10   Common Grammar and Punctuation Errors

1. Confusing its and it's      
Its is the possessive of it (The bird cracked the seed with its beak), Whereas it's is the contraction of it is (You can see it's an easy jump)

2. Using a singular subject with a plural verb, or a plural subject with a singular verb   
Be sure that subjects and verbs agree in number, even when separated.

3. Misplacing the possessive apostrophe with plurals   
Place the apostrophe after the-s in a plural noun, (the voters' choice; the Browns' driveway)

4. Inserting a comma between the subject and verb   
Keep the subject and verb connected without an interrupting comman, unless two commas are needed to set off a phrase.

5. Comitting comma fault   
Use a semicolon instead of a comma when joining two independent clauses.

6. Leaving a pronoun's antecedent ambiguous   
Make it clear which noun a pronoun refers to.

7. Using nonparallel forms in parallel constructions   
Use parallel grammatical forms for parallel items.

8. Leaving a modifier dangling      
Be sure a modifying phrase is properly connected to the word it modifies.

9. Omitting capitalization in title   
All words in the titleds of books, articles, movies, or other works are capitalized except for internal articles, conjunctions, prepositions, and the to of infinitives. (The Lives of a Cell; To Hold; "A Woman for the Nineties" ; The Moon Is Blue)

10. Misplacing quotation marks with other punctuation   
Commas or periods that follow a word enclsoed in quotation marks are placed inside the final quotation mark; semicolons and colons are placed outside. (He said,    "I'mleaving." The camera was described as "waterproof," but wasn't. She spoke of her "little cottage" ; she might better have called it a mansion.)

1. Punctuation
2. Capitals and Italics
3. Plurals, Possessives, and Compounds
4. Abbreviations
5. Numbers
6. Notes and Bibliographies