If you’re prone to making grammar errors, I promise you’re not alone.
In fact, that’s the very reason copy editors have jobs! Five years ago, I started my work at a Christian magazine as a copy editor. It was tedious, for sure, but I learned tons of great lessons along the way.
One of the perks of being a copy editor for a couple years was I had the privilege of seeing many of the grammar errors Christian writers tend to make.
And yes, some of them are distinct to Christian writers.
I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but I need to tell you something really important:
The success of your business—or at least of your content marketing—hinges on the quality of your writing.
One way to up the quality of your writing is to make your grammar as error-free as possible.
With that in mind, here’s a list of the most common or unusual grammar errors I’ve seen over the years. Some of them make me laugh—others make me want to cry.
I’ll let you choose how you want to respond (hopefully by avoiding them).
‘Welch Revival‘
You may have already guessed that it should be the Welsh Revival, indicating the awakening that occurred in Wales between 1904 and 1905.
The first time I saw this mistake, I thought it was just a fluke. The second time, I thought it was a weird coincidence. The third time, I began to wonder if people viewed an abundance of grape juice as a genuine spiritual awakening.
Thomas Bramwell Welch must be very pleased with himself from the grave. Or not.
‘The whole council of God‘
The correct word here is “counsel.”
A council is a group of people who help make decisions, often in the form of a legislative or advisory body.
Counsel is the advice your pastor gives you. (Hence the word “counselor” as someone who offers counsel.)
‘The Holy Spirt’ or ‘the Holy Sprit‘
Poor Holy Spirit—His name gets misspelled all the time.
Oddly enough, I see this one a lot. It’s most likely just a slip of the finger on the keyboard.
But every time it comes up in an article, I picture a stone fountain with a little cherub squirting water out of its mouth. I don’t know why.
Its vs. it’s
I know this one is confusing. That’s English for you. “Its” is possessive, as in “When Joe joined the company, he abided by its rules.”
“It’s,” on the other hand, is a contraction of “it is.” As in, “It’s cold outside.” Or “It’s time to stop using ‘it’s’ as possessive.”
Your vs. you’re
Another common one.
“Your” is possessive. “Your shoes, your car, your clothes, your grammar error.”
Meanwhile, “you’re” is a contraction of “you are.” “You’re not coming in your ugly old boots, are you?”
Their, there, they’re
Glory hallelujah amen. This. One.
I can’t judge, though. I get it wrong sometimes, especially when I’m flying through a text.
“Their” is possessive. “Their land, their hearts, their awkward smile.”
“There” indicates position. “Put it over there.”
And “they’re” is a contraction of “they are.” “They’re not coming over again, are they?”
Em-dashes are not commas. Or periods. Or spaces.
Sorry, I just had to get that one off my chest. Em-dashes (this little guy: —) are very versatile and in some cases, they can take the place of commas, periods or spaces, but only for a very specific effect.
I remember one writer who must have been obsessed with em-dashes. He used them at least five times per paragraph (and his paragraphs were short). I dreaded editing his stuff.
Two em-dashes within a sentence close off information that isn’t vital to the sentence, like this:
“Jesus looked over at His disciples—who, despite hearing the same message three times, still didn’t get it—and smiled.”
You can also use an em-dash to give an abrupt halt in your sentence. For example:
“Stories like hers prove that Christ’s love truly is as strong as death, His jealousy unyielding as the grave—and not even addiction is strong enough to break it.”
Capitalizing everything
OK, why is this a Christian thing? I don’t understand.
Is it because of certain capitalization in the New King James version of the Bible, and that’s just been culturally passed down through Christian culture?
Or maybe we think we’re still in the 1700s.
I’m not really sure, but I know that for some reason Christian writers love to Capitalize random Words in the Sentence in a Way that doesn’t seem to Make Sense.
No shade here, though.
Ellipses after every other word
For a blog or email, ellipses (…) are OK every once in a while. But if you’re writing for a publication, ellipses aren’t the best way to try to get the feel of your content across.
The reason for that is ellipses aren’t a professional way to indicate a pause. Again, if you’re using them in your blog, go for it. But if you’re submitting an article to a magazine or online news medium, skip them. Let your words speak for themselves.
I will say this, though: Ellipses are the proper way to indicate that content has been removed from a quote. So in the following sentence, the ellipses indicates that I took part of the guy’s quote out because it wasn’t relevant or vital to get the point across.
“I wasn’t sure why he was so angry at me,” Charles said. “He didn’t seem like he was stressed or anything. … I guess I should’ve seen the signs.”
Changing tense in the middle of a sentence or paragraph
We all know that doing this is bad for your writing. 😉
But seriously, if you start out a paragraph addressing “you,” then keep using the second person. Don’t switch to we or they.
Stay consistent.
Not citing direct quotes or Bible verses
Y’all, this is a big no-no.
Cite your sources, and if possible, link directly to them (especially if it’s another person’s blog or a news article that you’re referencing for info).
Than vs. then
Again, another sneaky one. Tricksy hobbitses.
“Than” indicates a comparison. For instance: “She was taller than he was.” “I’m more of an extravert than an introvert.”
“Then” points to a moment in time. Example: “I gobbled my cereal, then ran upstairs to play video games.” “Then I heard a knock at the door.”
‘Publically’
The correct spelling is “publicly.” Full disclosure, I mess this one up every once in a while.
Prophecy vs prophesy
Prophecy is a noun. “Isaiah gave a stern prophecy to the people of Israel.”
Prophesy is a verb. “Isaiah prophesied judgment on God’s people if they didn’t repent.”
Run-on sentences
It’s one thing to have a super long sentence. It’s another thing to confuse commas with periods for four sentences in a row.
Angel vs. angle
This is an easy one to make. Again, it’s usually because your finger slips on the keyboard.
But, I have to warn you—people will get pretty confused if you try to talk about guardian angles.
Public
The king of all grammar errors.
I wrestled with whether or not to include this one because my heart is not to be inappropriate at all!
But since I see so many authors misspell this and forget the L, I thought it was important to remind you: Please spell this right. Please.
Again, I promise I’m not trying to be crude. Every time I catch this error while editing someone’s work, I breathe a prayer of gratitude to God that it didn’t slip past me.
I hope this list helps you next time you sit down to write your faith-based article. If you have seen any other common grammar errors we Christian writers make, share them in the comments below!
Jenny Rose is a freelance copywriter and content marketer specializing in B2B marketing, real estate, and accounting. She's written for clients like AAA, Edward Jones, Flyhomes, Guild Education, and more. Her writing has also appeared in publications like Business Insider and GOBankingRates.
Avoiding run-on sentences has been my weakness since primary (elementary) school. In my refining stage of writing, I just look for opportunities to simplify or shorten sentences without negatively impacting the flow.
Thanks for the reminder. This is good stuff!