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on the wrath of the UK’s army of grammar pedants, and it’s mainly because they
weren’t taught properly at school. But for you, help is at hand. So that you can learn
the rules from the word go, we’ve put together this guide to some of the most common
mistakes people make when writing in English. Learn them all, and you’ll get your
knowledge of English off to a better start than most Brits! Even if you’re a native
speaker, you may find some useful advice here to make your use of English the best
it can be.
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1. Misplaced apostrophes
Apostrophes aren’t difficult to use once you know how, but putting them in the wrong
place is one of the most common grammar mistakes in the English language. Many
people use an apostrophe to form the plural of a word, particularly if the word in
question ends in a vowel, which might make the word look strange with an S added to
make it plural.
The rules:
The rules:
Your beautiful
Do you know when your coming over?
Can I have one of you’re biscuits?
How to do it properly:
You’re beautiful
Do you know when you’re coming over?
Can I have one of your biscuits?
3. Its/it’s
We said earlier that apostrophes should be used to indicate possession, but there is
one exception to this rule, and that is the word “it”. Unsurprisingly, this exception gets
lots of people confused.
The rules:
The rules:
When people write “should of”, what they really mean is “should have”.
Written down, the shortened version of “should have” is “should’ve”.
“Should’ve” and “Should have” are both correct; the latter is more formal.
How not to do it:
The rules:
The rules:
The rules:
The rules:
I’m to hot
It’s time two go
I’m going too town
He bought to cakes
How to do it properly:
The rules:
The rules:
When referring to yourself and someone else, put their name first in the sentence.
Choose “me” or “I” by removing their name and seeing which sounds right.
For example, with the sentence “John and I are off to the circus”, you wouldn’t say “me
is off to the circus” if it was just you; you’d say “I am off to the circus”. Therefore when
talking about going with someone else, you say “John and I”.
You only use “myself” if you’ve already used “I”, making you the subject of the
sentence.
How not to do it:
The rules:
“Invite” is a verb – “to invite”. It refers to asking someone if they’d like to do something
or go somewhere.
“Invitation” is a noun – “an invitation”. It refers to the actual message asking someone
if they’d like to do something or go somewhere.
How not to do it:
The rules:
The rules:
The rules:
I.e. means “that is” or “in other words”. It comes from the Latin words “id est”.
E.g. means “for example”. It comes from the Latin words “exempli gratia”.
Only use “i.e.” and “e.g.” when writing informally. In formal documents, such as essays,
it is better to write out the meanings (“for example” or “that is”).
How not to do it: