correct the mistakes essay

Free Grammar Checker

Try our other writing services

Correct your document within 5 minutes

• Proofread on 100+ language issues
• Specialized in academic texts
• Corrections directly in your document

Instantly correct your entire document in minutes

Why this is the best free grammar checker.

Most accurate

In the test for the best grammar checker , Scribbr found 19 out of 20 errors.

No signup needed

You don’t have to register or sign up. Insert your text and get started right away.

Long texts, short texts it doesn’t matter – there’s no character or word limit.

Don’t wait for ads or distractions. The grammar checker is ad-free!

Correct all your writing errors

Enhance your writing with Scribbr’s free Grammar Checker. We can help you to avoid mistakes with:

• Punctuation
• Word choice
• And more— try it yourself !

We are also happy to provide personalized help with our professional proofreading service .

Correct your grammar

Improve your writing and grammar with just one click.

The Scribbr Grammar Checker fixes grammatical errors like:

• Sentence fragments & run-on sentences
• Subject-verb agreement errors
• Issues with parallelism

Spell-check on steroids

Spelling may seem straightforward, but basic spell-checks often don’t recognize many specialist terms you might use in your writing, incorrectly marking them as mistakes.

Scribbr has a large dictionary of recognized words, so you can feel confident every word is 100% correct.

Check your punctuation

Our Grammar Checker takes away all your punctuation worries. Avoid common mistakes with:

• Dashes and hyphens
• Apostrophes

Avoid word choice errors

Should you use “affect” or “effect” ? Is it “then” or “than” ? Did you mean “there,” “their,” or “they’re” ?

Never worry about embarrassing word choice errors again. Our grammar checker will spot and correct any errors with commonly confused words .

Correct your entire document in 5 minutes

Would you like to upload your entire document and check all your documents for 100+ language issues? Then Scribbr’s AI-powered proofreading is perfect for you.

With AI-powered proofreading, you can correct your text in no time:

• Upload document
• Wait briefly while all errors are corrected directly in your document
• Correct errors with one click

Proofread my document

Improve your text with one click

The Scribbr Grammar Checker allows you to accept all suggestions in your document with a single click.

Give it a try!

A Grammar Checker for all English variants

There are important differences between the versions of English used in different parts of the world, including UK and US English . Our grammar checker supports a variety of major English dialects:

• Canadian English
• Australian English

Why users love our Grammar Checker

Save time and upload your entire document to fix it in minutes, ask our team.

Want to contact us directly? No problem.  We  are always here for you.

• Email [email protected]
• Start live chat
• Call +1 (510) 822-8066
• WhatsApp +31 20 261 6040

Frequently asked questions

The Scribbr Grammar Checker is a tailor-made AI-powered tool that can correct basic language, grammar, style, and spelling errors. We run it so that our editors are free to focus on what they do best: making sure that your paper is free of more nuanced mistakes and providing you with helpful feedback and writing tips.

The Scribbr Grammar Checker is a pro at correcting basic mistakes – and a human editor will still be carefully reviewing your full text – so you can rest assured that your paper is in very good hands!

When you receive back a document that has been reviewed by the Scribbr Grammar Checker, you’ll see two sets of tracked changes in it: one set from the grammar checker and one set from your editor. That way, you can easily tell who made what changes in your paper.

Not sure how tracked changes work in Word or how to review your edited file? Read our handy guide to learn more.

We tested ten of the most popular free grammar checkers to see how many errors they could fix in our sample text and deducted points for any new errors introduced. We also evaluated the tools’ usability.

When compared all the other grammar checkers we tested for this comparison and Scribbr performed exceptionally well. It was successful in detecting and correcting 19 of the 20 errors. See the full review here .

If our grammar checker flags an error that is not actually an error, you have several options:

1. Ignore the error: Most grammar checkers allow users to skip or ignore suggestions they do not agree with or find irrelevant. If you are confident that the flagged “error” is not an issue, you can bypass the suggestion and move on to the next one.

2. Review the context: Take a moment to thoroughly review the context surrounding the flagged error. Sometimes, the initial correct usage might still create confusion or ambiguity within the specific context, and reconsidering the phrasing could improve overall clarity.

Yes, this grammar checker covers the following mistakes:

1. Grammar: Correction of grammatical errors such as subject-verb agreement, tense usage, and sentence structure

2. Spelling: identification and correction of spelling errors, including typos and commonly confused words.

3. Punctuation: Detection and rectification of punctuation errors, including incorrect use of commas, periods, colons, and other punctuation.

4. Word choice errors: Catch words that sound similar but aren’t, like their vs. they’re and your vs. you’re.

Yes. There’s no sign up or payment required to use the grammar checker.

Yes. The grammar checker fixes any text, no matter what the medium is.

The Scribbr grammar checker finds more errors than many other tools and is particularly user-friendly:

• Winner: In our test comparison, the Scribbr grammar checker found 19 out of 20 errors, putting it in first place.
• No registration required: You don’t need an account to use the grammar checker.
• No limits: There is no character or word limit.
• Ad-free: There is no advertising on Scribbr to distract from the tool.

For more details, feel free to read our test of the best English grammar checkers.

• Features for Creative Writers
• Features for Work
• Features for Higher Education
• Features for Teachers
• Features for Non-Native Speakers
• Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Events FAQ
• Grammar Guide

Essay Checker: Free Online Paper Corrector

Your Best Chance for an A+ Essay. Try Our Free Essay Checker Below.

Start typing, paste, or use

Get more suggestions to enhance this text and all your future writing

Your suggestions will show once you've entered some text.

Great job! We didn't find any suggestions in your text.

Why Should You Use a Free Essay Checker?

The simple answer? Good grammar is necessary, but it’s not easy. You've already done countless hours of research to write the essay. You don’t want to spend countless hours correcting it, too.

You'll get a better grade

Good grammar or its absence can determine if you get a good grade or a failing one. Impress your lecturer not just with how grammatically sound your writing is, but how clear it is and how it flows.

You'll save time

Essay writing can be a long and tedious process. ProWritingAid's essay checker saves you the hassle by acting as the first line of defense against pesky grammar issues.

You'll become a better writer

Essay writing is a particular skill and one that becomes better with practice. Every time you run your essay through ProWritingAid’s essay corrector, you get to see what your common mistakes are and how to fix them.

Good Writing = Good Grades

It’s already hard to know what to write in an essay. Don’t let grammar mistakes hinder your writing and prevent you from getting a good grade. ProWritingAid’s essay checker will help you write your best essay yet. Since the checker is powered by AI, using it means that grammar errors don’t stand a chance. Give your professors something to look forward to reading with clear, concise, and professional writing.

How Does ProWritingAid’s Essay Checker Work?

Your goal in essay writing is to convey your message as best as possible. ProWritingAid's essay checker is the first step towards doing this.

Get Rid of Spelling Errors

ProWritingAid’s essay checker will show you what it thinks are spelling errors and present you with possible corrections. If a word is flagged and it’s actually spelt correctly you can always choose to ignore the suggestion.

Fix Grammar Errors

Professors aren’t fans of poor grammar because it interrupts your message and makes your essay hard to understand. ProWritingAid will run a grammar check on your paper to ensure that your message is precise and is being communicated the way you intended.

Get Rid of Punctuation Mistakes

A missing period or comma here and there may not seem that serious, but you’ll lose marks for punctuation errors. Run ProWritingAid’s paper checker to use the correct punctuation marks every time and elevate your writing.

Improve Readability

Make sure that in the grand scheme your language is not too complicated. The essay checker's built in readability report will show if your essay is easy or hard to read. It specifically zones in on paragraphs that might be difficult to read so you can review them.

What Else Can the Essay Checker Do?

The editing tool analyzes your text and highlights a variety of key writing issues, such as overused words, incohesive sentence structures, punctuation issues, repeated phrases, and inconsistencies.

You don’t need to drown your essay in words just to meet the word count. ProWritingAid’s essay checker will help to make your words more effective. You'll get to construct your arguments and make sure that every word you use builds towards a meaningful conclusion.

Transition words help to organize your ideas by showing the relationship between them. The essay checker has a built in Transition report that highlights and shows the percentage of transitions used in your essay. Use the results to add transitions where necessary.

An engaging essay has sentences of varying lengths. Don’t bore your professor with long, rambling sentences. The essay checker will show you where you need to break long sentences into shorter sentences, or add more sentence length variation.

