These 10 Mistakes Cost You 5-10 Marks Every Paper
After marking thousands of SPM English essays, I see the same grammar mistakes again and again. Fix these 10 and you’ll gain 5-10 marks immediately — no exaggeration.
1. Subject-Verb Agreement
Wrong: “The students in the class is studying hard.” Right: “The students in the class are studying hard.”
The subject is “students” (plural), not “class.” Don’t let the words in between confuse you.
Quick rule: Cover the prepositional phrase. “The students… are studying.” Now it’s obvious.
2. Tense Consistency
Wrong: “She walks to school and talked to her friend.” Right: “She walked to school and talked to her friend.”
Pick a tense and stick with it. Narrative essays should be in past tense. Don’t switch to present tense mid-paragraph.
3. Run-On Sentences
Wrong: “I went to the shop I bought some food I went home.” Right: “I went to the shop and bought some food. Then, I went home.”
Use periods, commas, and conjunctions. A sentence should express one complete thought.
4. Misusing “Their,” “There,” and “They’re”
- Their = belonging to them (“their books”)
- There = a place (“over there”)
- They’re = they are (“they’re studying”)
This mistake screams “careless” to examiners. Double-check every time you use one of these.
5. Wrong Preposition Usage
Wrong: “I am interested on learning English.” Right: “I am interested in learning English.”
Common preposition errors:
- Interested in (not on)
- Depend on (not from)
- Consist of (not with)
- Good at (not in)
These need to be memorised — there’s no shortcut.
6. Missing Articles (a, an, the)
Wrong: “I saw cat on road.” Right: “I saw a cat on the road.”
Malaysian students often drop articles because Malay and Chinese don’t use them. In English, countable nouns need articles.
Rule of thumb:
- First mention → “a” or “an”
- Already mentioned or specific → “the”
7. Double Negatives
Wrong: “I don’t know nothing about it.” Right: “I don’t know anything about it.”
In English, two negatives make a positive. “I don’t know nothing” technically means “I know something.”
8. Dangling Modifiers
Wrong: “Walking to school, the rain started.” Right: “Walking to school, I got caught in the rain.”
The modifier “walking to school” needs a person doing the walking. Rain doesn’t walk.
9. Comma Splices
Wrong: “She studied hard, she passed the exam.” Right: “She studied hard, so she passed the exam.” OR “She studied hard. She passed the exam.”
Two complete sentences can’t be joined by just a comma. Use a conjunction (and, but, so, yet) or a period.
10. Confusion Between “Affect” and “Effect”
- Affect = verb (“The weather affects my mood.”)
- Effect = noun (“The effect of the weather on my mood.”)
Memory trick: Affect = Action (both start with A). Effect = End result (both start with E).
How to Actually Fix These Mistakes
Reading this list isn’t enough. You need to:
- Write a practice essay (any topic)
- Check specifically for these 10 errors after writing
- Get someone to mark it who knows SPM marking criteria
The students who improve fastest are the ones who get specific feedback: “Line 3, you used ‘is’ but the subject is plural.” That’s the kind of correction that sticks.
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