Common Errors in Writing

1
Common Errors in Writing
2
Then or than?

• Than is used to indicate comparison or degree
  His drive was longer than mine.
• Then is used to indicate time Then he putted
  out and won the tournament.

3
Quotation Marks and Other Punctuation

• ALL commas and periods should be placed inside
  the quotation marks.
• ALL colons and semicolons should be placed
  outside the quotation marks.

4
Quotation Marks and Other Punctuation

• Question marks and exclamation marks should be
  placed within the quotation marks when they apply
  only to the quoted material
• they should be placed outside when the entire
  sentence, including the quoted material, is a
  question or exclamation

5
Numbers When to spell out and when to write as
numbers?

• Always spell out numbers (including years) at the
  beginning of sentences.
• Within a sentence, spell the numbers zero
  through ninety-nine, and write the numbers 100
  and higher by using digits.

6
Good or Well?

• good is an adjective. It can only modify nouns
  and pronouns.
• Well is an adverb. It can only modify verbs,
  adjectives, and other adverbs.
• I scored good on my spelling test.(incorrect)
  The new car runs good. (incorrect)
• I scored well on my spelling test.(correct) The
  new car runs well.

7
Farther or Further?

• Use farther for physical distance
• use further for everything else
• (Newfoundland is farther than I thought) and
  further to refer to quantity, time, or degree
  (They progressed further on their research).

8
Different from or different than?

• The simple answer is that different from is
  almost always right, and different than is almost
  always wrong.

9
Can I or may I?

• Can implies ability 'Can you (are you able to)
  lift that heavy box
• May denotes permission May I (Have I permission
  to) go to the washroom?'"

10
Bad or badly?

• We use bad (an adjective) with linking verbs such
  as is, seems, feels, looks, or appears. Example
  "I feel bad that I missed the concert."
• We use the adverb badly with action verbs.
  Example "The new car steers badly."
• I feel badly" means my sense of touch is
  impaired. "He smells badly" means he can't detect
  the smell of his girlfriend's perfume, but "He
  smells bad" means he needs to shower and use
  deodorant.

11
Amount or Number?

• Amount should be used to refer to quantities that
  cannot be counted or cannot be expressed in terms
  of a single number. Example "Repairing power
  lines took a great amount of work
• Number is used for quantities that can be
  counted. Example "A large number of deer ate the
  corn."

12
All Ready or Already?

• All ready means "fully prepared." Example "The
  scouts were all ready for the test."
• Already means "previously." Example "The
  children were already in the pool when the guests
  arrived."

13
Affect or Effect?

• Affect is a verb meaning to 'influence
• Effect is a noun meaning 'a result
• CFCs may affect the deterioration of the ozone
  layer. The effect of that deterioration on global
  warming is uncertain.

14
Accept or Except?

• Accept is a verb meaning "to receive" or "to
  approve." Example "I accept your offer of the
  book."
• Except is a verb meaning "to leave out" or "to
  exclude." Example "He excepted all Corvettes
  from his list of favorite cars.
• Except can also be a preposition meaning
  "excluding" or "leaving out." Example "He liked
  everything on the plate except the liver."

15
A lot or Alot?

• A lot should be written as two words