99 Most Common Grammar Mistakes and How To Avoid Them - Writer

4/14/23, 1:54 PM 99 most common grammar mistakes and how to avoid them - Writer
Content strategy Inspiration Leadership Process Inside Writer
WRITING 101 – 22 min read
99 most common grammar mistakes

MAY HABIB
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Does proper grammar seem daunting to you? Not sure if you should use
the word “irregardless” or “regardless” in a sentence? Or how to use an
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infinitive verb?
The English language is finicky enough that a single missing comma can
radically change the meaning of, well, everything you were trying to say:
Let’s eat friends! is more than a little creepy, while
Let’s eat, friends! sounds warm and inviting.
It’s our hope that this guide helps you avoid such blunders.
99 most common grammar mistakes in writing
One of the questions our subscribers ask most, whether

they’re proofreading pros or full-time students, is how they can avoid the
most common grammar mistakes. In this list, we outline some of the most
common grammatical errors we’re seeing, based on millions of data
points from Writer subscribers.
1. LET’S VS. LETS
Let’s not get carried away here — this one is pretty simple:
Let’s = let us. As in, let us not get carried away here…
Lets = to make something possible. This checklist lets you write better.
2. ITS VS. IT’S
It’s simple:
It’s = it is. As in, it’s so dang cold outside.
Its = associated with something recently mentioned. As in, the weather

has a mind of its own.
3. YOUR VS. YOU’RE
Your is a possessive pronoun that describes ownership of an item: your

jacket is sweet!
You’re is the contraction of you are: you’re probably glad you have that
jacket.
4 . M AByYcontinuing
V S . toM IGHT
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May indicates a possibility; might indicates a hypothetical probability. I

may quit my job — even though I’m good at it.
Then again, I might get fired.
5. LAY VS. LIE
Lay describes the action of placing something flat: lay down, Fido!
Lie describes the status of something resting flat: Fido likes lying (lie-ing)
down.
6. AFFECT VS. EFFECT
Affect implies action: “I want to affect the world in a positive way,” said
Jane. Effect describes its result. “The effects of your intention should be
good,” replied her friend. Find out more about Affect vs. Effect here.
7. TOO OBVIOUS?
Is this one too obvious, or not? Based on what must be billions of text-
🍪
message bloopers it’s probably worth mentioning! Too refers to, well, too
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much of something / too many of something: “I have too much money to

live in such a small house.”
It can also be used as a form of agreement: “yeah, I feel that way too.”
8. TO VS. TWO
Two is a number (you know, this one: 2). ‘To’ is a word meant to be used in
all sorts of different ways.
9. THERE VS. THEIR
There refers to a location; their refers to a designation:
“See that restaurant over there?” – “Yep, that’s their favorite one!”
10. THEIR VS. THEY’RE
They’re = they are:
‘They’re going to love that restaurant!’ – “Yeah, like I said it’s their fav.”
11. LOOSE VS. LOSE
Loose refers to something that’s been let out of control. While lose-ing is
the opposite of winning! “Don’t be afraid to let loose. After all, what do
you have to lose?”
12. PEEK VS. PEAK
Peek means to look at something; peak refers to the top of something.
“Can I take a peek of the scenery?” – “Sure, but I heard the view’s better
from the peak”
13. PEAK VS. PIQUE
We already mentioned what peak means. Just in case you were

wondering, though, don’t confuse it with pique, which means ‘to stir up’
— “my interest was piqued.”
14. COMPLIMENT VS. COMPLEMENT
While both of these words refer to nice things, their meanings are quite
different. A compliment is something nice you tell someone; complement
refers to things that go well together.
Here’s a brain-bending compliment: “Your shoes complement your outfit

so well!”
15. PIECE OF MIND VS. PEACE OF MIND
A piece of mind refers to one’s perspective or opinion: “My neighbor’s

truck is so loud, it’s about time I gave him a piece of my mind!”
Whereas peace of mind refers to a mental framework: “Yeah…all that

noise is really hurting my peace of mind.”
16. LITERALLY
If you use the word literally, be sure to use it, well, literally! Watered-down
words are no good for anyone.
17. TO COMMA OR NOT TO COMMA

