In 2008, Andrea Lunsford and Karen Lunsford conducted a study of a large representative sample of English Composition essays from all over the country and used it to assemble a list of the twenty most common errors made by Composition students. The errors described on the next two pages are all taken from this list.

Word-level Errors

Wrong Word

Wrong word errors are very common and are number one on Lunsford and Lunsford’s list. Sometimes, we make a wrong word error when we are using the thesaurus and trying to find the biggest word we can find in order to make ourselves sound smart. This isn’t the greatest strategy. Sometimes, it’s better just to be simple, and it’s always better just to be clear.

We also have to be careful of the spell checker. Sometimes, we misspell words, and then the spell checker makes a change to a word we don’t want. Of course, we may be in a hurry and never even notice. Take a look at this sentence to see the problems wrong word errors can create:

• Sometimes, I will just sit and watch strangers in the crowd, but it is defiantly awful when I accidentally make eye contact with one of them.

In this sentence, writing defiantly when we mean definitely, definitely changes the meaning in the sentence.

Here is the sentence again with the correct word:

• Sometimes, I will just sit and watch strangers in the crowd, but it is definitely awful when I accidentally make eye contact with one of them.

Defiantly/definitely is an example of a word pair that often gets mixed up, but won’t be flagged by a spellchecker because the word isn’t misspelled; it’s just misused. Here are a few more examples of words that are often mixed up:

• Affect/Effect
• Accept/Except
• Complement/Compliment
• Flaunt/Flout
• Historic/Historical
• It’s/its
• Lose/Loose
• Their/there/they’re
• Then/than
• Through/threw/thru
• Too/to/two
• Whose/Who’s

Once you’ve had practice identifying these words, you’ll come to recognize which words to keep an eye out for. Keeping a list of commonly confused words nearby when editing can help with this, but having a friend read the essay and using other proofreading strategies will help you catch these mistakes.

Misspellings

In the age of spell checkers, it’s hard to imagine that spelling errors would top the most common error list, but they do. First, it’s important to remember to run the spell checker. Even though you have to remember to check your spell checker, spell checkers are a good place to start when it comes to spelling errors.

Still, there are plenty of spelling errors the spell checker won’t catch. In addition to possibly creating wrong-word errors, as discussed earlier, spell checkers also miss misspelled words like names and other proper nouns, as illustrated in the following example:

• On my vacation to France, I went to Pares and visited Jim Morison’s grave.

The spell checker missed these errors. Here is the corrected version of the sentence:

• On my vacation to France, I went to Paris and visited Jim Morrison’s grave.

So, be sure to run your spell checker, but, then, don’t forget to double and triple check your writing. Spell checkers do not catch everything.

Capitalization

Be careful to capitalize words that should be capitalized, such as proper nouns, and not capitalize words that should not be capitalized.

But, how can you know what should and shouldn’t be capitalized? If you are unsure, review the differences between proper nouns and common nouns in a style guide such as the Excelsior OWL.

Capitalization errors can have a negative impact on the impressions your readers have of your writing. Take a look at the following sentence:

• i took a walk in central park and saw a Mime, who was pretending to be a Policeman, get sprayed with mace by an elderly woman because she thought he was trying to steal her purse.

Now, take a look at the sentence with correct capitalization:

• I took a walk in Central Park and saw a mime, who was pretending to be a policeman, get sprayed with Mace by an elderly woman because she thought he was trying to steal her purse.

Sentence-Level Errors

Pronoun Reference

A pronoun reference error occurs when you use a pronoun like he or she, and it’s not clear what that pronoun refers to. Here is an example:

• When Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were battling with their light sabers, he became angry.

Who does he refer to? It isn’t clear. A pronoun should clearly refer to its antecedent (the word it replaces), so if the antecedent is not clear, you need to revise. Here’s an example of how you might correct the pronoun reference error:

• When Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were battling with their light sabers, Luke became angry.

Pronoun Agreement

Pronoun agreement can be trickier than it might seem on the surface. The rule is that we must make sure our pronouns agree in number and gender with the nouns they are replacing. For example, when we write a sentence about a girl named Sophia, we would use she as the pronoun to refer to her.

But things get a little more confusing when we are talking about a kind of abstract person, and the “rule” on this subject has recently changed in most circles. In the recent past, to avoid sexist language, we couldn’t write he or she. Instead, we had to write he or she.

But, because most people would just end up writing they, which technically does not agree in number, the “rule” began to change. This is a great example of how living languages, like English, change, and the change happens when people make a change happen.

It used to be incorrect to use what we now call “the singular they.” Here is an example:

• If you want a child to learn, it is helpful if you make learning fun for them.

Now, many style guides accept the use of they or them to refer to a singular noun. So, now, this would be considered correct:

• If you want a child to learn, it is helpful if you make learning fun for them.

When in doubt, using a plural noun is safest:

• If you want children to learn, it is helpful if you make learning fun for them.

This way, you avoid any awkwardness of the singular them, and your pronoun is now also in agreement with children.

Faulty Sentence Structure

Have you ever had a teacher say, “That sentence starts one way and ends another”? If you have, don’t feel badly. Others make this same mistake all the time. Sometimes, we simply lose our train of thought when we write, and we literally start a sentence one way and end it another, as illustrated in the following example:

• I occasionally get the urge to study late at night for instance my exams are going to take me longer than usual to study for because this works.

It’s tough to make sense of this sentence, right?

Of course, this is not the only faulty sentence structure error you might make. It’s important to pay close attention to your sentence structure to make sure you have both a subject and a verb. And, if you are listing items or phrases in a sentence, make sure you keep the items in your list in the same form. Doing so keeps your sentences “parallel,” which is a good thing.

