The purpose of this web page is to give students easy access to tools that might help their writing. Poor grammar or a dysfunctional writing style will create obstacles throughout your life, ranging from poor grades in college to ineffective essays on law school or grad school applications and unflattering job evaluations from employers or supervisors. I can not guarantee that this page will magically improve your grades, get you into Harvard Law School, or get you a raise and a promotion -- but I do hope that you find it useful.
Advice on College-Level Research and Writing
My upper-division undergraduate courses typically require at least one research paper and several essay exams, and many high schools and introductory undergraduate courses do not give students the preparation they need to succeed in classes like this. The following resources are meant to help students cope with such assignments, regardless of their previous experience.
- General Writing Tips (from the Purdue Online Writing Lab, or OWL)
- Research and Citation for Research Papers (from the Purdue OWL)
- How to Write a Paper (from Stephen Van Evera at MIT)
- Suggestions on Writing a Senior Honors Thesis (from Stephen Van Evera at MIT)
- Powers' Pointers for Papers that Make Their Points Powerfully (advice on researching, organizing, and writing college papers, from my former FSU colleague Nancy Powers)
General Style and Grammar Links
The following resources offer more general help with style and grammar.
- Jack Lynch's Guide to Grammar and Style
- Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL)
- William Strunk (1918), The Elements of Style
- Texas A&M University Writing Center - Writing and Speaking Guides
- University of North Carolina Writing Center - Tips and Tools
- UNT Libraries Scholarly Writing Guide (see especially their page of Style and Editing resources)
- University of Texas Writing Center - Writing Handouts
Top Student Writing Problems
Poor grammar or a dysfunctional writing style will create obstacles throughout your life, ranging from poor grades in college to ineffective essays on law school or grad school applications and unflattering job evaluations from employers or supervisors. I can not guarantee that this page will magically improve your grades, get you into Harvard Law School, or get you a raise and a promotion -- but I do hope that you find it useful. These are the most common problems that I have found in grading student papers. Students will laugh if I mention these problems in class, but almost every student paper will include at least one of these problems -- and I've seen more than a few papers and exams that make over half of these mistakes.
NOTE: Some of the entries on this page were verified or extended with the help of Strunk and White's Elements of Style (3rd ed., 1979), Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (6th ed., 1979), Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers (5th ed., 1987), and the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (4th ed., 1995).
"Accept" versus "Except"
- Accept: A verb, indicating one's consent or approval (as in "The president accepted his counterpart's proposal to submit their dispute to arbitration")
- Except: A preposition, conjunction, or verb, indicating exclusion or objection (as in "Every country except the United States agreed to accept the conference's recommendations")
"Affect" versus "Effect"
- Affect (verb): "To influence" (as in "President Clinton hoped to affect the outcome of the Russian elections")
- Effect (verb): "To bring about" (as in "President Clinton hoped to effect a change in Russian policies")
- Effect (noun): "Consequence", "result" (as in "Every cause should have at least one effect")
- Affect (noun): Feeling, affection; the conscious subjective aspect of an emotion considered apart from bodily changes (pronounced AF-fect; this is probably NOT the word that you mean to use in international relations)
"Block" versus "Bloc"
- Bloc: In international relations, a combination of individuals, groups, or countries united by treaty or sharing a common purpose.
- So the correct international relations term is "bloc," as in the "Western bloc" and "Soviet bloc" in the Cold War. A "Soviet block" would be a small cube of wood with a hammer and sickle or pictures of Lenin (making for a very unusual child's toy).
"Border" versus "Boarder"
- Border: In international relations, the line on a map that separates two or more geographic units.
- Boarder: "One who boards," such as someone who is paying for meals and lodging or someone whose job involves going aboard seagoing vessels.
- So the correct international relations term is "border," as in the "Canadian border." A "Canadian boarder" refers to someone from the Great White North who is renting a room, rather than a line on a map separating Canada from Minnesota or New York.
"Could/should/would have" versus "Could/should/would of"
- The correct phrases are "could have," "should have," and "would have" -- not "could of," "should of," or "would of."
"Do" versus "Due"
- Do: A verb, meaning "to bring to pass," "to carry out," or "to accomplish" (as in "What are you trying to do?")
- Due: Similar to "attributable to" or "because of" (as in "John's low grade on the test was due to his failure to study") -- also "something that is owed" (as in a debt or a right)
"Dominate" versus "Dominant"
- Dominate: A verb (as in "Mexico's soccer team is going to dominate the next World Cup competition")
- Dominant:An adjective (as in "The United States was the dominant economic actor after World War II")
"e.g.," "i.e.," "etc.," and "et al."
- e.g.: "For example," from the Latin "exempli gratia" (as in "Research on the evolution of interstate rivalry (e.g., Hensel 1996)...").
- i.e.: "That is," from the Latin "id est" (as in "The goal of this web page -- i.e., improving your writing skills -- is...")
