Common writing mistakes overview

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Common writing mistakes

Basic punctuation

Start every sentence with a capital and finish with a point.

Restrict your comma use. Only use comma's when adding extra information to a sentence:

I love vanilla ice cream, but my brother prefers chocolate.

More information here:

https://www.iue.edu/student-success/coursework/commas.html

WO = Word order

When writing always stick to the following word order:

Subject - Verb - Object - Place - Time

He - walks - his dog - in the park - every morning.

"I" (ik) is always written with a capital letter !!!

i  >  I

i'am  >  I am

i'm  >  I'm

im  >  I'm

My name is John and im 13 years old.

My name is John and I'm 13 years old.

Never write "u"... always write "you"

My favourite subject is French because

u don’t have to do much.

My favourite subject is French because
you don’t have to do much.

it's ≠ its

it's = it is

its = zijn/haar

The dog is

wagging its tail.

My favourite subject is music because its fun.

My favourite subject is music because it's fun.

your ≠ you're

your = possessive

This is your bag.

you're = you are

Your so nice to me!

You're so nice to me!

there ≠ their ≠ they're

there = location

I'll see you there.

their = possessive

they're = they are

They are going to there work.

They are going to their work.

They're going to their work.

to ≠ too ≠ two

to = naar

I'm going to Spain.

too = ook/te

This is too much!

I want some help too.

two = 2

I always hand in my

homework to late.

I always hand in my

homework too late.

whose ≠ who's

whose = wiens

That is the woman whose husband died.

who's = who is

That's the guy whose really
good at magic.

That's the guy who's really
good at magic.

where ≠ were ≠ we're

where = waar

were = was/waren

Where were you?

we're = we are

Were are you going?

Where are you going?

a lot!

alot > a lot

allot > a lot

allotta >  a lot of

I like playing piano allot.

I like playing piano a lot.

gonna = going to

kinda = kind of

wanna = want to

witch ≠ which

witch = heks

which = welk/welke

(not wich!)

We see my grandparents a lot,

witch I really like.

We see my grandparents a lot,
which I really like.

Most common mistakes

A or An

-A en an zijn het onbepaald lidwoord ‘een’.

- A staat voor een woord dat in de uitspraak met een medeklinker begint:

A book (een boek) – A university (een universiteit) – a house (een huis)

- An staat voor een woord dat in de uitspraak met een klinker begint:

An orange (een sinaasappel) – An hour (een uur)

Than or Then?

Than = Dan

Use to make comparisons (vergelijkingen)

- My computer is more expensive than yours.

Then

No comparison? Use then!

(meestal te maken met TIJD)

- Then(toen) he said: ‘No way’.

Common mistakes: Formal

- Dear Sir/Madame, -> Should be: Dear Sir/Madam,

- Yours Sincerly -> Should be: Yours sincerely

- Use of contractions (don’t, can’t) -> Should be: written out! (do not) (cannot)

- A lot of -> should be: much/many

less vs few

less--> ontelbare woorden

few --> telbare woorden

steeds minder --> less and less of fewer and fewer

Genitive 

's	bij personen(enkelv), plaats(geen naam gebouw), tijd, namen	The boy 's bike. We'll got to Peter 's . It's an hour 's walk. James 's girlfriend This is New York 's most famous building
s'	bij meervoud -s bij klassieke oudheid (namen)	The boy s' bikes. A three hour s' drive. Socrate s' idea
of	bij zaken, hoeveelheden, aardrijkskundige namen	the brakes of a bike a cup of coffee the city of New York