How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoidthem by Ben Yagoda

mangled and ruined versions of the titles of some classic pop songs: “I Only Have Eyes for You,” “God Only Knows (What I’d Be Without You),” and “I Only Want to Be with You.”
    Here’s the thing. In pop songs and in speech, please feel free to put
only
in any position that feels right and seems to make sense. In formal or public writing, however, the sticklers’ rule about placement still applies. (Barely.)
    He
only
has only one more course to take before graduation.
    Germany’s economy
only
grew by only 1 percent last year.
    I’m
only
asking only for a little respect.
    g. Assorted Grammatically Skunked Expressions
    [
He couldn’t help but be impressed.
]
    He couldn’t help being impressed.

    [
It’s not that big of a deal.
]
    It’s not that big a deal.

    [
I’m a person that likes to laugh.
]
    I’m a person who likes to laugh.
    3. STILL WRONG
    Certain grammatical mistakes are commonly made in spoken but not written English, and thus won’t be addressed at length in this book. Examples include
ain’t; of
instead of
have
in expressions like
He could of come; them
instead of
those
in expressions like
one of them things;
and regionalisms like
He done wrecked the car.
The one that probably comes up the most—as it’s a feature of many nonstandard dialects, including African-American VernacularEnglish—is a transposition of past and participle forms of irregular verbs.
    [
He seen it coming.
]
    He saw it coming.

    [
I had went to watch that movie when it first come out.
]
    I had gone to watch that movie when it first came out.
    a. Subjunctive
    The subjunctive mood has been losing sway in the English language over the centuries, but it’s still got some sway left. Basically, the subjunctive calls for a shift in the verb
to be
in reference to untrue scenarios; the word
if
is usually a giveaway.
    [
If I was you, I would take that class.
]
    If I were you, I would take that class.
    Note that if the scenario followed by
if
is not necessarily untrue—that is, if it’s in doubt—the standard past tense is called for, and the subjunctive is hypercorrection.
    [
I asked him if he were happy with our marriage.
]
    I asked him if he was happy with our marriage.
    [
Check what’s in the refrigerator to find out if he were in the house last night.
]
    Check what’s in the refrigerator to find out if he was in the house last night.
    b. Like (III)
    Like
still doesn’t cut the mustard when it’s followed by
in
:
    [
Like in France, American TV is a case of dumb and dumber.
]
    As in France, American TV is a case of dumb and dumber.
    That’s an easy fix, but a comparable misuse of
unlike
is more challenging.
    [
Unlike in the higher atmospheres, airplanes frequently encounter turbulence when they’re about to land.
]
    Airplanes often run into turbulence when they’re about to land. That’s not true in higher atmospheres.
    c. (Don’t) Let ’Em Dangle
    A similar
like
mistake is:
    [
Like his first trial, Morgan was acquitted.
]
    Again, the fix is to use
as in:
    As in his first trial, Morgan was acquitted.
    This error is an example of a dangling modifier. Here are some more examples from students’ writing:
    [
By including several charts along with the story, readers are encouraged to understand the long-term trends.
]
    [
Being the most spectacular event of the year, newspapers were obligated to devote major coverage to the hurricane.
]
    [
As an expert on fiscal recovery, his comments were listened to with intense interest.
]
    [
By reversing the color scheme, the eye is captured.
]
    [
Claiming to be a simple man leading an ordinary life of a male as he enjoys watching football with his buddy’s, Smith’s lifestyle is far from ordinary
]. (For
buddy’s,
see “Apostrophes,” II.B.1 .)
    (From a review of a new bra by Victoria’s Secret) [
Sitting in class or dancing at the bar, the bra performed well…Though slightly pricey, your breasts will thank you.
]
    The grammatical problem in those sentences (and I