Common English Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid!

Common English Grammar Mistakes will hold you back from achieving what you’ve always wanted to! Fluency in Grammar is key to Fluency in English, which in turn, is the key to achieving success.

Getting a hold of English grammar rules and regulations, benefits both the speaker and the listener/reader. If the speaker is good at grammar, it helps them convey their message cohesively and leave a good impression on the minds of the listeners/readers. On the other hand, when listeners/readers are good at grammar, it means that they can effectively grasp the message of the speaker and comprehend it.

But how do you become fluent in English grammar? By avoiding these common English grammar mistakes.

5 English Grammar Mistakes You Need To Avoid

There, They’re or Their?

The number of people who mess this up is probably uncountable. This has to be the most common English grammar mistake to exist.

There is an adverb. It is used to describe a place or position.

Eg: “Hey, did you see Nisha at the park?”

“Yeah, I saw her there.”

At the park is replaced with there.

They’re is a contraction of ‘they are.’

Eg: They are coming to the party.

They’re coming to the party.

Their is a possessive plural pronoun.

Eg: This bottle belongs to Priya and Raghav.

This is their bottle.

Priya and Raghav is replaced with their.

Affect or Effect?

Effect is usually used as a noun and affect as a verb.

Effect is the outcome or result of something.

Eg: The effect of boiling sugar in water is sugary water.

Increased AQI in Delhi is the effect of increased air pollution.

Affect means to impact or influence something.

Eg: Boiling sugar in water affects the neutral flavour of water.

Increased air pollution has affected the AQI of Delhi.

Each as a Plural Determiner

‘Each’ always takes the singular verb. Many people wrongly use plural verbs with it.

Examples: Each of Gokul and Krishna are good students. (incorrect)

Each of Gokul and Krishna is a good student. (correct)

Each one of them are great swimmers. (incorrect)

Each one of them is a great swimmer. (correct)

Who, Whom, Whose, Who’s

Who is an interrogative pronoun used for persons.

Eg: Who is at the park?

Who uses plastic straws anymore?

Who is the fastest sprinter in the world?

Whom is also an interrogative pronoun used for persons but it usually replaces the object of the sentence. It acts like the object of the verb.

Eg: To whom should the letter be addressed?

To whom will the letter be delivered?

Whom did he marry?

Whose is a possessive pronoun.

Eg: Whose book is this?

Whose shirt is this?

Whose sweater is that?

Who’s is a contraction of ‘who is.’

Eg: Who’s standing over there?

Who’s opening for India today?

Alot vs A lot

Well, ‘Alot’ is a non-existent word in the English vocabulary. How it came into existence is beyond our understanding. But what we do know is that it is a common misspelling of ‘a lot’

‘A lot’ is also confused a lot with ‘Allot.’

‘A lot’ means “many” or “to a great extent.”

Eg: She has a lot of berries.

She is taller than me by a lot. (informal)

Allot means “to allocate” or “assign”

Eg: She allots $1,000 as her monthly budget.

He allotted the position of bartender to me.

These were a few common English grammar mistakes. Advanced mistakes in English are also pretty common. Read about them here!