17 Dumb Writing Mistakes You Want to Avoid

You’re a smart leader. You don’t make dumb writing mistakes, right?

Or do you?

Here’s the problem with management and writing: Most great managers didn’t get there because they were great writers.

But, if you lead, you need to write. It’s part of just about any job, especially if you’re a manager and working with hybrid or remote teams.

You have to write emails, reports, reviews and app or social media messages.

Problem with Dumb Writing Mistakes

And while you don’t have to be Mark Twain or J.K. Rowling, knowing how to write a complete, concise sentence that makes sense is important in the business world.

Reason: Dumb writing mistakes make the writer look less than smart.

Sure, you can get away with using the wrong word or bad grammar in a conversation. That’s because once it’s spoken, it’s gone. But that’s not the way it works with the written word. It’s there for everyone to pick apart. Forever.

Now, if you’re thinking, “This is a professional writer looking down at me over dumb writing mistakes,” think again. I make some of these mistakes sometimes, too!

And that’s why one of the most valuable writing secrets is this: Check what you’ve written before you send it! Reread and use grammar and spell check. And if it’s really important, get a second set of eyes on it.

Keep this list to check your work for these 17 dumb writing mistakes:

1. Affect vs. Effect

This is a biggie a lot of people struggle to grasp. Hence, it’s No. 1 on the list.

With affect and effect, you either get it right all the time, or you struggle with it most of the time.

To put it simply, “affect” is generally a verb that means to influence, and “effect” is generally a noun that means a result. My go-to trick to remember: affect=action.

Examples of correct usage:

• “Petting a cat or a dog affects blood pressure in a positive manner.”
• “A good night’s sleep has a positive effect on your day.”

2. Then vs. Than

The confusion over then vs. than typically comes from not thinking, because the distinction is an easy one.

“Then” is time-related, and “than” is comparison-related.

Examples of correct usage:

• “The little girl stuck out her bottom lip, then started to cry.”
• “Emma is taller than her mother and father.”

3. Your vs. You’re

While this one is a bit of a no-brainer, very often the brain thinks one thing and your fingers type another.

But for clarity’s sake, “your” is a possessive pronoun, and “you’re” is a contraction of “you are.”

Examples of correct usage:

• “Let’s take your car on vacation.”
• “You’re a good writer.”

If this is a mistake you make often, do a search for each word once you’re finished writing to ensure you have the right version in each place.

4. Its vs. It’s

Just like No. 3, its vs. it’s is often a case of your fingers going faster than your brain.

“Its” is a possessive pronoun and “it’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.”

Examples of correct usage:

• “My computer has a mind of its own.”
• “It’s a beautiful day.”

An easy way to distinguish between the two: Read the sentence and replace the reference with “it is.” If it sounds weird, the correct word choice is “its.”

Again, if you know this is a problem, do a search for “its” and “it’s” after you’re done writing.

5. Their vs. They’re vs. There

Here’s a triple whammy: their, they’re, there.

“Their” is a possessive pronoun, “they’re” is a contraction of “they are” and “there” is an adverb specifying a place.

Examples of correct usage:

• “My parents are leaving their dog with us while they’re on vacation.”
• “Put the package down over there.”

6. Whose vs. Who’s

Here we go again. “Whose” is the possessive form of who or which, and “who’s” is a contraction of “who is” or “who has.”

If you’re questioning which one is the correct choice, replace it with “who is” or “who has.” If it sounds weird, then the word you want is whose.

Examples of correct usage:

• “Whose car is this?”
• “Who’s that girl with Ted?”

7. To vs. Too vs. Two

Getting right down to it, “to” is used as a preposition before a noun or as an infinitive before a verb. “Too,” on the other hand, means “in addition” or it can refer to “excess or degree.” And, “two” is the number.

Examples of correct usage:

• “She used to live down the street from me.” Or “Let’s go to the mall.”
• “Hazel went to the mall, too.” Or “He’s too funny.”
• “The little boy got two pet goldfish at the mall.”

8. Loose vs. Lose

“Loose” is an adjective that means the opposite of tight.

“Lose” is a verb that means to suffer a loss.

I hate to admit it, but in my early years as a newspaper reporter, I wrote an entire story about something that was lost, using the wrong word throughout. And it was published with my byline. (Don’t go looking for it … it was long before everything was digital!)

Examples of correct usage:

• “The little boy has two loose teeth.”
• “I lose my cell phone all the time.”

9. Lie vs. Lay

Now here’s a doozy that really confuses people! If you’re one of them, let me help you out.

“Lie” is a verb that means to recline. It can’t have a direct object.

The verb “lay” means to put or place someone or something, and it must have a direct object.

Examples of correct usage:

• “I find it relaxing to lie on the beach.”
• “Lay that mirror down gently.”

