Grammar Tips That Quietly Sabotage Your Essay: Than vs. Then and Other Common Mix-Ups
A single typo reads as an accident. Several read as carelessness. The mix-ups, than vs. then, its vs. it's, and more, that show up most in application drafts.
Small grammar errors rarely sink an application essay on their own, but they add up, and admissions readers notice them more than applicants expect. A single mix-up might read as a typo. Several in one essay start to read as carelessness, which is not the impression you want to leave. These grammar tips for essay writing cover the mix-ups that show up most often in application drafts, and how to fix them for good.
Than vs. Then
Than is used for comparisons, as in saying a program matters more to you than any other. Then is used for sequence or time, as in finishing an experiment and then writing up the results. A simple test: if you can replace the word with next and the sentence still makes sense, you need then. If you are comparing two things, you need than.
Its vs. It's
It's is always a contraction for it is or it has. Its is the possessive form, with no apostrophe. If you can substitute it is into the sentence and it still makes sense, use it's. Otherwise, use its. This one trips up careful writers constantly because apostrophes usually signal possession everywhere else in English.
Affect vs. Effect
Affect is almost always a verb, as in an experience that affected how you see your career. Effect is almost always a noun, as in the effect of that experience staying with you for years. If you need a verb, reach for affect. If you need a noun, reach for effect.
Lie vs. Lay
Lie means to recline or rest, and does not take an object, as in choosing to lie on the floor to think. Lay means to place something down, and does take an object, as in laying your notes on the desk. The past tense makes this especially confusing, since the past tense of lie is also lay. When in doubt, rewrite the sentence to avoid the pair entirely.
Fewer vs. Less
Use fewer for things you can count individually, such as fewer applicants or fewer hours. Use less for amounts you cannot count individually, such as less time or less stress. This distinction shows up often in essays discussing workload, time, or competition.
Who vs. Whom
Who refers to the subject of a sentence or clause, and whom refers to the object. A quick test: if you can replace the word with he or she, use who. If you can replace it with him or her, use whom. When this test feels awkward, it is usually a sign the sentence would read more naturally rewritten with who and a simpler structure.
A Few More Common Mix-Ups
- Compliment vs. complement: a compliment is praise; a complement completes or pairs well with something.
- Farther vs. further: farther is physical distance; further is figurative or additional.
- Loose vs. lose: loose describes something not tight; lose means to misplace or fail to win.
- Principal vs. principle: a principal is a person or main thing; a principle is a rule or belief.
- Accept vs. except: accept means to receive or agree to something; except means excluding something.
- Advice vs. advise: advice is the noun, the guidance itself; advise is the verb, the act of giving it.
- Its vs. their: its refers to one thing; their refers to more than one person or thing, and mixing them up is a common sign of a rushed pronoun check.
More Grammar Tips for Essay Writing: Build a Personal List as You Revise
Everyone has a small set of grammar mix-ups that show up in their own writing more often than others. As you revise, keep a short running list of the specific pairs you personally tend to confuse, rather than trying to memorize every rule in the English language at once. Before you submit any essay, do one dedicated pass where you search for just those words. This targeted approach catches far more errors than a single generic proofread, because you already know where your own blind spots tend to be.
Why These Small Errors Matter More Than They Seem To
An application essay is often the only unstructured writing sample an admissions committee sees. Grammar mix-ups do not just look careless; they can quietly undercut the credibility of an otherwise strong essay, especially for graduate, law, and medical applicants where precise communication is part of the job. Running a careful proofreading pass, ideally after your content and structure are locked in, is worth the extra time.
Not every writer has time to memorize a full list of grammar tips for essay writing, and catching every one of these mix-ups yourself, on your own essay, after reading it fifty times, is genuinely difficult. SummaEssay's editors give every draft a careful, 100% human proofreading pass as part of the editing process, so small errors like these never undercut the work you put into the bigger story.
Ready to polish your draft? See how SummaEssay's personal statement and SOP editing services works, or check out real essay samples first.