The Ten commandments in English language that is frequently ignored (or unknown) as grammar rules and writing practices:
• *Commas*: the comma is the most common punctuation mark and the most misused. It’s a tricky one because the rules are scarce, leaving usage up to style guides and writers’ best judgement. In weak writing, there are too few or too many commas. Be consistent in how you use commas and strike the right balance.
• *Verb tense:* The topic of tense warrants an article of its own (or maybe an entire book). There are multiple tenses beyond past, present, and future, and they are worth knowing.
Be especially careful of mixing up simple past tense (I danced all night) and past perfect tense (I had danced all night).
• *Adjectives vs. adverbs*: People don’t run quick; they run quickly.
The word quick is an adjective; quickly is an adverb. Make sure you’re using adverbs to modify verbs and adjectives to modify nouns.
• *Check your homophones*: Homophones are little devils because spell check won’t catch them and they often sneak past editors’ eyes.
Too many youngsters aren’t taught
proper homophone use (in other words, they don’t know spellings or definitions of their vocabulary).
From common sets of homophones like they’re, their, and there to more advanced words like complement
and compliment, it pays to learn proper usage and to proofread meticulously.
• *Rare or uncommon punctuation marks:* If you decide to use a punctuation mark like the ellipsis (three dots) or semicolon (comma with a period over it), then take the time to learn what it’s called and how to use it properly.
• *Subject-verb agreement:* The subject of a sentence needs to match the verb. Due to verb conjugation, this is especially tricky for people who speak English as a second language and for tots who are learning to speak.
Here’s an example of a common mistake: She have two cats. The
verb have does not go with the subject she. It should be She has two cats.
• *Only proper nouns are capitalized*: For some reason, a lot of people have taken it upon themselves to freely capitalize any words they think are important, a practice that is rampant in business writing. The Product is on Sale now is not a grammatically correct sentence.
• *Verb tense consistency and meticulous editing*: these errors are often the result of shoddy editing and proofreading.
A sentence that was originally in perfect past tense is changed to simple past tense, but one of the words in the sentence is overlooked, and you end up with something like She went to the store and had shopped for produce.
• *Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve*: I don’t know why, but a lot of people seem to think the “ve” in these words means “of.” But it’s short for “have.” These words are contractions for “should have,” “could have,” and “would have,” respectively — NOT “should of,” “could of,” or “would of.”
• *Consistency is key*: Grammar rules don’t cover everything. As a writer, you will constantly be challenged to make judicious decisions about how to construct your sentences and paragraphs. Always be consistent. Keeping a style guide handy will be a tremendous help.
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