Writing 101
â 14 min read
20 of the most common writing errors at work

Now that pretty much everyone is a writer at work, people generally expect polished grammar. Weâre not saying that youâre expected to be a grammar perfectionist or proofreading pro â thereâs no such thing as a perfect sentence or a perfect anything, for that matter.Â
The most important purpose of writing at work, of course, is to communicate your thoughts effectively, and we believe that striving for âperfectionâ can hold you back from reaching that goal.
âPutting grammar worries first is terrible writing adviceâ, writes Bryan Collins in Terrible Writing Advice: 20 Common Mistakes You Must Avoid. âFix what you can and move on. Unless itâs going into print, you can address an overlooked grammar error after publication.â
AI writing platforms like Writer help you address grammar problems quickly so that you can focus on the important stuff: getting your work done. Our mission is to help you learn how to write better so that you get your point across and make an impact without getting lost in the details.Â
With that said, there are still a few faux pas that we suggest steering clear of. To help, weâve compiled a list of the 20 most common writing errors to avoid at work. If you want extra help, use Writer’s free grammar checker.
1. Using âliterallyâ when you donât actually mean âliterallyâ
We know â sometimes itâs hard not to say âliterallyâ, and itâs a fun way to emphasize your point. But in writing, try to avoid using the word âliterallyâ if you donât actually mean it. This adverb has been overused to the point where itâs in danger of losing its literal meaning (see what we did there?). In other words, donât use âliterallyâ as a synonym for âreallyâ or âveryâ.
Hereâs how Merriam-Websterâs dictionary defines âliterallyâ:Â
with exact equivalence : with the meaning of each individual word given exactly
Here are two example of the correct way to use âliterallyâ:Â
The term “Mardi Gras” literally means “Fat Tuesday” in French.
Earlier this year, Ochsner got her feet wet â literally â in floods across Louisiana and North Carolina.
Avoid writing something like this:Â
Jim literally exploded with rage. (Hopefully, Jim didnât actually explode; heâd no longer be with us, and weâd really miss him.)
2. Using (or not using) the Oxford comma consistently
First, find out or decide whether your organization uses the Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma. In general, Chicago Manual of Style suggests using the Oxford comma, but Associated Press style does not. The Oxford comma is a comma used after the final item in a list of three or more items, before âandâ or âorâ.
Example: Our company values are rooted in good communication, diversity, and collaboration.Â
Make sure youâre consistent throughout your writing, whether you decide to use the Oxford comma or not!
3. Immigrate vs. emigrate
Even though they sound very similar, these two words have opposite meanings. âEmigrateâ means to leave one’s country to live in another. âImmigrateâ is to come into another country to live permanently.
4. Eager vs. anxious
Eager means âfull of enthusiastic desireâ. Anxious means âworried or uneasy.â In general, âanxiousâ has more of a negative connotation than âeagerâ.
Hereâs an example of a correct way to use âeagerâ in a sentence:
Some entrepreneurs are eager to test out the new market because sales are increasing.Â
Hereâs an example of a correct way to use âanxiousâ in a sentence:
Iâm anxious about my performance review because my sales numbers are down.
5. Compliment vs. complement (and complimentary vs. complementary)
Interesting how one letter can alter the meaning of a word, isnât it?Â
âCompliment,â as a noun, represents the act of giving praise. And âcomplimentaryâ with an âiâ is used both to give someone a compliment and when something is free.
âComplementâ with an âeâ means something that completes something else, such as when two things go well together. And âcomplementaryâ describes combining in a way that enhances or emphasizes the qualities of each other or another.
Here are correct usage examples of âcomplimentaryâ vs. âcomplementaryâ:
I’m suspicious about the salespersonâs overly complimentary remarks.
Iâd love some complimentary samples.
Digital technology is oftentimes complementary to traditional technologies.
6. -ly adverbs that donât need a hyphen
One of the most common writing mistakes â even among professional copywriters â is using hyphens where theyâre not needed. In general, an adverb ending in -ly sufficiently modifies the word after it, so you donât need to add a hyphen. Itâs perfectly grammatically correct to say that something is ârichly texturedâ or âeasily ignored,â for example.Â
Additional correct examples of using -ly ending adverbs:
Her boss fully vetted her work.
After work, letâs go to the fully stocked bar â not the wine bar.
7. Redundant terms
Redundancies are another conversational language habit that are hard to break, but why use extra words if one does the job?
