English is Singapore main language, but using it may be challenging. In writing English essay, no matter people with good English or bad English, both still will make mistakes in grammar. Learning English is never ending. I am going to write about 3 grammar mistakes I commonly make.
1st common mistake is the using of comma. For example, “I like ling, she is very hot.” This is wrong because comma cannot connect 2 independent clauses. The correct way of joining 2 independent clauses are to use a conjunction or replace comma with semicolon. The correct writing is “I like ling. She is very hot.” or “I like ling; she is very hot.” or “I like ling, because she is very hot.”
2nd common mistake is the using of ‘I’ and ‘me’. For example, “My sister and me are going home.” This is incorrect. “This phone belongs to my sister and I”. This is incorrect. It is wrong because ‘I’ must be a subject, never the object and ‘me’ must be an object, never the subject. The correct way of writing is: “This phone belongs to my sister and me.’ And ‘My sister and I are going home.”
The 3rd common mistake is using ‘its’ and ‘it’s’. For example, “The mother cat carried it’s kitten in it’s mouth.” This is wrong because ‘it’s’ is a contraction of it is or it has. The correct way of writing is ‘’The mother cat carried its kitten in its mouth.” Another example is “I think its going to rain”. This is wrong because ‘its’ is the pronoun; it modifies a noun. The correct way of writing is “I think it’s going to rain”
Those are just a small part of my common grammar mistake I have made in all my writing. Constant reading, practice and may be speaking English in everyday without using other languages. My means are not to master English but to improve on my English, for one to master English meaning he/she is perfect on it, so there is no room for improvement and no one is perfect in the world. So by saying I want to improve on English means, I will always learn from it and improve on it and always apply it.
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For your second grammar mistake, which is the use of "I", I don't think it would matter when it comes to writing an essay. For me, using "I", "me", "my", and "you" in an essay would make the essay seems unprofessional.
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong, I don't think the contraction of "it's" is "it has". The contraction of "it's" is "it is" only.
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ReplyDeleteReferring to Yacincha's comment, in my opinion, "I", "me" and "my" do matter in writing an essay. Although they seem to be some small elements in a long essay, they can reflect the basic grammar skill that a writer has.
ReplyDeleteFor the second arguement, the contraction of "it's" are "it is" and "it has". Depends on what context you are using. If i am not wrong, it was taught in our primary school.