Commas are tricky little beasts. Sometimes skipping an oxford comma or

two (even if using one would be grammatically correct) is actually a good
call, so trust your instinct.
“Once upon a time, there was this really good writer…”
“Yeah I heard she didn’t always use commas.”
18. SEMICOLONS
Semicolons are actually more like periods than commas. They usher in a
new train of thought.
Semicolons are actually more like periods than commas; they usher in a
new train of thought.
19. SEMICOLONS + COMMAS
Sometimes, though, semicolons are best followed up by a comma; in

cases such as these, it’s totally okay to use them both!
2 0 . S EByM ICOLONS VS. COMMAS

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Many times commas work just fine by themselves, so don’t use

semicolons if you don’t need to.
Many times commas work just fine by themselves; so don’t use

semicolons if you don’t need to. (Doesn’t that look awkward?)
21. PARENTHESES AND PERIODS
Normally periods and other punctuation marks go after parentheses

(normally).
22. PERIODS INSIDE PARENTHESES
The exception is if you’re writing an entire sentence within parentheses —

like the example in mistake #20 above.
23. QUOTATION PLACEMENT
“Periods, commas, question marks, exclamation points, quotations within

quotations, etc. should always be placed inside quotation marks,” he
explained.
24. UNLESS YOU’RE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES
That’s right: in most other countries, punctuation marks actually go

outside quotations. Go figure.
25. PLURAL OR SINGULAR!
It really don’t sound good if you doesn’t stay consistent with plural and
singular forms…
26. HYPHENS VS. DASHES
A hyphen, like the one to the right, connects two or more inter-related
words — a dash, like the one just to the left, connects two or more related
thoughts.
27. EN DASH OR EM DASH?
An en dash is about the width of the letter “N,” and it’s meant to show a
range, like 1-10.
An em dash is longer — it’s meant to facilitate those fun connections we

mentioned earlier.
28. INAPPROPRIATE HYPHENS
In general, don’t use hyphens to connect two parts of one word. The way
we spelled ‘inter-related’ up there? Yeah…that’s incorrect. Unless you’re
trying to prove a point.
29. MISSING DASHES
On the other hand, don’t rule out the use of hyphens entirely. They can be
insanely-awesomely-silly-ly useful!
30. DON’T BE TOO NEGATIVE
Actually, forget that — be positive. After all, why negate a negative when
you can present a positive instead?
31. THE OTHER KIND OF DOUBLE NEGATIVE…
Ever feel like you can’t do nothing right? Maybe like you can’t spell
nothing correct at all? Please, don’t ever write like this. Unless you’re
authoring a Southern-twanged novel or something.
32. DOT-DOT-DOT
Some people like doing dots like this…
Others like this method . . .
But feel free to use whatever resonates most with you.
33. DASH SPACING
And some people don’t like having spaces around their em dashes—they
can get pretty particular about it. Best-selling author Tim Ferris leaves
spaces around his, though — so apparently it doesn’t matter too much.
34. 50 CENT(S)
This is like the mathematical version of the double-negatives we
🍪
mentioned earlier. If you’re trying to denote a certain number of cents,
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either write out the full decimal, or list the number of cents:
50 cents, or $0.50
Don’t do both: $0.50 cents
…unless, of course, you really are talking about half of one cent…
35. THE ISSUE OF MARRIAGE
In this case, marriage is only an issue if the term is used incorrectly:
“She was married with a football player.”
Saying “she was married to a football player” just sounds way better.
36. EACH AND EVERY STUDENT
The term “every” almost always goes with a singular noun:
“Every student passed the test” is correct, while “every students passed
the test” is not.
37. ALTHOUGH/BUT
The words although and but don’t often work well together. Try to use
one of them or the other, not both!
Although it was raining, we still went outside.
or
It was raining, but we still went outside.
38. YOU AND I
“Pam and me went to get some groceries” is incorrect;
“Pam and I went to get some groceries” is spot on.
39. AMOUNT VS. NUMBER
‘Amount’ should be used for something uncountable: “a large amount of

