Fear of Errors-Common ones that can be avoided

Introduction:

How often do you make a mistake while you are communicating in English? Possibly you must have had some really embarrassing moments. Many of us are focused on romanticizing our language learning, and get disillusioned when we make botches and go through hours endeavoring to address those slip-ups. Shame and mortification disturbs us from time to time.

Regardless, while we may undertake to get ready for embarrassing instances, we can never totally prevent them. With a small amount of capacity, those blundering moments can change into opportunities for new learning, humor and maybe connection. 

It very well might be a relief for non-local English speakers to understand that even native speakers too make mistakes, so they don't have to feel embarrassed of their errors continually.

For example, on English-language TV programs, characters much of the time use expressions like, "Those are those kids' toys, right?" Actually, the sentence should be, "Those toys are of those kids, right?" 

Script writers for TV programs might be making efforts to use the right English language as being spoken in "the real world," but they end up making more mistakes than they could ever think of.

We should remember that various English language students watch a variety of TV shows/programs to get comfortable with the language and to understand the subtleties of syntax and structure. They utilize these shows/programs as a medium to further develop their understanding of sentence structure. Misinterpretations and bewilderment result from mix-ups that prevent clear correspondence and communication. Both written and spoken English can have such issues extensively.

What follows is a series of common English errors that English language students will in general make, and how they can avoid making them.

Ways to avoid Common Errors

Understand the difference between the given to avoid making errors

• I vs Me- Both are first person personal pronouns but I is a subjective pronoun and Me is an objective pronoun.                                                                                                                              Example-                                                                                                                                            Incorrect- You and me are friends. (informal; can be used for speaking but is wrong in written form)                                                                                                                                                        Correct- You and I are friends. (formal)                                                                                          Incorrect- He is taller than I.                                                                                                         Correct- He is taller than me/ He is taller than I am.
• Your vs You're-  Your is a possessive pronoun used to show the possession whereas You're is a contracted form of 'you are', used while speaking or writing informally.                            Example-                                                                                                                                      Your dress is beautiful.                                                                                                              You're beautiful.                                                                                                                           Note the difference-First sentence refers to the dress of the person and second refers to the person itself.
• There vs Their vs They're- There can be used as a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, an adverb or an interjection. Their is used as a possessive pronoun. They're is the contracted form of 'they are'. Example-                                                                                                                                          You can buy the book from there.                                                                                                      Their brother is not here.                                                                                                              They're trying to steal the goat.
• It's vs Its-  It's is a contracted form of 'it is' where as Its is a possessive pronoun.             Example-                                                                                                                                        It's difficult to handle old people.                                                                                                    Its cover got tattered.
• Using Apostrophes- Apostrophe is used in contractions, like Isn't and possessive nouns like Ram's. Many people tend to use apostrophe in plural nouns which is wrong. Plural nouns take an apostrophe if they are showing possession like people's or boys'.
• Then vs Than- Then is generally used as a noun, an adjective or an adverb. It is used to show direction or refer to time. Than is used as a conjunction for comparisons.                         Example-                                                                                                                                     Then he left.                                                                                                                                   He works harder than his brother.
• Affect vs Effect- Most of us tend to get confused with them but the one with 'A' means influence and the one with 'E' means result.                                                                                        Example-                                                                                                                                        The drought affected many.                                                                                                           The effect of drought was exodus to cities. 
• Good vs Well-  Good modifies a noun or a pronoun whereas well modifies a verb.          Example-                                                                                                                                    Rachel is good.                                                                                                                              Rachel is feeling well.
• To vs Too- To is a preposition used to state a direction. Too is an adverb meaning in addition or to refer to the degree of something.                                                                                          Example-                                                                                                                                         He went to market.                                                                                                                       The coffee is too hot to drink.

Subject Agreement- The habit of re-reading can save you many errors. The subject of the sentence should always agree with the verb and pronoun (if any) of the sentence.

Example-                                                                                                                                             Randy and Brandy are friends. (Randy and Brandy is the subject of this sentence so plural verb is required)                                                                                                                                         Everyone needs his or her own book. (Everyone is the subject of this sentence which is singular in nature so singular verb is required. Also, it is applicable to both genders so his and her both will be used to refer to it)

Quotation Marks and __Underlining__- Quotation marks are used for short pieces (such as poems, song titles, and short stories) whereas longer pieces of work (such as book titles, movies, and epic poems) need to be underlined.

Example-                                                                                                                                               "Ode to the West Wind" by P B Shelley                                                                                                Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat                                                                                                 The Baby Boss, the movie 

Commas and Semicolons. Commas and semicolons are mostly misused. It will be helpful to know how exactly they are used.

• Incorrect: She makes pasta, it's her specialty.
• Correct: She makes pasta; it's her specialty.
• Incorrect: I bought a beautiful dress, and went to meet my friend.
• Correct: I bought a beautiful dress, and I went to meet my friend.

• (Commas are often used as another form of parenthesis (). By using a set of commas like in the correct sentence above, a run-on sentence can be avoided. To make sure you're using this trick correctly, remove the phrase in between the two commas, remove the commas, and read the sentence to make sure it makes complete sense.)
• This thing right here; is called a semicolon often recognized as the winky-eyes. A semicolon is used to separate two independent clauses. An independent clause is a statement that can stand alone.
• "I am new here; I have shifted yesterday only; I have hardly met anybody yet."
• An incorrect way to use a semicolon is to use it like a comma: "If you are new here; maybe you should try meeting your neighbours."

Capitalization. This is one of the simplest, and yet most common, mistakes made by people. Proper nouns such as holidays, days of the week, places, and names get capitalization.

• "Thomas Edison invented the light bulb."
• "The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776."
• "Ruby Tuesday's is located on Pine Street in Fake City."
• Improper capitalization can also lead to some really bizarre sentences:                                 Correct: "Can you help your friend Jack off the horse?"                                                 Incorrect: "Can you help your friend jack---" (Well, you see where that one is going. Though this is an extreme example, it could happen very easily!)

Run-on Sentences- A run-on is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses (i.e., complete sentences) are joined without appropriate punctuation.

·         Incorrect: I am a woman and I am a good mother and I am an office worker.

·         Tip: If you can’t say it in one breath, you shouldn’t write it like that either.  The example is missing a period after “woman,” and the example should contain two separate sentences.

·         Correct: I am a woman. I am a good mother and an office worker.

The Dangling Participle. This is little difficult to make out if one is not good at grammar but if one reads certain sentences carefully, one might be able to pick up on such errors.

• "After crying constantly for an hour, the mother finally picked up the child." (Why was the mother crying constantly for an hour?) The opening phrase should always modify what immediately follows.
• Instead, the sentence should read, "After the child was crying constantly for an hour, the mother finally picked him up."

Conclusion:

If you adhere to the above rules while writing, you will be able to deliver grammatically appropriate sentences effortlessly. Also, the dictionaries and the Internet can be used to twofold check your silly, common errors. Further you can work on your spoken errors too.

Just take a deep breath and admit to yourself that failure is part and parcel of the learning procedure. Accept the responsibility for your errors, yet don't make yourself go insane after them.