Generally, in scholarly writing, with its emphasis on precision and clarity, the active voice is preferred. However, the passive voice is acceptable in some instances. When you run your essay through ProWritingAid’s essay checker, you get feedback on whether you 'r e using the passive or active voice to convey your idea.

There are academic specific power verbs like appraise , investigate , debunk , support , etc., that can add more impact to your argument by giving a more positive and confident tone. The essay checker will check your writing for power verbs and notify you if you have less than three throughout your essay.

It's easy to get attached to certain phrases and use them as crutches in your essays but this gives the impression of boring and repetitive writing. The essay checker will highlight your repeats and suggest contextually relevant alternatives.

Gain access to in-house blog reports on citations, how to write a thesis statement, how to write a conclusion, and more. Venture into a world of resources specific to your academic needs.

What Kinds of Papers Does ProWritingAid Correct?

No matter what you’re writing, ProWritingAid will adapt and show you where your edits are needed most.

• Argumentative
• Descriptive
• Textual Analysis
• Lab reports
• Case studies
• Literature reviews
• Presentations
• Dissertations
• Research papers

Professors and students love using ProWritingAid

If you're an English teacher, you need to take a look at this tool - it reinforces what you're teaching, highlights strengths and weaknesses, and makes it easier to personalize instruction.

Jennifer Gonzales

Only reason I managed to get an A in all my freshmen composition classes.

Chris Layton

Great tool for academic work. Easy to use and the reports and summary evaluation of your documents in several categories is very useful. So much more than spelling and grammar!

Debra Callender

Questions & Answers

1. how do i use the essay checker online tool.

You can either copy and paste your essay in the essay checker field or upload your essay from your computer. Your suggestions will show once you enter text. You’ll see a number of possible grammar and spelling issues. Sign up for free to get unlimited suggestions to improve your writing style, grammar, and sentence structure. Avoid unintentional plagiarism with a premium account.

2. Does the essay checker work with British English and American English?

The essay checker works with both British English and American English. Just choose the one you would like to use and your corrections will reflect this.

3. Is using an essay checker cheating?

No. The essay checker won’t ever write the essay for you. It will point out possible edits and advise you on changes you need to make. You have full autonomy and get to decide which changes to accept.

4. Will the essay checker auto-correct my work?

The essay writing power remains in your hands. You choose which suggestions you want to accept and you can ignore those that you don’t think apply.

5. Is there a student discount?

Students who have an eligible student email address can get 20% off ProWritingAid Premium. Email [email protected] from your student email address to access your discount.

6. Does ProWritingAid have a plagiarism checker?

Yes! ProWritingAid’s plagiarism checker will check your work against over a billion web-pages, published works, and academic papers, so you can be sure of its originality. Find out more about pricing for plagiarism checks here .

A good grade is closer than you think

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via :

🌟 New Update: As of JAN 30, 2024, Experience enhanced grammar and punctuation detection! 🚀

Your Go-To Free Essay Checker for an Easy A+

Probability Score

Plagiarized

Why do i need an essay checker.

You’ve spent countless hours researching and writing your essay. The last thing you want is to spend more hours correcting it. Grammar Lookup can help you with that by correcting every grammatical mistake in your essays and papers, removing all the plagiarism, and making it sound human. 

Our tool uses advanced AI technology to efficiently check your essays for grammatical errors, AI content, and plagiarism. The result? Essays that are ready to impress your professor and help you get good grades. 

How Will Grammar Lookup Check My Essay?

Our essay checker can help you by:

How Does the Essay Checker Detect Grammatical Mistakes?

Why It’s Outstanding

Good grades come from good writing, and Grammar Lookup’s college essay checker is what you need to:

Which Types of  Essays Does Grammar Lookup’s Essay Checker Correct?

Our Essay Checker has Helped 5000+ Students Graduate

Use Grammar Lookup’s free essay checker and get an A+ on every essay you write. 

CTA: Improve Your Essay

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): 

Wipe out plagiarism & grammar errors

Get automatic paper help

• Expert Check

Check for unintentional plagiarism

Check your paper for unintentional plagiarism against thousands of sources.

Strengthen your writing

Give your paper an in-depth check. Receive feedback within 24 hours from writing experts on your paper's main idea, structure, conclusion, and more.

Find and fix grammar errors

Don't lose points over small mistakes. Our smart proofreader checks for grammar and writing mistakes so that you don't have to.

What students are saying about us

"Caught comma errors that I actually struggle with even after proofreading myself."

- Natasha J.

"I find the suggestions to be extremely helpful especially as they can instantly take you to that section in your paper for you to fix any and all issues related to the grammar or spelling error(s)."

- Catherine R.

Write with confidence with...

Personalized Writing Help When You Need it

Unintentional plagiarism, grammar mistakes, and uncited sources  can turn what you thought was a good paper into a poor one. When you’re writing a paper the last thing you want is for your message to get lost due to incorrect punctuation or confusing sentence structure. You know that the great ideas in your head would make for a standout paper, if only you could get them written clearly on the page. If this struggle sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Great ideas may be an essential part of high-quality writing, but they’re not the only component. Excellent papers and essays clearly express strong ideas with good grammar, proper punctuation, spot-on spelling, and thorough, careful citations. While this may sound like a lot, your teachers and professors are grading you on your skills as both a writer and a researcher, which means your assignments will require an ethical and attentive approach. Luckily, there is no shortage of available tools to help you along your way.

You could use a plagiarism checker free, though, these tools often lack grammatical support. Given the high stakes and rigorous requirements, the aid of a plagiarism checker without the needed support of a grammar checker could mean the difference between an “A” paper and a “C” or even “D” paper.

Thankfully, the EasyBib Plus plagiarism tool provides all-in-one support to cover all your bases. Our premium essay checker is convenient, easy to use, and includes access to a grammar and spell checker, plus a plagiarism checker. With a single scan, you’ll receive personalized feedback to help identify potentially missing citations and help improve your sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, and more.

Not sure if that noun is spelled correctly, or if the preposition at the end of your sentence is grammatically correct? The EasyBib Plus plagiarism tool is your one-stop shop to help check plagiarism, get grammatical suggestions, correct spelling and punctuation errors, and help create polished papers you can be proud to turn in. And, we haven’t told you the best part yet: you can try our tool free and scan your work for grammar suggestions right now!

Access all the tools today!

A Grammar Check for Peace of Mind

You know that grammar plays a significant role in your assignments. Not only does it factor into your overall grade, but without clear and precise language, your ideas can lose their impact or might even be misunderstood entirely. Still, with so many different parts of speech and rules to learn and apply, it’s not uncommon to get them mixed up and find yourself questioning your knowledge now and again:

Can you use an adverb to modify a noun? (No. You need an adjective for that.)

Well, can you use it to modify a pronoun ? (Still no.)

What do they modify, then? (Almost everything else. Fun, right?)

Ugh. (That was an interjection .)

Does this have to be so difficult? (Nope!)

Scanning your paper with the EasyBib Plus writing tool delivers more than the basic punctuation and spell check functions that come standard in word processing programs. You’ll receive immediate, targeted feedback that can help improve the sentence structure and style of your writing. Not only can this help ensure that you don’t lose points off your grade for grammatical errors such as mismatched verb tense, but it can also help to clarify your meaning and strengthen your arguments by eliminating confusing punctuation and run-on sentences that confuse readers.

Reviewing your work to correct errors and refine the flow of your writing is a critical part of the revision process for novices and novelists alike. Even the most conscientious of wordsmiths might make mistakes, such as using a conjunctive adverb in place of a coordinating conjunction or pairing a plural determiner with an uncountable word. They likely appreciate a subscription-based or free grammar check as much as a beginning writer. That’s why the EasyBib Plus writing tool is designed for all writers, from students who are still learning the fundamentals to published professionals who get paid by the word.

The EasyBib Plus writing tool provides quick, targeted feedback that you can use to help improve your writing immediately. Also, our free resource library is available 24/7, just like the rest of our tools, to help you brush up on the areas that challenge you the most (Conjunctive what? Uncountable who?) That means you can continue to sharpen your skills and improve your writing over time, which will help make finishing your next project easier.

Ready to give your paper a boost? Sign up for EasyBib Plus or scan a paper right now for a free spell check—it’s easy!Just upload or copy and paste your paper to the online grammar check tool and, in a matter of seconds, you’ll be able to receive up to 5 feedback cards so you can begin polishing your draft.

To learn more about proofreading tools, you can find more info here. Or, for more tips on grammar, punctuation, and style, check out this useful reference .

Why is Grammar So Important, Anyway?

