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By Laurie Rozakis
In English Grammar for the Utterly Confused. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2003. PP. 77-93.
When someone complains that a person “can’t write,” they are most often referring to errors that person makes in grammar and usage. Below are the top 25 writing hot spots.
I. Grammar and Usage
1. Lack of clarity
Incorrect: Prehistoric people used many inorganic substances difficult to find at archaeological sites, which included clay and rock.
Correct: Prehistoric people used many inorganic substances, including clay and rock, which are difficult to find at archaeological sites.
Sentences can be confusing for many different reasons. In the previous example, too many phrases come between the pronoun and its antecedent. As a result, the pronoun reference gets confusing. This can happen even if the intervening material is logically related to the rest of the sentence, as is the case here. Here’s the quick and dirty lowdown:
One sentence = one complete thought. Don’t cram too much into one sentence.
The more complex your ideas, the shorter and more simple your sentences should be.
Check that all parts of the sentence are logically related. Are they in the same tense,for example?
Reread your sentences to make sure all pronouns refer to their antecedents and are placed as close as possible to them.
Check that you have punctuated your sentences correctly.
2. Redundancy (unnecessary words)
Incorrect: If you reread your work, you will find upon serious reconsideration that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by careful editing and revising and attentive reevaluation. Scrupulous editing can also help you make your writing less wordy.
Correct: If you reread your work, you will find that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by careful editing.
Long-winded writing may sound educated and impressive, but it actually turns off your audience because it wastes their time. Say what you need to say concisely. Since your writing will be more intelligible, it will communicate its message directly.
3. Problems with subject-verb agreement
Incorrect: Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
Correct: Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
Agreement means that sentence parts match, singular to singular and plural to plural.
Since the subject verbs is plural, it takes a plural verb, agree.
This is confusing because we add -s or -es to make the third-person singular form of most verbs but add -s or -es to make the plural form of most nouns. For example, he starts is singular, but six papers is plural. Both end in s.
Parallel: To avoid getting hit by lightning, never seek protection under a tree, lie down on wet ground, or stay on a bike.
Parallel structure means putting ideas of the same rank in the same grammatical structure.
Your writing (and speech) should have parallel words, phrases, and clauses.
Parallel words share the same part of speech (such as nouns, adjectives, or verbs) and tense (if the words are verbs).
Parallel phrases create an underlying rhythm in your speech and writing.
Parallel clauses also give your writing balance.
5. Wrong verb tense
Incorrect: President John Quincy Adams owns a pet alligator, which he kept in the East Room of the White House.
Correct: President John Quincy Adams owned a pet alligator, which he kept in the East Room of the White House.
The tense of a verb shows its time. English has six verb tenses. Each of the six tenses has two forms: basic and progressive (also known as “perfect”). In the example here, the action takes place in the past, so the past tense must be used.
6. Mixed metaphors
Incorrect: Take the bull by the toe.
Correct: Take the bull by the horns.
Metaphors are figures of speech that compare two unlike things to explain the lessfamiliar object. When used correctly, metaphors make your writing more descriptive and precise. In most instances, metaphors use words for more than their literal meaning. Here, for example, we’re not literally talking about grabbing a bull by the horns; rather,we’re figuratively talking about seizing an opportunity. For a metaphor to be effective, it must compare images or objects that go together. Here,for instance, we would grab a bull’s horns, not its toes. When two clashing images are combined in one comparison, we get a mixed metaphor, which confuses readers.
7. Dangling modifiers
Incorrect: Flying over the countryside, cars and houses looked like toys.
Correct: As we flew over the countryside, cars and houses looked like toys.
A modifier is a word or phrase that describe a subject, verb, or object. (To “modify” is to qualify the meaning.). The modifier is said to “dangle” when the word it modifies has been left out of the sentence. Dangling modifiers confuse your readers and obscure your meaning because the sentence doesn’t make sense. Correct a dangling modifier by adding the word or words that have been left out. Here,the subject we was added and flying was changed to flew so the sentence makes sense. And while we’re dangling, let’s look at another mangled construction, dangling participles. A participle is a verb ending in -ing. It is dangling when the subject of the participle and the subject of the sentence don’t agree. For example:
Incorrect: Rushing to finish the paper, Bob’s printer broke.
The subject is Bob’s printer, but the printer isn’t doing the rushing.
Correct: While Bob was rushing to finish the paper, his printer broke.
One way to tell whether the participle is dangling is to put the clause with the participle right after the subject of the sentence: “Bob’s printer, rushing to finish the paper, broke.”
You can easily hear that it doesn’t sound right.
Note: Not all words that end in -ing are participles. For example: “Completing the task by Tuesday is your next assignment.” The word completing functions as a noun, not a verb. (Nouns ending in -ing are called gerunds.)
8. Misplaced modifiers
Incorrect: My parents bought a kitten for my sister they call Paws.
Correct: My parents bought a kitten they call Paws for my sister.
A misplaced modifier is a phrase, clause, or word placed too far from the noun or pronoun it describes. As a result, the sentence fails to convey your exact meaning. As this sentence is written, it means that the sister, not the kitten, is named Paws. That’s because the modifier they call Paws is in the wrong place in the sentence. To correct a misplaced modifier, move the modifier as close as possible to the word or phrase it describes.
9. Incorrect idioms
Incorrect: It’s raining cats and puppies.
Correct: It’s raining cats and dogs.
The phrase “It’s raining cats and dogs” is an idiom, an expression that has a figurative rather than literal meaning. Expressions such as “make a big deal out of it,” “on the double,”
and “down and out” are idioms. If you decide to use idioms in your writing, be sure to use the correct phrase. For instance, it’s idiomatic to say, “She talked down to him.” It’s not idiomatic to say, “She talked under to him.”
10. Biased language
Incorrect: That old geezer is taking my parking space!
Correct: That man is taking my parking space!
Avoid language that denigrates people because of their age, gender, race, or physical condition. This is especially crucial in business, where such language could result in a lawsuit.
(to be continued)
