7.6 Common Mistakes in Writing

Here are some of the most common mistakes seen in college-level writing assignments. Remember to look for these as you are practicing proofreading.

Fragments

A fragment is a common error in which an incomplete sentence is presented as if it were complete. Some of the most common reasons, along with examples and suggested corrections, are as follows:

1. It’s just a phrase, probably one that should have been part of the previous sentence. Examples:

These fragments can often be fixed by simply attaching them with commas to the complete sentences that they refer to.

2. It’s only a dependent clause, which cannot stand alone as a sentence. Examples:

These fragments can often be fixed by simply using the rules above for Combining Clauses to attach them to the sentences they refer to.

3. It has an incorrect or incomplete verb. Examples:

Sometimes these fragments merely need the addition of the accidentally omitted verb (as with the third example). But other times these are caused by a deeper weakness in verb conjugation (as with the first two examples), which requires time dedicated to careful reading of good prose.

4. It’s missing a grammatical subject. Examples:

These fragments are often caused by accidental lapses in focus when drafting and can therefore be fixed by merely adding the intended subject.

Run-on Sentences

A run-on sentence is a common error in which two independent clauses are combined without any punctuation. Examples of run-on sentences:

Note that this error has nothing to do with the length of the sentence. There is no grammatical rule against long sentences. Instead, a run-on sentence is an error of combining complete ideas incorrectly, so a run-on sentence could be any length, as could a correct sentence.

Combining Clauses

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a functioning verb. Not all groups of words meet this special qualification. For example, a phrase is a group of words as well, but not all phrases contain subjects and verbs; some do and some don’t. Yet all clauses do, and any unit of words that contains a subject and a verb is a clause. Some clauses can stand alone as complete sentences, but some cannot because they depend on another clause. That means we have two types of clauses independent clauses and dependent clauses.

Once you can identify clauses as either independent or dependent, you can combine them according to the following rules:

Rule 1: If a dependent clause comes first and an independent clause comes second, combine them with a comma. Combining clauses in this way is called subordination. The type of sentence that does this is called a complex sentence.

Rule 2. If an independent clause comes first and a dependent clause comes second, combine them without adding anything in between. Combining clauses in this way is also called subordination. The type of sentence that does this is also called a complex sentence.

Rule 3: If both clauses are independent, combine them using either a semicolon, colon, or comma followed by one of these combining words, also known as coordinating conjunctions (this is the most common option). These are the only coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. No other words can apply to this rule. A common error is to treat a word such as because like a coordinating conjunction, but it is not, so that would be incorrect.

One way to learn these coordinating conjunctions is to remember the acronym fanboys. Each letter in fanboys can represent one of the coordinating conjunctions.

Comma Splices

A comma splice is a common error in which two independent clauses are combined by a comma only, which means that the comma is not followed by one of the necessary coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). Examples of comma splices:

Note that using only a comma is correct when combining some dependent clauses with independent clauses. Examples of correct sentences:

Examples of corrected sentences:

Concise Writing

The goal of concise writing is to use the most effective words. Concise writing does not always have the fewest words, but it always uses the strongest ones. Writers often fill sentences with weak or unnecessary words that can be deleted or replaced. Words and phrases should be deliberately chosen for the work they are doing. Like bad employees, words that don’t accomplish enough should be fired. When only the most effective words remain, writing will be far more concise and readable. By getting into the practice of using concise language now, you will be more equipped to write effective cover letters, professional emails, and workplace memos upon graduation.

If you are preparing an essay, report, or proposal, take the time to organize your thoughts in an outline before writing a rough draft. Read the draft aloud, either to yourself or to a colleague, and identify areas that are rambling or unclear. If you notice that a particular part of your report contains several sentences over twenty words, you should double-check that particular section to make certain that it is coherent and does not contain unnecessary prepositional phrases. Reading aloud sometimes helps detect unclear and wordy sentences. You can also ask a colleague to paraphrase your main points to ensure that the meaning is clear.

In most academic writing, avoid “I think” and “it may seem” statements. This weakens your argument when you are trying to sound academic and/ or authoritative. Instead, use strong language.

Sentence Variety

If your sentences or sentence structures are too repetitive they can become boring and monotonous for your readers. Writers often mistakenly believe that this technique makes the text clearer for the reader, but the result is a choppy, unsophisticated paragraph that does not grab the audience’s attention. When proofreading, try to read your sentences out loud to see if you notice certain words, sentence patterns, or phrases that you repeat frequently and in close proximity. Using a mixture of different sentence structures reduces repetition and adds emphasis to important points in the text.

In addition to varying sentence structure, consider varying the types of sentences you are using in a report or other workplace document. Most sentences are declarative, but a carefully placed question, exclamation, or command can pique colleagues’ interest, even if the subject material is fairly dry. Imagine that you are writing a budget analysis. Beginning your report with a rhetorical question, such as “Where is our money going?” or “How can we increase sales?” encourages people to continue reading to find out the answers. Although they should be used sparingly in academic and professional writing, questions or commands are effective rhetorical devices.

Voice in a sentence is either active or passive. This means that a sentence has either a direct or an indirect connection between the grammatical subject-verb pair and the real concepts behind the subject-verb pair.

In the sentence “I made mistakes,” the grammatical subject “I” connects directly to the real meaning, which is I, myself, the author. And the grammatical verb “made” connects directly to the real meaning, which is made, committed, did. This means that this sentence is in active voice. Active voice is the standard voice in college writing.

But in the sentence “Mistakes were made,” something different happens. The grammatical subject “mistakes” isn’t the real meaning of who made the mistakes. It connects only indirectly to the real meaning, which is I, myself, the author. And the grammatical verb “were made” allows this indirectness to happen, for it allows the subject to shift to a concept that gets acted upon, rather than something or someone doing the action. In other words, the real meaning of the subject is hidden. This means the sentence is in passive voice.

Typically, active voice is better for your sentences in college essays. It clarifies the ideas by getting you closer to saying what you mean. Passive voice often weakens your sentences by helping you avoid saying what you mean. However, as with all writing choices, this choice of voice should be guided by your subject, audience, and purpose. Some scenarios make passive voice a better option for clarity and directness. What’s most important as a writer is that you have the awareness and ability to use either voice.

Parallelism

Parallelism is the use of similar structures in related words, clauses, or phrases. It creates a sense of rhythm and balance within a sentence. As readers, we often correct faulty parallelism—a lack of parallel structure—intuitively because an unbalanced sentence sounds awkward and poorly constructed. Read the following sentences aloud:

All of these sentences contain faulty parallelism. In the first example, three different verb forms are used. In the second and third examples, the writer begins each sentence by using a noun (coordination, jeans), but ends with a phrase (to have good eyesight, wearing a suit). Now read the same three sentences that have correct parallelism.

Note that the goal in parallelism is not to use the one right type of construction (which type is your choice), but instead to make every item use the same construction.

When these sentences are written using a parallel structure, they sound more aesthetically pleasing because they are balanced. Repetition of grammatical construction also minimizes the amount of work the reader has to do to decode the sentence. This enables the reader to focus on the main idea in the sentence and not on how the sentence is put together.

A simple way to check for parallelism in your writing is to make sure you have paired nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases, and so on.