Why is grammar important? As long as others know what you mean, does it really matter if you use proper grammar? These are age-old questions, but the answers remain unchanged. Grammar is important for many reasons:

Communication:  Communication is about more than merely listening and talking. We communicate in myriad ways: with our voices, our mannerisms, our facial expressions, our actions, and frequently, our written words. Written communication is just as important as all the other ways we broadcast our thoughts and feelings. Unlike our other communication methods, though, written communication leaves a record. While most of us relax our style when talking to or texting friends, the fact remains that more formal venues require a more formal tone. Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation are a necessary element of professional and academic writing, so running your work through a spelling and grammar check before you submit it is an absolute must.

Clarity:  Expressing your thoughts, ideas, and opinions is an uphill battle when you communicate them with less-than-stellar punctuation, spelling, and grammar. A missing or misplaced comma, for example, can entirely change your meaning:

• Call me Ishmael = My name is Ishmael.
• Call me, Ishmael = I want Ishmael to call me.

Spelling errors can result in similarly muddled meaning:

• Her shoes perfectly complemented her dress. = Her shoes and dress go well together.
• Her shoes perfectly complimented her dress. = Her shoes can both speak and engage in flattery.

Grammar deficiencies such as a dangling modifier yield similarly confusing results:

• I saw the girl’s purple backpack in the library. = The purple backpack belonging to the girl is in the library; I saw it.
• I saw the purple girl’s backpack in the library. = You know the girl who mysteriously turned purple? I saw her backpack in the library. This week has not been easy on her.

Credibility: Establishing your credibility is critical whether you’re writing for school or business. Proving that you can reliably communicate using proper grammar is essential to establishing and maintaining the trust of your teachers, professors, readers, customers, and colleagues.

To learn even more about the importance of English grammar in writing, check here .

What Happens After I Upload My Paper?

Once you upload a paper, the EasyBib Plus grammar checker scans your text and highlights grammar issues within your document so you can see it in context. For users running a grammar check and spell check using the grammar check free tool, up to the first 5 issues are shown. For subscription subscribers, all of the areas that require your review will be highlighted once the scan is complete.

No matter which version of the tool you’re using, your feedback will include detailed explanations so you can understand why the text was flagged. Other highlighted areas will include examples of how the issues can be fixed. Some will include a detailed explanation as to why the issue was flagged. This personalized feedback allows you to make an educated decision about whether to edit your text or dismiss the suggestion, so you’re always in control of your final draft.

Subscription users also have the plagiarism checker at their disposal when scanning their papers for style and grammar suggestions. Just as with our other writing tools, when you use the tool to check plagiarism, changes are never made without your review, so you are always in the driver’s seat. You can review each highlighted area as well as the sources of matching text and will always be given a choice to either accept or ignore both citation and grammar suggestions.

Whether you are a student or a professional, the EasyBib Plus tools are powerful allies that can help you improve your paper, establish credibility as a writer, and maintain an ethical writing process.

Try our checker free for 3 days to see what you think*. Trust us; you’ll wonder how you got along so far without it!

*See Terms and Conditions

Check for Unintentional Plagiarism

Persistent use of the best grammar checker and spell checker you can find will help to shape up the style and substance of your composition. However, to ensure the integrity of your work and root out unintentional instances of academic dishonesty, you’ll also need to incorporate a subscription-based or free plagiarism checker for students.

The ability to scan your paper and check plagiarism and grammar before submitting your work is an invaluable tool for students. It’s so valuable, in fact, that students are not the only ones who consistently use this type of software.

Many teachers and professors use a service to ensure that student papers are original and include properly formatted and sourced citations for all reference materials. For some, this may be a consistent element of their grading process, while others may utilize one only when they feel there is a reason to do so.

What Exactly Does a Plagiarism Checker Do?

If you’ve used an online plagiarism checker before, you may be familiar with the process that these tools employ. For those who have never used one, it can be helpful to understand how these tools work and what you should expect as a result of using one.

The most basic free tools will scan your paper and provide you with a percentage that indicates how much of your work is original. This feature can be useful to a point, as some instructors and institutions set a percentage for the amount of similar text that is considered acceptable. This policy does not mean that they are lenient about academic dishonesty but, instead, that they recognize that similar or even matching word choice is not always an indicator of copying.

However, some schools do not tolerate any form of incremental plagiarism, period. In these institutions, “check paper for plagiarism” is likely a standard action when grading all papers.

With a free plagiarism checker, the percentage of word-for-word plagiarism in your text may be the only feedback you receive. Moreover, some of these providers may wade in unethical waters, and offer essay writing services in conjunction with their checking services. This is why many students and teachers prefer subscription-based checkers that focus on integrity, such as the EasyBib writing tools.

With our premium tools, you get more than just supporting proof that your paper is original and in your own words. Your writing is scanned for potentially matching text and areas that needs your attention is highlighted. We’ll provide you with the source of the matching text so you can review it and decide how to proceed. If you agree that a citation is needed, our citation tools and resources will provide you with the information you need to help format and insert the new sources in your text as well as your works cited page.

How Does the EasyBib Plus Online Plagiarism Checker Work?

The EasyBib Plus writing tool provides an all-in-one spell check, grammar review, and plagiarism checker that not only helps you with the paper you’re writing now but enables you to gain new knowledge and improve your writing for the future, too.

Our essay checker searches online for phrases, sentences, or passages that are similar to those in your paper. If it returns matching text, this may indicate that you have passages that are missing citations.

Just as with many checkers, our tool will tell you how many instances of matching text it finds in your paper. Our plagiarism tool is designed to do more than most free tools, however.

When a portion of your paper is flagged for review, we provide you with the source that it matches. As with our online spell check tool, you have the power to review each area and choose how to proceed. If you decide to cite the flagged text, you can review the suggested source and access our citation tools to help create a proper citation and start building a bibliography for your paper. Or, you may determine that no citation is needed, in which case it’s simple to dismiss the suggestion and continue to the next section.

If you’re unsure about how to proceed, our library of resources can help you learn more and make an educated decision. In this way, you gain more than just the ability to correct your work; over time, you can learn how to avoid plagiarism altogether.

Reasons Your Teacher May Run Your Paper Through a Plagiarism Detector

As stated previously, your teachers and professors grade papers with a fixed process that includes “check paper for plagiarism” as a standard, across-the-board action. Others may check for plagiarism only when they feel there is cause to do so. There are a few red flags that may stand out to them while reviewing a paper that would lead to their running a plagiarism check, including:

Style/Voice:  Most teachers are familiar with the style and voice that you use in your writing. While most will hope that the feedback they provide when grading your work will help you to improve problem areas over time, a paper or essay that has a dramatically different style or voice than the work you’ve previously submitted can be a red flag.

Inconsistency:  Changes in the font, font size, formality, formatting, and more may indicate that portions of a paper have been copied and pasted. If these inconsistent passages are not presented as quotations or don’t include citations, this may further indicate to your teacher that there’s plagiarism in the paper.

Old References:  Part of a well-researched paper is verifying the legitimacy and relevance of your sources. While some older references may be acceptable depending on the topic, if all of your sources are outdated, it may lead your teacher to believe that you’ve recycled your own work or someone else’s.

Looking for a checker to try? With EasyBib Plus you get unlimited checks to give you peace of mind when turning in your papers!

What is Plagiarism?

If you’re looking for a free online plagiarism checker , you’re already aware that it’s not something you want to be found in your papers. However, you may still be wondering: what does plagiarism mean? It’s a reasonable question and one that merits exploring. After all, some of the actions and circumstances that fall within the plagiarism definition come as a surprise to those who only learn that they’ve committed them after it’s too late.

So what is plagiarism? To define plagiarism in the most basic sense, you might say that it is taking someone else’s ideas and words and passing them off as your own.

If your goal is avoiding plagiarism entirely, you’ll need to go beyond the basics to thoroughly define plagiarism, recognize it, and keep clear of it. Some examples of plagiarism that students find surprising include forgotten citations, poor paraphrasing, and re-submitting your own work in whole or in part for more than one assignment. This useful article provides more help in recognizing and understanding the different forms that academic dishonesty can take.

Of course, using your own words and ideas does not count as plagiarism, nor does using common knowledge . Basically, common knowledge is information that is well known by the average person. Examples of common knowledge:

• there are 12 months in a year
• the freezing point of Celsius is zero degrees
• Socrates was a Greek philosopher

So should you only include your original thoughts and common knowledge in your papers? Of course not! Research-based assignments are meant to demonstrate your skills as a researcher, after all, as well as your ability to build upon the work of others to formulate new ideas. To avoid accidentally committing an act that falls within the plagiarism definition when you’re using another person’s words or ideas, though, you need to give them proper credit. This means you’ll need to clearly identify direct quotations or properly paraphrase them when including them in your paper.

