What It Is: Joining two independent clauses with just a comma. Example: "I went to the store, I bought some milk." Correction: Use a period, semicolon, or a conjunction. Correct: "I went to the store. I bought some milk."
What It Is: Omitting commas between items in a series. Example: "I need eggs milk and bread." Correction: Add commas between items. Correct: "I need eggs, milk, and bread."
What It Is: Using apostrophes incorrectly for plurals or possessives. Example: "The cats toy is missing." Correction: Use apostrophes for possession, not plurals. Correct: "The cat's toy is missing."
What It Is: Using semicolons where commas or periods are needed. Example: "She loves books; she reads every day." Correction: Use a semicolon between closely related independent clauses. Correct: "She loves books; she reads every day."
What It Is: Failing to properly punctuate separate ideas. Example: "I went to the park it was raining." Correction: Separate independent clauses with a period or semicolon. Correct: "I went to the park. It was raining."
What It Is: Misplacing quotation marks or not closing them. Example: "I can't wait to read that book. Correction: Ensure quotation marks are used correctly. Correct: "I can't wait to read that book."
What It Is: Using colons where they are not needed. Example: "She bought three things: apples, oranges, and bananas." Correction: Use a colon to introduce a list or explanation. Correct: "She bought: apples, oranges, and bananas."
What It Is: Mixing up "its" (possessive) and "it's" (contraction for "it is"). Example: "The dog wagged it's tail." Correction: Use "its" for possession and "it's" for "it is." Correct: "The dog wagged its tail."
What It Is: Not using a question mark at the end of a question. Example: "What time is it" Correction: End questions with a question mark. Correct: "What time is it?"