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Before you submit an assignment or a test paper, it is wise to always check over your work and make corrections. This may be a problem for students who may not really know what exactly they are checking for when it comes to grammar. Having grammar errors are the worst thing that can happen to your work as they pull down your grade drastically.
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Writing the best types of essays such as a narrative, expository, persuasive or argumentative means nothing to an examiner if your grammar is incorrect. It shows that you do not understand the parts of speech that make up a sentence when the truth is you probably just forgot a few things along the way. Here are 5 critical grammar checks you should make on assignments.
5 Critical grammar checks to make on assignments
1. Start specific names with a capital letter
Make sure that all proper nouns start with a capital letter. Read through your work and do a grammar check for specific names of persons, places, animals and things. Capitalise the initial letter in:
- a personâs first and last names, John Doe
- each word in a place, New York
- each word in an animalâs name, Fluffy Warrior Hound
- a thing whether it is concrete, Nike sneakers, or abstract, Monday.
2. Add apostrophe -s when it is one owner and -s apostrophe when it is several owners
During your grammar check, ensure that the owners in your work are marked correctly by the apostrophe. When the owner is singular, write -âs and when the owner is plural write -sâ.
If the singular word already ends in an -s as in bus, make it plural by adding -es and then add the apostrophe, busesâ. However, if the name of the person, place, animal or thing ends in an -s, it means the word is still singular and needs the -âs to be added, Jonesâs. Many people drop the final -s, but it is the grammar rule in English.
3. Use I at the end of a sentence only if a verb can follow it
Ending a sentence with I when a verb cannot follow it is a common grammar mistake made by many students. They believe the following sentence sounds right when it is not:
Incorrect sentence: “Mummy gave candy to my brother and I.”
In this sentence, âMummyâ is the subject (doer), âgaveâ is the verb (action), and the rest of the sentence is the object (receiver). This means a subject comes before a verb and the object comes after the verb.
The pronoun âIâ in a sentence is used to replace a subject and âmeâ replaces an object. In the sentence above, âIâ is placed in the position of the object or âreceiverâ of the action, therefore the object pronoun is âmeâ.
Correct sentence: “Mummy gave candy to my brother and me.”
A sentence that makes a comparison however can end with âIâ. This is because a verb can follow it whether the speaker or writer chooses to use it or not.
Correct sentence: âMy brother is taller than I.â
This sentence is correct because it is really saying, âMy brother is taller than I am tall.
4. End a verb with -s only if the subject pronoun is a âheâ, âsheâ, or âitâ
When double checking your grammar, make sure that your subject and verb is in agreement in every sentence that you write. This means that only when the subject pronoun is a âheâ, âsheâ, or âitâ, the verb must end with an -s.
The Verb To Be is a topic in grammar that you would have covered when you were around 7 or 8 years old so it is possible for you to be a bit rusty with the rules if you did not practise it. Here is a refresher on this topic for you to never forget to make your subject agree with your verb. Look at the pattern of the verb carrying an -s after the pronouns âheâ, âsheâ and âitâ:
Subject Verb Agreement
I am… You are… He is… She is… It is… We are… You are… They are
I go… You go… He goes… She goes… It goes… We go… You go… They go
I have… You have… He has… She has… It has… We have… You have… They have
Now, apply this in sentences with nouns that must be replaced with pronouns in your head when you are about to write the verb. Here are two examples:
“Barry and Mel have mangoes in a box.”
The pronoun for Barry and Mel is âTheyâ so the verb does not end in an -s.
“Mike runs quickly on his way home.”
The pronoun for Mike is âheâ so the verb ends in an -s.
5. Know your homophones
Double check your use of words that have the same sound and different spelling. Mixing up homophones can affect your grade in grammar badly. Here are some commonly mistaken homophones and differences for you to learn:
There, their and theyâre
Confusing the homophones âthereâ, âtheirâ, and âtheyâreâ is a very popular mistake made by students. Here are the differences to learn:
- âthereâ is the pronoun for place
- âtheirâ is the pronoun for people
- âtheyâreâ is the abbreviation for âthey areâ which is the pronoun âtheyâ and the verb âareâ
Your and youâre
It is common for students to write âyourâ when they really mean to say âyouâreâ. Here are the differences for you to learn:
- âyourâ is the possessive pronoun as in, âThis is your pencilâ
- âyouâreâ is the abbreviation for âyou areâ which is the pronoun âyouâ and verb âareâ
To, too and two
The word âtooâ seems to be very problematic for many students as it is confused with âtoâ and âtwoâ.
Here are the differences for you to learn:
- âtoâ is a preposition that expresses motion
- âtooâ is an adverb that modifies a word meaning âveryâ and âalsoâ
- âtwoâ is an adjective that describes amount of something
Check out more homophones here and get them all right to improve your grammar skills.
To end
These 5 common grammatical errors can be corrected once you do your grammar check properly. Remember to read your work over and over until you have corrected every mistake. Practise doing your grammar check from now so you would learn the parts of speech and improve your grades in your essays.
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