10 Common Writing Mistakes (made by ESL students)

Correct the common writing mistakes in the below sentences.

1. I enjoy my job, I like the people I work with.

2. This is a popular city. Because it has work opportunities.

3. Everyone have problems sometimes.

4. In Brazil has beautiful beaches.

5a. I am motivated, hard worker, and professional.

5b. My city has many restaurants, festivals, and you can enjoy the beaches.

6. The happiness is important in the life.

7. That organization should change it’s name.

8. i think that’s wrong cuz it doesn’t make sense.

9. I look forward to hear back from you.

10. According to me, the movie was good.

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Explanations
1. I enjoy my job, I like the people I work with.

This is a run-on sentence. Both of the clauses “I enjoy my job” and “I like the people I work
with” are independent clauses (IC) because they are complete thoughts. You cannot
combine two independent clauses (IC + IC) with only a comma. Instead, you should put a
period between them or use a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS – for, and, nor, buy, or,
yet, so).

I enjoy my job. I like the people I work with.

I enjoy my job, and I like the people I work with.

2. This is a popular city. Because it has work opportunities.

The second clause is a fragment. “Because it has work opportunities” is not a complete idea
(it’s not an independent sentence). The word because is a subordinating conjunction. This
means it begins a dependent (subordinate) clause that needs to connect with a main
(independent) clause.

When the dependent clause is at the end of the sentence, you don’t need a comma before it
starts.
This is a popular city because it has work opportunities. (no comma)
[ main clause ] [ dependent clause ]

When the dependent clause is at the beginning of the sentence, you need a comma at its end.

Because it has work opportunities, this is a popular city. (comma used)

[dependent clause] [main clause ]

3. Everyone have problems sometimes.

This is a Subject-Verb-Agreement (SVA) error. The subject Everyone doesn’t agree (match)
the verb. Everyone is a singular subject (like he/she/it), so it agrees with the verb has. (Hint:
Every is always followed by a singular noun; everyone means every one person in a group.)

Everyone has problems sometimes.

Here are some other SVA errors:

People lives live longer nowadays.

No one know knows the answer.
Italy have has delicious food.

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4. In Brazil has beautiful beaches.

This is a sentence without a subject. When you begin a sentence with a preposition
(In/At/From etc), you are creating a prepositional phrase that is not the subject of the
sentence. After a preposition phrase that begins a sentence, you should add a comma, and
then a subject.

In Brazil, beaches are beautiful.

At the end of the day, we went home.
From the first time I met her, I knew I liked her.

The above sentence can be easily corrected by removing the preposition.

Brazil has beautiful beaches. (No preposition)

5a. I am motivated, hard worker, and professional.

This sentence is not parallel. You have “I am + adjective, noun, adjective.” This is not good
balance. Instead, use adjective + adjective + adjective

I am motivated, hard-working, and professional.

5b. My city has many restaurants, festivals, and you can enjoy the beaches.

Again, this is not parallel. It is not a mistake, but it is bad writing style. The sentence has
My city has + noun, noun, a full clause. Instead, try to stay balanced. Use noun + noun + noun:

My city has many restaurants, festivals, and beaches to enjoy.

I was responsible for assisting customers, management managing staff, and hiring new
workers. (verb + verb + verb all in same form)

6. The happiness is important in the life.

Happiness and life are abstract nouns. Abstract nouns are not countable. They are often
ideas. Examples: freedom, love, honesty, peace, surprise, disgust, wealth, poverty, truth

The definite article the is not used with abstract nouns when writing generally.

The happiness is important in the life. (general)

My father taught me the meaning of the love. (general)
It felt like the magic. (general)

We can use the definite article ‘the’ before abstract nouns if they are used to describe
something specific.

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 The peace between North and South Korea is at risk.
The love between a parent and his child is a beautiful thing.
He felt like the magic you feel when you fall in love.

7. That organization should change it’s name.

it’s = it is (a contraction). Here, you need a possessive adjective, so you should use its.

That organization should change its name. (possessive)

It’s good that the company changed the design of its website. (subject + verb,
possessive)

8. i think that’s wrong cuz it doesn’t make sense.

This is texting, not writing. When we write, we always capitalize “I” and write words in their
full form.

I think that’s wrong because doesn’t make sense.

9. I look forward to hear back from you.

If a preposition (to/of/in/at/by) is followed by a verb, then the verb should be in ~ing

form.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

I’m afraid of speaking in front of my father.
We are interested in going there.

10. According to me, the movie was good.

The phrase according to should be used with a third party (e.g. a magazine, book, website,
or person other than yourself). We don’t use ‘According to me’. Instead, use In my opinion or
a similar phrase.

In my opinion, the movie was good.

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- Common errors compiled by Matthew Barton of Englishcurrent.com

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