20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
This one opens a big can of worms. โWhoโ is a subjective โ or nominative โ pronoun, along with โhe,โ โshe,โ โit,โ โwe,โ and โthey.โ Itโs used when the pronoun acts as the subject of a clause. โWhomโ is an objective pronoun, along with โhim,โ โher,โ โitโ, โus,โ and โthem.โ Itโs used when the pronoun acts as the object of a clause. Using โwhoโ or โwhomโ depends on whether youโre referring to the subject or object of a sentence. When in doubt, substitute โwhoโ with the subjective pronouns โheโ or โshe,โ e.g., Who loves you? cf., He loves me.Similarly, you can also substitute โwhomโ with the objective pronouns โhimโ or โher.โ e.g., I consulted an attorney whom I met in New York. cf., I consulted him.
This is one of the most common mistakes out there, and understandably so. โThatโ is a restrictive pronoun. Itโs vital to the noun to which itโs referring. ย e.g., I donโt trust fruits and vegetables that arenโt organic. Here, Iโm referring to all non-organic fruits or vegetables. In other words, I only trust fruits and vegetables that are organic. โWhichโ introduces a relative clause. It allows qualifiers that may not be essential. e.g., I recommend you eat only organic fruits and vegetables, which are available in area grocery stores. In this case, you donโt have to go to a specific grocery store to obtain organic fruits and vegetables. โWhichโ qualifies, โthatโ restricts. โWhichโ is more ambiguous however, and by virtue of its meaning is flexible enough to be used in many restrictive clauses. e.g., The house, which is burning, is mine. e.g., The house that is burning is mine.
This is the crown jewel of all grammatical errors. โLayโ is a transitive verb. It requires a direct subject and one or more objects. Its present tense is โlayโ (e.g., I lay the pencil on the table) and its past tense is โlaidโ (e.g.,Yesterday I laid the pencil on the table). โLieโ is an intransitive verb. It needs no object. Its present tense is โlieโ (e.g., The Andes mountains lie between Chile and Argentina) and its past tense is โlayโ (e.g., The man lay waiting for an ambulance). The most common mistake occurs when the writer uses the past tense of the transitive โlayโ (e.g., I laid on the bed) when he/she actually means the intransitive past tense of โlie" (e.g., I lay on the bed).
Contrary to common misuse, โmootโ doesnโt imply something is superfluous. It means a subject is disputable or open to discussion. e.g., The idea that commercial zoning should be allowed in the residential neighborhood was a moot point for the council.
Theyโre similar, but thereโs a difference. โContinualโ means something thatโs always occurring, with obvious lapses in time. โContinuousโ means something continues without any stops or gaps in between. e.g., The continual music next door made it the worst night of studying ever. e.g., Her continuous talking prevented him from concentrating.
The word โenvyโ implies a longing for someone elseโs good fortunes. โJealousyโ is far more nefarious. Itโs a fear of rivalry, often present in sexual situations. โEnvyโ is when you covet your friendโs good looks. โJealousyโ is what happens when your significant other swoons over your good-looking friend.
โNorโ expresses a negative condition. It literally means โand not.โ Youโre obligated to use the โnorโ form if your sentence expresses a negative and follows it with another negative condition. โNeither the men nor the women were drunkโ is a correct sentence because โnorโ expresses that the women held the same negative condition as the men. The old rule is that โnorโ typically follows โneither,โ and โorโ follows โeither.โ However, if neither โeitherโ nor โneitherโ is used in a sentence, you should use โnorโ to express a second negative, as long as the second negative is a verb. If the second negative is a noun, adjective, or adverb, you would use โor,โ because the initial negative transfers to all conditions. e.g., He wonโt eat broccoli or asparagus. The negative condition expressing the first noun (broccoli) is also used for the second (asparagus).
โMayโ implies a possibility. โMightโ implies far more uncertainty. โYou may get drunk if you have two shots in ten minutesโ implies a real possibility of drunkenness. โYou might get a ticket if you operate a tug boat while drunkโ implies a possibility that is far more remote. Someone who says โI may have more wineโ could mean he/she doesnโt want more wine right now, or that he/she โmightโ not want any at all. Given the speakerโs indecision on the matter, โmightโ would be correct.
Many writers seem to assume that โwhetherโ is interchangeable with โif.โ It isnโt. โWhetherโ expresses a condition where there are two or more alternatives. โIfโ expresses a condition where there are no alternatives. e.g., I donโt know whether Iโll get drunk tonight. e.g., I can get drunk tonight if I have money for booze.