dirt.”
‘Number’ should be used for things you can quantify: “a large number of
people.”
40. FEWER VS. LESS
‘Less’ should be used for something uncountable: “less dirt.”
‘Fewer’ should be used for things you can quantify: “fewer people.”
41. SHARED POSSESSIONS
If you’re sharing something, then it’s enough to use one apostrophe: This
is Tim and Andy’s house.
42. THAT’S ALL WELL & GOOD…
“I slept well” is correct; “I slept good” makes it sound like you need a little
more sleep.
43. OR IS IT GOOD & WELL?
If you’re describing the quality of something, however, ‘good’ can be a

very good fit.
44. THE POLICE IS COMING!
Actually, the police are coming. Unless this is also part of that slang-
infused novel you’re writing.
45. A VS. AN
Do you have an idea of whether or not this sentence is grammatically

correct? Hint: it is!
46. AMICABLE/AMIABLE
‘Amicable’ should be used to describe pleasant meetings and such;

‘amiable’ should be used as a synonym for ‘kind.’
47. WRITE VS. RIGHT
This article is meant to help you write…the right way.
48. BESIDE/BESIDES
“Want to sit beside me?” is more correct than “want to sit besides me?”
49. FARTHER/FURTHER
“Want to bike a little farther?” is more correct than “want to bike further?”
50. CAN VS. MAY
‘Can’ implies an ability; ‘may’ implies a possibility.
51. SINCE/FOR
I’ve been in Europe for 3 weeks. I’ve been in Europe since the first. If you
try swapping ‘since’ and ‘for’ in the above sentences, it just doesn’t work.
52. NO ONE VS. ANYONE
“He didn’t know nobody” is incorrect; “he didn’t know anyone” is much
better.
53. MORE SMART, OR SMARTER?
If you want to sound smarter, try to avoid talking about being “more
smart” than others!
54. A LOT/ALOT
Did you know that ‘alot’ isn’t a word? Use ‘a lot’ instead
55. ALOT/ALLOT
Unless, of course, what you’re really trying to say is ‘allot,’ a word which
means “to give or assign.”
56. WRECK VS. WREAK
The wreck wreaked havoc on several of the cars involved.
57. PORE VS. POUR
A pore is a small opening; a pour is what’s done to a drink!

58. RAN VS. RUN
“I ran fast” and “I run fast” are both correct, but they do have slightly
different meanings. If you’re still pretty quick, use the ‘run’ version.
59. SUPPOSE SO?
You’re supposed to use ‘suppose’ in the above type of situation.
60. COLLOCATIONS
Some words just go better together. “Due to the fact that” is one prime
example. If you use collocations like these, don’t try to divide them up!
61. GOT KNOW-HOW?
“I know how to write.” “I’ve got business writing know-how.” While both of
these sentences are grammatically correct, one is much less awkward
than the other.
62. KEEP TENSE CONSISTENT!

“I went to the grocery store and buy some eggs.” → See how improper
that sounds? Make sure you keep your tense consistent, whether it’s past
or present or future tense you’re talking about.
63. UNLESS YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING

