Bedford’s 20 Most Common Errors

1. Bedford’s 20 Most Common Errors http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/everyday_writer3e/20errors/

2. Error #1 – Missing Comma After Introductory Element • To tell the truth, I have never liked the Mets. • Determined to get the job done, we worked all weekend. • Because of its isolation in a rural area surrounded by mountains, Crawford Notch doesn’t get many visitors.

3. Error #1 – Missing Comma After Introductory Element • Check your sentences to see which ones open with an introductory word, phrase, or clause. Readers usually need a small pause between the introductory element and the main part of the sentence, a pause most often signaled by a comma. Try to get into the habit of using a comma after every introductory element, be it a word, a phrase, or a clause. When the introductory element is very short, you don't always need a comma after it. But you're never wrong if you do use a comma. 

4. Error #2 – Vague Pronoun Reference • There are two common kinds of vague pronoun reference. The first occurs when there is more than one word that the pronoun might refer to; the second, when the reference is to a word that is implied but not explicitly stated.  Transmitting radio signals by satellite is a way of overcoming the problem of scarce airwaves and limiting how they are used. What is being limited—the signals or the airwaves? 

5. Error #2 – Vague Pronoun Reference Before Mary Grace physically and verbally assaulted Mrs. Turpin, she was a judgmental woman who created her own ranking system of people and used it to justify her self-proclaimed superiority. Whom does she refer to – Mary Grace or Mrs. Turpin?

6. Error #2 – Vague Pronoun Reference The troopers burned a refugee camp as a result of the earlier attack. This was the cause of the war. What does this refer to - the burning of the refugee camp or the earlier attack?

7. Error #3 – Missing Comma in a Compound Sentence Check to see how many of your sentences are compound sentences, sentences made up of two or more parts that could each stand alone as a sentence. When the parts are joined by for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so (FANBOYS), insert a comma to indicate a pause between the two thoughts. In very short sentences the comma is optional if the sentence can be easily understood without it. But you’re never wrong if you use the comma.

8. Error #3 – Missing Comma in a Compound Sentence • We wish dreamily upon a star and then we look down to find ourselves standing in mud. • We wish dreamily upon a star, and then we look down to find ourselves standing in mud. • The words “I do” may sound simple but they mean a life commitment. • The words “I do” may sound simple, but they mean a life commitment.

9. Error #4 – Wrong Word “Wrong word” errors come in many varieties. They can be among the hardest errors to check for, because you may not be able to see what’s wrong. They can involve mixing up words that sound somewhat alike, using a word with the wrong shade of meaning, or using a word with a completely wrong meaning.

10. Error #4 – Wrong Word their • The Pacers played there best, but that was not good enough. allusions • Paradise Lost contains many illusions to classical mythology. sedentary • Working at a computer all day often means being sedate for long periods of time.

11. Error #4 – Wrong Word • Accept / Except • Affect / Effect • A Lot / Alot • Allusion / Illusion • All Ready / Already • Altogether / All Together • Apart / A Part • Ascent / Assent • Breath / Breathe • Capital / Capitol • Cite / Sight / Site • Complement / Compliment • Conscience / Conscious • Council / Counsel • Elicit / Illicit • Eminent / Immanent / Imminent • Its / It's • Lead / Led • Lie / Lay • Lose / Loose • Novel • Passed / Past • Precede / Procede • Principal / Principle • Quote / Quotation • Reluctant / Reticent • Stationary / Stationery • Supposed To / Suppose • Than / Then • Their / There / They're • Through / Threw / Thorough / Though / Thru • To / Too / Two • Who / Which / That • Who / Whom

12. Error #5 – Missing comma with nonrestrictive element • Marina, who was the president of the club, was first to speak. The reader does not need the clause who was the president of the club to know the basic meaning of the sentence: who was first to speak. As a nonrestrictive (or nonessential) element, the clause is set off by commas.

13. Error #5 – Missing comma with nonrestrictive element • Louis was forced to call a session of the Estates General, which had not met for 175 years. The reader does not need the clause which had not met for 175 years to understand which assembly the sentence is talking about because the Estates General has already been named. The clause is not essential to the basic meaning of the sentence and should be set off by a comma.

14. Error #5 – Missing comma with nonrestrictive element • Kristin’s first doll, Malibu Barbie, is still her favorite. The reader knows which doll is Kristin’s favorite – her first one; Malibu Barbie is thus not essential to the meaning of the sentence and must be set off by commas. You can remove a nonessential clause from a sentence and still have a sentence which makes sense. Check to make sure you’ve used commas to set off any part of a sentence that tells more about a word in the sentence but that your reader does not need in order to understand the word or sentence.

15. Error #6 – Wrong or missing verb ending uses • Eliot use feline imagery throughout the poem. dropped • The United States drop two atomic bombs on Japan in 1945.

16. Error #7 – Wrong or missing preposition • We met in Union Street at San Francisco. • Nixon compared the United States with a ‘pitiful, helpful giant.’ • Who called the game yesterday?

17. Error #7 – Wrong or missing preposition • Check your draft by circling all the prepositions and making certain they are correct; specific prepositions express specific relationships. • Because many prepositions are short and not stressed in speech, they are often left out accidentally in writing. Proofread carefully.