Regardless of your approach, you’ll also need to cite your sources according to the style your professor specifies. Generally, you will use MLA format for the arts and humanities and APA format for the sciences, but it’s always best to check with your instructor when you’re unsure.

If you know what style to use but still aren’t sure how to create your citations, don’t fret! Our library of resources includes free guides to help you learn about various styles so you can properly structure and place them. And our premium tools not only help you check grammar, spelling, and originality in your papers, but subscribers also enjoy access to our citation creation tools!

What are the Different Types of Plagiarism?

In addition to the question “what is plagiarism,” you may also be wondering, “why do students plagiarize?” While some students do intentionally plagiarize because they believe they can pass off someone else’s work as their own to avoid spending time on their assignments, many others do so accidentally. They may not understand how broad the plagiarism definition is or they haven’t learned how to research and cite their sources properly. That is why it is vital to recognize plagiarism in all of its forms if you wish to ensure the integrity of your work.

Examples of plagiarism & How to prevent it

Direct plagiarism:

Intentionally copying another person’s work without including a citation that gives credit to the source. When most students are asked to identify potential plagiarism examples and behaviors, this direct and deliberate act is what they think of first.

• Prevention: If you use an idea or quote from another source, cite it in the text. Make it clear that it was not your own words. 

Incremental plagiarism:

Copying parts of another person’s work, such as phrases, sentences, or paragraphs without crediting the source. When deciding which tools to use to check a paper for plagiarism , instructors often seek out those that will identify incremental forms as well as instances of direct copying and similar phrasing.

• Prevention : Decide to either directly quote the phrases or sentences you want to use, or write a good paraphrase. In both cases, be sure to add a citation. Using a plagiarism checker could also help you identify problematic passages.

Self-plagiarism:

Academic self-plagiarism occurs when a student submits the same paper or parts of a paper for more than one assignment. When your instructors are grading your papers, they’re assessing your research and writing skills in the present. When you submit work that you completed in the past, they are both unable to evaluate your current skills and unaware that you haven’t completed the assignment.

• Prevention: Write a new paper for each assignment you’re assigned. If you feel strongly that your past work could enhance your new paper, speak to your instructor and ask for permission first.

Misleading citations:

Including a citation for a quote or idea that misrepresents the source material. This can occur if a student does not understand the reference they are citing; if a student includes a citation for a disreputable source; or the source material simply does not align with the idea or argument that the student has attributed to it.

• Prevention: Carefully review your assignment to understand it. As you research, take the time to evaluate each source notes . Remember, it’s better to have quality citations over an abundance of citations.

Invented sources:

If a reference in a student’s bibliography is found not to exist, it is considered an invented source. This may occur if a student couldn’t find a reputable source to back their argument, or if they needed to include additional references to meet the requirements of the assignment and chose to take an unethical shortcut rather than completing the required amount of research. No matter the reason, this behavior ultimately hurts them in the long run. Not only will they fail to gain the experience they need to conduct research in the future properly, but they’ll also experience significant consequences if they’re caught.

• Prevention: Set aside time to do proper research so you can find enough sources. Start creating a list of sources as you’re researching and take good notes. This will help you keep track of your sources so none are forgotten. If you do end up forgetting where a quote came from, a paper checker could help you pinpoint the original source. 

Patchwriting/Spinning:

Patchwriting is often confused with paraphrasing, but there’s a significant difference. When you paraphrase, you demonstrate that you understand the topic well enough to restate it in your own words. When you patchwrite or spin, it is more akin to a word-swapping game; there’s no need to understand the subject, merely to have access to a thesaurus so you can substitute enough synonyms to mask the source material. This can be intentional, but it may also be a result of having a poor understanding of how to paraphrase.

• Prevention: Using your own words, write down the key points of the phrase or idea, and put them together in a sentence. Be sure to include a citation as well. 

A good way to test if you’re patchwriting or paraphrasing is to remove your sources from view. If you can write about what you’ve read without looking at the source material, you likely understand it well enough to paraphrase it. If you have to review the source material with each new sentence or consult a thesaurus while writing about it (except when you’re adding direct quotations), you may be spinning your sources instead of paraphrasing them.

Academic Integrity Policies and Statements

If you’re still uncertain about what counts as plagiarism, look for your school’s/ organization’s policies on academic integrity and plagiarism. The policies of academic institutions usually cover what is considered plagiarism, the consequences of committing it, and how to avoid it. One great example is Purdue University’s Academic Integrity statement .

What are the Consequences of Plagiarism?

No matter the setting, plagiarism is not taken lightly, and the consequences can be significant. For a good reason, too! Whether in an academic or professional setting, the plagiarism consequences reflect the seriousness of the act, which is ultimately a form of theft that hurts everyone involved.

Just as with the theft of a tangible object, there can be legal punishments for plagiarism. It is, after all, a form of copyright infringement in many instances. A quick search for plagiarism articles will reveal that professional instances of intellectual theft have resulted in civil lawsuits and can even be criminally prosecuted under rare circumstances. In addition to the possible legal consequences, professionals may lose their jobs or have to start over in a new field after their acts of fraud are uncovered.

As a student, you’re likely to wonder what happens if you plagiarize in college or high school. While there will almost always be consequences for this behavior, there is no one-size-fits-all plagiarism sentence. Depending on the circumstances, academic dishonesty could result in outcomes such as:

• You might get a zero for the assignment in which the infringement occurred.
• You may receive a failing grade for the class. If it is a required course, this could leave you without enough credits to move on to the next level until you can repeat it and, in some instances, postpone graduation.
• You may be expelled from your school or university.

The academic dishonesty may be noted on your transcript, which can lead to you not getting into your preferred college, graduate school, or Ph.D. program in the future.

Nobody wants to be known as a fraud or to have a reputation for dishonesty follow them through their career. And, given the consequences that can extend beyond just their reputation, it’s no wonder that professional and academic writers who wish to avoid them take the time to understand the complete definition of plagiarism and run their work through a plagiarism checker before sending it out into the world.

Even the vigilant can fall prey to inferior tools, unfortunately. Before selecting a plagiarism checker, you should understand how they work and what they can (and cannot) detect.

How We Check for Plagiarism

When exploring how to check for plagiarism, most students and professionals conclude that including a checking tool in their revision process is not only helpful but necessary. When you consider the Herculean task of checking each line of your paper against the text of each of your resources, the benefits of a checker are clear. Moreover, this manual approach would only alert you to matching text in the sources you’re aware of, after all, and leaves the sources you haven’t reviewed untouched.

But, hang on. Why would sources you haven’t reviewed factor into your review? The answer to this lies in the plagiarism definition you learned above. What is plagiarism? It’s presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, intentionally or otherwise. It is not uncommon to uncover an idea while you’re researching a topic and later misremember it as your own. This might even occur years after you originally came across it.

You might wonder: how can plagiarism be avoided if you have to account for the source of every thought you include in your work? A few exceptions minimize the scope of this. Common knowledge about your topic does not need to be supported by a citation, nor does knowledge that you gained through your personal experience. Using a subscription-based or free plagiarism checker will help you locate any passages that may fall into these categories so you can review them and decide for yourself whether a citation is needed.

EasyBib Plus writing tools provide easy, convenient, and reliable support to help you find potentially missed citations and can help you improve your paper into a high-quality paper with integrity. Simply upload your paper, select the checker, then sit back and relax as the site scans your document. In mere moments, we’ll search the web for passages of similar text and highlight duplicate content for your review.

Regardless of the tools you use to help you revise and polish your work, it’s ultimately your responsibility to ensure that you’re writing and submitting ethical work. That’s why our tools go beyond the basics and require your participation. The tool never automatically makes changes to your paper, but only flags sections that may need your attention and provides you with the matching source so you can to make an educated decision.

If you find that a citation is needed, our citation tools can help you create properly formatted citations and develop a complete bibliography. And, if you review the passage and determine that the match is coincidental, you can dismiss the alert and move on to the next.

Seamless Citation Creation

Professional writers and students alike can find creating citations incredibly confusing. Nevertheless, they are an integral part of a well-written and researched paper and a requirement in almost all academic settings. But, have you ever wondered why they are so important? Citations really do have a purpose—other than driving us crazy— that make it necessary always to cite our sources.

