Twenty errors often seen in academic writing

1.     Incorrect use of the apostrophe

An apostrophe is used to denote possession or indicate a contraction.

Examples:

X               The professor was impressed by the new teachers qualifications.

✔               The professor was impressed by the new teacher’s qualifications.

X               All of my six brother’s houses are in the same street as my house.

✔               All of my six brothers’ houses are in the same street as my house.

X               The peoples’ cars were all parked in the street.

✔               The people’s cars were all parked in the street.

X               The students hope to obtain their degrees in three years time.

✔               The students hope to obtain their degrees in three years’ time.

X               I bought seven potato’s and six carrot’s.

✔               I bought seven potatoes and six carrots.

X               The Jones’ house is bigger than the Williams’ house.

✔               The Jones’ s house is bigger than the Williams’ s house.

X               I could not use my computer because it’s hard disk had failed.

✔              I could not use my computer because its hard disk had failed. 

2.     Incorrect use of capital letters

Capital letters are often mistakenly used for common nouns when they should be used only for proper nouns.

X               At University, I studied English, History and Philosophy.

✔               At university, I studied English, history and philosophy.

X               I believe that a grant is available from the Government to help with my studies.

✔               I believe that a grant is available from the government to help with my studies.

X               The weather usually turns cold in the Autumn.

✔               The weather usually turns cold in the autumn.

X               The house of commons is the elected chamber of the UK parliament.

✔               The House of Commons is the elected chamber of the UK Parliament.

X               We find google to be very popular search engine.

✔               We find Google to be very popular search engine.

X               The lecture will be given in room 84.

✔               The lecture will be given in Room 84. 

3. Confusion between ‘amount’ and ‘number’

A simple way to remember is if you can weigh it, it’s amount; if you can count it, it’s ‘number’.

X               A large amount of people attended the concert.

✔               A large number of people attended the concert. 

4. Confusion between ‘fewer’ and ‘less’

If you can count it, it’s ‘fewer’; if you can weight it, it’s ‘less’

X               There are usually less cars on the road in the night.

✔               There are usually fewer cars on the road in the night.

X               There is fewer water in the lake after a long dry weather spell.

✔               There is less water in the lake after a long dry weather spell. 

5. Confusion between ‘affect’ and ‘effect’

Here, ‘affect’ is a verb and ‘effect’ is a noun.

X               The increase in price had a considerable affect on the sales figures.

✔               The increase in price had a considerable effect on the sales figures.

X               The bad weather did not effect the attendance at the football match.

✔               The bad weather did not affect the attendance at the football match.

6. Confusion between ‘practice’ and ‘practice’

Here, ‘practice’ is a noun and ‘practise’ is a verb.

(Note: This only applies to British English. In American English, ‘practice’ is always used’.

X               A new legal practise has opened in the town.

✔               A new legal practice has opened in the town.

X               Anyone who wants to become a concert pianist must practice every day.

✔               Anyone who wants to become a concert pianist must practise every day.

7. Confusion between adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives tell us more about a noun, and adverbs tell us more about a verb.

X               If you don’t come here quick, you will miss the procession.

✔               If you don’t come here quickly, you will miss the procession.

X               All of the students did good in the exam.

✔               All of the students did well in the exam.

8. Verb Tenses

A common error us to mix verb tenses.

X               We conduct research which showed a growing demand for the product.

✔               We conducted research which showed a growing demand for the product.

9. Subject-verb agreement

A frequent error is to us a plural verb with a singular noun.

X               A large range of options were attempted.

✔               A large range of options was attempted.

The subject ‘range’ is singular, so the verb must be singular.

10. Spelling errors

Some of the most frequent spelling errors:

X               I have recieved the payment for the goods.

✔               I have received the payment for the goods.

X               The two topics were dealt with in seperate chapters.

Ö               The two topics were dealt with in separate chapters.

X               The hotel is unable to accomodate any more guests.

✔               The hotel is unable to accommodate any more guests.

11. Confusion between British and American spelling

Either British or American English (or any other variation) should be used consistently throughout.

X               What colour is your neighbor’s car?

✔              What colour is your neighbour’s car?           (Br)

✔              What color is your neighbor’s car?                 (Am)

12. Incorrect use of question marks

A question mark should only be used for a direct question.

X               How many students have enrolled on the course.

✔               How many students have enrolled on the course?

X               The university needs to know how many students have enrolled on the course?

✔               The university needs to know how many students have enrolled on the course.

13. Repeated and missing words

This a typographical rather than a grammar error, but it does occur.

X               Only four students have expressed an interest in the the new module.

✔               Only four students have expressed an interest in the new module.

X               Only four students have expressed an interest the new module.

✔               Only four students have expressed an interest in the new module.

14. Inserting a comma between subject and verb

X               The new professors, introduced a new course.

✔               The new professors introduced a new course.

15. Omitting a comma after an opening word of phrase

X               However the experiment was not successful.

✔               However, the experiment was not successful.

X               In order to obtain a more accurate result the survey used a large sample of people.

✔               In order to obtain a more accurate result, the survey used a large sample of people.

16. Word choice

A poor word choice often does not give the intended meaning or lacks professionalism.

X               I presume you arrived yesterday.

✔               I assume you arrived yesterday.

X               We need to do some more research on this topic.

✔               We need to conduct some more research on this topic.

X               The warm weather allowed us to hold our meeting outdoors.

✔               The warm weather enabled us to hold our meeting outdoors.

17. Confusion between ‘who’ and ‘which’

Usually, who indicates a person and which indicates a thing.

X               This is the man which sold me a car.

✔               This is the man who sold me a car.

18. Confusion between e.g. and i.e. and etc.

These are from Latin – e.g. means exempli gratia (for example), i.e. means id est (that is) and etc means et cetera (and other things). Note: etc. should not be used with e.g.

X               The holiday resort offers numerous attractions (i.e. swimming, tennis, zipwire).

X               The holiday resort offers numerous attractions (e.g. swimming, tennis, zipwire etc.)  

✔               The holiday resort offers numerous attractions (e.g. swimming, tennis, zipwire). 

X               The tide is ebbing (e.g. it is going out).

✔               The tide is ebbing (i.e. it is going out).

19. Incorrect use of full stops with quotation marks

If the text within the quotation marks is a complete sentence, the full stop is inside, otherwise it is outside.

X               She said, ‘I am starting at university next year’.

✔               She said, ‘I am starting at university next year.’

X               I am studying what is commonly called ‘the refresher course.’

✔               I am studying what is commonly called ‘the refresher course’.

Note: This applies to British English. In American English, the full stop is outside the quotation in a complete sentence, and otherwise inside.

20. Missing full stop at the end of a sentence

This error occurs more often than expected. No examples are needed here.

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