I have to start this by saying that language is a living thing, and there’s no correct or incorrect way to use it. Often on social media, in casual communication, and in other low-key situations we write in ways that don’t match up with prescribed grammar and spelling, and that’s OK. The point is to get the message across, and if your writing is understood by the reader then it has done its job.
If, however, you are writing something that requires some polish, you may want it to follow the prescribed rules. Should that be the case, I have a few tips for you—simple things that will help your CV, cover letter, formal correspondence, website, blog post, or anything else pass muster with the grammar, spelling, and punctuation critics out there.
Beyond basic spelling and grammar errors, these are the most common mistakes that I encounter while reading or editing any written piece.
Check your apostrophes
Misplaced apostrophes are an extremely common mistake. They can be tricky wee things to get right.
Apostrophes are commonly used to indicate possession and to replace skipped letters when two words are smooshed together in a contraction. Think carefully about whether an apostrophe is required. The major point to keep in mind is that if the “s” is making the word plural, it doesn’t need an apostrophe.
Carefully consider your capitalisation
One of my most common tasks when editing copy is to replace capital letters with lowercase ones. These have their place, and it’s mostly at the beginning of sentences or of proper nouns. If the word is a common noun, it likely doesn’t need one.
As an example, I used to work for an online travel company and would often see pieces of writing with words like “Motorhome”, “Itinerary”, and “Rental Agent” scattered throughout. While these nouns were certainly important on travel websites they do not need to be capitalised. When you are editing, look carefully for unnecessary capitalisations and get rid of them.
Don’t dangle your modifiers
There’s a popular sentence structure that begins with a modifier phrase and introduces the modified object afterwards. For example: “Trying to feel productive, I ensured that the dishes were washed and laundry done before I left the house.” The phrase “Trying to feel productive” is meaningless without stating who (or what) it modifies.
With the complexity of such a sentence structure, it can be easy to get lost along the way. This may result in sentences such as “Trying to feel productive, the dishes were washed and laundry done before I left the house.” While most readers may be able to discern what is meant here, it does not actually make much sense. To make sure you are matching up your modifiers, ask yourself who or what the modifier phrase applies to. Who was looking to feel productive? I was! Therefore, the word “I” comes next.
Be attentive with bullet points
Using bullet points is a great way to summarise points and lay them out in a way that’s easy to follow. They come in handy when listing objects or ideas—but make sure that you are using them wisely.
The bullet points should match each other. They could be one of the following:
Verbs or verb phrases
Nouns or noun phrases
Full sentences
Sentence fragments
If, for example, you were writing a list of ways to get from here to there, it could go be a list of verbs and verb phrases (all conjugated the same way):
Running
Walking
Galloping
Shuffling slowly
Riding a bike
It could also be a list of nouns and noun phrases:
Bike
Car
Boat
Hovercraft
Whichever you choose, make sure that they are the same and avoid lists like this one, which involves different parts of speech and conjugations:
Car
Jogging
By crawling
Walk
My son likes to run from here to there, and has the energy to achieve it.
Make your headings make sense
The subheadings for this blog post demonstrate another common error. The last sentence of my introductory paragraphs says this:
“Beyond basic spelling and grammar errors, these are the most common mistakes that I encounter while reading or editing any written piece.”
The post title also states that it will include common grammar mistakes.
It would be expected, then, that the subheadings list mistakes. They do not! They would be better described as tips, advice, or pointers. If I had, in fact, done as I had said I was going to do and listed common mistakes, they may have looked more like this:
Misplacing apostrophes
Capitalising the wrong words
Leaving your modifiers to dangle
Mixing structures in your bullet points
Confusing your headings
Alternatively, this could be fixed with a rewrite of that last introductory sentence. “The following are some tips to help you write accurately and clearly” better introduces the existing subheadings. The title could be changed to “Ways to avoid common grammar mistakes” to fit with the content. Often, only a small adjustment is needed to ensure that the title, subheadings, and content are all cohesive parts of the whole.
What these tips boil down to is this: read carefully through your work after you write it and check that everything makes sense. If you have used bullet points, read them out loud to ensure that they make a cohesive, matching list. If you have capitalised a word, ask yourself whether it’s necessary. Consider how you have framed or introduced your piece and make sure that the headings follow on logically. Sometimes, proper grammar and structure can be lost in wordiness, so take a good look at the bones of your sentences and make sure they are sound.
Header image by Amador Loureiro via unsplash.