Common Writing Errors

Many common writing errors are based on students' misperception that they can hand in written assignments that are little different in nature from how they speak in everyday conversation (or written email). It is important to remember that your assignments are official, rather than informal, correspondences. Your written word is fairly permanent. You are setting down on paper something that reflects your ability, capability, knowledge, and perhaps even intelligence. When professors read poorly written material, it is easiest for them to jump to the conclusion that the writer is either lazy or lacking in intelligence (see the fundamental attribution error in any introductory psychology textbook). Do you really want your professor to think of you like this? Just as appearances count in job interviews, so do they count in papers.

Never hand in a paper that has not been spellchecked and proofread. Spellcheck is a great function, but it does not catch all errors. I suggest that you either read the paper yourself or, better yet, ask someone else to read it for you. It is amazing how many errors a writer overlooks that an independent reader easily recognizes.  In the meantime, here are some of the errors that I see most often in students' papers. Good luck!

Commonly confused words

• accept = to receive (to accept a gift, or to accept criticism) 
  except = all but one (everyone but Joe...) 
• there = that place (it's over there); also used with "there are" (there are 50 states in the US) 
  they're = they are (they're very happy to see you) 
  their = belonging to them (they spent all their money) 
• affect = verb meaning "to influence" (Will lack of sleep affect your game?) 
  affect = noun meaning "emotion" (He exhibited depressed affect.) [The word is rarely used this way.]
  effect = noun meaning "result" or "consequence" (Will lack of sleep have an effect on your game?) 
  effect = verb meaning "to bring about" or "to accomplish" (Our efforts have effected a major change in college policy.)  [The word is rarely used this way.]
• its = belonging to it (the store had a sign in its window) 
  it's = it is (It's a girl!) 
• every day = on all days (I eat cereal every day for breakfast) 
  everyday = common or ordinary (She wore her everyday shoes, not her fancy ones) 
• to = preposition (going to the store); the first part of a verb (I love to read) 
  too = very (it's too hot in here); also (Are you coming too?) 
  two = the number 2 
• weather = atmospheric conditions (We should have sunny weather this weekend.)
  whether = a conjunction that introduces possibilities or alternatives (Do you know whether he is coming?)
  wether = a castrated sheep. [I cannot imagine any scenario where you'd need to use this word in a psychology paper!]
• loose = not tight (My pants are loose because I lost weight.)
  lose = to fail (I hate to lose a bet) or to have something removed (I would like to lose weight)
• Both "a lot" and "all right" are two-word phrases! 
• "Themselves," "herself," and other similar words are one word each. 
• "Whereas," "nonetheless," and "furthermore" are all one word each. 
• adolescents = teenagers (Those people are adolescents) 
  adolescence = a stage of life (She grew quite a bit during adolescence) 
• bias = a noun (The researchers failed to control for bias.)
  biased = an adjective (The researchers were biased.)

Punctuation

• Do not use contractions ("you're," "they're," "it's," etc.). Remember, your assignments are intended to be written in a formal manner. 
• Apostrophes can only be used in two ways: to indicate a contraction (which should never be used in a formal paper anyway) or to indicate possession (Marc's car, children's literature). When a plural word ends in -s, the apostrophe goes after the word (in other words, "my parent's clothes" refers to only one parent, whereas "my parents' house" refers to both of them). Apostrophes are never used to make a noun plural (so, for example, "student's" means "belonging to the student," whereas "students" means "more than one student"). 
• For pronouns, you do not need an apostrophe to indicate possession. So, for example, "its handle" means "the handle belonging to it," while "it's handle" means "it is handle." 
• Do not misuse commas. Commas are generally used in two instances: to indicate serialization (I need to buy milk, eggs, bread, and orange juice) or to set aside a clause (Because she followed the directions in this document, she was able to reduce the number of grammar errors in her paper). In general, the presence of a comma indicates that the reader should pause. If you do not think that a pause is necessary, then do not insert a comma. (There's a lot more about commas at the web site listed below.) 
• Closing punctuation usually goes inside quotation marks (He called his invention "Spluck.") 

Grammar

• Sentence fragments. Write in complete sentences only. 
• Never begin a sentence with "but" or "and." 
• The only words which should be capitalized are the first words of each sentence, important words in titles (e.g., "Romeo and Juliet"), the pronoun "I," and proper nouns (names of people, places, and organizations). (There are a few other exceptions, but this will work 99% of the time.) 
• Never use the first person ("we," "us," "my," and, especially, "I") or give personal opinions, unless it is specifically asked for. 
• Do not address your readers as "you" or "your." Example: You would think that gossip is a bad thing, but you'd be wrong. This leaves me wondering: How can you possibly know what I am thinking? Are you a mind reader? Your best bet is just to avoid the pronoun altogether: Many people think that gossip is a bad thing, but this is not true.  

Other common errors

• Numbers greater than ten should not be written out in words unless it's at the start of a sentence.
• "Etcetera" is abbreviated as etc., not ect.! 
• Using informal words and phrases (e.g., kids, cool, totally, any kind of smiley face) 
• Never write down an abbreviation without first stating what the abbreviation stands for. Example: The APA suggests that.... Instead: The American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that.... Having stated what the abbreviation stands for, you may now use the abbreviation later in the paper.  
• Using the wrong tense.  It would take way too long to tell you everything you need to know in one paragraph, so all I will say here is that if this is a problem for you, then you should either visit the writing center for assistance, or else visit the web site listed below.

Looking for more information?

The Purdue University Online Writing Lab is perhaps one of the best resources available online for help with grammar, punctuation, and writing style. It contains the rules for correct writing, as well as plenty of examples. It also has a number of exercises you can complete to test your understanding of common errors. It is at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/index.html