UNIVERSAL…
If you’re talking about a timeless truth, though, you can switch your tense
up a little:
“‘The earth revolves around the sun,’ his parents explained.”
64. SENIORITY
“He’s senior to me” works, and so does “he’s older than me”…but don’t try
to flip these around: “he’s senior than me” and “he’s older to me” are both
wrong.
65. NEITHER/NOR
‘Neither’ and ‘nor’ go great together: “She was neither stronger nor faster,
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was still atogreat
continuing athlete.”
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66. CARDINAL VS. ORDINAL
Cardinal numbers deal in absolutes; this is grammar mistake #66. Ordinal

numbers deal with positions; this is the 66th grammar mistake listed.
67. SPELL IT OUT
Typically numbers under 10 should be spelled out, though there may be

one or two valid exceptions to this rule.
68. MISSING ARTICLES
Don’t forget to put the word ‘the’ before appropriate items: the book, the
blog, the article, and so on.
69. ONE SHOULD STAY CONSISTENT
If you’re speaking about another person, use consistent pronouns: “One

should stay consistent when they are writing” sounds much better than
“one should stay consistent when he is writing.”
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“Writing is hard.” → Correct
“Writing is hardly hard when you use Writer.” → Also correct!
71. HARDLY VS. HARDY
“Carrots are very hardly vegetables.” → ??
“Carrots are very hardy vegetables.” → Correct.
72. FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED?
Though most people (i.e., restaurants) will say “first come, first serve,”
what makes much more sense is “first come, first served.”
73. SHOULDA WOULDA COULDA
‘Should of,’ ‘would of,’ and ‘could of’ are actually all incorrect, though they
might sound decent enough.
The proper usage, of course, is ‘should’ve,’ ‘would’ve,’ and ‘could’ve.’
74. WAIT, SO YOU COULD OR COULDN’T CARE

LESS?
Many people use the phrase I could care less’ to describe something they
don’t really care about. If you think about it, though, what they’re trying to
say is that they couldn’t care less.
75. “I” SHOULDN’T COME LAST
“At the restaurant, it was just her and I” just doesn’t sound as good as “At
the restaurant, it was just me and her.”
76. BUT “ME” SHOULDN’T COME FIRST
The above writing mistake also has an inverse:
“Me and her went to the restaurant” just doesn’t sound as good as “Her
and I went to the restaurant.”
77. APOSTROPHE CALAMITY
The Johnson’s. The 70’s. The Jones’s…life is simpler without all these
apostrophe’s!
Try the Johnsons, the 70s, and the Jones’ instead
78. MMM, EXPRESSO
While ‘expresso’ might sound correct to some, it’s actually spelled

‘espresso.’ Just FYI.
79. A SLEIGHT OF HAND
That’s right: a ‘slight of hand’ is actually incorrect!
80. FORTE, NICHE, AND OTHER

MISPRONUNCIATIONS
Forte’s pronunciation = fort.
Niche’s pronunciation = neesh.
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Just don’t spell either
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81. EXACT REVENGE!
If you must have your revenge, don’t extract it, exact it!
82. SOGGY APPETITES
“That really wet my appetite.” → Incorrect
“That really whet my appetite.” → Correct
83. DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE
See what we did there? It’s ‘due diligence,’ not ‘do diligence.’
84. PER SAY
‘Per se’ is a Latin phrase meaning ‘in itself’…per say is how you pronounce
it.
85. WORSE COMES TO WORST
While we’ve all heard the phrase “if worse comes to worse,” it doesn’t
really make sense unless “worse” goes all the way to “worst.”
86. CHALK IT UP…
…don’t “chock it up.”
87. FREE REIN
To give “free rein” to something means to let go of control.
To give “free reign” implies kingship without effort.
88. NIP IT WHERE?
In the bud, not in the butt! For those unfamiliar, this phrase’s literal
meaning refers to nipping flowers in the bud.
89. DISINTERESTED VS. UNINTERESTED
These two terms aren’t actually synonyms. Being disinterested implies

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that youBycouldn’t care
continuing to less;
use this being uninterested means
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turn your interest away.
90. NAUSEOUS VS. NAUSEATED
Don’t worry: almost everyone gets this one wrong. “Nauseous” technically
means to be capable of making others nauseated; “nauseated” means not
feeling well.
91. THE IMPACT OF IMPACTFUL
Is impactful a word? Contrary to what you may have heard, it is — so don’t

let people tell you otherwise.
92. HOWEVER VS. NEVERTHELESS
Fans of classic grammar will insist that sentences shouldn’t be started

with “however,” at least not when they can be started with “nevertheless”
instead. We’d say use whichever sounds better to you.
93. TOO MANY S’S
When in doubt, drop the extra s. Arkansas’ is usually preferred over