- etc.: "And so forth" / "and others of the same kind," from the Latin "et cetera."
- et al.: "And others," from the Latin "et alii" [masc.], "et aliae" [fem.], or "et alia" [neutral] (as in "Singer, et al., found an important difference between the 19th and 20th centuries").
Except versus Accept: see "Accept versus Except" (above)
Effect versus Affect: see "Affect versus Effect" (above)
"For all intents and purposes" versus "For all intensive purposes"
- "For all intents and purposes" is the correct phrase, even if it is too wordy and doesn't really need to be in a college-level research paper.
Irregardless versus Regardless: see "Regardless versus Irregardless" (below)
"It's" versus "Its"
- It's: A contraction, meaning "it is" (as in "It's time for dinner")
- Its: A possessive (as in "The dog was wagging its tail")
"Lead" versus "Led"
- Lead (pronounced "led"): A metallic element (as in "Superman's X-ray vision can not penetrate lead-lined walls")
- Lead (pronounced "leed"): Verb, meaning "to guide" or "to direct" (as in "In the business world you must lead, follow, or get out of the way")
- Led: The past form of the verb "to lead" (as in "He led the llama to pasture")
"Lose" versus "Loose"
- Lose: A verb, meaning the opposite of win (as in "It is most painful to lose to a hated rival")
- Loose: An adjective, meaning "not securely attached" (as in "The hinge was coming loose")
"Now," "Know," and "No"
- Now: Refers to the present time (as in "What we need now is a good rainstorm")
- Know: A verb, reflecting recognition or understanding (as in "I know everything there is to know about this subject")
- No: The opposite of yes (as in "No, you can't eat that last cookie!")
"Populous" versus "Populace"
- Populous: An adjective, meaning "densely populated" (as in "A country's capital is not necessarily its most populous city")
- Populace: A noun, referring to a set of people living in a certain area (as in "The entire populace was affected by the radioactive fallout")
"Principle" versus "Principal"
- Principle: A noun, meaning "a fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption" or "a rule or code of conduct" (as in "My principles prevented me from cheating on that final exam")
- Principal: An adjective, meaning "most important, consequential, or influential" (as in "The principal problem facing Bolivia's economy is the country's lack of a seaport")
"Regardless" versus "Irregardless"
- "Regardless" is the generally preferred word. Irregardless is technically a word, but it is usually used in speaking rather than formal writing, and it may be a combination of regardless and irrespective; as Merriam-Webster summarizes: "Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance."
"Should have" versus "Should of": see "Could/should/would have" versus "Could/should/would of" (above)
"Supposedly" versus "Supposably"
- "Supposedly": "allegedly" - this is almost always what international relations students intend to use (as in "The fire was supposedly started by an arsonist, not a lightning strike").
- "Supposably": "as may be imagined or supposed" - I don't think I've ever had a student who meant to use this word in a paper for one of my courses.
- See also Merriam-Webster.
"Than" versus "Then"
- Than: Used to compare (as in "I would rather receive an A than a B")
- Then: Refers to time / chronology (as in "He answered first one question, then another") or consequences (as in "if both countries are democracies, then they will solve their problems short of war")
"That," "Which," and "Who"
- That: A defining, or restrictive, pronoun. "That" is used to indicate which object is being discussed, and should not follow a comma (as in "The car that is parked in the garage is red")
- Which: A nondefining, or nonrestrictive, pronoun. "Which" adds some new detail about a specific object that has already been mentioned, and should follow a comma (as in "My new car, which is red, is parked in the garage")
- Who: A personal pronoun. "Who" should be used in place of "that" or "which" in discussing a person (as in "The student who did the most work got an A for the course" or "Bob, who did more work than his classmates, got an A for the course")
"There," "Their," and "They're"
- There: Refers to location (as in "that dog over there")
- Their: A possessive (as in "They're going to bring their new car")
- They're: A contraction, meaning "they are" (as in "They're on their way")
"To," "Too," and "Two"
- To: Basic multi-purpose function word (as in "My goal is to die a millionaire")
- Too: Adjective, meaning "very" or "excessively" (as in "The Tigers were too inexperienced to challenge the Yankees for the pennant")
- Two: The number between one and three (as in "Two losses to open a football season is two too many")
"Where" versus "Were"
- Where: Refers to a place or location (as in "Where do you think you are going?")
- Were: A past form of the verb "to be" (as in "they were going to the store")
"Who's" versus "Whose"
- Who's: A contraction, meaning "who is" (as in "Who's coming to dinner?")
- Whose: A possessive (as in "Whose dinner is this?")
"Would have" versus "Would of": see "Could/should/would have" versus "Could/should/would of" (above)
Powers' Pointers for Papers that Make Their Points Powerfully
Originally written in 1997 by Dr. Nancy Powers, Department of Political Science, Florida State University
Making an Argument
1. First, state the point. Then, give evidence for that point. Be explicit about how that evidence fits the point you are trying to make. Spell it out. Make the connections for your reader.
