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Common Form Errors

The following are deviations from standard academic English commonly encountered in student writing.

Proper vs. Common Nouns

Proper nouns refer to specific things and are capitalized (CMS 8.1).

Common nouns refer to things in general and are not capitalized.

Problem

  1. Assignments are due at 7:00 am friday morning.
  2. i chose this city because i am a huge fan of country music.
  3. GIS is the technology behind google maps, which is a powerful tool that helps people find locations.

Solution

  1. Assignments are due at 7:00 am Friday morning.
  2. I chose this city because I am a huge fan of country music.
  3. GIS is the technology behind Google Maps, which is a powerful tool that helps people find locations.

Title Case

Titles of works are capitalized in CMS according to headline style (CMS 8.159):

Problem

  1. New York tourist attractions
  2. Whistle while you work
  3. A Little Learning Is A Dangerous Thing
  4. Progress In In Vitro Fertilization
  5. Sitting on the floor in an Empty Room

Solution

  1. New York Tourist Attractions
  2. Whistle While You Work
  3. A Little Learning Is a Dangerous Thing
  4. Progress in In Vitro Fertilization
  5. Sitting on the Floor in an Empty Room

Capitalization of Geographical Terms

Compass directions (north, south, east, west, etc.) are lower case (CMS 8.46), unless they are part of a proper name (e.g. North Carolina, Eastern Illinois University) or denote specific regions of the world or a country (the Far East) (CMS 8.47).

Specific regions of the world or of a particular country are often capitalized (South Asia, Southern California). However, general locations within a specific area (e.g. central Illinois) are often lower case. CMS provides a list of examples, but defers to Webster's for other specific cases, and also defers to authors when they have strong preferences (CMS 8.47).

CMS arbitrarily specifies that "the equator" and the adjective "equatorial" (when not used in a proper name like Equatorial Guinea or Equatorial Current) should be lower case. But as with capitalizations of regions in general, CMS indicates that "that an author’s strong preference should usually be respected" (CMS 8.47).

"In nontechnical contexts, the word 'earth,' in the sense of our planet, is usually lowercased when preceded by 'the' or in such idioms as 'down to earth' or 'move heaven and earth.' When used as the proper name of our planet, especially in context with other planets, it is capitalized and 'the' is usually omitted" (CMS 8.140).

The word "geography" when referring to an academic subject is not capitalized unless used as part of a department or course name (CMS 8.85, 8.86).

"Entities that appear on maps are always capitalized, as are adjectives and nouns derived from them. An initial the as part of a name is lowercased in running text, except in the rare case of an initial the in the name of a city" (Californian, the North Pole, South China Sea) (CMS 8.45).

Problem

  1. Take a left by the bank and drive East for five miles until you get to west plains.
  2. After graduating from Eastern Illinois University, Jane got a job at the Logan County Airport in Central Illinois.
  3. Bladder cancer rates are unusually high in the northeast due to high natural concentrations of radon in drinking water.
  4. In the beginning, God created The Heaven and The Earth.
  5. The only home we have in the universe is earth.
  6. He studied Human Geography in college.
  7. He took GEOG 101 geography of the developing world last semester.

Solution

  1. Take a left by the bank and drive east for five miles until you get to West Plains.
  2. After graduating from Eastern Illinois University, Jane got a job at the Logan County Airport in central Illinois.
  3. Bladder cancer rates are unusually high in the Northeast due to high natural concentrations of radon in drinking water.
  4. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
  5. The only home we have in the universe is Earth.
  6. He studied human geography in college.
  7. He took a GEOG 101 Geography of the Developing World last semester.

Figure Captions

A caption is "explanatory material that appears outside (usually below) an illustration" (CMS 3.21).

Problem

2020 Electoral College results by County in Georgia

2012 County Percent of Democratic Voters in Arizona

PRIMARY ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY COUNTRY IN 2019

Solution

2020 Electoral College results by county in Georgia

2012 county percent of Democratic voters in Arizona

Primary energy consumption by country in 2019

Complete Sentence

A clause is a grammatical unit that contains a subject, a finite verb, and any complements that the verb requires. An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence (CMS 5.225).

The four traditional types of sentence structures specified in CMS each have at least one independent clause (CMS 5.217).

A sentence fragment is "a part of a sentence punctuated as if it were a complete sentence. It is a group of words that begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, exclamation point, or a question mark, but does not express a complete thought" (University of Illinois Writer's Workshop 2017).

Phrases, such as lists of items or word definitions that are not complete clauses, are not complete sentences and should not have trailing punctuation, or they can be considered sentence fragments.

