Common Errors to Avoid
Moran
Senior English

Don't underline the title of your own paper. 

Don't use "you" throughout your paper.  But it is okay to use it in an "interest grabbing" question.  Ex. Have you every eaten a fried worm?  

VT  Don't shift verb tenses.

TRANS  Don't use "Well" as a transition word, or indicates that a transition in needed.

PRO/ANT  Do make your pronouns and antecedents agree.  Correct: Everyone has his or her share of the money. 

SP  Indicates a spelling error.

ILL  Do write legibly. 

//  Do use parallel structure.  Correct: He loves swimming and jumping in the lake.  Incorrect: He loves to jump in the lake and swimming. 

LIT  Do use present tense when writing about literature.  Ex. Huck loves Jim and values him as a friend. 

ACT/PASS  Do use active voice verbs instead of passive voice verbs.  Passive: The ball was kicked by him.  Active (better):  He kicked the ball. 

REF  Don't use pronouns ambiguously.  (Ambiguous Pronoun Reference)  Incorrect: It all started when... (What is "it"?)

WC  Word Choice--Don't use tired words like "things."  Also, avoid using slang, idioms, and colloquialisms.  

Frag Indicates that you have used a sentence fragment.

R/O Indicates that you have a run-on sentence.

S Indicates that something in your essay does not make sense.