2. Description is not explanation. A good argument does both. First describe what happened. Then try to explain why it happened: what caused a certain event, or a certain change?
3. Have a thesis statement (at the beginning of a paper and at the beginning of a paragraph).
4. Have a conclusion (a concluding paragraph at the end of a paper and a concluding/transitional sentence at the end of a paragraph).
5. Be aware of where you are going with the essay -- and keep the reader aware of where you're going. Use clear paragraphing. Use transitional sentences.
6. A related point: Avoid going off on tangents. Ask yourself "is the point I'm making now contributing to the point of the entire essay?" If it is necessary to diverge from the main topic in order to explain something fully, be sure, once you've finished the detour, to bring the reader "back on track."
7. Organize! Keep like ideas in the paper together. Separate different points or different examples into separate paragraphs.
8. Be consistent. Be aware of statements you are making in paragraph #4 that may call into question assumptions you used in paragraph #1. Be aware of ways that your current point might contradict an earlier one. Make sure your conclusion matches your introduction.
9. Try to use nation, state, government, country, regime, etc. in the way those terms are used in the field of comparative politics. Using terms precisely indicates clear thinking (because it takes clear thinking to decide which of the possible terms is the right one to use).
Using Texts and Evidence
10. Avoid excessive direct quotations.
11. If you use a direct quotation, everything in quotation marks must be exactly as the author stated it. You cannot adjust, punctuate, or rephrase what the author said in any way.
12. Do not plagiarize through paraphrasing or changing a few words. Put things completely in your own words. Give credit (with a parenthetical citation or footnote) for ideas or ways of looking at things that are not your own.
Style
13. Edit. Clear writing seldom occurs on the first draft. Be succinct, not wordy.
14. Avoid redundancy.
15. There's no need to be stuffy, but you should strive to use serious language, avoiding colloquialisms. Examples to avoid: "The Nigerian elections were a joke." (Try: The elections were fraudulent.) "The Igbos had to tough it out." (How about: The Igbos endured a great deal.?)
16. Avoid polemical, judgmental, or emotional terms. Examples: propaganda, greedy.
17. Avoid dramatic or excessive word choices. Examples: totally, very, the worst in the world.
18. Vary the length of sentences, so that your essay isn't "choppy."
Grammar and Mechanics
The following checklist is based on the errors most frequently seen while grading papers. These are not errors that you'd want to make on a graduate school application or in a memo to your boss. Avoiding these mistakes not only helps you avoid embarrassment, it helps improve the substance of your writing. Poorly constructed sentences can't say what you're hoping they say.
19. Subject and verb must agree (both singular or both plural).
20. Watch for run-on sentences (which should be divided into two or more proper sentences). Don't separate two complete sentences by a comma.
21. Normally, don't begin sentences with conjunctions, such as "And" or "But."
22. All sentences must have an active verb, otherwise they are sentence fragments. Examples: "Although he wanted to be a very good writer." and "The student who studied the most."
23. When you begin a sentence with an introductory clause, you must put in a comma (as I did here).
24. Do not place a lone comma between a subject and its verb, no matter how long the subject is. (Example of incorrect usage: The best example that she could give, was at the end of the book.)
25. Apostrophes must be used to indicate a possessive and cannot be used to indicate a plural (except in very rare circumstances). Know the difference between country's, countries, and countries'.
26. Watch out for an it or they that does not clearly refer to anything at all, or that could refer to more than one thing in the previous sentence.
27. Watch out for an it referring to a person (use who, she, etc. as appropriate). Watch out for they referring to a singular entity. For example, don't say: The British government was wrong, because they treated the Igbos badly."
28. Wherever possible, avoid dangling prepositions. This is a situation where we don't write as we speak. Thus, a phrase or sentence should not end with "the person he was talking to" or "the place she came from." If you have to reorganize the sentence to make it grammatical, do it!
29. Learn the difference between it's (contraction for "it is") and its (the possessive of it)!
30. Learn the difference between affect and effect. Correct usage: To affect is to have an impact upon something. A cause leads to an effect.
31. Learn the difference between their, theirs, they're, there, and there's.
32. Use prepositions and conjunctions properly. Read your paper aloud to see if the word you wrote sounds right. Note, however, that some things we say are incorrect. You might say "I'll try and do it," but all infinitives start with to, so the proper (spoken and written) English is: "I'll try to do it."
33. The most frequently misspelled three-letter word in English is the one spelled with four letters. There is NO A in the past tense and past participle of "to lead"! Think: Fred, bed, red, Ted, LED!
Final Proofreading
34. Check spelling. Check for "typos."
35. Don't rely on a spell checker. It will not catch homonyms, such as "then" and "than."
36. Don't rely on a spell checker. It will not catch missing words, nor will it catch extra words that you forgot to "cut" as you were moving text around with the word processor.
http://www.paulhensel.org/teachwrite.html
Last updated: 9 December 2025
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