Arkansas’s, for example.
94. RUN ON SENTENCES
Contrary to popular belief run-on sentences aren’t necessarily long they

simply occur when commas and/or other types of punctuation are
missing like this.
95. TOO MANY COMMAS
Using too many commas, on the other hand, isn’t good either, because it
can reduce the casual flow, from word to word, that you should strive for.
96. A BREAK FROM PARALLEL
“He was studying math, science, and digital photos” might not sound that
bad, but why not say, “he was studying math, science, and digital
photography” instead?
97. SENTENCE SPLICE

I wanted to cook a great dinner, however I was just too tired.
I wanted to cook a great dinner; however, I was just too tired.
I wanted to cook a great dinner. However, I was just too tired.
The first of these three sentences is incorrect. Why? Because it’s spliced
together without the appropriate punctuation.
98. MISPLACED SEMICOLONS
On the other hand; using semicolons where they’re not needed (say, in
place of commas) isn’t good either.
99. INCORRECT CAPITALIZATION
You probably know to capitalize proper nouns and the first word of each
sentence. But sometimes you also need to capitalize after a semicolon or
the first word of a quote.
Christine explained, “Community is key to building a successful online

business.”
7 major types of grammatical errors
Bad grammar can make a poor first impression, whether you’re writing a
business email or messaging a potential date. People tend to make
assumptions about your abilities based on how you communicate. If
you’ve made it this far and want to learn how to write better, let’s look at
some examples of bad grammar.
VERB TENSE ERRORS
One of the most common grammar mistakes is using the wrong verb
tense. The verb tense tells your reader when the action takes place: in the
past, present, or future. When writing anything, you want to be consistent
on verb tense unless there is a good reason to switch tenses.
The mistake: I drive to the store and I bought shoes.
Why it’s wrong: A verb tense shift happens when the writer changes
tense in a sentence or paragraph. In this case, drive is present tense
and bought is past tense.
The correction: You should change drive to drove, or

change bought to buy to make the sentence correct. Be mindful of
shifting tenses within a paragraph.
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
The subject of the sentence (the person or thing doing the action) and
verb (the action) in a sentence must agree with each other. If the subject
of the sentence is singular, the verb must be singular. If it’s plural, the
verb must be plural also.
The mistake: Michael and Sue is going to the beach.
Why it’s wrong: “Michael and Sue” are plural. The auxiliary verb “is” is
singular, which is a lack of agreement.
The correction: The sentence should read, “Michael and Sue are going to
the beach.”
COMMA SPLICE
A common punctuation mistake is the comma splice. A comma splice

happens when two separate sentences take place rather than using a
period or semicolon.
The mistake: I went to Steve’s house, and ate lunch.
Why it’s wrong: Writers often use a comma splice when they connect two
independent clauses with a comma rather than a comma and a
coordinating conjunction.
The correction: Use commas to separate two independent clauses when

they are joined by coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, for, so, yet. In
the compound sentence above, “and ate lunch” doesn’t have a subject,
so you don’t need to add a comma before “and”.
Small punctuation errors like this seem like a small thing, but punctuation
helps guide readers through your text smoothly. You can use
a punctuation checker to double check your work and correct these
grammar errors in minutes.
MISPLACED OR DANGLING MODIFIERS
A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is separated from

the word it modifies or describes. A dangling modifier is a grammatical
error where the modifying word is too far away from the subject of the
sentence, or there is no subject.
Sentences with these mistakes often sound awkward or confusing. But

don’t worry, misplaced and dangling modifiers are common writing
mistakes and even trouble the experts in English grammar.
The mistake: Disappointed, the story took me forever to write.
Why it’s wrong: The modifier should be as close as possible to the thing it

