Welcome to the third edition of this series!
At TextRanch, we truly care about helping our users make their English perfect!
To target specific issues, common writing errors have been identified, and the next step is to solve them.
If you missed the earlier installments in this series, here are the links: part 1 & part 2.
And now on to the final chapter:
Mistake 1. Capitalization of common nouns
Though it may seem like all important nouns should be capitalized, importance actually has little to do with whether or not a word receives an uppercase first letter. Only capitalize proper nouns (like names of people or places).
❌ Incorrect: The Doctor specializes in Internal Medicine.
✅ Correct: The doctor specializes in internal medicine.
Mistake 2. Respond vs. response
The difference between these two words lies in which part of speech they belong to. Respond is a verb, while response is a noun. When someone asks you a question, you answer with a response. By doing so, you have responded to them.
❌ Incorrect: Can you please response?
✅ Correct: Can you please respond?
✅ Also correct: Can you please provide a response?
Mistake 3. “Await for”
Await is a formal verb that can be used in place of the phrasal verb wait for. For that reason, it is not necessary to write await for. Simple fix? Just remove the unneeded preposition.
❌ Incorrect: I am awaiting for the special event.
✅ Correct: I am awaiting the special event.
4. Omitting an object or subject in statements/questions
English uses the SVO sentence format. When a subject or object is left out, it makes a sentence incomplete and leaves the reader wondering. To solve this, just ensure that you have included both components!
❌ Incorrect: Did they send?
✅ Correct: Did they send it?
❌ Incorrect: Are preparing for a quiz.
✅ Correct: Students are preparing for a quiz.
5. Combining “can” & “able”
Can and able both refer to the idea that it is possible for something to be done. So to avoid redundancy, the key is to pick only one and leave the other out.
❌ Incorrect: We can be able to do it!
✅ Correct: We can do it!
✅ Also correct: We are able to do it!
Now you should have learnt how to avoid the most common mistakes in English!
Stay tuned and read more articles from our blog to perfect your English!
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