We cite our sources for a few important reasons:

We need to give credit where credit is due. When you use a quote from someone else’s work, you need to give credit for using their words and ideas. Research is often based on the works and ideas of others. However, to include the words and ideas of another without giving them proper credit is to plagiarize, even if the act was unintentional.

In addition, showing that you’ve done proper research by including in text & parenthetical citations and a comprehensive list of sources to back up your arguments gives your work a layer of credibility that can help you earn the trust of your reader or teacher.

Readers can find the sources you used.  When you’re writing high school or undergraduate papers, your only readers may be your instructors and peers. However, including citations at every level of writing helps to ensure that anyone who reads your work can access your sources to check their accuracy, learn more about your topic, and further their own research.

Sources can take your research and learning to the next level, too. When you are conducting research on a topic, checking the works cited or annotated bibliographies prepared by your sources can lead you down new avenues in your research to further develop your ideas and help you write your papers.

Correctly utilizing citations gives strength to your thoughts and opinions. Understanding the value of citations does not, unfortunately, make them any easier to create. We know how confusing it can be, but don’t throw in the towel on learning how to cite websites in MLA , create your APA citation website references, or format your works cited —this is where we come in!

While a free online plagiarism detector may tell you how much of your work is unoriginal and may even identify the passages that meet their plagiarize definition, a premium EasyBib Plus plagiarism checker account also gives you access to our powerful citation resources and generator so you can:

Scan your papers with the plagiarism tool to check for plagiarism-free work before you submit.

Review flagged passages to determine if they meet the plagiarism definition and create unlimited citations in APA format and MLA format for anything fitting the plagiarism meaning. Need more styles ? Check out our regular citation generator for thousands of choices and free resources to help you learn how to create an APA parenthetical citation , APA book citation , APA works cited , and so much more!

Build a full bibliography for your paper right along with your parenthetical or in-text citations, which can save you hours of work along the way compared to manually creating and formatting them.

How Else Do We Help You Improve Your Paper?

The EasyBib Plus plagiarism detector helps you check your content or paper for text that may be missing a citation—which may fall within the definition of plagiarism—to help ensure you don’t accidentally plagiarize. It also includes grammar check and spelling check tools to help identify errors and suggest grammatical tweaks that could help to elevate the level of your writing.

Running a plagiarism check couldn’t be easier! Just upload your paper to the online proofreader, and in a few moments we’ll have your writing and citing suggestions. And, there’s no need to worry about your paper after it’s been scanned.

Run a Grammar and Spell Check for Free!

There’s no denying that your schoolwork can be challenging at times, and your assignments can lead to some late nights even when you’ve started them early. The last thing you want is to submit assignments that don’t reflect your best effort, but it can occasionally be quite the juggling act to get everything done on time.

Why not let our plagiarism checker free up space on your calendar by helping you revise your papers quickly and efficiently? The EasyBib Plus paper checker is your one-stop shop to check for plagiarism, create citations, spot spelling mistakes, and receive feedback on your grammar and style.

When you proofread and do a manual spelling check on work that you’ve written, you’re more likely to overlook mistakes. This is even more likely if you’re pressed for time or trying to complete several different assignments at once. There are tricks to help minimize this, such as reading your work aloud to identify poor grammar or reading each sentence backward to find spelling errors. When time is of the essence, though, these solutions aren’t the most convenient or useful options. That’s why many students seek the assistance of online tools that will run a grammar and plagiarism check on their work.

Are you asking yourself, “ How do I check my grammar online ?” We’ve got the perfect checker for you! Our advanced tools help you find and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Our targeted feedback and free writing and citing resources help you learn as you go to improve your writing over time.

The best part? You can use our grammar and writing tools any time of the day, any day of the year for! Looking to try it? Just upload or copy and paste your text into our online proofreader for a free grammar check with up to 5 suggestions, or sign up for EasyBib Plus today! EasyBib Plus gives you use of the plagiarism checker and unlimited access to suggestions that can help improve your spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, writing style, and grammar.

Published February 3, 2019. Updated April 9, 2020.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Melissa DeVrieze Meyer . Michele is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib. You can find her here on Twitter. Melissa is a professional writer and editor based in New Jersey. She writes for academic brands and independent publishers about writing, grammar, and literature, and creates study and curriculum materials for ESL learners. You can find her on Twitter .

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

Grammar checking

Try the free Microsoft Editor grammar checker to improve your writing, catch mistakes, and use best practices to write like a pro.  

Try the free Microsoft Editor grammar checker to improve your writing, catch mistakes, and use best practices to write like a pro.

What is a grammar checker and how do you use it?

Grammar checking is making sure you use the correct words and punctuation in your writing and that it’s clear, concise, and inclusive.

Proofread papers and reports

Check your schoolwork and catch any mistakes before turning it in so you can improve your grade.

Polish professional documents

Make sure that presentations, emails, social media posts, and print materials are error-free.

Create a compelling resume

Impress employers with a strong resume without any mistakes to distract from your qualifications.

Save time and energy

Finish and send documents sooner with peace of mind that your writing doesn’t have any typos.

Learn how to use a free online grammar checker

See how to check your grammar for clarity, conciseness, vocabulary, punctuation, formality, inclusiveness, and similarity to online sources.

Get help with grammar basics

An online grammar checker highlights issues like sentence fragments, missing words and punctuation, capitalization, and commonly confused words.

See how to write with clarity

A grammar checker identifies phrases where you can use simpler wording, switch to active voice instead of passive voice, and avoid jargon.

Keep it concise

Hold your reader’s attention by deleting unnecessary words.

Choose the right words for the situation

An online grammar checker will point out clichés, vague or unnecessary words, weak verbs, informal language, and slang you might want to avoid.

Write for every audience

Use a grammar checker to make sure your writing is free of bias and makes everyone feel represented.

Make sure your writing is original

Check your document for similarity to online sources and properly cite other people’s work.

Make your resume stand out

Check the grammar in your resume with Microsoft Editor and avoid vague words and writing in the first person.

Read more about grammar checking

Properly use grammar to be more professional in documents, email, and online.

Use Microsoft Editor in your documents, email, and online

Rules with Commas, Periods, and More

Use data to write better emails

Five ways to be more professional over email

Ready to try editor.

Improve your writing across school papers, presentations, email, and the web with Microsoft Editor.  

Improve your writing across school papers, presentations, email, and the web with Microsoft Editor.   

Learn more about Microsoft Editor

Grammar Check

Spell check

Frequently asked questions, what is grammar checking.

A grammar check is a making sure your writing is grammatically correct: using active voice, being concise and specific, using punctuation correctly, making sure you use the right verb tense, and following other language rules.

What does a grammar checker do?

A grammar checker scans your writing for common errors and highlights them so you can fix them.

What are the advantages of online grammar checking?

Online grammar checking helps you make your writing the best no matter what website you’re using: LinkedIn, Gmail, Facebook, or Word or Outlook online. A  grammar checker browser extension  like Microsoft Editor makes it easy.

Why use grammar checking software?

Grammar checking software has many benefits. It helps you improve your language skills, makes your writing easier to understand, saves time proofreading, and catches typos and other common mistakes.

Follow Microsoft 365

Text Response: Identifying and Correcting Common Essay Errors

Many students are taught ‘there is no right or wrong answer in English’; and to our disappointment, there are indeed unspoken rules that, when abided by, can impress teachers and assessors. If you are looking for a comprehensive list of common errors for each section of the essay, logically paired with actionable correction strategies that can be applied to your next practice essay, read this blog carefully and scroll down to the bottom of the page to download a printable version for revision purposes.

This blog will cover errors in introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions, using examples from various texts on the current study design. A printable PDF of this file is attached at the end of this blog!

Table of Contents:

Introductions

1. Lacking contextual details

2. Doesn’t outline how essay addresses prompt

3. Too long!

Body Paragraphs

4. Plot-based topic sentences

5. Not engaging with evidence

6. Missing a linking sentence

Conclusions

7. Too long

8. Too short

Overall Essay – Structure + Interpretations

9. Character-based paragraphs

10. Not considering authorial intent

11. Lacking depth and detail

12. Not closely connected to the topic

13. Too similar

Writing Fluency + Expression

14. Colloquial language

15. Repetitive vocabulary

16. Generic verbs

17. Tense usage

19. Not embedding evidence

20. Spelling/Punctuation/Grammar inaccuracy

21. Word choice

22. Handwriting clarity

23. Metalanguage

24. Referring to the text

25. Line formatting

Finally, a category of its own: time management

An effective introduction sets the stage for your essay, providing context and outlining how you plan to address the prompt. Common errors in introductions include lacking contextual details, not outlining how the essay addresses the prompt, and being too long or too short. By addressing these issues, your introduction will demonstrate your understanding of the text and establish a clear response to the topic.

