The 16 biggest writing mistakes made by students

There's nothing worse than making serious mistakes in writing and getting a low grade in Enem and college entrance exams. This is because the text produced has a very high weight in the final average. So check out the 16 most common writing mistakes below and remember to avoid them at all times.

1. run away from the topic

The biggest problem, and one that can lead to a very low grade or even cancellation of the test, is the total avoidance or tangency to the theme.

For this, the student must first carefully read the motivating texts and understand the proposal. Staying focused around the topic is the main challenge, so your approach should be very clear.

According to the "Enem Writing Manual", the total escape from the topic means:

“when neither the broader subject nor the proposed theme is developed..”

Therefore, it is important to understand well the limits of the theme defined by the essay proposal so that this mistake is not made.

2. do not make a draft

One of the erasure problems in essay tests can be triggered by the student who chooses to write directly on the final sheet.

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As much as you are a great writer and are sure what you are going to write about the topic, it is worth putting everything in the draft before clearing it out to the final location. That's because, at the time of writing, you can remember another important example.

This “text project” must be prepared before contemplating a good planning and organization of what it should have in its writing. Here, it is important to already think about the type of text that should be developed.

Generally, the Enem and the entrance exams require a dissertation-argumentative text that has a basic structure: introduction, development and conclusion. With that in mind, already separate the ideas that will go into each part by topics.

3. Deliver the text in illegible handwriting

It's no use having a good idea and presenting a good text if the student's handwriting is illegible for the evaluator. For many, this may not be important, but it is essential for the reader of the text to understand what is being presented. So, if your handwriting is not the best, try to be very careful at this point.

To improve this, you can practice at home with handwriting notebooks. Be sure to put the points and pay close attention to the use of uppercase and lowercase letters. Please note that if the text is illegible for the evaluators, your exam may be cancelled.

4. Missing textual cohesion

One of the main problems found in texts is the lack of textual cohesion that serves to obtain a good linkage of ideas, sentences and paragraphs.

In this way, it collaborates with textuality, leaving the text fluid and providing greater understanding of the defended idea.

The principles of good cohesion are: good structuring of paragraphs, periods, and referencing mediated by the use of pronouns, adverbs and articles.

For this, it is extremely important to understand and know the connectives (prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs and adverbial phrases) and their functions.

Remember that the student should not use them indiscriminately, that is, the excessive use of connectors can also be a problem. It is also important to note that knowing multiple connectives will prevent their repetition.

We are sure that these texts can help you even more:

Writing connectors: list and types
12 connectives to complete your essay (with examples)

5. be inconsistent

Coherence is one of the most important characteristics of a well-presented text. It is closely related to the context and the interpretive universe of the person as it works with the construction of meaning.

Therefore, it is not worth writing something you have doubts about. So, if you're not sure about something, it's better to leave it out of your text, as a coherent text demonstrates the student's knowledge and organization.

So, it's no use writing well and saying that “Buenos Aires is the capital of Chile”. This denotes the student's lack of geography, making the intelligibility of their text difficult.

6. make mistakes in portuguese

One of the main skills of students writing a text should be the use of the formal standard language. Thus, grammatical deviations, spelling errors, lack of accentuation and punctuation should be avoided.

It is very common for newsrooms to present these deviations, which leaves the text poor and makes understanding difficult. Therefore, the best way to get around this situation is to read and write a lot and also practice exercises on the topic.

Here, it is worth noting what are your biggest difficulties, such as the words you usually write with errors, so that the study can be more focused. So, if the biggest question is spelling issues like the use of s and s, focus on that.

7. write very long periods

One of the biggest problems for students is not being careful with punctuation in sentences. Very long periods, for example, make it difficult for the reader to understand and even generate confusion.

Some problems identified in texts by students who use very long sentences are concordance errors, in addition to presenting ambiguous periods.

Therefore, a good tip is to read the text and see if the paragraphs, sentences and periods are understandable.

Do not be shy about breaking the period if necessary, as the important thing is that the text is understood by the reader. For paragraph breaks, use the connectives that will best link the ideas in the text.

8. use informal language

The use of informal or colloquial language is a very big mistake that the candidate must avoid. As an example, we can mention the use of Slang and popular expressions in the middle of the text. This feature should only be used if the focus is the same.

