Here are the top 10 grammar mistakes people make, according to Microsoft

pulse

March 16, 2017 6:17 PM

Microsoft pulled data from millions of subscribers and rounded up the most common grammar mistakes in the English language.

"Saying goodbye is always hard, but it doesn't have to be formal or cold."

Even smart people make stupid mistakes in their writing.

Sometimes it's laziness or impatience; sometimes they're genuinely confused.

Using data from millions of its subscribers, Microsoft recently rounded up a list of the top 10 grammar mistakes in the English language. The findings come from people who use Microsoft Word and/or Outlook, both of which come with a tool called Editor.

Editor highlights spelling and grammar errors and makes suggestions to help improve your writing.

It can make a bad impression if you have a document riddled with mistakes, says Nicole Michel, a linguist who is also a project manager at Microsoft.

She told Business Insider: "If you send a CV to a potential employer and it's full of grammar or spelling mistakes, it's going to show carelessness and lack of attention to detail, and also it shows that you're not really putting emphasis and importance on the task."

Below, we've listed the 10 most common grammar errors, along with examples, according to Microsoft. There's a good chance you've made at least one.

1. Leaving too many white spaces between words

Example:

Correct: To the left.

2. Missing a comma

Example: If the weather remains the

Correct: If the weather remains the same, we'll leave early.

3. Missing a comma after an introductory phrase

Example: First of

Correct: First of all, we must make sure that the power is off.

4. Missing a hyphen

Example: My

Correct: My 3-year-old son

5. Incorrect subject-verb agreement

Example: The cats

Correct: The cats eat.

6. Incorrect capitalization

Example: It's cold,

Correct: It's cold, but we are going out.

7. Mixing up possessive and plural forms

Example: My

Correct: My sister's car is old.

8. Incorrect agreement with noun phrases

Example: I would like to buy

Correct: I would like to buy these apples.

9. Commonly confused words

Example: After all that running, I am out of

Correct: After all that running, I am out of breath.

Read Microsoft's list of most commonly confused words.

10. Incorrect verb form after auxiliary

Example: They had

Correct: They had eaten when we arrived.

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