Problem

  1. Human, physical, and GIS.
  2. Before 9am each Friday morning.
  3. Statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it.
  4. A year-round botanical garden with more than 4,000 plant species in 30 themed gardens.
  5. Breathtaking volcanic landscapes, former home of the Pueblo people.

Solution

  1. The three primary domains of geography are human, physical, and GIS.
  2. Weekly assignments in this class should be completed before 9am each Friday morning.
  3. Demographics are "statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it."
  4. This year-round botanical garden features more than 4,000 plant species in 30 themed gardens.
  5. Former home of the Pueblo people, these 33,677 acres feature the most breathtaking volcanic landscapes.

Punctuation Goes Inside Closing Parentheses

In the United States, when using punctuation following quoted text, the punctuation goes inside the closing quotation mark. This seemingly illogical practice (which is not used in Britain) dates from a time when fonts used for printing had fixed-width characters, and placing the punctuation after the quotation mark created an unattractive gap between the end of the text and the punctuation (MLA Style Center 2020, CMS 6.9).

However, when providing a parenthetical citation at the end, the citation is part of the sentence and the closing punctuation follows the citation.

Problem

  1. The Tuskeegee Syphilis Study violated the ethical principle of "respect for persons" because the test subjects were not given the opportunity to give "informed consent".
  2. The variable name is "Arthritis Prevalence Percent", and it represents the percentage of the total population that has arthritis.
  3. Longitude is "angular distance measured on a great circle of reference from the intersection of the adopted zero meridian with this reference circle to the similar intersection of the meridian passing through the object." (Merriam-Webster 2021)

Solution

  1. The Tuskeegee Syphilis Study violated the ethical principle of "respect for persons" because the test subjects were not given the opportunity to give "informed consent."
  2. The variable name is "Arthritis Prevalence Percent," and it represents the percentage of the total population that has arthritis.
  3. Longitude is "angular distance measured on a great circle of reference from the intersection of the adopted zero meridian with this reference circle to the similar intersection of the meridian passing through the object" (Merriam-Webster 2021).

Splices

A comma splice is the connection of two independent clauses with a comma to create a run-on sentence. Comma splices are usually considered erroneous in formal prose (CMS 6.23).

CMS permits the use of semicolons to splice two independent clauses to indicate a closer connection than a period would. However CMS also notes that some authors discourage semicolon splices since they can be considered unnatural in dialogue (CMS 6.60).

CMS permits the use of colons to splice two related independent clauses to place an emphasis on the second clause (CMS 6.65). However, care should be taken to use colon splices only where needed rather than as an alternative way to create a comma spliced run-on sentence.

Problem

The range of latitude is from -90 degrees, to +90 degrees, it can't be more than that.

Solution

The range of latitude is from -90 degrees, to +90 degrees. It can't be more than that.

The Oxford Comma

The Oxford comma (or serial comma) is a comma used before the final conjunction in a list of items: X, Y, and Z.

The Chicago Manual of Style has recommended use of the Oxford comma since 1906, although it is considered optional (Chicago Manual of Style 2017).

The Oxford comma was pivotal in a notable legal case in Maine involving overtime pay for union drivers that cost their company $5 million (Victor 2018).

Problem

  1. The three domains of geography are human geography, physical geography and GIS.
  2. Maine law requires time-and-a-half pay for each hour worked after 40 hours, but carves out exemptions for, "The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: (1) Agricultural produce; (2) Meat and fish products; and (3) Perishable foods."

Solution

  1. The three domains of geography are human geography, physical geography, and GIS.
  2. Maine law requires time-and-a-half pay for each hour worked after 40 hours, but carves out exemptions for, "The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment, or distribution of: (1) Agricultural produce; (2) Meat and fish products; and (3) Perishable foods."

Energy Unit Abbreviations

The following are examples of capitalization for some common energy units that follow the CMS on miscellaneous technical abbreviations (CMS 10.49) and SI prefixes (CMS 10.56).

AbbreviationUnit
JJoule (named for English physicist James Prescott Joule)
BtuBritish thermal unit
kWkilowatt (named for Scottish inventor James Watt)
kWhkilowatt-hour
mWhmilliwatt-hour
MWhmegawatt-hour
GWhgigawatt-hour
TWhterawatt-hour

Possessive vs. Plural

For most nouns, adding an apostrophe and an 's' makes it possessive meaning it becomes an adjective describing ownership of another noun: John's Manhattan apartment is tiny.

Simply adding an 's' with no apostrophe makes a singular noun plural, meaning that the noun represents multiple things: Manhattan apartments are usually tiny.

The exception to this general rule is its vs. it's:

  1. its is possessive: John's apartment building is new and its lobby is quite impressive.
  2. it's is a contraction for it is: It's hard to find a cheap apartment in Manhattan.

