COMMON WRITING MISTAKES

By Nguyen Hien Hoa

Common mistakes
o Run-on sentences o Sentence fragments o Misplaced modifiers o Faulty parallelism o Others

Mistake 1: Run-on sentences

1. This next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, you should start studying right away. 2. Mr. Nguyen has sent his four children to ivy-league colleges, however, he has sacrificed his health working day and night in that dusty bakery.

Corrections
Change the comma into a full-stop, producing two separate sentences 1. Mr. Nguyen has sent his four children to ivy league colleges.

2. However, he has
sacrificed his health working day and night in that dusty industry.

Corrections
Change the comma into a semi-colon 1. The next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it; you should start studying right away. 2. Mr. Nguyen has sent his four children to ivy-league colleges; however, he has sacrificed his health working day and night in that dusty industry.

Corrections
Convert the independent clause into a dependent clause ( relative clause, adverb clause, noun clause) 1. Mr. Nguyen, who has sent his four children to ivy-league colleges, has sacrificed his health working day and night in that dusty bakery. 2. Because the next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, you should start studying right away.

Correction
Add coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, so, yet, or) 1. Mr. Nguyen has sent his four children to ivy-league colleges, but he has sacrificed his health working day and night in that dusty bakery. 2. The next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, so you should start studying right away.

Mistake 2: Sentence fragment

1. A story with deep thoughts and emotions. 2. I need to find a new roommate. Because the one I have now isn't working out too well. 3. The current city policy on housing is incomplete as it stands. Which is why we believe the proposed amendments should be passed. 4. The belief that because she is young, she cannot teach well.

Corrections
Add the verb or the subject to the sentence 1. She told a story with deep thoughts and emotions. 2. The belief that because she is young, she cannot teach well is wrong.

Corrections
Make the dependent clause a part of the sentence 1. I need to find a new roommate because the one I have now isnt working out well. 2. The current city policy on housing is incomplete as it stands, which is why we believe the proposed amendments should be passed.

Mistake 3: Misplaced modifiers

1. Flying for the first time, the roar of the jet engines intimidated the small child, and he grew frightened as the plane roared down the runway. 2. The book is written by Margaret Michel, being one of my favorites.

Corrections
1. Flying for the first time, the small child was intimidated by the roar of the jet engines, and he grew frightened as the plane roared down the runway. 2. Being one of my favorite, the book is written by Margaret Michel.

Mistake 4: Faulty parallelism

1. My hobbies include swimming, gardening and to read science fiction. 2. Unlike Johns cat, Lan is mischievous and greedy.

Correction
1. My hobbies include swimming, gardening and reading science fiction. 2. Unlike Johns cat, Lans cat is mischievous and greedy.

Other mistakes with

Inversion Almost Relative clause Adverb clause Noun clause