โLessโ is reserved for hypothetical quantities. โFewโ and โfewerโ are for things you can quantify. e.g., The firm has fewer than ten employees. e.g., The firm is less successful now that we have only ten employees.
The word โfartherโ implies a measurable distance. โFurtherโ should be reserved for abstract lengths you canโt always measure. e.g., I threw the ball ten feet farther than Bill. e.g., The financial crisis caused further implications.
โSinceโ refers to time. โBecauseโ refers to causation. e.g., Since I quit drinking Iโve married and had two children. e.g., Because I quit drinking I no longer wake up in my own vomit.
Disinterested and Uninterested
Contrary to popular usage, these words arenโt synonymous. A โdisinterestedโ person is someone whoโs impartial. For example, a hedge fund manager might take interest in a headline regarding the performance of a popular stock, even if heโs never invested in it. Heโs โdisinterested,โ i.e., he doesnโt seek to gain financially from the transaction heโs witnessed. Judges and referees are supposed to be "disinterested.โ If the sentence youโre using implies someone who couldnโt care less, chances are youโll want to use โuninterested.โ
Unless youโre frightened of them, you shouldnโt say youโre โanxious to see your friends.โ Youโre actually โeager,โ or โexcited.โ To be โanxiousโ implies a looming fear, dread or anxiety. It doesnโt mean youโre looking forward to something.
Different Than and Different From
This is a tough one. Words like โratherโ and โfasterโ are comparative adjectives, and are used to show comparison with the preposition โthan,โ (e.g., greater than, less than, faster than, rather than). The adjective โdifferentโ is used to draw distinction. So, when โdifferentโ is followed by a ย preposition, it should be โfrom,โ similar to โseparate from,โ โdistinct from,โ or โaway from.โ e.g., My living situation in New York was different from home. There are rare cases where โdifferent thanโ is appropriate, if โthanโ operates as a conjunction. e.g.,Development is different in New York than in Los Angeles. When in doubt, use โdifferent from.โ
In order to employ proper usage of โbringโ or โtake,โ the writer must know whether the object is being moved toward or away from the subject. If it is toward, use โbring.โ If it is away, use โtake.โ Your spouse may tell you to โtake your clothes to the cleaners.โ The owner of the dry cleaners would say โbring your clothes to the cleaners.โ
It isnโt a word. โImpactโ can be used as a noun (e.g., The impact of the crash was severe) or a transitive verb (e.g., The crash impacted my ability to walk or hold a job). โImpactfulโ is a made-up buzzword, colligated by the modern marketing industry in their endless attempts to decode the innumerable nuances of human behavior into a string of mindless metrics. Seriously, stop saying this.
Hereโs a trick to help you remember: โAffectโ is almost always a verb (e.g., Facebook affects peopleโs attention spans), and โeffectโ is almost always a noun (e.g., Facebookโs effects can also be positive). โAffectโ means to influence or produce an impression โ to cause hence, an effect. โEffectโ is the thing produced by the affecting agent; it describes the result or outcome. There are some exceptions. โEffectโ may be used as a transitive verb, which means to bring about or make happen. e.g., My new computer effected a much-needed transition from magazines to Web porn. There are similarly rare examples where โaffectโ can be a noun. e.g., His lack of affect made him seem like a shallow person.
Too many people claim something is the former when they actually mean the latter. For example, itโs not โironicโ that โBarbara moved from California to New York, where she ended up meeting and falling in love with a fellow Californian.โ The fact that theyโre both from California is a โcoincidence.โ โIronyโ is the incongruity in a series of events between the expected results and the actual results. โCoincidenceโ is a series of events that appear planned when theyโre actually accidental. So, it would be โironicโ if โBarbara moved from California to New York to escape California men, but the first man she ended up meeting and falling in love with was a fellow Californian.โ
Undoubtedly the most common mistake I encounter. Contrary to almost ubiquitous misuse, to be โnauseousโ doesnโt mean youโve been sickened: it actually means you possess the ability to produce nausea in others. e.g., That week-old hot dog is nauseous. When you find yourself disgusted or made ill by a nauseating agent, you are actually โnauseated.โ e.g., I was nauseated after falling into that dumpster behind the Planned Parenthood. Stop embarrassing yourself.
If youโre looking for a practical, quick guide to proper grammar, I suggest the tried-and-true classic The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White. A few of these examples are listed in the book, and there are plenty more. Good luck!
