Common mistakes in students writing Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

1- Subject-verb Disagreement  The subject of a sentence should MATCH the type of verb used. Incorrect: He walk the dog. Correct: He walks the dog. Incorrect: They bats the ball. Correct: They bat the ball. Mistake # 1 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

The confusion usually comes with "he/she" types of subjects: First Person: 1) I - run 2) you - run 3) he/she - runs Second Person: 1) we - run 2) you - run 3) they - run Mistake # 1 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Present and past continuous confusion  In the Present continuous : Use ING after the ( is ) : She is work X She is work ing In the Present continuous : Use ING after the (was) She was work X She was work ing Mistake # 2 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Parallelism  When you write a sentence, two or more parts of the sentence that do the same thing should have structures that match. Their structures should be parallel.  This applies most clearly when you use more than one verb in the sentence, but it applies also to clauses and other words that perform similar functions. Mistake # 3 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Parallelism Errors in Verbs Incorrect: I like to play, to sing, and drawing. Correct: I like to play, to sing, and to draw. Mistake # 3 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Can you see the parallelism error in the following sentence? He is good at skating and to play baseball. Mistake # 3 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Adjective and Adverb Confusion  Adjectives : Modify nouns and pronouns The girl is beautiful Adverbs : Modify verbs. She sings loud X She sings loudly Mistake # 4 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Comma Splice  After each sentence put a (full stop).  If you have two sentences, each one should end with a full stop.  If you want to join them, add a conjunction, or joining word, like "and," "but," "or," "since," and so on.  Check the punctuation pattern sheet on the PNU writing studio. Mistake # 5 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Comma Splice Example: "I wrote my essay, I haven't turned it in." This example is made of two different sentences: Sentence #1: " I wrote my essay." Sentence #2: " I haven't turned it in." One way to make these into one sentence is to use the comma and a conjunction: Example: "I wrote my essay, but I haven't turned it in." Mistake # 5 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Mixing up between their and there There is a demonstrative. e.g There are thirty students in this class Their is a possessive e.g Their class, their house, their school. Mistake # 6 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Using S with verbs Only She/he/it take S She eats her breakfast Plural do not take S with verbs People hates having quizzes Mistake # 7 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Confusion in comparison In comparing: She is more good than her sister She is better than her sister She is more bad than her sister She is worse than her sister Mistake # 8 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Who / how How is an adverb which means “in what way or manner”. How are you? She showed me how to write an essay Who Is a pronoun “how which person you are talking about” This is the girl who passed with an A Mistake # 9 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Usage of determiners Every/each determiners that are followed by singular Every students in the class passed Every student in the class passed All determiner that is followed by plural All student in the class passed All students in the class passed Mistake # 10 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Usage of demonstratives This Pointing to singular (close) This students are smart This student is smart That Pointing to singular (far) That students are smart That student is smart These Pointing to plural ( far) These student is smart These students are smart Those Pointing to plural (close) Those student is smart Those students are smart Mistake # 11 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Its and It’s confusion Its Its is used for possessive e.g. Shopping online is money consuming. Its good price attracts many people.  It’s  An abbreviation for It is  Shopping online is widespread. It’s a new way to buy products. Mistake # 12 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Commas in counting When you have 2 First reason and second reason  When you have 3 or more  First reason, second reason and third reason Mistake # 13 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel

Lack of Subject verb agreement Have is for plural People have a lot of responsibilities  People has a lot of responsibilities  Has is for singular  Ahmad has three classes each day  Ahmad have three classes each day Mistake # 14 Ms.Hatoon Aljulayel