ACCUPLACER Writing common mistakes
ACCUPLACER Writing · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Joining two complete sentences with only a comma (comma splice), as in writing a full clause, inserting a comma, then writing another full clause with its own subject and verb.
The writer is following the rhythm of speech, where a comma marks a short pause, and does not test whether each side of the comma can stand alone as a sentence.
What to do instead
Before every comma, cover one half and read the other aloud: if it has a subject and a working verb and makes sense alone, the comma is not enough. Replace it with a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus one of the seven coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
Writing a subordinate clause or a phrase as a complete sentence, typically one beginning with because, although, which, while, or especially, as in 'Because the bus was late.'
Long fragments sound complete, and the subordinating word at the very front of the group is easy to stop noticing once the writer is focused on the content.
What to do instead
Locate the verb and ask whether anything in the group could stand alone as a statement. If the group opens with a subordinator, either attach it to a nearby independent clause or delete the subordinator so the group becomes a sentence in its own right.
Treating however, therefore, moreover, and consequently as if they were conjunctions, producing 'The data was incomplete, however the conclusion still held.'
These words signal a logical relationship, so they feel like joiners; the writer's attention is on the argument being connected, not on the punctuation class of the word.
What to do instead
Memorize the small set of true coordinating conjunctions and treat every other connector as an adverb that cannot join clauses by itself. Punctuate with a semicolon or period before it, and a comma after it: '...was incomplete; however, the conclusion...'
Listing or comparing items in mismatched grammatical forms, such as mixing a noun, a gerund, and an infinitive in one series, or writing 'she likes hiking and to swim.'
Writers build lists from meaning, adding each item as it comes to mind, and never step back to compare the shape of item one with item four.
What to do instead
After drafting a series or comparison, chart it vertically and label each item's form (noun, -ing word, to-plus-verb, prepositional phrase). Rewrite so every slot matches, and repeat the article or preposition in front of each item so the parallel structure is visible.
Opening a sentence with a modifying phrase whose intended subject is never named as the subject of the main clause, as in 'Walking to the store, the rain started.'
The doer is obvious to the writer from context, so the writer never notices that the sentence now says the rain was walking.
What to do instead
For every sentence that opens with a phrase ending in -ing, -ed, or a description, ask 'Who is doing this?' and make that exact noun the subject of the main clause: 'Walking to the store, I was caught in the rain.' If no doer exists, rewrite the phrase as a full clause.
Matching a verb to the nearest noun instead of the real subject, especially when a prepositional phrase sits in between or when the sentence begins with There is/There are.
Agreement is decided by proximity in the reader's ear; the noun closest to the verb wins even when a prepositional phrase has been inserted between the true subject and its verb.
What to do instead
Bracket and mentally delete every prepositional phrase between subject and verb, then read what remains. For inverted There is/There are sentences, look past the verb to the noun that follows it and make the verb agree with that noun.
Choosing the wrong pronoun case after a preposition or in a compound ('between you and I'), or leaving a pronoun whose antecedent is unclear or missing.
Hypercorrection drives the case error: 'and I' sounds more formal, so it is assumed to be more correct. Unclear reference happens because the writer holds the intended noun in mind and never checks whether it actually appears.
What to do instead
Strip the compound and test the pronoun alone ('between I' fails, so 'between me'). Replace the pronoun with the noun it stands for and reread. If a pronoun could point to either of two nouns, repeat the noun instead.
Shifting tense without a reason across a passage, or using the wrong verb form in perfect tenses and after modals ('have went,' 'should of came,' 'could have ran').
Writers read for content and let verbs ride along on the sound of the sentence; irregular past participles are learned by ear and often misheard in speech.
What to do instead
Before answering any passage-based question, state the passage's time frame in one word (past, present, future) and check each verb against it. Test every perfect tense by saying the form after 'have' or 'has'; after a modal, use the base form of the verb with no 'of.'
Misusing or omitting apostrophes: plural -s where a possessive is meant, an apostrophe in a plain plural ('the student's are ready'), and confusing its with it's.
Apostrophes are silent, so sound gives no clue, and the possessive 's competes with the plural 's in the same spelling environment.
What to do instead
Run two checks. First, expand: if 'it is' or 'it has' fits, write it's; otherwise write its. Second, classify the noun: an owner plus 's means possessive; more than one with no ownership means plain plural with no apostrophe; a plural owner ending in s gets the apostrophe after the s.
Sprinkling commas at every natural pause, splitting a subject from its verb, or boxing in a phrase that is essential to the sentence's meaning with commas it does not need.
The pause rule is over-applied once the writer has learned that commas mark breaks, and essential phrases are hard to identify because the writer already knows what the sentence means.
What to do instead
Use the removal test: delete the phrase. If the sentence still says what you meant, the phrase is extra and takes commas on both sides; if the meaning collapses or narrows, remove the commas. Also read from subject straight into its verb as one unit, and cut any comma that lands between them unless a closing phrase or interrupter genuinely requires a matched pair.