Examples of redundant phrases:
Incorrect: Weâre excited to introduce the very first winner of the competition.
Correct: Weâre excited to introduce the first winner of the competition.
Incorrect: Are you ready to add an additional option?
Correct: Are you ready to add an option for dinner?Â
Incorrect: Letâs collaborate together.
Correct: Letâs collaborate.
8. To vs. too
âToâ is one of the most common words in the English language. âToâ can indicate a direction or destination, or a relationship, such as âThat report belongs to meâ. It can also be used with a period of time, such as âItâs ten to noon.â You can also use âtoâ to imply a state of consciousness or awareness, such as âHe was unconscious for several minutes, but then he came to.â
Add one more letter and you have âtoo,â which means either âalsoâ or âto a higher degreeâ.
Here are some examples of correct ways to use âtooâ:
Sheâs an excellent employee, and a smart one too.
Thatâs just too much to ask for.
9. Your vs. you’re
âYourâ is a possessive adjective, used to describe something as belonging to you. âYourâ is always followed by a noun or gerund (these are verbs that act like nouns).
Examples of correct ways to use âyourâ in a sentence:
Whatâs your favorite style?
This is your best work since last year.
Your insights are invaluable.
âYouâreâ is a contraction of two wordsâ âyouâ and âareâ.
Examples of correct ways to use âyouâreâ in a sentence:
Sorry, youâre not going to get a raise this year.
Youâre the most highly skilled candidate for the position.
10. Its vs. it’s
Letâs cover the easier one first. âItâsâ is a contraction of the words âit isâ or âit hasâ.Â
âItsâ is a possessive form of the pronoun âitâ, meaning belonging to it.
Examples of using âitâsâ correctly:
We need to clean the office as soon as possible â itâs got to be done today. (in this example, âitâsâ is a contraction for âit hasâ)
The corporation left little doubt that itâs ready to launch new technology in the next few months. (Here, âitâsâ is a contraction for âit isâ)
The business started in February, and since then, itâs been booming.
Examples of using âitsâ correctly:
What is its country of origin?
The plant is growing nicely in its pot.
Bonus tip: Also as a general rule of thumb, avoid using the word âItâsâ as a subject. Sometimes itâs hard to avoid using âitâs,â but usually your readers will appreciate that you tell them what youâre referring to instead of using âitâsâ. For example, instead of saying âItâs a good ideaâ, say âRiding bikes is a good idea.â
11. They’re vs. their vs. there
âTheyâreâ is a contraction of two words: âtheyâ and âareâ.
Correct example of using âtheyâreâ in a sentence:
Theyâre off to a great start with their latest business initiative.
âTheirâ means belonging to or associated with the people or things previously mentioned.
Correct example of using âtheirâ in a sentence:
Please upload their resumes into the hiring system.
âThereâ is the most versatile of the three. âThereâ means in, at, or to that place or position and is used when pointing or gesturing to indicate a place in mind. You can also use âthereâ to attract someone’s attention or call attention to someone or something (for example, âHi there!â).
Correct examples of using âthereâ in a sentence:
Look! There it is!
Donât worry. Weâll be there soon.
There are plenty of resources available for finding qualified candidates.
12. Me vs. I
“I” and “me” refer to the same person, so theyâre commonly confused and often misused â especially when thereâs a compound subject or object in a sentence.
âIâ refers to the person performing the action of a verb (the subject), whereas âmeâ refers to the person whom the action of a verb is being done to (the object).
Hereâs a good way to remember whether to use âIâ or âmeâ: when you have two people in the subject, remove the other person and read the sentence aloud (or in your head).
Letâs use this sentence as an example, which uses âmeâ incorrectly:
Jack and me went to the concert.
If you remove âJackâ from the sentence and read it aloud now, which one sounds less silly?
âMe went to the concertâ or âI went to the concertâ?
The correct answer is âI went to the storeâ, because âIâ is the subject. You would want to avoid saying, âJack and me went to the concertâ.
13. i.e. vs. e.g.
âI.e.â and âe.g.â are not interchangeable â they have different meanings. âI.e.â is an abbreviation for âthat is to sayâ, which we know is weird. Itâs Latin for âid estâ, which translates to âthat isâ. Use âi.e.â to add explanatory information or to state something in different words (it works a lot like an equals sign!).
Hereâs a correct example of using âi.e.â in a sentence:
Gerunds, i.e. verbs that function like nouns, are a perfectly good way to start a sentence.