Lacking contextual details

Error explanation: The introduction of an essay should demonstrate that you (the author) has an understanding of the text’s basic context. Without this, the intro appears lacking in detail and it undermines the reader’s confidence in your knowledge of the text.

Correction strategy: Ensure that you have included (1) the full name of the writer, (2) The time of publication/setting, (3) the genre, (4) the full title. Other details you may choose to include: the time the text is set, the place the text is set, any movements / contemporary events which influenced the text

Example: For the text We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson, the introduction’s contextual details should include:

• “Shirley Jackson” (author’s full name)
• “1962” (year of publication)
• “mystery” or “gothic fiction” (genre)
• “novella” (type of text)
• “We Have Always Lived In The Castle” (full title)

It could also mention that the novella is influenced by the movement of gothic literature / incorporates gothic tropes.

Doesn’t outline how essay addresses prompt

Error explanation: The primary goal of an essay’s introduction is to outline how you (the author) plans to address the prompt. In particular, pre-prepared introductions will appear generic and fail to effectively engage with the essay topic. This will be penalised in both SACs and the final exam.

Correction strategy: Ensure that your introduction addresses the following:

• The topic – what themes are core to the prompt you have been given?
• The text – in what ways does the text explore these themes?
• The contention – what does text propose is in its exploration of these themes

Example: Consider the following topic for the comparative pair Ransom and The Queen. “Compare how the two texts examine leadership and family.”

The introduction should identify that both leadership and family are explored in the texts, and identify a relationship between them. It should also touch on examples and broad trends of how these themes appear in the texts, and propose a contention as to what the texts claim about this relationship, e.g. that the isolating, dehumanising burden of leadership prevent individuals from connecting with their families.

Error explanation: The introduction to an essay serves an important function – to show that you fully understand the text, and outline a clear response to the topic – but it is one which can be achieved quickly. An introduction which is too long is likely including generic details, going overly in depth about examples, and most importantly, is detracting from the time which should be spent developing strong body paragraphs. Those are what ultimately demonstrate your understanding, and get you good marks.

Correction strategy:

• Make sure your introduction doesn’t include any pre-prepared sentences, which are generic and not nearly as useful as sentences which target the essay topic properly.
• For those contextual details which are necessary, include them within sentences that discuss thematic ideas
• Remove anything which isn’t directly relevant

Plot-based topic sentences

Error explanation: Topic sentences based on an event or character narrow the focus of the paragraph, and limit your ability to demonstrate a thematic understanding of the text. It also appears very simplistic, and wastes an opportunity to clearly establish where your analysis and essay is going.

Correction strategy: Make your topic sentences based around the conclusion of your analysis and overall contention. Ensure you are making a statement about their views and values.

Two ways to guarantee you’re creating views and values statements:

• Start the sentence or clause with the author’s name
• Use verbs of analysis to make sure you’re not restating plot e.g. portrays, conveys, suggests, questions, challenges, critiques, endorses, etc.
• “In Women of Troy, Hecuba is displayed as a strong and compassionate figure.”
• “One way Euripedes generates sympathy for Trojan women is through the symbol of Cassandra’s torch.”

Instead, frame around the author’s views + values:

• “Euripedes’ focus on the suffering of Trojan women condemns the atrocities committed in war.”
• “Throughout Women of Troy, Euripedes fosters admiration for humanity’s tenacity in the face of adversity.”

This allows you to then expand on this thematic statement, proving it by invoking examples of plot, characters, and techniques. It is the basis for a much stronger paragraph, and provides direction for where the analysis should lead.

Not engaging with evidence

Error explanation: Including quotes or evidence in your paragraph doesn’t guarantee that you’re engaging with evidence. If quotes are just summarising plot events, they’re limiting the depth of your analysis.

Correction strategy: When you include quotes, note more than just the plot they describe. What is the significance of the word choice? What images are being created? Are there metaphors, or other instances of figurative language?

With this in mind, throughout your study, build up a bank of quotes which allow you to draw comparisons and analyse language use.

Also, avoid using ‘this shows’ and ‘this is apparent’, as it lacks precision. Naming precisely what it is within the quote that evokes a certain feeling or generates a characterisation is much more effective analysis.

Example: (from Station Eleven) “Mandel’s characterisation of the corporate world as “full of ghosts” adds to the repeated metaphor of prep-pandemic society as lacking in life, conveying a disturbing absence of human connection in modern community”

This addresses both the specific language/technique which is used, and connects it to the views and values of the author. Therefore, the evidence is being fully engaged with and analysed.

Missing a linking sentence

Error explanation: It’s vital that the analysis provided in your body paragraphs is clearly linked to your essay’s contention. Therefore, you need a sentence at the end of each paragraph which demonstrates that link.

Correction strategy: Think of each linking sentence as a mini-conclusion for a body paragraph. It can be useful to use conjunctions which signify another layer of analysis (in this case, a link to your contention) – words like ‘therefore’, ‘thus’, and ‘consequently’. The linking sentence should refer back to the views + values of the author. Frame the sentence around the author’s name and se verbs of analysis such as portrays, conveys, etc.

Examples: (from Sunset Boulevard)

• “Therefore, Wilder conveys the devastating consequences of prioritising illusion over reality.”
• “Thus, Wilder condemns the vanity and superficiality of a culture which worships celebrity.”

Error explanation: Sometimes you just don't have the time. Especially because you’ve just finished writing the essay, and you definitely don’t want to sacrifice the end of the last body paragraph (or any other argumentative material) for a conclusion.

Correction strategy: If your conclusion restates material from your introduction, or your topic sentences, you’re doing it wrong. The assessor has already read those points – this should be something new. Simply summarise your key ideas, and focus on the views and values statements, to create a concise and effective conclusion.

Error explanation: One sentence is not enough!

Correction strategy: A conclusion is about more than just listing the arguments you’ve written down already. The conclusion should make a broader statement about the author, which goes beyond the world of the text, and addresses what they believe readers should do/think, how society should be, etc.

The following conclusion expands on the concrete analysis of the world of the text, to make overarching statements about the author’s worldview.

“The crumbling of civilisation in Mandel’s Station Eleven creates a post-apocalyptic setting which displays the tenacity of humanity through conflict. Mandel admires the human resilience required to survive and preserve, yet the novel extends on this, portraying the human capacity to use the remnants of civilisation to construct new communities, relationships and art. In this testament to human adaptability, Mandel places faith into the continued evolution of civilisation, as Station Eleven optimistically implies that, despite all challenges, community and beauty will prosper.”

Character-based paragraphs

Error explanation: An essay paragraph which revolves around a single character is always limiting your analysis, and prevents you from demonstrating a thorough understanding of the text.

Correction strategy: When planning, consider 3 ideas which link to your contention. Then, consider which characters connect to those big ideas. If you find yourself still gravitating towards character-based paragraphs, ask yourself: what is it that this character proves? Search for other characters and evidence which bolster this point, and frame the paragraph around that idea instead of the character.

Use evidence outside of main characters: Minor characters can often echo thematic ideas in the main storyline; Language devices and narrative techniques are also useful evidence.

Not considering authorial intent

Error explanation: To form a solid contention, you need to show consideration of why the author created the text. If an essay lacks consideration of bigger questions – what should society look like, how should people behave – then it will lack depth overall.

Correction strategy: Consider the following questions:

• What is the author’s goal in creating the text?
• What does he/she support?
• What does he/she thinks needs to be changed in society?
• Which characters are designed to be empathised with? What does this reveal about the author’s values?
• Which characters are designed to be condemned? What does this reveal about the author’s values?

This should allow you to formulate statements based on the author’s views and values, and work your essays towards those statements.

Lacking depth and detail

Error explanation: If your paragraphs are too short, or your analysis feels shallow, it can severely limit the quality of your writing. Even if you use plenty of words, that doesn’t guarantee that your analysis is engaging as fully with the text, and values of the author, as it could.

Correction strategy: There can be a few reasons why your essay lacks depth or detail.

