Updated
20 mistakes B2 writers make, and how to fix them
Most writing mistakes come back again and again in the same shape. Each guide shows one of them: the rule, wrong and right sentences, and the traps.
Grammar
- Missing articles: when to use a, an and theA missing or wrong a/an/the before a noun.
- Subject-verb agreement mistakes and how to fix themThe verb does not match its subject (for example "people is", "he go").
- Verb tense mistakes: past, present perfect and presentThe wrong verb tense or verb form for the time being described, including a missing "be" or "have" before -ing / -ed (for example "people moving ... is", "companies cutting space" with no "are"), or a past form after "will" (for example "will forced").
- Gerund or infinitive: enjoy to swim or enjoy swimming?The wrong verb form after a verb or phrase: -ing where "to" + verb is needed, or the other way round (for example "enjoy to swim", "avoid to pay", "look forward to meet", "decide going").
- If-sentence mistakes: conditional formsThe wrong verb forms in an "if" sentence (for example "If I will have time, I call you", "If I would know, I would tell you").
- Passive voice mistakes: is made, was builtA wrongly formed passive, or a passive needed but not used (for example "the house was build", "the problem is solve", "this book wrote in 1990").
- Relative clause mistakes: who, which, that, whose, whereA mistake with who / which / that / whose / where (for example "the man which", "the book that I read it", a comma before "that", "people who works").
- Missing subjects: “Is possible that ...” and how to fix itA sentence with no subject, often a missing "it" or "there" (for example "Is important to rest.", "Has many problems in the city.").
- Unclear pronouns: it, this and theyA pronoun ("it", "this", "they", "which") whose meaning is unclear or that points to the wrong thing (for example "This shows..." when "this" could mean several things).
- Word order mistakes in English sentences and questionsWords in the wrong order (for example "I don't know what is the answer", "always I go", "a car very expensive").
- Uncountable nouns: informations, advices and other mistakesAn uncountable noun used as if it could be counted (for example "informations", "advices", "an equipment", "many research").
Choosing the right word
- Discuss about: why it is a mistake and what to writeUsing "about" after "discuss" (for example "discuss about the topic").
- Wrong prepositions: depend of, interested on, discuss aboutThe wrong preposition, or a missing or extra one, after a word that needs a fixed one (for example "depend of", "interested on", "emphasize on").
- Collocation mistakes: using the wrong word partnerTwo words that English does not put together, other than a preposition: a wrong verb, adjective or noun next to its partner (for example "do a mistake", "make research", "strong rain", "big attention", "apply a ban" for "introduce", "the cost of housing is growing" for "rising"; also a verb that cannot take that object, like "emerged a new way"). A wrong preposition is wrong_preposition.
- Word form mistakes: economic or economical?The right word family but the wrong form, or two look-alike words mixed up (for example "economic" for "economical", "effect" for "affect", "mean" for "means", "the develop of", "a success person", "it is benefit").
- Spelling mistakes in common English wordsA word spelled wrongly, or a typo (for example "bussiness", "journmalism", "recieve", "definately", "enviroment", "perental"). Only for a word that exists but is spelled wrong. Put only the misspelled word in "words" and its right spelling in "fix". A US/UK spelling difference (center / centre) is not a mistake.
Punctuation and style
- Comma splice: what it is and how to fix itTwo full sentences joined only by a comma, or run together with no punctuation (for example "Prices rose, people bought less.").
- Overusing “I think”: better ways to give an opinionStarting many sentences with "I think" or "I believe".
- Repeated sentence openings: how to vary the startSeveral sentences in a row start with the same word or phrase.
- Informal words in formal writing: register slipsAn informal or chatty word in writing that should be formal (for example "kids", "a lot of", "stuff", "gonna", contractions like "don't" in an essay).