Mastering English writing skills is vital for academic success and effective communication. However, many students—especially those in primary and secondary school—struggle with common writing mistakes that can affect their grades and confidence. The good news is that most of these errors can be easily corrected with awareness and practice.
In this article, we’ll explore the most common mistakes in English writing skills and provide practical tips on how to avoid them. Whether you’re a student, teacher, or parent, this guide will help build stronger, clearer, and more confident writing.
1. Misusing Tenses
The Mistake:
One of the most frequent writing mistakes is switching between tenses in the same sentence or paragraph without realizing it. For example:
- Incorrect: Yesterday, I go to the park and play football.
- Correct: Yesterday, I went to the park and played football.
When writing about past events, the verbs should consistently be in the past tense.
How to Avoid:
- Identify the timeline: Is the story in the past, present, or future? Keep your verbs consistent.
- Proofread carefully: Always check the verb forms after writing.
- Practice tense exercises: Focus on past, present, and future tense practices to strengthen tense awareness.
2. Incorrect Subject-Verb Agreement
The Mistake:
When the subject and verb do not match in number, the sentence becomes grammatically incorrect.
- Incorrect: She like ice cream.
- Correct: She likes ice cream.
The verb must agree with the subject (singular or plural).
How to Avoid:
- Singular subject = Verb with “-s” in the present tense (e.g., He runs).
- Plural subject = Base verb form (e.g., They run).
- Read sentences aloud to check if they sound correct.
3. Misusing Punctuation
The Mistake:
Incorrect punctuation can completely change the meaning of a sentence or make it hard to read.
- Missing full stops, commas, or question marks.
- Overusing exclamation marks.
Example:
- Incorrect: Let’s eat Grandma!
- Correct: Let’s eat, Grandma!
Without the comma, the sentence sounds like we are eating Grandma instead of inviting her to eat.
How to Avoid:
- Learn punctuation rules: Focus on the basic use of full stops, commas, question marks, and capital letters.
- Practice with short sentences: This helps young writers understand where to pause and where to stop writing.
- Read aloud: This helps spot where natural pauses and stops should be.
4. Using Informal Language in Formal Writing
The Mistake:
Students often bring texting habits and slang into formal writing assignments.
- Incorrect: I wanna go but it’s kinda hard lol.
- Correct: I want to go, but it is quite difficult.
Informal language is acceptable in casual communication, but not in essays, reports, or exams.
How to Avoid:
- Understand the audience and purpose: Formal writing requires proper sentence structures and vocabulary.
- Build formal vocabulary: Use words like “therefore,” “however,” and “furthermore” instead of casual phrases.
- Review examples of formal writing: Reading good essays can help reinforce proper tone and style.
5. Overusing Simple Words
The Mistake:
Students often use basic words like “good,” “bad,” “big,” and “nice” repeatedly, which weakens their writing.
- Example: The food was good. The weather was good. The game was good.
This makes the writing dull and repetitive.
How to Avoid:
- Use descriptive vocabulary: Replace “good” with words like delicious, exciting, enjoyable, or pleasant.
- Practice with word banks: Create a list of synonyms to expand vocabulary.
- Encourage reading: Exposure to different writing styles helps build a richer vocabulary naturally.
6. Writing Run-On Sentences
The Mistake:
Some students write long sentences without proper punctuation, making it difficult to follow.
- Example: I went to the park I saw my friend we played football it was fun.
There are no full stops or conjunctions to separate ideas.
How to Avoid:
- Break long sentences into shorter ones.
- Use conjunctions like and, but, because, and so to connect related ideas.
- Read the sentence aloud—if you run out of breath, it’s probably too long.
7. Wrong Word Choice (Homophones and Similar Words)
The Mistake:
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings, which often confuse young writers.
- Example: Their, there, they’re
- Incorrect: There going to their house over they’re.
How to Avoid:
- Learn commonly confused words in pairs.
- Teach memory tricks (e.g., “There” has the word “here” in it, which shows place).
- Use simple exercises to reinforce the correct meanings.
8. Lack of Paragraphing
The Mistake:
Writing long blocks of text without separating ideas into paragraphs makes writing hard to read.
How to Avoid:
- Start a new paragraph when there’s a new idea, time, place, or person.
- Teach the basic structure: Introduction, Body, Conclusion.
- Practice using paragraph planners or mind maps before writing.
9. Spelling Errors
The Mistake:
While some spelling mistakes are minor, too many can confuse the reader and lower the quality of writing.
How to Avoid:
- Practice high-frequency word lists regularly.
- Encourage the use of dictionaries (physical or digital) for self-checking.
- Teach students to proofread their work carefully for spelling mistakes.
10. Unclear Sentences and Missing Details
The Mistake:
Some students write incomplete sentences or forget to add necessary details, leaving the reader confused.
Example:
- Went to the store. Bought it.
What did you buy? Who went to the store?
How to Avoid:
- Use the 5W1H approach: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How.
- Encourage complete thoughts: Who did what? When? Where?
- Ask students to read their writing as if someone else is reading it for the first time.
Bonus Tip: Read, Write, Repeat
The best way to improve English writing skills and avoid common mistakes is through regular reading and writing.
- Reading helps students see correct grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure in action.
- Writing regularly helps build confidence and improves accuracy over time.
- Receive feedback from teachers, parents, or peers helps identify areas to work on.
Conclusion
Writing mistakes are a natural part of learning however, with practice and awareness you can overcome them. By understanding common errors such as tense shifts, subject-verb disagreements, punctuation problems, and poor word choices, students can develop stronger English writing skills.
Teachers and parents play a crucial role in encouraging young writers, not by focusing only on what’s wrong but by celebrating improvement and effort. Children can become confident and competent writers with patience, support, and simple strategies as those shared in this article.
Remember: Making mistakes is part of the journey—learning from them is what makes you a better writer.