In addition to the tips below, check out the super website Common Errors in English maintained by
Dr. Paul Brians, an Emeritus Professor of English at Washington State University

1. Do not refer to the United States in the first person plural (i.e., we, us, our) unless otherwise directed.

2. Countries are singular nouns and take singular pronouns.

Examples:

• Correct: China possesses nuclear arms. In the early 1990s it exploded some of these weapons as part of a policy of tests.
• Incorrect: China possesses nuclear arms. In the early 1990s they exploded some of these weapons as part of a policy of tests.

3. The following are preferred and less preferred usages (according to the dictionary):

Preferred

• anarchic
• capitalist
• economic
• liberal

Less Preferred

• anarchical
• capitalistic
• economical (flat-out incorrect when referring to the economy)
• liberalist or liberalistic

4. The following terms normally are capitalized:

• Cold War
• Eastern Europe
• the West (the industrialized world that includes Europe, North America, Japan, Australia, etc.)
• Western Europe

5. Avoid trendy use of reflexive verbs. Here are some examples of recent innovations that should be avoided:

• A. ...is evidenced by...
• B. ...is impacted on/by... (use "...has an impact on...")
• C. "critique" as a verb (use "critique" as a noun)

6. Avoid split infinitives:

• Correct: To understand a problem fully.
• Incorrect: To fully understand a problem.

7. Follow these guidelines:

• "Its" (without apostrophe): The possessive form of "it".
• "It's" (with apostrophe): A contraction of "it is".

8. When citing course readings, cite the name of the author of the chapter in an edited volume, not the name of the book editors (e.g., if the book is edited by Snap and Crackle, but the chapter you are citing is authored by Pop, you should cite Pop).

9. When possible, avoid contractions (avoid words like aren't, don't, isn't, weren't, it's, doesn't, etc.). Instead use complete words (are not, does not, is not, were not, it is, does not, etc.).

10. Avoid the second person ("you," "your," "yours")

11. Remember the following:

• Lead: An element that was once used in plumbing, and is denoted in the Periodic Table by the symbol "Pb"
• Led: The past tense of the verb "to lead"

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