "so," and others.

Fragmented Sentences

By squishing together two full sentences without the need for a dependent clause or the appropriate marking, like a comma or a semicolon, we produce run-on sentences, also referred as fused sentences. Depending on the context, run-on phrases can be either very brief or quite lengthy. But not every extremely lengthy sentence is a run-on.

Check to check if two or more clauses can convey more than one concept to avoid run-on sentences.

Confused and Inflated Sentences

Spit it out if you have anything to say to the people who are reading your work (figuratively, not literally). Convoluting your sentences with meaningless filler just obscures your intended meaning. Readers become increasingly annoyed by overly wordy statements, so cut to the chase. Reduce the number of adverbs and adjectives in favour of more powerful verbs and nouns to achieve sentence clarity.

Wit is in the ability to say little but say it well, as Shakespeare once put it. Don't use ten words when two would do, as Bard did. Avoid using filler words like "that," "just," and "very" and proofread frequently to maintain lean, muscular text.

Changing “Could Have” to “Could Of”

"Could have" is never an acceptable alternative; the right phrase is "could have." This grammatical error is probably made by writers because, when we talk, the abbreviation "could've" sounds a lot like the phrase "could of." Writers make this mistake because of this.

Tautologies

To avoid a tautology, try to communicate the same idea in several ways. The term "made" suggests that Jack fashioned the pail with his own two hands in this illustration. The redundant phrase "with his own two hands" is distracting. It's entertaining to find tautologies like "ruins," "proximity," "bonus," and "big crowd" when you understand what they are.

Apostrophes That Need to Be Added or Removed

A contracted term may have an apostrophe to denote ownership or to serve as a substitute for a missing letter. However, individuals frequently mix up these, and as a result, they either fail to utilise them or place them in the incorrect location. Both of these mistakes have the potential to completely alter the meaning of a phrase.

Modifiers That Are Out of Place

A modifier is a word, phrase, or sentence that provides more context for another word, phrase, or clause. Misplaced or dangling modifiers occur when the modifying word is not immediately preceding the word it is modifying. These blunders not only make the text difficult to understand but also seem odd or even absurd.

These clauses are usually found at the start or end of a sentence and are ambiguous adjectival clauses that don't accurately change the target word or phrase.

If you say something like, "The fruit had been decaying in the refrigerator, so our office manager tossed it out," readers can get the impression that your boss is a brain-eating zombie.

Put the modifying clause immediately right next to the phrase or word it qualifies. The proper form goes as follows: "Our office manager put the fruit, which had gone bad in the fridge, in the trash."

All By Myself And I

Likewise, the examination of subject/object relations includes the decision of whether to utilize me, myself, or I. In every other context, "me" refers to an object and "I" to a subject. In addition, "myself" should only be used after a previous reference to the speaker. A reflexive pronoun is one that replaces another pronoun in the same sentence. So, "I cooked myself breakfast" rather than "my friend and I prepared lunch."

When deciding which pronoun to use when the context involves "someone else and me/I," remove the other person from the statement. Is it appropriate to use "I went for lunch" instead of "my colleague and I went for lunch" in the following sentence? If so, you're good to go.

The Use of Irregular Verbs

There are quite a few unexpected aspects to the English language. Although we are unable to provide a complete list of irregular verbs, you should be conscious that they do exist. For instance, there is no such thing as the past tense of the word "broadcast," because "broadcasted" is not a word. Instead, you would say something like, "Yesterday, CNN aired a show."

Verbs such as "hang" and "sneak" are examples of irregular verbs. Due to the large nature of the number of irregular verbs and the various ways in which they can be conjugated, you will need to investigate each one separately.

"Nor" Vs. "Or"

When introducing the first of two options, use "neither," and when introducing the second or further option, use "nor." It functions similarly to the word "or" in negative phrases, and its presence is not voluntary. As an illustration, you may say something like, "Neither my manager nor I comprehend the new programme."

You may also use nor in conjunction with a negative initial clause or sentence that includes the word "not," as in the example sentence "Neither my boss nor I understood the programme."

"Then" Vs. "Than"

The difference in these two words can be summarised as follows: When talking about the past or the future, use "then." Include "than" in comparisons, such as "We had a conference, and afterwards we went to lunch." For example: "We had a conference, and afterwards we went to lunch." This meeting was significantly more fruitful than the one that came before it.

Sentences that End in Prepositions

In the first place, you shouldn't necessarily do it. Second, for the uninitiated, prepositions are terms like, "The squirrel ran past, through, up, under, around the tree," etc.

It's horrible to say anything like, "My supervisor explained business policy, that we had to comply by." The preposition can usually be moved to the start of the clause without changing the meaning. Try rephrasing the sentence as "My manager explained the mandatory business policy" instead of saying something like "My boss outlined company's policies, by which we had to obey."

Verbal Agreement with Objects and Nouns

Despite first impressions, most plural subjects require verbs without a "s," as in "she types" but "they type." Pronoun agreement only becomes an issue when a possessive pronoun is added to the sentence. They both use keyboards to create text on their respective computers.

Your Vs. You're

Having something and being something are two different things.

You're fast; you completed the lap in under a minute.

Where do you stand in terms of your fast? Can you feel your stomach growling?

Do you see what I mean? You're short for "you are," while "your" indicates possession.

If you're having difficulties remembering which is which, run a grammatical check once more before hitting the "publish" button.

Passive Voice

Passive voice occurs when a sentence has an object, or a noun that is the recipient of the verb's action. A sentence is passive when the subject comes first in the construction rather than last. When you use passive voice in your writing, you make yourself sound unconfident and muddle the message.
"Passive is used when the subject of the phrase comes before the verb rather than after it."

There is excessive use of passive voice. You can see that there is no subject in this sentence to perform an action on the object. As it stands, the statement is unclear and clumsy because the object is being "placed at the beginning."

When the subject of the sentence is an object or term that is being acted upon, this is known as the "passive voice." Most of the time, the object of a phrase comes at the conclusion of the construction, after the verb. Readers will appreciate your careful attention to detail in the long run if you avoid the pitfalls of passive voice and instead focus on being explicit.

Rephrasing in the active voice:

When the subject of a phrase is placed before the verb, the style is called passive.

It is clear that "the writer" is the topic of this sentence because it is doing the work of describing the object.

Conclusion

While grammar and spell check software can be helpful, it isn't perfect. The simplest way to prevent typos and other types of errors is to take a break. Before you send in your application, you might want to run it by someone you trust. "Backwards" proofreading entails beginning with the final phrase of the essay and working your way to the beginning. Using so many prepositional words in the opening sentence, like "over the top" and "of the hill," is awkward.

The finest tool for ensuring proper spelling is a dictionary. Squinting modifiers are ones that can change the meaning of the phrase before or after them, depending on where they appear in the sentence. Because "lay" is an intransitive verb, it can be used to indicate merely stretched out on the bed for a nap without referring to anything else. To avoid the necessity for a semicolon or dependent clause, two complete sentences are combined into one run-on sentence. Throwing in a bunch of filler words will just make your sentences more complicated and confuse the reader.

Before you push "Send" on your application materials, have a trusted friend or colleague look them through. The best way to catch typos in your essay is to read it "backwards," or from the end to the beginning. While some people may be able to complete the proofreading process in about an hour, others may need to set aside the entire day. The finest tool for checking spelling and punctuation is a dictionary. Your writing will become clumsy if you employ too many prepositional phrases.