Even fluent English speakers frequently fall into common grammatical traps. Here are the top errors identified in student essays and competitive examination papers, with easy rules to fix them permanently.
1. Its vs. It's
The Mistake: Confusing the possessive pronoun with the contraction.
Incorrect: The company lost it's license.
Correct: The company lost its license. (Possessive)
Correct: It's going to rain. (It is)
2. Less vs. Fewer
The Rule: Use fewer for countable nouns (items you can count 1, 2, 3), and less for uncountable quantities (milk, time, sand).
Incorrect: There are less people in the room today.
Correct: There are fewer people in the room today.
3. Discuss vs. Discuss About
The Rule: The verb discuss already means "to talk about". Adding "about" is redundant.
Incorrect: We discussed about the project yesterday.
Correct: We discussed the project yesterday.
4. Senior / Junior followed by 'to', not 'than'
The Rule: Adjectives ending in -ior (superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior) take the preposition to, never than.
Incorrect: He is senior than me in the department.
Correct: He is senior to me in the department.