The TOEFL Writing section assesses your ability to communicate ideas clearly and effectively in English. While strong arguments and good organization are essential, grammar mistakes can weaken your response and lower your score. Whether you’re preparing for TOEFL, GRE, or IELTS, avoiding these common grammar errors can help you write with precision and confidence.
1. Subject-Verb Agreement Errors
One of the most frequent mistakes is mismatching the subject and verb.
✅ Correct: The student writes an essay.
❌ Incorrect: The student write an essay.
How to Avoid It:
- Identify whether the subject is singular or plural.
- Use singular verbs for singular subjects and plural verbs for plural subjects.
🔹 Tricky Example:
✅ Correct: Each of the students is required to submit an essay.
Even though “students” is plural, “each” makes the subject singular.
2. Incorrect Verb Tenses
Mixing up tenses or using the wrong tense can confuse the reader.
✅ Correct: He has lived in New York for five years.
❌ Incorrect: He is living in New York for five years.
How to Avoid It:
- Use present perfect (has/have + past participle) for actions that started in the past and continue to the present.
- Maintain consistency in tense throughout your essay.
🔹 Common Mistake in TOEFL Writing:
❌ Incorrect: First, I explain my opinion. Then, I was giving an example.
✅ Correct: First, I explain my opinion. Then, I give an example.
3. Misusing Articles (A, An, The)
Articles are small but crucial for clarity.
✅ Correct: I read a book about climate change.
❌ Incorrect: I read the book about climate change. (Unless referring to a specific book already mentioned.)
How to Avoid It:
- Use “a/an” when introducing something for the first time.
- Use “the” for something already mentioned or known.
🔹 Tricky Example:
✅ Correct: She is a professor at the university.
Here, “a professor” (one of many) but “the university” (a specific one).
4. Run-on Sentences and Sentence Fragments
TOEFL graders look for sentence variety. Run-on sentences (too long) and fragments (incomplete sentences) can hurt your score.
❌ Incorrect (Run-on): The lecture was interesting I learned a lot.
✅ Correct: The lecture was interesting, and I learned a lot.
❌ Incorrect (Fragment): Because I studied hard.
✅ Correct: Because I studied hard, I passed the test.
How to Avoid It:
- Break long sentences into two or use conjunctions (and, but, so).
- Ensure every sentence has a subject and a verb.
5. Wrong Prepositions
Using the wrong preposition can change the meaning of a sentence.
✅ Correct: I am interested in science.
❌ Incorrect: I am interested on science.
How to Avoid It:
- Learn common verb-preposition pairs (e.g., “good at,” “worried about,” “depend on”).
- Practice with real TOEFL prompts to see prepositions in context.
Conclusion
Avoiding these grammar mistakes will make your TOEFL Writing responses clearer and more professional. Focus on subject-verb agreement, verb tense consistency, correct article usage, sentence structure, and proper prepositions.
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