So, in this moment of text production, leave the informal context aside and focus on formal and careful language.

Make sure your text doesn't have mismatches, ambiguous sentences, abbreviated words, etc. All these problems impoverish the text and lower the candidate's grade a lot.

9. Use ambiguous phrases

Ambiguity is a recurrent problem in newsrooms and one that arises because of the carelessness of many students. It is a duplication of meanings which brings together more than one interpretation. Therefore, it makes the text confusing and difficult for the reader to understand.

Widely used in poetic and advertising texts as a way to increase the expressiveness of the text, it is considered a language addiction being inappropriate in formal texts.

So, if its use is unintentional, try to stay away from that error. For this, be careful with the placement of words, the misuse of possessive pronouns, relatives and conjunctions. Also, pay attention to the nominal forms and the lack of punctuation, such as the comma.

10. deliver another type of text

The textual typology is of paramount importance for the correct development of the essay proposal. So, first understand what type of text should be produced: narrative, described, essay, letter, etc.

If the text type does not agree with what was requested, your proof may be cancelled. In Enem, usually the text type is essay-argumentative. However, there are tests in which the student can choose which type of text to write.

Each has unique characteristics that must be followed. A dissertation-argumentative text gathers the theme, the thesis, the arguments and the intervention proposal. already one narrative text it has characters inserted in a specific time and space. Here, the student can also opt for a direct speech, with the use of dashes.

11. Not defending the point of view

Nothing is more important than defending your point of view in a text of the essay-argumentative type. The name itself indicates that the argument is an important part of the text. Thus, the text should clearly present the defense of the point of view.

After reading the motivating texts, the student should think about which arguments to defend as well as which to refute. The part of arguing and defending the point of view is the “icing on the cake”. So if it's not clear, your score could suffer.

Here, the defense of the point of view aims to convince the reader and can be more consistent through the presentation of data, facts, research, etc.

In short, the arguments will help to defend the point of view chosen as the thesis. Thus, avoid generalizations and common sense that denote a superficiality of the argument.

12. Write in the first person singular

A major mistake made by students is writing the essay in first person singular. Personalizing the text is a very big mistake and it will definitely lower your final grade. Remember that this action is condemned by most evaluators of Enem and college entrance exams.

Therefore, the essay-argumentative text must be written in the third person singular or plural. Even when you defend your point of view, use the pronouns suitable. Here, you should avoid using the first person singular, as well as marks that identify the second person singular and plural (you, yours, yours, yours, yours, etc.).

13. Deliver the text without completion

There is nothing more disappointing for an evaluator than reading an inconclusive text. Finishing the essay is just as important as introducing it. In this final part of the text, the student must present an intervention proposal that includes everything that was defended throughout the text.

Thus, the conclusion is the closing of the ideas that must be accompanied by solutions to the highlighted problems.

Without a doubt, this is a very important part and it can be presented creatively or through a catchphrase. There are people who wait to finish the essay, in order to put a title. That's because the big idea can be present in this very important part of the text.

14. Do not do a final review

When you finish writing the essay on the final sheet, it is very important to read the text carefully. The main objective is to verify that there is no shortage of punctuation or spelling errors.

This time of review is essential for delivering a well-thought-out essay. Checking the title, phrases, words and the basic structure of the text can be worth more points. For this, the student must use the time allowed, leaving a few minutes for the final review.

The best way not to exceed the allotted time limit is to train all week producing an essay. You can select two hours of a day of the week to produce a text using some examples from previous Enem or other entrance exams.

15. Deliver the essay in pencil

There are students who hand in their writing in pencil, because they write in this way beforehand, and then pass their pen over what was written. This is a way to observe the limit of lines according to the candidate's handwriting.

However, some end up running out of time and handing over the writing in pencil. But this is a big mistake, as she must be handed the pen. So, allow at least an hour to write the essay, and a few more minutes to put it all in pen. Here, it is important to pay attention to the timing so that this mistake is not made.

16. Exceeding the line limit

The student must never exceed the limit offered in the exam. Generally, writing can be done in 30 lines. This justifies the importance of having a previous draft where the candidate can be aware of the size of the text and not have problems with the space allowed.

Imagine that for lack of space your text is missing the final sentence. This is a big mistake that can lower the final average, but, on the other hand, if the student delivers a text with less than seven lines, his test will be zeroed.

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