Common English Grammar Mistakes That You Should Avoid
When you slip up on your grammar, you will look like you are uneducated. If you are in a position such as a job interview, you could easily sacrifice your hard work in getting the interview because of a lack of training in grammar. Luckily, English grammar is easy to get down.
Possession is a common theme in the English language. When you are showing possession with “your,” don’t confuse it with “you’re” or “you are.” Many people, even native speakers, will forget this rule. An example with both words in a sentence would be “The book is yours, but you’re required to keep it clean.” If it helps you at all, mentally replace the contraction with the phrase “you are” to see if it fits correctly.
“There” and “their” is another grammar just waiting to happen. When you use “there” you are indicated a location, while “their” is used to shown ownership of some sort. This one is easy to get down, and an example sentence would be “There are three brothers in the family, but each of their personalities is different.”
Sometimes even the professionals can get tripped up on the proper usage of some words. “Effect” and “affect” is a pair of words that tend to do this. When you use the two words, always remember that “affect” is going to be a verb, and it will do action in a sentence, such as “Germs affect health.” On the other hand we have “effect,” which is a noun or adjective, and is used in a case such as “The effect of being sick is missing school or work.”
Don’t fret if you are having problems with some of the more advance English grammar rules. Some take time and practice, while others involve actually learning how words sound. An example is with “a” and “an.” We use “an” when the word succeeding it sounds like it has a vowel sound. You would type “an hour,” for instance. Just looking at the word you may get confused, since “hour” starts with an “h” – but with practice you can avoid such errors.
“Good” and “well” are taught incorrectly in common United States slang. It’s common to say “I am feeling good,” but this is actually not correct. “Good” is not a noun, but instead an adjective. “Well” is a noun, and would instead take the place of good in this case. “I am/am not feeling well” should be the proper response if asked how you are feeling.
Closing Comments
Practice English grammar all you can, and your efforts will pay off. It will take a fair amount of time to get all of it down. But once you do, you will appear intelligent and will be able to converse with others without having to sacrifice your self image in the process.
Learn more on English Grammar Learning and Learn English Online.
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