10 Grammar Mistakes That Hurt Your Writing – How to Fix Them Fast
Good writing isn’t just about having great ideas—it’s about presenting them clearly and professionally.
Even the smallest grammar mistakes can make your work look unpolished, confusing readers and undermining your credibility. The good news? Most errors are easy to fix once you know what to look for!
In this post, we’ll break down 10 common grammar mistakes and show you simple, effective ways to correct them—fast.
1. Your vs. You’re
✅ Your = possessive (e.g., “Your book is on the table.”)
✅ You’re = contraction of you are (e.g., “You’re going to love this.”)
🔹 Fix: If you can replace it with “you are,” use you’re; otherwise, use your.
2. Its vs. It’s
✅ Its = possessive (e.g., “The dog wagged its tail.”)
✅ It’s = contraction of it is (e.g., “It’s raining outside.”)
🔹 Fix: If you can replace it with “it is,” use it’s; otherwise, use its.
3. Subject-Verb Agreement Errors
🚫 Incorrect: “The team are playing well.”
✅ Correct: “The team is playing well.” (Team is singular.)
🔹 Fix: Identify whether the subject is singular or plural and match the verb accordingly.
4. Run-On Sentences & Comma Splices
🚫 Incorrect: “I love editing, it makes writing better.”
✅ Correct: “I love editing. It makes writing better.” OR “I love editing because it makes writing better.”
🔹 Fix: Use a period, semicolon, or conjunction to break up long sentences.
5. Passive Voice Overuse
🚫 “The report was written by John.”
✅ “John wrote the report.”
🔹 Fix: Whenever possible, make the subject perform the action for clearer, stronger writing.
6. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
🚫 Incorrect: “Walking to the park, the flowers looked beautiful.” (Who is walking? The flowers?)
✅ Correct: “Walking to the park, I noticed the flowers looked beautiful.”
🔹 Fix: Place descriptive phrases near the word they modify.
7. Apostrophe Misuse (Plural vs. Possessive)
🚫 Incorrect: “The cat’s are playing.” (No apostrophe needed for plurals.)
✅ Correct: “The cats are playing.”
🚫 Incorrect: “Its’ fur is soft.” (Its is already possessive, no apostrophe needed.)
🔹 Fix: Use an apostrophe for contractions (it’s = it is) and possessives (the cat’s toy = the toy of the cat).
8. Pronoun Agreement Issues
🚫 Incorrect: “Each student must bring their book.” (Incorrect because “each student” is singular.)
✅ Correct: “Each student must bring his or her book.” OR “All students must bring their books.”
🔹 Fix: Make sure pronouns agree in number with the noun they refer to.
9. Overuse of Filler Words (Just, That, Very, Really, etc.)
🚫 “I just really think that this is very important.”
✅ “I think this is important.”
🔹 Fix: Remove unnecessary words to make your writing clearer and stronger.
10. Lack of Parallel Structure in Lists
🚫 Incorrect: “She enjoys reading, writing, and to edit.”
✅ Correct: “She enjoys reading, writing, and editing.”
🔹 Fix: Keep all elements in a list in the same grammatical form (all nouns, all verbs, etc.).
Conclusion
Apply these tips during your next proofreading session to instantly improve clarity and professionalism.
Here’s one final bonus tip: read your writing out loud. Hearing your words helps catch small errors and awkward phrasing that are easy to overlook.
Whether you’re a freelance writer, blogger, or working on a school project, these quick editing techniques will take your writing from rough draft to polished perfection.
For more practical writing and editing tips, follow along and stay tuned for the next post!
Pen and Polish 