Grammar and Style Guide: 40 Common Writing Errors
This guide highlights 40 common writing errors and provides solutions for improving your writing style and clarity.
Active Voice and Concise Writing
1. **My office has acquired all of the necessary documents.** (Active voice!)
2. **We require our employees to maintain a professional demeanor to ensure that patients are treated appropriately at all times.** (No apostrophe in demeanor, and avoid gendered language.)
Punctuation and Comma Usage
3. **If you’re concerned about mosquitoes and the diseases they carry, you can treat your lawn with chemical repellents and purchase mosquito-repellent plants, such as lantana, citronella geraniums, lemongrass, and various herbs.** (Use commas to separate items in a list.)
4. **Whenever you are sick, we are here to treat you promptly, with attention, and care, 24/7, 365 days a year.** (Use commas to separate independent clauses and phrases.)
5. **Although seamless rain gutters are more costly than seamed gutters, they prevent soil erosion and protect expensive landscaping, so they are worth the investment.** (Use commas to separate introductory phrases and clauses.)
6. **The contract is worth $800 million.** (Use numerals for large numbers.)
7. **We have examined our findings; clearly, the accounting department is at fault; however, it is not yet clear which individual accountant made the error.** (Use semicolons to separate independent clauses.)
Verb Tense and Agreement
8. **The search committee has decided to recommend a candidate for the open teaching position.** (Use the correct verb tense.)
9. **In my opinion, our clerk stole money twice from the cash drawer.** (Start a sentence with”In my opinio” only when necessary.)
10. **The three documents required for a job search include an application letter, a resume, and a follow-up letter or email.** (Use commas to separate items in a list.)
11. **To avoid losing sight of the many individuals working for you as a CEO of a large corporation, you must stay in tune with all facets of the business.** (Use the correct spelling of”losin” and avoid unnecessary apostrophes.)
Clarity and Conciseness
12. **A visual’s spacing allows for uncluttered, clear messages.** (Use clear and concise language.)
13. **The recommendation rests on two conditions. First, we must expand staff to handle the increased workload. Second, we must provide sufficient time.** (Use clear and concise language.)
14. **Before submitting the annual budget, the department chair must justify any new budget categories.** (Avoid unnecessary words and phrases.)
15. **We should pay subcontractors promptly. Then, if we have a subsequent emergency, they will likely accept the job.** (Avoid unnecessary words and phrases.)
16. **Our statistical data does not support additional meat options in the company cafeteria.** (Use clear and concise language.)
17. **The best closing for a business letter is “Sincerely,” followed by a comma.** (Use quotation marks for direct quotes.)
Comma Usage and Sentence Structure
18. **Taking great care not to inhale, the elderly couple rushed through.** (Use a comma after an introductory phrase.)
19. **The company’s sales representatives should study the market…** (Use correct capitalization and punctuation.)
20. **Anderson’s Bar and Grill promises a fine dining experience that you will want to share with your friends, family, and business associates on those special occasions when nothing less will do.** (Use commas to separate items in a list.)
21. **Please accept our condolences for your grandfather’s death.** (Use correct capitalization and punctuation.)
22. **To streamline business, the new bookstore makes all textbooks available for online purchases.** (Use commas to separate introductory phrases.)
23. **Employed persons seeking a job have more success than do unemployed persons with no job history.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
24. **For safety, we propose installing…** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
25. **Applicants should attempt to customize their job search documents in order to have a more effective interview process.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
26. **Dr. Thomas left work early because he had the flu.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
Sentence Structure and Clarity
27. **Bateman Education, Inc. provides a wide range of higher education products and services, as well as workforce training, that will keep your employees professionally superior.** (Use commas to separate items in a list.)
28. **While pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice…** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
29. **Instead of automatically firing weak employees, the administration should consider the poor leadership…** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
30. **Our company will try to gather evidence from the rubble.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
31. **For flower and vegetable gardens, you can mix crushed eggshells and coffee grounds into the soil to deter snails and slugs; an open container of beer recessed into the ground will also rid your garden of these pests.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
32. **When a writer and a reader do not know each other personally…** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
33. **During the Skype interview, the applicant’s comments were unfocused, so we did not give him a second interview.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
34. **I paid $253 and now request either my merchandise or a full refund.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
35. **With my foreign relations experience, I can contribute immediately to your European office.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
36. **To work for the company, you must possess the ability to work with a team in a fast-paced environment.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
37. **Be careful not to lose sight of your audience as you write the cover letter.** (Use correct spelling and grammar.)
38. **Pressure-treated wood is the best option for Louisiana residents to use in outdoor building projects as it repels decay in humid climates.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
39. **The search committee members will read your resume once your job application letter is deemed acceptable.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)
40. **Duncan, Levine, and Stevens will attend the conference in San Francisco this year.** (Use correct grammar and punctuation.)