Just be careful, the past tense of lie (to recline) is “lay.” And the past tense of lay (to put or place something) is “laid.”

So it’s lay, laid, laying, laid, and lie, lay, lying, lain. (Best of luck on this one … many a professional writer still struggle with these!)

10. I vs. Me

This is another one that causes people to stop and scratch their heads!

But instead of getting into the whole grammatical reason of when you use “I” vs. “me,” here’s a little trick to try.

Say the sentence with just “I” or “me.”

For example, “The teacher told Tom and (I or me) to go to the office.” Remove Tom from the sentence and try: “The teacher told I to go to the office” and “The teacher told me to go to the office.”

It can’t be “I” because it doesn’t make sense. So it has to be “The teacher told Tom and me to go to the office.”

See how easy that was!

Examples of correct usage:

• “Steve and I are going to dinner.”
• “Jen is taking Steve and me to dinner.”

11. Assure vs. Ensure vs. Insure

A lot of people argue that these three words are interchangeable. And if you look hard enough, you’ll probably find that.

But if you use these definitions to distinguish them, you’ll make your usage clearer:

“Assure” is to make sure or to give confidence.

“Ensure” means to guarantee.

And “insure” means to protect financially.

Examples of correct usage:

• “I assure you, I had nothing to do with the murder.”
• “Guards were posted all around the house to ensure no one contaminated the crime scene.”
• “It’s rumored that Jennifer Lopez insured her famous derriere for $27 million.”

12. Imply vs. Infer

These two words are often confused with each other.

But they have two totally different meanings.

To “imply” is to suggest the truth or existence of something.

To “infer” is to deduce something from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements.

You can also look at it as the speaker implies something, and the listener infers something.

Examples of correct usage:

• “I didn’t mean to imply I don’t like her, just that I find her arrogant.”
• “Julie’s parents were able to infer by her demeanor that she didn’t get the job.”

13. i.e. vs. e.g.

These two abbreviations do not mean the same thing; therefore, you can’t use them interchangeably.

While they are both Latin abbreviations, “i.e.” stands for “id est” which means “that is.” It’s not used for listing examples. You use it when you need or want to clarify something. Think of it as “in other words.”

The Latin term for “e.g.” is “exempli gratia,” which means “for example.”

If you struggle to remember which abbreviation is used, here are two tricks for you: “i.e” can stand for “I Explain” or “In Essence,” and “e.g.” sounds like “EGg xample.”

Examples of correct usage:

• “My favorite dog breed is Labradoodles, i.e., a cross between a Labrador retriever and a poodle.”
• “I love Mexican food, e.g., tacos, burritos, enchiladas.”

14. A lot vs. Alot vs. Allot

One of these is not actually a word that can be found in the dictionary. Can you guess which one it is?

It’s “alot.” Spelled correctly, “a lot” is two separate words, like a camera, a cat, a book, a house. “A” is the article and “lot” is a noun that means a large number or amount. You can think of it this way, you’d never say acamera, acat, abook or ahouse, so you can’t say “alot.”

However, “allot” is a word. And while it sounds the same and has a similar spelling, it’s a verb that means to give or assign as one’s share.

Examples of correct usage:

• “My daughter reads a lot of books.”
• “We will allot 30 minutes for each speaker.”

15. Could’ve, Should’ve, Would’ve

All three are legitimate contractions with the word “have,” but be careful.

When people say could’ve, should’ve and would’ve, it often sounds like “could of,” “should of” and “would of,” which are grammatically incorrect.

Why? Because “of” is a preposition and can’t be used as part of a verb.

Examples of correct usage:

• “I could’ve gone to bed earlier, but I didn’t.”
• “I should’ve gone to bed earlier, because now I’m falling asleep at work.”
• “If I would’ve gone to bed earlier, I wouldn’t be so sleepy.”

16. Compliment vs. Complement

While these two sound very similar, they don’t mean the same thing.

Compliment is an expression of praise.

Complement is when something enhances something else.

So how can you keep it straight in your head?

Try these tricks: I like to give compliments. The opposite of a compliment is an insult.

To complement something is to complete it.

Examples of correct usage:

• “Please give the chef my compliments on such an amazing meal.”
• “That shirt complements your eyes.”

17. Principle vs. Principal

Here’s another case of they sound similar, but mean different things.

“Principle” is a standard, rule or law and is always a noun.

“Principal” as an adjective means main or key, and as a noun it means head or chief.

One way to keep the two straight is “The principal of my school is my pal.”

And since the principle is a standard, rule or law.

Examples of correct usage:

• “Mrs. Cummings is the principal at my school.”
• “His principal complaint was a headache.”
• “It goes against my principles to lie.”