8 Common Grammar Mistakes Even Great Writers Make
Are you making any of these grammar mistakes?
Does it sometimes feel like the rules of English grammar and usage were created as some kind of twisted joke? (Check #2 before you say no.)
If so, you’re far from alone. No need to be ashamed about the past, but now’s the time to clean up your act.
Master these 8 English language potholes, and your writing will be more professional, saving you embarrassment and/or the cost of a heavy copyediting job.
Let me know what you think of this list in the comments. Did you know these all already? Was anything a surprise?
1. The one most writers think they’re getting right, even when they’re dead wrong.
I vs me
I don’t like grammar snobs, and I promise to never criticize your emails, but I will admit this one drives me batty. I think it’s because on way too many occasions, I’ve heard self-important types “correct” other people on this one…even though they’re the ones who have it backwards.
For the record, you do not need to use I instead of me just because it’s in a sequence.
You know better than to say, “You and me need to hire Saul Goodman.” Obviously it should be “You and I need to hire Saul Goodman.”
But this is just wrong: “He gave the money to you and I. “
Also equally wrong: “That bag of money is for you and I.”
No and no. Those should be:
“He gave the money to you and me.”
“That bag of money is for you and me.”
The official way to explain this is that “I” is the subject while “me” is the object.
But there’s a simple way to test this: Just take out the other person and see if it sounds right.
“He gave the money to I.” Clearly you would never say that, right? You’d naturally say - “He gave the money to me.”
“That bag of money is for I.” Again, obviously wrong. Correct = “That bag of money is for me.”
And the number one place people mess this up — “That’s just between you and I.“
No, it’s between you and me. To test which form of the collective sounds right, ask yourself if you would say “that’s between us” or “that’s between we.” Obviously it’s “us,” which is the pronoun you use for an object, just like “me.”
Look, I’m not going to judge you if you say you and I when it should be me, but if you correct someone else who is actually saying it right, you better believe I’ll call the grammar police!
2. The one I still struggle with.
Lay vs Lie
I think after 15+ years in publishing, I might finally have this one down, but I always look it up to be sure.
Would you be surprised to hear that your dog can’t “go lay down”? Instead, he needs to lie down.
Present tense
Lay. Lay is used if setting something else, an object, down. For example — Lay down your sword.
Lie. When there’s no other object, use lie instead of lay. For example, if you’re feeling tired, you need to lie down.
Not too tricky, but when you move into other forms of these verbs, it starts to get crazy.
Past tense
Laid. The past tense of setting down another object (lay) becomes laid. For example: I laid the sword down.
Lay. The past tense of putting yourself into the horizontal position on your bed (lie) becomes lay, just like you thought it should be for present tense. Grrrr. For example: Yesterday, I lay down all afternoon.
Past participle (Get ready to be really annoyed.)
Lay, as in lay it down, becomes laid. I had already laid down the sword by the time you asked.
Lain, as in go lie down, is now lain. I had lain there all night.
Present participle (Are you freakin’ kidding me?)
Laying. I’m laying the sword down now.
Lying. I’ve been lying down all afternoon.
Why, why, why? I don’t know. It’s just that crazy English again.
3. The one at least 800,000 people ask about every month.
Affect vs effect
According to Google, more than 800,000 people search for this every month! Clearly this one’s tricky. Why do we have two such similar sounding words for such closely related but different uses? Because…English!
Effect is a noun that means “the result.”
Affect is a verb that means “to influence.”
For example:
“Monica cleaned her kitchen and was pleased with the effect.”
“Ross’s obsession with Jurassic Park affects the way women see him.”
How to test it: Try replacing “effect” with result and “affect” with influence and see if it makes sense.
“Monica cleaned her kitchen and was pleased with the influence.” Nope. You lost me.
“Monica cleaned her kitchen and was pleased with the result.” Sure, that makes perfect sense.
“Ross’s obsession with Jurassic Park results the way women see him.” No way.
“Ross’s obsession with Jurassic Park influences the way women see him.” Absolutely.
Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl has a great trick for remembering this — just remember that the “a” in affect is for “action,” a verb. If you want to get super technical, she also further explains some rare exceptions to this rule.
4. The one that’s easy in the U.K. and complicated in the U.S.
That vs Which
To make this one frustrating, American English uses that/which differently than British English. If you’re in the U.K., you are within your rights to ignore my lesson and use these two words interchangeably. If you’re in the U.S., read on.