• Ensure you are using at least two pieces of evidence, from different parts of the text, per paragraph
• Explain the following for each piece of evidence
• what it reveals within the text (the true feelings of a character, the nature of society, etc.)
• the broader statement of values it connects to
• Combine quotations which connect to each other – layering evidence strengthens a point
• Use choices the author makes about language features and structures as evidence – combining different types of evidence also adds depth
• Check that evidence has sufficient context – when is a quote said? by who? The characters or plot a piece of evidence connects to can provide additional paths for analysis.

Not closely connected to the topic

Error explanation: Every argument needs to clearly address the topic. Sometimes students stray because they bring in a ‘counter point’ in a second or third paragraph, and other times might choose to write out paragraphs they have already written because it’s more comfortable. However, unless the paragraph is entirely relevant and targeted towards the topic, it’s a waste of time.

Correction strategy: Plan clearly, and ensure that each of the three arguments address the topic individually. If you feel an argument is similar to something previously written, ask yourself how you can make this argument specifically to address the topic in front of you.

Too similar

Error explanation: Having two paragraphs which essentially explain the same idea severely weakens an essay. It basically shows that you only have two ideas, and doesn’t allow for enough depth of analysis.

• Use your reading time and a bit of writing time to plan – it may be the case that you’re not giving yourself enough time to think of three distinct points
• If this is a persistent problem, practice planning out essays under time constraints. It only takes ten minutes, and can be a useful exercise to sharpen your skills.

Colloquial language

Error explanation: Language which is too informal renders writing unprofessional, and can affect the accuracy of your writing.

Correction strategies:

• Avoid using cliches/idioms
• Avoid casual language, such as abbreviations or slang
• Write in the formal register – like an English teacher would
• Justice is not “served”, it is achieved
• He’s not a character “with a really hard life”, he has a traumatic upbringing

Repetitive vocabulary

Error explanation: Overusing words can make your writing appear simplistic, and is annoying to read.

• Note the words you overuse, look up synonyms, and use them in your writing
• Note alternative words other students use in their essays
• When you write practice pieces, scan your work to check for repeated words

Be especially careful that you don’t use a word in the essay topic over and over again. In planning time, brainstorm synonyms for key words of the topic.

Generic verbs

Error explanation: Verbs of analysis are, of course, incredibly common throughout text response essays. Words like ‘explore’ or ‘show’, ‘highlights’ or ‘says’ are very common.

Correction strategies: It’s better if you can use more precise verbs which also add flair and variety to your writing. These verbs all have slightly different meanings, so when writing, you need to select carefully.

• Instead of explores: reveals, exposes, warns, criticises, endorses, questions, condemns
• Instead of highlights: underscores, accentuates, emphasises
• Instead of says: states, reflects, claims, declares, suggests

Tense usage

Error explanation: Using the past tense, or worse, switching between tenses throughout the essay, hampers the fluency of writing.

Correction strategy: Use present tense in your essays.

Instead of: In Rainbow’s End, Harrison employed dreamy lighting to demonstrate the wonderful, yet tragic, impossibility of characters’ aspirations.

Write: In Rainbow’s End, Harrison employs dreamy lighting to demonstrate the wonderful, yet tragic, impossibility of characters’ aspirations.

Error explanation: If your writing is too verbose, it can be a struggle to get to the highest level of analysis in the given time limits. Being more concise will save time, and more efficient writing will make your analysis clearer.

Correction strategy: Avoid placeholder sentences – get to the point! This applies to unnecessary clauses and ‘pauses’ in writing.

Instead of: “Throughout the entire novel, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart shows men as being each other's “brothers”, even when they are not actually family, but only clansmen, and this characterisation makes those concepts appear equal, most of the time.”

Write: “Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart equates family and community, as clansmen refer to each other as “brothers”.”

Not embedding evidence

Error explanation: If quotations aren’t embedded, writing doesn't flow as well, and your command over the evidence is slightly undermined.

Correction strategy: Embed your quotations every time.

Example: (from In Cold Blood)

Instead of: “Perry says, “I don’t believe in capital punishment”, demonstrating…”

Write: “Perry “[does not] believe in capital punishment”, demonstrating…”

Spelling/Punctuation/Grammar inaccuracy

Error explanation: Inaccuracies in spelling, punctuation and grammar are harmful to the fluidity of your expression, and leave a bad impression on the reader.

• Request some support to identify spelling errors
• Correct any spelling errors using a good dictionary
• Read over sentences, checking for basic grammatical errors
• Check that your word forms are correct (e.g. “unjust” is an adjective, “injustice” is the noun)
• Write down any errors – keeping a record will help you identify frequent mistakes

Common errors to lookout for:

• Capitalisation – check that all proper nouns (place names, the name of the author, etc.) are capitalised
• Apostrophes – revise particularly in relation to possessions
• Pronouns – check that pronoun use isn't ambiguous
• Full stops and commas – check that these are not used interchangeably
• Ending clauses with ‘is’ or ‘are’ is a common grammatical mistake

Word choice

Error explanation: Often students attempt to use more ‘sophisticated’ words, but can end up with something jarring, because the connotations were a bit off, or just because it didn't suit their writing style. Prioritise precision: above all, your essay has to make sense.

• Check the definitions of any words you’re a little uncertain about.
• Practice using a hard-copy dictionary when you plan essays, as you are permitted to do this in SACs/the exam.
• Build up a glossary of terms that you’re comfortable with
• Remember that your essay can (and will) be impressive without using obscure vocabulary

Handwriting clarity

Error explanation: Assessors can only mark what they can read!

• Practice writing essays to time, and with a pen
• Change up the pen from time to time to see i it helps with clarity
• Time management will allow you to write at a more consistent pace throughout writing time

Metalanguage

Error explanation: Use of metalanguage is a way to demonstrate your knowledge of a text. Not using metalanguage enough, or worse, using it incorrectly, can harm the precision of your writing.

• Review terminology to ensure metalanguage is used accurately Glossaries, samples, and peer work can all be sources of new terms
• Incorporate metalanguage by learning the adjectival/verbal versions Many terms of metalanguage are nouns (e.g. symbolism) but can also be used as adjectives (symbolic) or verbs (symbolises)
• Avoid repeating metalanguage more than once in a paragraph, or more than a few times across an essay

Metalanguage relating to the form and structure of text:

• Omniscient third-person narrator
• Non-chronological narrative
• Non-linear plot

Metalanguage relating to language devices:

• Alliteration

Note that films have lots of metalanguage relating to camera angles and shots.

Referring to the text

Error explanation: The generally accepted format is to underline the full title of the text. Use this, and there is no need to use inverted commas or quotation marks.

In Station Eleven, Mandel…

In Sunset Boulevard, Wilder…

Line formatting

Error explanation: Line breaks are specifically ofr showing where paragraphs start and end.

Correction strategy: Leave one line between paragraphs. Not more, not less.

Additionally:

• Don’t start a new line within your paragraphs
• Don’t label sections of your essay like ‘introduction’ – that's what the line breaks signal for you

Possibly the biggest challenge of a 3 hour, 3 essay exam is cramming all of your best ideas and skills into such a short period of time. However, with enough practice, it won't feel so daunting by the end of the year.

Strategies: As well as practising whole essays within an hour, try the following:

• Writing plans in 5 minutes
• Writing introductions in 10 minutes
• Writing body paragraphs in 12-15 minutes
• Reading an article and planning an argument analysis essay in your head, during ‘reading time’
• Practice writing more by hand – it’s the only way your speed can be accurate, and the more you practise, the faster you get

Don’t forget that you don’t have to budget each essay to one hour. Many students may find Section C quicker to write, and so have a bit more time to dedicate to the other sections of the exam. Experiment to figure out what is comfortable for you.

Download PDF

Related posts

An Ultimate Guide to Analysing Plays

Your 2024 VCE English cheat sheets: Text summaries, key themes and approaches to genre

A Pocket Guide to Argument Analysis

A Guide to Oral Presentation and Statement of Intention

Creative Responses and Written Commentary (SOIs) Explained

Introducing online resources

$45 per month • Free for current students

We are excited to launch an online library of best-in-class resources for VCE training. We are excited to launch an online library of best-in-class resources for VCE training.

Common Essay Mistakes—Writing Errors to Avoid [Updated]

One of the most critical skills that students gain during their college years is assignment writing. Composing impressive essays and research papers can be quite challenging, especially for ESL students. Nonetheless, before learning the art of academic writing, you may make numerous common essay mistakes.

