My most common grammar mistake would be subject verb agreement. Sometimes, I find it difficult to identify the link between subject and verb, and this is the major cause for my mistakes. The fundamental rule of subject verb agreement states that a singular subject takes a singular verb, while a plural subject takes a plural verb. Verb differ from noun in identifying of their plural form. The plural form of verbs do not form by the addition of "s" as nouns do. One method to identify the plural form of verbs is to associate its usage with he or she and they. Verbs associated with they are considered plural while verbs associated with he or she is considered singular. Example, we would associate move with they, "they move", and moves with he, "he moves". Therefore, moves is singular and move is plural in this context.
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Example:
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Incorrect
Fifty percent of the cake have disappeared.
Correct (Use singular verb for singular subject)
Fifty percent of the cake has disappeared.
Fifty Percent of the cakes have disappeared.
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Incorrect
A lorry and a van is my means of transportation.
Correct (Use plural verb for two or more subjects)
A lorry and a van are my means of transportation.
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My next grammar mistake would be the the tendency to run-on sentence. I would usually place a comma between different ideas as they seem to convey the same message. This is also my attempt to convey my point in a single sentence. However, too many ideas would be presented in a single sentence and that would make my point unclear.
In the cabinet Janet found an old book. Its cover was dusty, but she could see that it was made of leather. She blew off the dust, and when the air cleared she could barely make out the title. It was a diary.
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Another common grammar mistake I made would be parallel structure. I noticed that in some my writings, I tend to leave out the parallel structure that must be followed in the sentence. I assumed that the parallel structure should be known throughout the sentence as it is stated infront of the sentence.
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Example:
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Incorrect
The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, not eat too much, and do some warm-up exercises before the game.
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Correct
The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.