Common Spelling and Grammar Mistakes
Spelling and grammar mistakes lose you marks in every single exam, not just English. The good news is that most errors fall into a small number of categories. Learn these rules once and you will avoid the mistakes that trip up thousands of students every year.
The Big Homophones
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. These are the ones examiners see confused most often:
Key Fact Box: Homophones
- Their / There / They're: "Their" means belonging to them (their house). "There" means a place (over there) or is used as a sentence starter (there is a problem). "They're" is short for "they are" (they're coming).
- Your / You're: "Your" means belonging to you (your book). "You're" is short for "you are" (you're welcome). If you can replace it with "you are" and it still makes sense, use "you're."
- Its / It's: "Its" means belonging to it (the dog wagged its tail). "It's" is short for "it is" or "it has" (it's raining). This is the opposite of what you might expect because possessive nouns usually have apostrophes, but "its" is an exception.
- Affect / Effect: "Affect" is usually a verb (the weather affects my mood). "Effect" is usually a noun (the effect was dramatic). Remember: Affect is the Action, Effect is the End result.
- Then / Than: "Then" is about time (we ate, then we left). "Than" is for comparisons (bigger than, faster than).
- To / Too / Two: "To" is a preposition or part of a verb (go to school, to run). "Too" means also or excessively (me too, too much). "Two" is the number 2.
Apostrophe Rules
Apostrophes have exactly two jobs. That is it. If it does not fit one of these two rules, do not use an apostrophe.
- 1. Contraction (missing letters): When two words are squashed together and letters are removed, the apostrophe shows where the missing letters were. Do not becomes don't. I will becomes I'll. They have becomes they've.
- 2. Possession (belonging): When something belongs to someone, add an apostrophe and s. The girl's bag. James's car. If the owner is plural and already ends in s, the apostrophe goes after the s: the teachers' staffroom, the dogs' leads.
- Never for plurals: "Apple's for sale" is wrong. "Apples for sale" is correct. Apostrophes do not make words plural. Ever.
Comma Splices
A comma splice happens when you join two complete sentences with just a comma. It is one of the most common grammatical errors and it makes your writing look weak.
Wrong: "I went to the shop, I bought some milk."
You can fix a comma splice in four ways:
- Use a full stop: "I went to the shop. I bought some milk."
- Use a semicolon: "I went to the shop; I bought some milk."
- Add a conjunction: "I went to the shop and I bought some milk."
- Use a subordinate clause: "When I went to the shop, I bought some milk."
Semicolons
Semicolons terrify students, but they are actually straightforward. A semicolon joins two closely related sentences that could each stand alone. Think of it as a soft full stop.
Correct: "The sun was setting; the sky turned a deep shade of orange."
Both halves are complete sentences. They are closely related. A semicolon is the perfect link.
Using semicolons correctly in your exam shows the examiner you have a sophisticated grasp of punctuation. Even one or two well-placed semicolons can boost your SPaG marks.
50 Commonly Misspelled Words
These words appear constantly in student work and are misspelled more often than not. Learn the correct spellings and you will stand out immediately.
Practice Questions
- Correct the following: "Their going to the park with there friends because they're dog needs a walk."
- Add apostrophes where needed: "The boys football was in Jamess garden near the neighbours fence."
- Fix the comma splice: "She was tired, she had been studying all night."
- Write a sentence using a semicolon correctly.
- Spell all 50 words in the list above from memory. Check how many you got right.