OWN A DICTIONARY AND USE IT FOR SPELLING AND WORD MEANINGS
Do not use contractions (e.g., don’t, isn’t).
“It’s” is the short form for “it is” and is a contraction so don’t use it; “its” is the possessive form meaning something that belongs to “it”.
Know the difference between “their”, “there” and “they’re” (the last of which is a contraction and should not be used).
“Oftentimes” does not exist; nor does “often times”: use “often” by itself.
“A lot” is two words, and should probably be avoided completely anyway.
Know the difference between “affect” (usually the verb) and “effect” (usually the noun).
Use “take part in” rather than “partake in”. “Partake” means taking a share of (or in) a thing. “Take part” means engaging in something. Men do not “partake in” prostitution they “take part in” prostitution.
Know the difference between “then” and “than”.
Sentences do NOT begin with “And” or “But”.
Sentences have subjects, verbs and objects which work together.
It is better to write a straightforward sentence than one that is grammatically complicated.
Avoid run-on sentences.
Avoid passive voice, when possible (e.g., “It was thought that the test was too hard.” [Passive voice] versus “The students thought the test was too hard.” [Active voice]).
Avoid dangling participles (e.g., “Going to the store, the weather was cold.” Grammatically, “the weather is the subject of the verb “going” which makes no sense. The sentence should read something more like “Going to the store, Phyllida found the weather was cold.”).
Maintain grammatical congruence between a subject and its referents (eg. wrong: “An individual and their dog went out.” Right: “An individual and his or her dog went out.” or “An individual and the dog belonging to that person went out.”).
Know how to use punctuation: commas, semi-colons, colons, etc.
Know the difference between a dash (e.g., In the winter – when it is nice – one can have a lovely time) and a hyphen (e.g., snow-lovers can ski).
Make sure you understand every word you use and that every word you use is necessary.
Do not end a sentence with a preposition. When correcting this error you have to make sure you know how to use interrogative pronouns such as “who” and “whom” correctly. (Wrong: I don’t know who I’m going with. Correct: I don’t know with whom I am going. Wrong: Who do you want to speak to? Correct: To whom do you want to speak?).
Do not assume your reader knows anything about your topic. Even when writing for your professor (who should know everything, right?) you must define words and explain concepts. We cannot read your mind no matter how hard we try! We need evidence that you understand the ideas and information in your paper.
Ensure your periods are outside the parentheses at the end of a sentence. For example, StFX students have few deficits in grammar and spelling (Fawcett 2008: 10). NOT: StFX students have few deficits in grammar and spelling Fawcett 2008: 10.)