modifies. Since the subject of the sentence is disappointed (not the
story), the sentence should have the speaker and modifier closer.
The correction: The sentence should read, “I was disappointed by how

long the story took me to write.”
OVERUSE OF ADVERBS
An adverb is a word that describes a verb—they often end in -ly. Writers

use adverbs to give more information about the verb and make it more
descriptive. Using adverbs every so often isn’t bad grammar, but too
many can mean poor verb choices.
The mistake: The wedding went really bad.
Why it’s wrong: The adverb “really bad” modifies the verb “went”. While
“really bad” gets the point across, does it really paint a picture for the
reader?
The correction: Use a more descriptive sentence like “the wedding was a

disaster” instead.
PASSIVE VOICE
English grammar experts and teachers consider passive voice a bad

writing habit. With the passive voice, the object of the action becomes
the subject of the sentence. It’s recommended to turn passive
constructions into active voice, where the subject does the action of the
verb in a sentence. Active voice can make your writing stronger and more
direct.
The mistake: The car was driven by Chris.

Why it’s wrong: The last words in the sentence “by Chris” make up a
preposition that tells the reader who is performing the action. Even
though Chris is performing the action, he is not the subject of the
sentence. You could remove him from the sentence entirely using passive
voice.
The correction: The active voice construction would be “Chris drove the

car”.
SENTENCE ERRORS
Sentence structure mistakes are one of the most common grammatical

errors. You can break down sentence errors into three categories:
sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and overloaded sentences.
SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
Sentence fragments are clauses that miss one of the following elements:
a subject, a verb, a complete thought. You often miss fragments because
they are no big deal in spoken grammar, aka conversation, but can make
a big impact on your writing’s clarity.
The mistake: He still loved his parents. Despite everything that had
happened.
Why it’s wrong: The second sentence “despite everything that had

happened” has no subject or verb. You depend on the first sentence to
give the second one meaning.
The correction: The complete sentence for this clause is “Despite

everything that happened, he still loved his parents.”
RUN-ON SENTENCES
Run-on sentences, also known as fused sentences, happen when two

complete sentences are brought together without any punctuation or
conjunction, such as a semicolon or period. Run-on sentences don’t have
to be long to be considered grammatically incorrect.
The mistake: Yesterday was the best day ever my family and I began our
ski vacation.
Why it’s wrong: There is more than one idea communicated by two

independent clauses.
The correction: Yesterday was the best day ever! My family and I began
our ski vacation.
OVERLOADED SENTENCES
An overloaded sentence is one that squashes too much information

together and, as a result, becomes hard to understand for readers.
The mistake: Youth league coaches need to understand that the

education of a child is a big undertaking and should be done with care
and consistency so that the child can gain maximum benefit from each
training in order to set a solid foundation for any follow-up teaching.
Why it’s wrong: A good sentence focuses on one idea. The example
above wanders around and takes too much mental effort before
understanding the point.
The correction: Youth league coaches need to understand that the

education of a child is a big undertaking. It should be done with care and
consistency. That way, children can get the most from each training and
set a solid foundation for any future teaching.

Related reading: An Introduction to AI Writing Software
Lowering the number of grammar mistakes in your

writing
They say rules are meant to be broken — and we’d agree, as long as one is
talking about the core grammar rules. Sometimes a missing comma or
random sentence splice can make good writing great! So don’t be afraid
to follow your intuition. If you’re having fun, chances are your reader will
be, too.
(For the words that matter most, take no chances! Make sure you’re
using Writer. You can install the Chrome extension or use Writer’s free
online grammar checker.)
Common grammar mistakes FAQ

WHAT IS A GRAMMATICAL ERROR?
A grammatical error refers to an occurrence of faulty, unconventional or

controversial usage, such as a dangling modifier or possessive noun
errors. Grammar errors are also called usage errors.
WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF GRAMMATICAL