In American English, that is a defining clause (aka restricting clause), and which is a non-defining, or non-restricting, clause.
Okay, but what the heck does that mean?
It means you use that when you need the information to distinguish your object from others, and you use which when you don’t.
Still, what does that mean?
Here are two examples:
That: George bought the envelopes that were the least expensive in the shop.
You’re using the clause “that were the least expensive” to distinguish those envelopes from all the other envelopes in the shop.
Which: Kramer’s apartment, which overlooks Kenny Rogers Roasters, is brightly lit.
The clause “which overlooks Kenny Rogers Roasters” is giving you more detail about Kramer’s apartment, but it’s not necessary in order to know that we’re referring to Kramer’s apartment.
Also notice that the which clause is set off by commas. That’s another clue that you can remove the clause and the sentence still makes sense.
5. The humble brag that isn’t humble at all.
Humbled vs Honored
This is more usage than grammar, but it’s such a common mistake that I though it was worth mentioning.
Humbled, like humiliation, comes from the word humility. It means to lose status or pride, to realize how small you are, to admit you were wrong or weak.
It’s not only for things that are humiliating, and you can definitely be humbled in the face of something awe-inspiring. For example, if you were awed by a natural wonder or act of god or a popular movement, it might remind you of how large the Earth or the cosmos is and how small you are. But that’s not where most people use and abuse the word.
Lately people have been using it to mean the exact opposite — that they’re honored, proud, that they feel better about themselves, not worse.
This mistake has become so popular, it may be too late to correct. I won’t be surprised if it eventually leads to a change in the Oxford English Dictionary. Until then, just be honest and admit that you’re honored.
6. The one that makes people mess up their own last names.
Plurals do not need an apostrophe
Remember, an apostrophe is used to indicate possession or a missing letter in a contraction. Apostrophes are NEVER used to show plurality.
Ever see a holiday card like this - “Happy holidays from the Lannister’s”?
What that should say is from the “Lannisters” because we’re talking about more than one family member named Lannister, not showing possession. It’s not happy holidays from the Lannister’s horse. Or happy holidays from the Lannister is. So don’t use an apostrophe!
What if your last name ends in an s?
Your family is not Jone’s. It’s also not Jones’ because you’re still not trying to show possession. You’re talking about more than one Jones. The plural for Jones is Joneses. If you don’t like the sound of that, say the Jones family. Why isn’t it the Jones’ family? The same reason it’s not the Lannister’ family. Don’t let the S throw you off!
7. Another stray apostrophe problem.
Apostrophes for possession
To make something possessive, you put the apostrophe after the word. So when the word is plural and ends in an s, it still goes after the word. Something belonging to kids or multiple parents would be teachers' or parents'
It belongs to the kid = kid’s
It belongs to multiple kids = kids’
It belongs to the children = children’s
It belongs to one parent = parent’s
It belongs to multiple parents = parents'
The big glaring exception — “its.” Even though this is possessive, “its” does not get an apostrophe because we need to distinguish “its” possessive from “it’s” the contraction for it is. See #8 below.
What if the word ends in an s, like bus?
Bus’s
What if it’s a last name that ends in an s?
If you want to show possession for a person whose last name ends in s, you actually have two perfectly acceptable choices. Just be consistent.
You can go with Bridget Jones’s boyfriend or Bridget Jones’ boyfriend.
For AP style, like most newspapers, you’d choose Jones’. If you’re following the Chicago Manual of Style, like most magazines and books, you’ll go with Jones’s.
If we’re talking about more than one Jones, you’ll be back to one choice. The Joneses’ house. Technically, based on the rules, you should also be able to choose the Joneses’s house, but if you say it out loud, you’ll see why no one does.
8. The big exception that too few people ever learned.
Its vs It’s
This is another one even smart people get wrong, and for very good reason. It’s just one of those exceptions that makes learning English so much fun.
With other words, we use an apostrophe to show possession and to indicate a missing letter in a contraction. With its/it’s, we needed to distinguish between the contraction and the possessive in order to tell them apart. So “its” is the one time we don’t use an apostrophe for possession.
Its = Possessive. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
It’s = Contraction for it is. “It’s okay.”
So there you have it.
Did you know these? Let me know if there were any surprises or if you have any tricks for remembering these in the comments.