18. Error #8 – Comma splice • Westward migration had passed Wyoming by, even the discovery of gold in nearby Montana failed to attract settlers. • I was strongly attracted to her, she had special qualities. • Kim drove to the Bay Area for the conference, John decided to fly.

19. Error #19 – Fused sentences (run-ons) • The current was swift he could not swim to shore. • Klee’s paintings seem simple they are very sophisticated. • She valued the benefits of meditation she decided to try it once. • I like the movie very much it made me laugh throughout.

20. Comma splices and Fused sentences • Check all the commas used in your draft for comma splices, which occur only when a comma separates clauses that could each stand alone as a sentence. • Check all the sentences in your draft to make sure they are not fused sentences, also known as run-ons. Fused sentences are created when independent clauses are joined with no punctuation or words to connect them.

21. Comma splices and Fused sentences • To correct a comma splice or fused sentence, you can: • Insert a semicolon or period • Add a coordinating conjunction (fanboys: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) • Add a subordinating conjunction (although, while). This can be tricky! main clause + Ø + subordinate clause. subordinate clause + , + main clause. • Restructure the sentence • Good writers use a variety of patterns!

22. Comma splices and Fused sentences • Subordinating conjunctions: afteralthoughasbecausebeforeeven ifeven thoughifin order that onceprovided thatrather thansinceso thatthanthatthoughunless untilwhenwheneverwherewhereaswhereverwhetherwhilewhy

23. Error #9 – Missing or misplaced possessive apostrophe • Overambitious parents can be very harmful to a childs well-being. • Ron Guidry was once one of the Yankee’s most electrifying pitchers. • Garnet Hill is pleased to announce it’s spring white sale.

24. Error #9 – Missing or misplaced possessive apostrophe Check your nouns ending in –s to see if any of them are possessives. To make a noun possessive, you must add either an apostrophe and an –s (Ed’s book) or an apostrophe alone (the boys’ gym). Possessive personal pronouns do NOT take apostrophes: hers, his, its, ours, yours.

25. Error #10 – Unnecessary shift in tense • Joy laughs until she cries at that episode of Seinfeld.\ • Lucy was watching the great blue heron take off. Then she slips and falls into the swamp. • Kathy is in charge of finance; she will always keep her office locked.

26. Error #10 – Unnecessary shift in tense Check to make sure verb tenses in your sentences work together appropriately. When you shift from one tense to another for no clear reason, you confuse your readers.

27. Error #11 – Unnecessary shift in pronoun • When one first sees a painting by Georgia O’Keeffe, you are impressed by a sense of power and stillness. • If we had known about the ozone layer, you could have banned aerosol sprays long ago. • The student needs to pack their bag with all the necessary supplies for the trip.

28. Error #11 – Unnecessary shift in pronoun Check pronouns in your drafts for unnecessary shifts… the most common pronoun shift is from one to you or I or from singular to their.

29. Error #12 – Sentence Fragment No Subject: Marie Antoinette spent huge sums of money on herself and her favorites. Helped bring on the French Revolution. No Complete Verb: The old aluminum boat sitting on its trailer.

30. Error #12 – Sentence Fragment Beginning with Subordinating Word: We returned to the drugstore. Where we waited for our parents. When read out of normal order, fragments stand out clearly. Read your draft backwards, sentence by sentence, to identify fragments.

31. Error #13 – Wrong tense or verb form • By the time Ian arrived, Bill died. • The Greeks builded a wooden horse that the Trojans taked in to the city. Errors of wrong tense or form include using a verb that does not indicate clearly when an action or condition is, was, or will be completed, as well as confusing the forms of irregular verbs.

32. Error #14 – Lack of subject-verb agreement • A central part of my life goals have been to go to law school. • Two main goals of my life is to be generous and to have no regrets. • The senator and her husband commutes every day from suburban Maryland. • Neither peanut nor wheat are used in the recipe. • My brothers or my sister commute every day from Louisville. • The committee was taking all the responsibility themselves. • The committee were honored for its fund-raising.

33. Error #15 – Missing Comma in a Series • Sharks eat mostly squid, shrimp, crabs and other fish. • When 3 or more items appear in a series, they should be separated from one another with commas. You’ll never be wrong to use a series comma because a sentence can be ambiguous without one.

34. Error #16 – Lack of Agreement between Pronoun and Antecedent • Each of the puppies thrived in their new home. • Neither Jane nor Susan felt that they had been treated fairly. • The team frequently changed its positions to get varied experience. • Every student must provide their own uniform. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in gender and in number.

35. Error #17 – Unnecessary comma(s) with a restrictive element • People, who wanted to preserve wilderness areas, opposed the plan to privatize national parks. • Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello, deals with the dangers of jealousy. Check any words or phrases set off with commas to make sure that the element set off is not one that is essential to the basic meaning of the sentence.

36. Error #18 – Misplaced or Dangling Modifier • They could see the eagles swooping and diving with binoculars. • He had decided he wanted to be a doctor when he was ten years old. • The architect only considered using pine paneling. • A doctor should check your eyes for glaucoma every year if over fifty. • Looking down the sandy beach, people are tanning themselves. Modifiers must be as close as possible to the word they describe or relate to. Modifiers must refer to some other word in the sentence.

37. Error #20 – Its/It’s Confusion • The car is lying on it’s side in the ditch. • Its a white 1986 Buick. Use its to mean belonging to; use it’s only when you mean it is or it has.