A missing apostrophe figured in a notable defamation case in Australia (Albeck-Ripka 2021).

Problem

  1. Assignments are due on Friday morning's at 7am.
  2. Britains navy ruled the waves, so there was no need to waive it's rules.

Solution

  1. Assignments are due on Friday mornings at 7am.
  2. Britain's navy ruled the waves, so there was no need to waive its rules.

Amount vs. Number

Number is used with things that are counted. Amount is a mass noun used with things that are measured (WritingExplained.org).

Problem

  1. Improvements in sonography have helped reduce the amount of costly exams needed for acute appendicitis and improve accuracy of results.
  2. Incidence is the amount of new cases of a disease, prevalence is how many people are currently living with a certain disease, and mortality is how many people die in a given time period because of that disease.

Solution

  1. Improvements in sonography have helped reduce the number of costly exams needed for acute appendicitis and improve accuracy of results.
  2. Incidence is the number of new cases of a disease, prevalence is how many people are currently living with a certain disease, and mortality is how many people die in a given time period because of that disease.

There vs. Their

There is an adverb indicating a location.

Their is an adjective indicating ownership of something.

Problem

  1. Technically their is a test everyday. Their is no midterm or final.
  2. It looks like their is a small farm and a golf course nearby.
  3. There response was noncommittal.

Solution

  1. Technically there is a test everyday. There is no midterm or final.
  2. It looks like there is a small farm and a golf course nearby.
  3. Their response was noncommittal.

Then vs. Than

Then has multiple uses involving time:

Than is a conjunction usually used to make comparisons: My car is more fuel-efficient than yours.

Problem

  1. North Korea is focusing on other things like bombs rather then their economy.
  2. I believe that Google Maps is a reference map because it mostly shows geographic areas rather then specific themes.

Solution

  1. North Korea is focusing on other things like bombs rather than their economy.
  2. I believe that Google Maps is a reference map because it mostly shows geographic areas rather than specific themes.

To vs. Too

To is a preposition that shows direction: She drove to work.

Too is an adverb that means also, as well, or additionally: She works too hard.

Problem

They will be to distracted to put their hands on the wheel and might hit my car.

Solution

They will be too distracted to put their hands on the wheel and might hit my car.

Would've/Should've/Could've vs. Would Of / Should Of / Could Of

This is a common confusion of a two words for a contraction.

Problem

I don't think that he was justified in his actions because it would of been better if he called the cops instead of shooting down the drone.

Solution

I don't think that he was justified in his actions because it would've been better if he called the cops instead of shooting down the drone.

Is vs. Are

Is is a singular linking verb: He is an officer.

Are is a plural linking verb: They are officers.

Problem

There is a lot of trees there because it is a creek.

Solution

There are a lot of trees there because it is a creek.

Has vs. Have

Have is the base of to have and functions as first and second person singular present tense form.

Has is the third-person singular present tense form of to have (Queens English Society 2017).

Problem

  1. I has reviewed the article and found it helpful.
  2. Peer-reviewed literature is processed by people who actually has knowledge about the topic.
  3. He have finished his rounds for the day.

Solution

  1. I have reviewed the article and found it helpful. (first person)
  2. Peer-reviewed literature is processed by people who actually have knowledge about the topic. (2nd person)
  3. He has finished his rounds for the day. (third person)

Cite vs. Quote

The word cite (short for citation) is commonly misheard and misspelled as site.

The word quote is often used as shorthand for enclosing in quotation marks, which confuses the idea of a quote as someone else's words that you enclose in quotation marks.

Problem

To avoid losing points for plagiarism, you should site and quote your copied text.

Solution

To avoid losing points for plagiarism, you should put the borrowed text in quotation marks and add a citation for the source of that text.

You're vs. Your

Problem

Passing a GIS class shows your moderately intelligent, conscientious, and know how to conform.

Solution

Passing a GIS class shows you're moderately intelligent, conscientious, and know how to conform.

Grammar is the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Missing Articles

Problem

An example of ecological fallacy is when you see an aggregated data of a high income neighborhood, then assuming that everyone who walks out of that neighborhood is rich.

Solution

An example of an ecological fallacy is when you see aggregated data indicating a high income neighborhood and then assume that everyone who walks out of that neighborhood is rich.

Unnecessary Definite Articles

The definite article the is used before a noun when you believe the hearer/reader knows exactly what you are referring to. Knowing when not to use the definite article may be helpful.

Problem

  1. Things in general: The exploratory data analysis consists of collecting data, trying methods, and then formulating hypotheses.
  2. Proper names: I use the Google every day.
  3. Sports: He got CTE playing the football.
  4. Specific numbered nouns: The train to Ronkonkoma is now arriving on the track 17.
  5. Acronyms: The GIS is often very tedious.

