Writing Tip: The Most Common Usage Errors

Read the following short paragraph. Can you find the usage errors? How many errors are there?

(1)Frank had alot of money and he wanted to go shopping for new clothes. (2)He went to Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. (3)Because its famous. (4)He saw a lot of clothes that he liked, but were not his size. (5)Being seven feet tall, the salespeople had difficulty finding clothes for Frank.

Errors

1. A lot is two words, not one.

2. Sentence 1 is a run-on sentence. A run-on sentence is a sentence containing two independent clauses separated by a conjunction but no comma. The corrected sentence is: Frank had a lot of money, and he wanted to go shopping for new clothes.

3. Sentence 3 is a sentence fragment. A sentence fragment is a sentence that lacks a subject, a verb, or both. To correct the sentence we would simply connect it to the previous sentence: He went to Saks Fifth Avenue in New York because it's famous.

4. "Its" should be it's. Its is possessive. It's = it is.

5. Sentence 4 is a comma splice. A comma splice occurs when a comma is used to separate a clause or clauses that are not independent. The corrected sentence is: He saw a lot of clothes that he liked but were not his size. OR He saw a lot of clothes that he liked, but they were not his size.

6. Sentence 5 contains a misplaced modifier. A misplaced modifier is a modifier, such as an adjective or adjective clause, that seems to modify the wrong element in the sentence. The corrected sentence is: The salespeople had difficulty finding clothes for Frank, because he was seven feet tall. OR Being seven feet tall, Frank was difficult for the salespeople to find clothes for.