Scribd
Upload
46 views

Tips in Identifying Errors

The document provides 8 tips for identifying errors in sentences: 1. Check for dependent and independent clauses and ensure the sentence is complete. 2. Do not treat groups of people as singular objects if referring to the people individually. 3. Watch for subject-verb agreement across sentences. 4. Distinguish standard idioms from non-standard colloquialisms. 5. Maintain agreement between singular and plural subjects and verbs. 6. Ensure adjectives and adverbs are used correctly. 7. Consistently use "they" to refer to plural subjects and "he or she" for singular subjects. 8. Read the full sentence before

Uploaded by

Kristine Baldovizo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
46 views

Tips in Identifying Errors

The document provides 8 tips for identifying errors in sentences: 1. Check for dependent and independent clauses and ensure the sentence is complete. 2. Do not treat groups of people as singular objects if referring to the people individually. 3. Watch for subject-verb agreement across sentences. 4. Distinguish standard idioms from non-standard colloquialisms. 5. Maintain agreement between singular and plural subjects and verbs. 6. Ensure adjectives and adverbs are used correctly. 7. Consistently use "they" to refer to plural subjects and "he or she" for singular subjects. 8. Read the full sentence before

Uploaded by

Kristine Baldovizo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Tips in identifying errors

Tip #1: There’s a point in the sentence at which the dependent component
ends. Ensure that the words being utilized at this point complete the
sentence as is conventional.

“The students have discovered that they can address issues more


effectively through letter-writing campaigns and not through public demonstrations.”
So, according to the first tip, locate the point where the dependent component ends. By
“dependent component”, I mean that part of the sentence that leaves an uncertainty to
be dealt with in the future. Firstly, if you were given that component only, then your
sentence would be incomplete; secondly, and more simply, the fragment wouldn’t make
sense. In this case, the dependent component is “The students have discovered that they
can address issues more effectively through letter-writing campaigns.” Okay, they can
address issues more effectively through letter writing. That’s not a complete idea. Whilst
many people utilize words like “more”, “less”, “fewer”, and “greater” in sentences that
don’t involve a comparison, this should not be done. You can only know that one
method (in this case, letter writing) is more effective if you’ve tried another that
was less effective. Logical, right?
Looking at the whole sentence, our prediction was correct – a comparison is being
made.
“The students have discovered that they can address issues more
effectively through letter-writing campaigns and not through public demonstrations.”
Which word do we first learn to utilize in making comparisons? “Than”! And hey, it’s
missing; for some reason unknown to humanity, there’s an “and not” where a “than”
should be. There’s your error. This is a common colloquialism; don’t fall prey to it.
REPORT THIS AD

Pay attention to the natural progression of the sentence; focus your


attention on each separate possible instance of error in context.

Tip #2: Do not transform an object into a person simply because it involves
people or consists of them. It is still an object. Watch for singular and plural
forms in this context.

“After hours of futile debate, the committee has decided to postpone further


discussion of the resolution until their next meeting.”

I won’t launch into a great rant here – we’re speaking of a committee in the sentence,
right? The “their” should be an “its” – a committee, whilst it consists of people, is an
item. In order to employ “their” here, “the committee has” would have to become “the
committee members have”.

Tip #3: Watch for agreement in any form. Do not treat people and their
actions as interchangeable items where grammar is concerned.
“At the music recital, Alexandra enjoyed listening to her friend Mohammed’s insightful
interpretation, which she thought was more sophisticated than the other performers.”
This one, again, is brief – Alexandra enjoyed listening to her friend’s insightful
interpretation. Careful. It wasn’t stated that Alexandra enjoyed listening to Mohammed
– she enjoyed listening to his interpretation, as supported by there being a “which” at
the beginning of the next clause. If we were talking about Mohammed, then we would
have utilized a “who”; furthermore, we might not have mentioned his interpretation at
all. We need, then, to complete this sentence with a comment about the interpretation
and not Mohammed – that’s the error. She thought his interpretation more
sophisticated, but the sentence currently speaks of people.
A correct sentence might read: “At the music recital, Alexandra enjoyed listening to her
friend Mohammed’s insightful interpretation, which she thought was more
sophisticated than those of the other performers.”

Tip #4: Learn to distinguish between accepted idioms and non-standard


colloquialisms. Trust your instincts where idioms are concerned.

“Originally a protest on conventional painting, the Pre-Raphaelite


movement exerted great influence on the art of its time.”

Okay, when one reads this, something should just seem wrong. If you ever sense
something strange about a given sentence, read it aloud, or try having an unrelated
conversation on the topic. Your doing so should be greeted with a cringe this time
around. Unless a protest was held on a conventional painting*, our error lies in the first
underlined portion. You protest against something, not on it.
REPORT THIS AD

*Even then, we’d be missing an article!

Tip #5: Watch for agreement across singulars and plurals.

“The board reviewing the courses offered by the college found that the quality of


academic programs were generally good but somewhat uneven.”

This is one of the most common grammatical errors that people consistently make. Ask
yourself what the board found out about. Evidently, it found out about the quality of
academic programs. Careful. The quality of the academic programs. That’s a singular
noun. We’re describing the quality, not the programs, so the “were” should be a “was”.

Tip #6: Do not underestimate the importance of a single word. Additionally,


adjectives are not adverbs.

“Maude Adams, after her spectacular triumph as the original Peter Pan, went


about heavy veiled and was accessible to only a handful of intimate friends.”

Quite simply, you go about heavily veiled, not “heavy veiled”. Though a word may
appear as a noun far more often than it does as a verb, it can still be a verb in a certain
context. Try asking yourself something like “How did Maude Adams go about?”
“She went about veiled – heavily veiled.”
Tip #7: Agree, agree, agree. If we’re speaking of many people, then we use
“they”. If we’re speaking of a person, then we do not use “they”, and in its
place use something like “he or she”. “Everyone”, “someone”, and “anyone”
all utilize “he or she” – note that they’re all speaking of some one person.
“One” utilizes “one” – it may sound repetitive, but that’s fine.

Tip #8: Read over the whole sentence first. You may be tempted to think
that the first questionable item you see is an error; upon reading further,
you’ll realize that it wasn’t a problem.

“All states impose severe penalties on drivers who do not stop when he or she is involved


in accidents.”

As the eighth tip predicts, “penalties on” may suddenly seem suspicious; that phrasing is
perfectly idiomatic.  Read on!

As the seventh tip suggests, the error is the final portion – the error is using “he or she”
to describe “drivers”. This should not be done – “they are involved” is the correct
piece.
Here are some examples of this phenomenon:

1. If one understands how to exercise care in preparing specimens, then one shouldn’t
experience too many problems with the purification protocol.
2. Everyone knows that he or she should remain stationary until we call.
3. The author will transport the reader into a world from which he or she will not want
to depart.

The commonly-made error occurs with the third sentence – people might often say the
following:
“The author will transport the reader into a world from which they will not want to
depart.”
Yes, it’s quick, but it’s incorrect.

You might also like