YOU CORRECT THE INCORRECT

 Why You Should Want to Write 

You write not just for your teachers or your readers, but, more importantly, for yourself. There are several reasons why you should want to write.

Writing may be a part of your job description. Writing letters, memos, reports, minutes of meetings, and sending e-mails may be your daily tasks at your workplace.

Writing may afford you an opportunity to explore yourself—your thoughts and your feelings. Writing is often a journey of self-discovery: you begin to find out more about who you are, and what your values are. Writing is more than just an expression of self: it creates the self. To that end, you can write a diary or journal for self-expression. Regular journal writing not only improves your writing skill but also expands your thinking.

Writing helps you organize your thinking. Effective writing requires you to put your random thoughts into a coherent pattern. Through writing, you learn to mentally articulate your ideas in a more logical and systematic way. Writing regularly improves your logic and sharpens your power of thinking and reasoning.

Writing enhances your ability to use language for specific purposes. You may begin to realize how some writers use manipulative language to persuade others. Accordingly, you learn to “read between the lines” as well as to recognize the truths from the half-truths or the myths.

Writing is an effective means of communication with others. Even when you write an e-mail to your friends, you need to make yourself intelligible by writing what you mean and meaning what you write.

In short, writing is an important communication skill. Reap all the benefits of writing by learning how to write. Make a virtue out of your necessity.

The main objective of this book is to help you write with confidence. To do just that, you need to avoid making sentence errors as much as possible. That is, correcting the incorrect. When you have greater confidence in your writing, then you must write more, and much more, in order that you may write well.

A Sample of the Book:

Which of the Following Sentences Are Incorrect?

(1) It can say that the construction industry is still booming.

(2) This carpet is red in color.

(3) Here is the question: what to do next?

(4) The examination was easy everybody passed.

(5) The pig is lazy.

(6) Woman is man’s mate.

(7) Formally voters were not granted a secret ballot.

(8) As far as I know, he is a gentleman.

(9) I didn’t sleep any last night.

(10) Because the roads are covered with ice, school has been cancelled.

The Incorrect

(1) It can say that the construction industry is still booming.

(2) This carpet is red in color.

(4) The examination was easy everybody passed.

(7) Formally voters were not granted a secret ballot.

(8) As far as I know, he is a gentleman.

(9) I didn’t sleep any last night.

Look at the sentences again to find out why they are incorrect.

The Explanation

(1) It can say that the construction industry is still booming. (incorrect)

“The construction industry is still booming.” (correct) Avoid “it can say”; even “it says in the Bible or in the paper” is bad usage.

(2) This carpet is red in color. (incorrect)

“The carpet is red.” (correct: “in color” is redundant)

(4) The examination was easy everybody passed. (incorrect: the two independent sentences are put together without any conjunction or punctuation mark)

“The examination was easy: everybody passed.” (correct: the use of “:” explains how “easy”)

“The examination was easy, everybody passed.” (incorrect: joining two independent sentences with a comma is incorrect)

“Because the examination was easy, everybody passed.” (correct: “the examination was easy” becomes a subordinate clause with the addition of “because”)

“The examination was easy and everybody passed.” (correct: the two coordinating sentences are joined with a conjunction)

(7) Formally voters were not granted a secret ballot. (incorrect: “formerly”, meaning at an earlier time, should be used instead of “formally” which means in a formal or an elaborate manner, e.g. “We were formally introduced to the President.”)

(8) As far as I know, he is a gentleman. (incorrect: “as far as” refers to distance, e.g. “I can walk as far as the train station.”)

“So far as I know, he is a gentleman.” (correct: “so far as” implies a limitation, e.g. “To the best of my knowledge, this is correct.”)

(9) I didn’t sleep any last night. (incorrect)

“I didn’t have any sleep last night.” (correct)

“I didn’t sleep at all last night.” (correct)

(3) Here is the question: what to do next? (correct: the “:” joins two independent sentences, and explains what the question is)

(5) The pig is lazy. (correct: “the” is used before a singular noun to represent a class or group)

(6) Woman is man’s mate. (correct: not “the woman” and “the man” as in (5))

(10) Because the roads are covered with ice, school has been cancelled. (correct: a subordinate clause “Because the roads are covered with snow” attached to a coordinate clause)

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