Check These 10 English Grammar Rules Before You Hit Send

Priya Sharma

Priya Sharma writes English learning guides for ESL students. Pune-based language enthusiast.

Visual representation of the voice · not a photographic portrait

Quick answer: Before you send anything in English, check ten things: subject-verb agreement, verb tense, articles (a/an/the), its/it's, their/there/they're, your/you're, run-on sentences, prepositions of time, capital letters and word order in questions. These cover most of the mistakes readers notice first.↗ Share on X

Before you send an email, message or post in English, check these ten rules: subject-verb agreement, verb tense, a/an/the, its vs it's, their/there/they're, your vs you're, run-on sentences, time prepositions (in/on/at), capital letters, and question word order. Together, they cover most of the mistakes a reader notices in the first few seconds. You don't need to know every rule in the book. You need to catch these ten, every time.

Use this as a checklist. Read your text once for each group, not all at once. It takes about two minutes.

The 10-point checklist at a glance

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Now let's look at each one, with a quick way to check it.

1. Does the verb match the subject?

In the present tense, he, she, it (or one person or thing) takes an -s on the verb.

• I work / you work / we work / they work
• he works / she works / it works / the manager works

Quick check: find every "he", "she", "it" or single name in your text. Look at the verb right after it. Does it end in -s (or -es, like "goes", "watches")?

Watch out for these:

• "Everyone is here" (not "are"). Everyone, someone and nobody act like "he".
• "One of my friends lives in Chicago." The subject is "one", not "friends".
• "The list of names is on the desk." The subject is "list".

2. Did you stay in the same tense?

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If your story happened in the past, keep the verbs in the past.

• Wrong: *Last week I call the store and they tell me it was closed.*
• Right: *Last week I called the store and they told me it was closed.*

Quick check: look for time words like *yesterday, last week, in 2020, ago*. Every verb near them should be in the past.

Irregular verbs cause most errors here. These are the ones people get wrong most in emails:

1. go → went

2. buy → bought

3. send → sent

4. think → thought

5. pay → paid

6. make → made

7. tell → told

8. get → got

3. Did you use a, an and the correctly?

Three simple rules cover most cases:

• a before a consonant sound: a car, a university (sounds like "you").
• an before a vowel sound: an apple, an hour (the "h" is silent).
• the when the reader knows which one: "I sent the report" (the one we talked about).

Some words can't take a/an because you can't count them: *information, advice, money, furniture, news, equipment, homework.*

• Wrong: *Can you give me an advice?*
• Right: *Can you give me some advice?* or *Can you give me a piece of advice?*

Quick check: find every singular noun that can be counted (job, car, idea). Does it have *a, an, the, my, this* or a similar word before it? "I have car" is wrong. "I have a car" is right.

4. Its or it's?

This is simple once you remember one trick.

• it's = it is or it has. *It's late. It's been a long day.*
• its = belongs to it. *The dog wagged its tail.*

Quick check: read "it's" as "it is". If the sentence still makes sense, keep the apostrophe. "The company changed it is name" doesn't make sense, so it's "its".

5. Their, there or they're?

• their = belongs to them. *Their car is red.*
• there = a place, or "there is/are". *Put it there. There are two options.*
• they're = they are. *They're coming at six.*

Quick check: replace the word with "they are". If it works, write "they're". If you can replace it with "our", write "their". Otherwise, it's "there".

6. Your or you're?

• your = belongs to you. *Is this your phone?*
• you're = you are. *You're right.*

Quick check: read it as "you are". "You are welcome" makes sense, so it's "you're welcome".

The same trick works for who's / whose: who's = who is. *Who's calling? Whose bag is this?*

7. Are any sentences running together?

A run-on sentence is two full sentences glued together with only a comma, or with nothing.

• Wrong: *The meeting moved to Friday, please update your calendar.*
• Right: *The meeting moved to Friday. Please update your calendar.*
• Also right: *The meeting moved to Friday, so please update your calendar.*

Quick check: find long sentences. Can you split them into two sentences that each make sense alone? If yes, use a period, or add a joining word like *and, but, so, because.*

Short sentences are not "too simple". In emails, they're easier to read.

8. In, on or at for time?

Think of it as big, medium, small.

Note: Americans say on the weekend. The British say at the weekend. Both are correct in their country.

Quick check: find every day, date and time in your text. Match it to the table.

9. Are the capital letters in the right place?

Always capitalize:

1. The first word of a sentence.

2. The word I, always, even in the middle of a sentence.

3. Names of people, cities, countries and companies: *Maria, Denver, Brazil, Google.*

4. Days and months: *Monday, March.* (Seasons are not capitalized: *summer*.)

5. Languages and nationalities: *English, Spanish, Mexican.*

Quick check: search for " i " with spaces around it. That small "i" is one of the most visible mistakes in messages.

10. Are your questions in the right order?

In English questions, the helper verb comes before the subject.

• Statement: *You are ready.* → Question: *Are you ready?*
• Statement: *She lives here.* → Question: *Does she live here?*
• Statement: *They went home.* → Question: *Where did they go?*

Notice: after *does* or *did*, the main verb goes back to its base form. "Does she lives" and "Where did they went" are wrong.

Quick check: find every question mark. Is there a helper word (*do, does, did, is, are, can, will*) before the person?

How do I use this checklist in two minutes?

1. Write first, check later. Don't stop to fix grammar while writing. It slows you down and breaks your ideas.

2. Read once for verbs (rules 1, 2 and 10).

3. Read once for small words (rules 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8).

4. Read once for shape (rules 7 and 9): long sentences and capital letters.

5. Run a grammar app last. It helps, but it misses correct words used in the wrong place, like "form" for "from".

6. Read the first line out loud. The first line is what people judge you by. Make it clean.

What if I keep making the same mistake?

Everyone has two or three "favorite" mistakes. Find yours:

• Look at your last five emails or messages.
• Mark every error you can find with this checklist.
• Write your top three on a sticky note.

Before sending anything for the next two weeks, search your text for those exact words. Most people start catching them while they type after a few weeks of checking on purpose.

Your next step

Open the last email or message you sent in English. Run the 10-point checklist on it right now and count your mistakes. Write down the one that showed up most. That single rule is where your practice time pays off first. Then use the three-pass method (verbs, small words, shape) on the next message before you hit send.

FAQ

Which grammar mistake do people notice most?

Small word swaps like its/it's, your/you're and their/there/they're stand out because readers see them instantly. Missing articles (a, an, the) and wrong verb endings like "he go" are also noticed quickly.

Should I use a grammar checker app?

Yes, as a second check, not the first. Apps catch spelling and some grammar, but they miss wrong words that are spelled correctly, like "form" instead of "from". Read your text once yourself using the checklist, then run the app.

How can I stop making the same mistake?

Keep a short list of your own top three mistakes. Before sending, search your text for those exact words. After two or three weeks of checking on purpose, most people start catching them while they write.