Here is an example of a sentence without parallel structure:

• I start my day with breakfast, exercising, and checking out the latest blogs.

In the sentence above, breakfast is a noun, and exercising and checking begin verb phrases. The items in the list are not in the same form. Here is a correction where the items listed are in the same form:

• I start my day by eating breakfast, exercising, and checking out the latest blogs.

Verb Tense Shift

You want to be sure that you are always consistent with your verb tense. When you shift verb tenses for no reason, and this is an easy mistake to make, you can really confuse your readers.

If you’re writing in the present tense, be sure you stay in the present tense. If you’re writing in the past tense, be sure you stay in the past tense. The exception would be if you need to shift tenses to tell a story, but that would be purposeful shifting. It’s the random, accidental shifting that causes the problems, as illustrated in this example:

• She grabs my hand then flipped me like I weighed nothing. This showed what a good self-defense course has done.

Here is what a corrected version of the sentence looks like:

• She grabbed my hand then flipped me like I weighed nothing. This showed what a good self-defense course has done.

You should also be aware that certain types of writing require either past or present tense. For example, research in APA format often needs to be presented in the past tense, but a literary analysis written in MLA format needs to be presented using present tense verbs. It’s called the literary present tense.

If you’re ever unsure about tense requirements, be sure to ask your professor.

Fused or Run-On  Sentences

A fused sentence is sometimes called a run-on sentence. The concept is simple. If your teacher marks fused sentence or run-on on your paper, it’s because you have put two complete thoughts or independent clauses together without the proper punctuation or any kind of sentence boundary. Here is an example:

• There were a thousand zombies cheering for the home team when I walked onto the field I don’t think even one of them noticed me.

And, here is the corrected sentence:

• There were a thousand zombies cheering for the home team when I walked onto the field; I don’t think even one of them noticed me.

The key is to remember that you must have some kind of boundary between your independent clauses. You can use punctuation, such as the period or the semicolon, or you can use a comma with a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet).

NOTE: A comma alone cannot separate independent clauses. Using a comma to separate independent clauses actually creates a comma splice (see the next page).

Sentence Fragments

Sentence fragments always make the list of the most common errors, and they are among the most seriously stigmatizing errors we can make. To put it simply, a sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence that you have punctuated as if it is a complete sentence.

Sometimes, fragments are missing a verb. Sometimes, fragments are missing a subject. Sometimes, a fragment is simply a dependent clause punctuated like a complete sentence. Here are some examples:

• The haunting of the house on the craggy hill just outside of town.
• Because they are hairy and frightening with large, pointed fangs and shiny, yellow eyes.

You’ll notice that each of these so-called sentences is not a complete sentence. They are both missing parts that would make them complete.

You always have options about how you correct a sentence fragment, but here are some possible corrections for our two sample sentence fragments:

• The haunting of the house on the craggy hill just outside of town was the subject of a recent documentary.
• I am afraid of those spiders because they are hairy and frightening with large, pointed fangs and shiny, yellow eyes.

Subject-Verb Agreement

In addition to verb tense issues, another common error that should be reviewed in the proofreading process is subject-verb agreement. In simplest terms, all this means is that a verb should match the noun that precedes it. If a noun is singular (woman), the verb should be singular (runs). If the noun is plural (women), the verb should be plural (run).

However, as simple as this can seem on the surface, there are some subjects that are easy to mistake and cause these issues. Take the following incorrect sentence:

• The pot of flowers sit on the bench. —> The pot of flowers sits on the bench.

The pot of flowers is the subject of the sentence (the noun that does or is something in the sentence). Many writers see flowers and think of a plural noun. However, pot is the actual noun. “Flowers” here just explains what is in the pot. Since pot is singular, the verb sit should also be singular, changing it to sits. If pot was removed and the sentence said, The flowers sit on the bench, the subject and verb would agree.

It is imperative to pay attention to the actual noun throughout the proofreading strategies so that simple subject-verb agreement issues do not arise.

Other Errors

Missing Words

Missing word errors make this list because we are too often in a hurry when we edit. Our brains are great. We can read right through sentences and put in the words that need to be there even if words are missing. Of course, others might quickly notice the error, so we have to find ways to slow ourselves down and edit carefully. You don’t want to write a sentence like the following example that is missing a small word with big meaning:

• I enjoy walking alone in the woods at night because I never what I will meet while I am out there in the dark.

Did you see the error? Look at the revised sentence below:

• I enjoy walking alone in the woods at night because I never know what I will meet while I am out there in the dark.

Incomplete or Missing Documentation

One very common error on Lunsford and Lunsford’s list relates to proper documentation. It’s extremely important to remember to cite all borrowed information. No matter your documentation style, whether it is APA format, MLA format, or Chicago Style, all require some kind of citation for quoted, paraphrased, and summarized material.

Poorly Integrated Quote

Any teacher who has ever assigned and graded writing has probably complained about this error. Too often, beginning writers will simply “plop” a quote into a paragraph without any set up or context. This is incredibly confusing for your readers, so it’s important to make sure you smoothly integrate your quotes into the sentences around the quote.

Although there are no “rules” for such things, it’s always a good idea to provide a phrase of some kind to set up your quote and some commentary after your quote to make sure your readers understand the relevance of the quote. Otherwise, you may end up with a quote like this:

• Albert Einstein was a great man and a great scientist. He was one of the most advanced thinkers of our age. “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing” (Einstein Quotes, 2012).

Here, it feels like the quote is just dropped in without clear context. If you struggle with quote integration, you’ll want to check out the module on integrating sources.