Common Error Patterns & Quick Fixes

Most writing mistakes are not random — the same handful of patterns turn up again and again, in everyone's work. Once you can recognise the shape of a slip, you can fix it in seconds, because the cure is always the same. This page groups the recurring patterns, shows you what each looks like, and gives the quick fix. When one keeps catching you, follow the link to the article that teaches it, or start at The Walk-In Clinic.

Pattern 1: The verb does not match the subject

What it looks like: The list of names were long. Everyone are ready.

The verb has been dragged into agreeing with the nearest noun (names, which feels plural) instead of the real subject (list, which is singular). Or a singular word like everyone has been treated as a crowd.

The fix: find the real subject, ignore anything between it and the verb, and match them: the list… was long; everyone is ready. More in Does My Subject Not Match My Verb?.

Pattern 2: Two sentences glued with a comma (or nothing)

What it looks like: It was raining, we played anyway. I was tired I went to bed.

Two complete thoughts have been run together with only a comma (a comma splice) or with nothing at all (a run-on).

The fix: give each sentence its own full stop, or join them properly with a semicolon or a word like so, but, because: It was raining, but we played anyway. More in Fragments, Run-Ons & Comma Splices.

Pattern 3: The opening phrase describes the wrong thing

What it looks like: Walking to school, the rain soaked me. (The rain was not walking to school.)

A describing phrase at the start of a sentence has landed next to the wrong noun — a "dangling" modifier.

The fix: make sure the thing right after the phrase is what the phrase is actually about: Walking to school, I got soaked. Put the doer next to the description.

Pattern 4: The tense wanders

What it looks like: She walked into the room and sits down. (past, then present)

The writing has hopped from one tense to another mid-story without meaning to.

The fix: pick one tense for the piece — usually past for a story, present for an explanation — and hold it all the way through: She walked in and sat down.

Pattern 5: The wrong little word

What it looks like: different than my school (in UK English), should of gone, between you and I.

A fixed phrase has taken the wrong preposition, or a sound-alike (of for have) has crept in.

The fix: learn the safe forms — different from, should have, between you and me — and reach for those when unsure.

Pattern 6: The apostrophe in the wrong place

What it looks like: I bought three apple's. The books cover is torn.

An apostrophe has been dropped into an ordinary plural where it does not belong (apple's for apples), or left out of a possessive where it is needed (books for book's).

The fix: apostrophes do two jobs only — they show a letter is missing (don't = do not) or they show belonging (the book's cover). A plain plural gets no apostrophe at all: three apples. If in doubt, ask "is something missing, or does something belong?" — if neither, leave the apostrophe out.

Pattern 7: The sound-alike sneaks in

What it looks like: Its raining. Their going home. Your late.

A word has been swapped for the one that sounds exactly the same: its for it's, their for they're, your for you're.

The fix: try the long form. If it is, they are or you are fits, you want the apostrophe version — it's raining, they're going, you're late. If it does not fit, use the plain one. This single test clears up the most common slip in all of English.

A worked example

Take this sentence, riddled with the patterns above:

Walking home, the bag's were heavy and I was tired I stopped for a rest.

Run the five-question sweep: the opening phrase points at the bags, not the person walking (Pattern 3); bag's has a stray apostrophe (Pattern 6); and I was tired I stopped jams two sentences together (Pattern 2). Fixed, it reads:

Walking home, I found the bags heavy, so I stopped for a rest because I was tired.

Same idea, but every pattern sorted — and notice you fixed three different-looking mistakes with three familiar tools.

How to use these

When a sentence feels "off" but you cannot name why, run it past the shapes above: is the verb matching? are two sentences jammed together? does my opening phrase point at the right thing? has my tense wandered? is there a wrong little word, a stray apostrophe, or a sneaky sound-alike? One of them is usually the culprit. Fix the pattern, not just the single word, and the same slip stops happening across your whole piece.

None of these means you are a bad writer — they are the normal potholes everyone hits, and spotting the pattern is most of the battle. Keep this page for a final check, and let the clinic take you deeper on the ones you meet most.

Where next

• Common Errors — the young-learner clinic — the bigger map this sits inside
• The Walk-In Clinic — match your symptom to the fix
• Fragments, Run-Ons & Comma Splices — the sentence-boundary slips
• Does My Subject Not Match My Verb? — the agreement fix