âE.g.â is an abbreviation that means âfor exampleâ; itâs Latin for âexempli gratia,â which translates to “for the sake of example”.
Hereâs an example of using âe.g.â correctly in a sentence:
Please let us know what A/V equipment you will need for your presentation next week (e.g., a projector, an extension cord, a microphone, or a speaker). Â
14. Who vs. whom vs. whose vs. who’s
Using âwhoâ vs. âwhomâ correctly is one of the hardest grammar rules to remember, so donât beat yourself up over it. Just like âIâ, âWhoâ is always the subject of a verb; âWhomâ is always working as an object in a sentence, similar to âmeâ. Keep in mind that âwhomâ alsoÂ
Examples of âwhoâ used correctly in a sentence:
Who is that person wearing the red mask?
Waseem is the person who got the job.
Examples of âwhomâ used correctly in a sentence:
He saw someone whom he presumed to be the director, and asked her questions about next steps.
They were surprised to see three people inside, none of whom looked like they were happy to be there.
15. Than vs. then
Hereâs another pair that only differs by one letter. That one letter makes a big difference for where and how both of them are used. âThanâ is used when youâre comparing two things. âThenâ is used in lots of different situations, like to talk about time.
Hereâs an example of how to use âthanâ:
The updated version of the software is faster than older versions.
Hereâs an example of when to use âthenâ:
If 3 pm works well for you, letâs start then.
16. âI could care lessâ vs. âI couldnât care lessâ
You could care less? Exactly how much less could you care? If you want to show that youâre indifferent, what you probably mean to write is, âI couldnât care lessâ.
Hereâs an example of a correct way to use the phrase âI couldnât care lessâ:
I couldnât care less whether we travel to Europe this year. Iâd rather stay in Canada as long as possible.
17. Too many prepositions
Using too many prepositions makes sentences wordier than they need to be. Improve your sentence flow by removing extra prepositions whenever possible, which will help you get to the point as quickly as possible.Â
One way to lighten your writing is to change how you show possession. Instead of writing âthe records of the companyâ, write âthe companyâs recordsâ.Â
Of course, lots of prepositions can mean that your sentence is wordy in other ways, too. Hereâs an example of a sentence that overdoes it on prepositions (with the prepositions underlined):
We have no estimate of the number of boxes of records in the possession of the company.
See how wordy that is? Shorten up that sentence by writing:
We have no estimate of how many boxes of records the company has.
18. Dangling modifiers
Sometimes you want to give extra information about something or someone in your writing. Modifiers are phrases that do exactly that. A lot of the time, these will involve verbs ending in -ing at the beginning of the sentence, for example âSinging softly,…â.Â
Modifiers should be placed right next to what theyâre describing. If they arenât, youâve got a dangling modifier, like in this sentence:
Singing softly, the newborn was comforted by her father.
I donât know of many newborns who can sing, but I do know plenty of dads who calm their kids by singing. Fix the sentence by bringing dad closer to the start of the sentence, like so:Â
Singing softly, the father comforted his newborn.
19. Squinting modifiers
Modifiers donât always come at the start of the sentence, however. Sometimes they end up in the middle of the sentence, where some confusion can happen, like in this example:
Staying in touch with your friends often improves your relationship with them.
Here, the modifier is âoftenâ, and itâs anybodyâs guess whether weâre talking about staying in touch often or frequent improvements to your friendship. You can get rid of this confusion by placing the modifier somewhere else in the sentence, like at the beginning:
Often, staying in touch with your friends improves your relationship with them.
20. Less vs. fewer
â15 items or lessâ. Weâve all seen this written above the express checkouts at the grocery store as we approach, nervously counting the items in our baskets to see whether we make the cut. What if I told you that this common phrase actually contained a grammar mistake?
Thatâs right, it should actually read â15 items or fewerâ. No, your whole life has not been a lie.Â
So, whatâs the difference between âlessâ and âfewerâ? âFewerâ gets used with nouns that you can count, like apples, oranges, or items (1 item, 2 items⊠15 items). âLessâ gets used with mass nouns, which you canât count, like flour, sugar, or water (1 flour, 2…flours? đŹ It doesnât quite work).
I don’t recommend that you ask to speak to a manager over this common mistake, but, knowing the difference you can certainly smile to yourself every time you go to the store (and every time you write it, too!).