ERRORS?
1. Verb tense errors

2. Faulty sentence structures
3. Punctuation mistakes
4. Overuse of adverbs
5. Passive voice misuse
6. Dangling participles
HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY GRAMMATICAL ERRORS?
You can identify grammatical errors by using a grammar checker to find

and fix errors, improve word usage, verb tense, and punctuation for
English text.
WHAT ARE THE 10 MOST COMMON GRAMMAR

MISTAKES?
Using millions of data points from Writer subscribers, we identified 10

common grammar mistakes:
1. Let’s vs. lets

2. Its vs. it’s
3. Your vs. You’re
4. May vs. Might
5. Lay vs. Lie
6. Affect vs. Effect
7. To vs. two
8. There vs. their vs. they’re
9. Loose vs lose
10. Peek vs. peak
WHAT ARE THREE MOST COMMON SENTENCE

ERRORS?
1. Run-on sentences
2. Sentence fragments
3. Overloaded sentences
MORE RESOURCES
How to use ellipses in your writing
JESSICA MALNIK
How to paraphrase (including examples)
JESSICA MALNIK
35 Common idioms and their meanings
MASOOMA MEMON
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4/14/23, 1:54 PM 99 most common grammar mistakes and how to avoid them - Writer

Content strategy Inspiration Leadership Process Inside Writer

WRITING 101 – 22 min read

99 most common grammar mistakes

Let’s eat friends! is more than a little creepy, while

Let’s eat, friends! sounds warm and inviting.

99 most common grammar mistakes in writing

One of the questions our subscribers ask most, whether

1. LET’S VS. LETS

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2. ITS VS. IT’S

It’s = it is. As in, it’s so dang cold outside.

Its = associated with something recently mentioned. As in, the weather

3. YOUR VS. YOU’RE

Your is a possessive pronoun that describes ownership of an item: your

May indicates a possibility; might indicates a hypothetical probability. I

Then again, I might get fired.

5. LAY VS. LIE

6. AFFECT VS. EFFECT

much of something / too many of something: “I have too much money to

9. THERE VS. THEIR

There refers to a location; their refers to a designation:

10. THEIR VS. THEY’RE

They’re = they are:

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11. LOOSE VS. LOSE

12. PEEK VS. PEAK

Peek means to look at something; peak refers to the top of something.

13. PEAK VS. PIQUE

We already mentioned what peak means. Just in case you were

14. COMPLIMENT VS. COMPLEMENT

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Here’s a brain-bending compliment: “Your shoes complement your outfit

15. PIECE OF MIND VS. PEACE OF MIND

A piece of mind refers to one’s perspective or opinion: “My neighbor’s

Whereas peace of mind refers to a mental framework: “Yeah…all that

17. TO COMMA OR NOT TO COMMA

Commas are tricky little beasts. Sometimes skipping an oxford comma or

“Once upon a time, there was this really good writer…”

“Yeah I heard she didn’t always use commas.”

19. SEMICOLONS + COMMAS

Sometimes, though, semicolons are best followed up by a comma; in

2 0 . S EByM ICOLONS VS. COMMAS

Many times commas work just fine by themselves, so don’t use

Many times commas work just fine by themselves; so don’t use

21. PARENTHESES AND PERIODS

Normally periods and other punctuation marks go after parentheses

22. PERIODS INSIDE PARENTHESES

The exception is if you’re writing an entire sentence within parentheses —

23. QUOTATION PLACEMENT

“Periods, commas, question marks, exclamation points, quotations within

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24. UNLESS YOU’RE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

That’s right: in most other countries, punctuation marks actually go

25. PLURAL OR SINGULAR!

26. HYPHENS VS. DASHES

27. EN DASH OR EM DASH?

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An em dash is longer — it’s meant to facilitate those fun connections we

28. INAPPROPRIATE HYPHENS

29. MISSING DASHES

30. DON’T BE TOO NEGATIVE