Solution

  1. Exploratory data analysis consists of collecting data, trying methods, and then formulating hypotheses.
  2. I use Google every day.
  3. He got CTE playing football.
  4. The train to Ronkonkoma is now arriving on track 17.
  5. GIS is often very tedious.

Number Agreement

Problem

  1. We should prepare our responses in Word to have it as a backup in case the website loses our submission.
  2. Some of my favorite artist who I enjoy listening to started from Atlanta.

Solution

  1. We should prepare our responses in Word to have them as a backup in case the website loses our submissions.
  2. Some of my favorite artists who I enjoy listening to started from Atlanta.

Acronyms

Acronyms are the first letters of a compound noun, capitalized and combined as a single word.

URL stands for universal resource locator.

Problem

  1. Human, physical, and G.I.S.
  2. Use quotation marks and post a url for where the information was found.

Solution

  1. Human, physical, and GIS
  2. Use quotation marks and post a URL for where the information was found.

Unclear Pronoun Reference

Problem

  1. The concept of empirical separates correlation from causation because it is based off observations.
  2. Smartphones have ability to use different cell phone towers, who have specific GPS coordinates and can trilaterate the strength of signals to estimate your location.
  3. They will be too distracted to put their hands on the wheel and they might hit my car.
  4. Long before her death, Jarvis' mom Ann Reeves Jarvis hoped someone would dedicate a day to honor mothers. When she died on May 9, 1905, Jarvis set out to do just that. She began campaigning not only for her mom but for moms everywhere (CNN).

Solution

  1. The concept of empirical separates correlation from causation because correlation is based off observations while causation is based on ideas about relationships.
  2. Cell phone towers have GPS coordinates, and smartphones can trilaterate the strength of those signals to estimate location.
  3. They will be too distracted to put their hands on the wheel and might hit my car.
  4. Long before her death, Jarvis' mom Ann Reeves Jarvis hoped someone would dedicate a day to honor mothers. When Jarvis' mother died on May 9, 1905, Jarvis set out to do just that. She began campaigning not only for her mom but for moms everywhere.

Dangling Modifiers

A dangling modifier is a dependent clause that isn't clearly connected to the independent (or main) clause.

Problem

  1. After robbing two banks, the police arrested the suspect.
  2. Google Maps is a reference map because I believe it does not concentrate on one specific area or theme.
  3. Glacier melting indirectly affects me because if the glaciers melt it may cause death to sea creatures which are used as a food source, as well as raise taxes to fund a solution.
  4. My conclusion shows that poverty and mental illness aren't tied together, which contradicts the stereotype that being poor is tied to having a mental illness and could lead to the poor being treated more fairly.
  5. Lawrence Leathers, 37, was discovered about noon on Sunday by another tenant sprawled on the stairs on the first floor of the Bronx apartment building on East 141st Street where he lived.

Solution

  1. After the suspect robbed two banks, the police arrested her.
  2. I believe Google Maps is a reference map because it does not concentrate on one specific area or theme.
  3. Glacier melting indirectly affects me because that may kill sea creatures we use as a food source, and governments may have to raise taxes to fund a solution.
  4. My conclusion shows that poverty and mental illness aren't tied together, which contradicts the stereotype that being poor is tied to having a mental illness. This knowledge could lead to the poor being treated more fairly.
  5. Another tenant discovered Lawrence Leathers, 37, about noon on Sunday, sprawled on the stairs on the first floor of the Bronx apartment building on East 141st Street where he lived.

Redundancy

Problem

  1. Hands-free driving is an option now for us now.
  2. Longitudes range in degrees from -180 to +180 degrees.

Solution

  1. Hands-free driving is an option for us now.
  2. Longitudes range from -180 to +180 degrees.

Compound Questions

Sentences containing multiple questions need only one question mark at the end.

Problem

What is where? , Why is it there? , Why do we care?

Solution

What is where, why is it there and why do we care?

Mixed Person

Problem

Passing a GIS class shows you're moderately intelligent, conscientious, and that I know how to conform.

Solution

Passing a GIS class shows you're moderately intelligent, conscientious, and know how to conform.

Close Non-restrictive Modifiers

Problem

Google Maps, ubiquitous for both private and corporate use and have made travel faster, safer and less confusing.

Solution

Google Maps, ubiquitous for both private and corporate use, has made travel faster, safer and less confusing.

Balance Phrases and Clauses Connected by Coordinating Conjunctions

There are seven coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. The phrases or clauses connected by those coordinating conjunctions must be of the same type (Traffis 2020)

Problem

This is a science class and need to tell where we got the information.

Solution

This is a science class and you need to tell where we got the information.