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

Such involuntary errors appear in:

• essays’ content;
• academic style;
• structure and overall organization;
• spelling and punctuation;

Good news for you! Our experts prepared a list that contains and explains all of them. Find out about common mistakes in essay writing and do your best not to make them.

• 📃 Content Mistakes
• 🔍 Stylistic Mistakes
• 📝 Structural Mistakes
• 🔤 Grammar Mistakes
• 📘 Vocabulary Mistakes
• ✍️ Spelling Mistakes
• ⁉️ Punctuation Mistakes

📃 Content Mistakes in Essays

A perfect essay usually has an impressive introduction, well-organized content, and a powerful conclusion. Lousy college essays often lack structure or content and do not impress the reader.

What should you do?

Follow these six tips when writing any type of essay:

Just in 1 hour! We will write you a plagiarism-free paper in hardly more than 1 hour

• Always write an essay that includes relevant facts, concrete details, and specific examples. If you just write down a few paragraphs that have something to do with your topic, you will not succeed in writing a good essay. Read the question carefully before you start writing. Single out the keywords and then elaborate on your ideas with facts, details, and examples.
• Write a good introduction. An exciting introduction gives the background for the whole essay. In the introduction, you should make your presentation of the essay topic. To write a good introduction paragraph , tell your reader what you are going to write.
• Write a strong thesis statement. The thesis statement expresses the writer’s thoughts on the topic and tells the reader how the idea will be developed. A good thesis statement explains two critical things to the reader: what you plan to argue in your essay and how you plan to do it. Always support your thesis with your ideas in the central part of the paper.
• Never write a thesis statement if you do not have enough ideas to support it. While planning your essay, you should think carefully and ask yourself whether you have enough ideas to support your thesis. And if you are not sure, formulate another one that you will be able to argue.
• Use ideas that you can prove with examples. Keep in mind: Any idea should be clarified and proved. So always give appropriate examples. If some of your writing has awkward wording, you can use an online sentence changer to fix it.
• Write a powerful conclusion. In the end, take advantage of your last chance to say something important to your readers. You should emphasize the purpose and importance of what you wrote in your essay.

The thesis is the hook on which any essay hangs.

🔍 Stylistic Mistakes in Writing

Even if it’s written interestingly, your essay may make a poor impression if you do not use the correct style.

These are five essay mistakes that most students make:

• Word repetition. Here is the truth: Your essay will look dull and childish if you use the same lexical sets. So, use synonyms and word substitutes to avoid repeating the same nouns or verbs.
• Too many passive structures. When you use the passive voice in your sentences, they sound more impersonal and objective, but they are longer and harder to read. On the contrary, active sentences are clear and direct. So, if you want to write a good essay, you should use both types. A good rule of thumb is to write less than 20 percent of your sentences in the passive voice.
• Sentences that are too long or too short. If you use sentences that are too long, you make your essay harder to understand. On the other hand, you can destroy your idea’s logical development if your sentences are too short. Try to use a balance of both long and short sentences.
• Sentences beginning with coordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions are mainly used to connect words and clauses in the same sentence. Sometimes we can also use them to start a sentence. But if you begin too many sentences with coordinating conjunctions, your essay will be monotonous. It’s better to use corresponding conjunctive adverbs like nevertheless , moreover , or however , which have the same meaning. They are more appropriate in a formal context.
• Overly formal or informal words and phrases. Many students forget that an academic essay requires a vocabulary layer that we do not use in our everyday lives. Never use slang expressions and nonstandard verb forms like gotta or wanna in your academic papers. Check English slang dictionaries if you struggle to find a proper replacement phrase or word. You should use formal constructions and high-level vocabulary.

In doubt, always consult a good dictionary to choose the proper word. If you’re unsure whether you can implement a phrase in context, see it in other text. You can do it by typing it in a search engine.

Receive a plagiarism-free paper tailored to your instructions. Cut 20% off your first order!

📝 Structural Mistakes In Student Essays

An essay is a long-established form of academic writing, and there are strict rules for writing every type. They make it more manageable to organize one’s thoughts without limiting creativity.

The most common structural mistakes are:

• You can expand the fragment into a complete sentence by supplying the missing elements such as subjects, verbs, and clauses.
• You can incorporate the fragment into an adjacent sentence.
• Run-On Sentences: Run-on sentences occur when you join two or more main clauses together without appropriate punctuation. Run-on sentences confuse the reader. What can you do to correct them? Fortunately, this is pretty simple: Divide a run-on sentence into separate sentences to fix it, or add coordinating or subordinating conjunctions.

• the introduction,
• two main body paragraphs,
• and the conclusion.

Your text and sentences should have a clear structure and present your ideas’ complete development.

In the following sections, you’ll see how to avoid grammar, vocabulary, and spelling mistakes.

🔤 Grammar Mistakes in Writing

A successful essay must be grammatically correct. Learn the most common types of such errors in student essays, not to repeat them yourself.

Get an originally-written paper according to your instructions!

• Noun form mistakes. You should study key grammar areas to help you succeed. Review the rules concerning countable and uncountable nouns. Make sure you know how to use determiners with singular and plural nouns.
• Subject-predicate agreement Pay attention to the cases when words like both , some , or neither introduce compound subjects and still take the plural predicate.
• Pronouns Pronouns always agree with the noun they refer to. Some indefinite pronouns can have only a plural form or merely a singular form, but some can have both depending on the situation.
• Verb form mistakes. Remember the main grammar rules related to the use of stative and auxiliary verbs and correct use of the infinitive and modal verbs.

For more information about correcting grammar mistakes in essays, consult grammar and writing resources around the web. To avoid them, proofread your writing. Always check whether you have used the grammar forms mentioned above correctly.

Still uncertain about what not to write in a college essay? You can get help from essay writing companies that provide editing and proofreading services.

📘 Vocabulary Mistakes in Essays

Even if you develop your ideas logically, your grammar is correct, and your style is perfect, your writing can be a disaster. How so? You may make vocabulary mistakes that can ruin your paper.

The three most common language errors in essay writing are:

• Misuse of homonyms. Many students typically misuse the following homonyms: hear vs. here , hole vs. whole , its vs. it’s , and many more.
• Wrong word form. When we write quickly, we may write a word form that differs from what we meant to write. For example, students often write verb forms instead of adjectives. This can result in an unintended change of meaning ( disable people instead of disabled people ).
• Confused words. Spellcheck will not identify the incorrect use of such words as loose – lose , affect – effect , quite – quit – quiet , and accept – except . You should proofread your essay carefully to make sure you’ve used the correct words.

You can use the following strategies to eliminate such errors:

• Plan your writing ahead, picking lexicon.
• Use a dictionary or Google to ensure the right meaning.
• Leave enough time for composing so that you won’t hurry.
• Always proofread your writing, paying attention to the language you used.

If you can, leave your paper for several days. Finish your first draft and forget about it for a while. Checking it for essay errors proves to be efficient when you’ve rested and haven’t seen the text some time.

✍️ Spelling Mistakes in Essays

Numerous students say that the English language’s spelling system is the most unpredictable in the world. That is not true. There are some tricky words in English , like weigh , Caribbean , or island . You can do nothing but memorize their spelling. But several other words do follow special rules.

The most common spelling mistakes are the following:

After you have written your essay, read it carefully and correct your spelling mistakes. Make a list of the words that you usually misspell and practice writing them over and over.

⁉️ Punctuation Mistakes in Writing

Punctuation is essential in essay writing. It is used to separate ideas, relate ideas to one another, and clarify meaning. Without correct punctuation, your readers will get confused and frustrated rather quickly.

Proper punctuation is required in college essays and research papers. Learn the rules regarding the use of commas, apostrophes, and hyphens to avoid making punctuation errors.

Here is a list of the vital punctuation rules to remember:

• Put a comma after the introductory dependent clause.

An introductory dependent clause is a phrase before the subject that does not form a complete sentence.

• Incorrect: Since Miss Ostin got promoted to the chief editor position she decided not to change her workplace.
• Correct: Since Miss Ostin got promoted to the chief editor position, she decided not to change her workplace.
• Use a comma to separate non-essential info in the sentence.

Are there some clarifications that may be removed from the sentence, and the reader will still get the key idea? Separate this information with punctuation marks!

• Incorrect: My sister who recently got married is pregnant now. 
• Correct: My sister, who recently got married, is pregnant now.
• Put commas around interrupters.

Interrupters are the words that provide additional detail by breaking the flow of the sentence. Always separate them with commas.

• Incorrect: Hopefully my essay topic is suitable for the given type of assignment. 
• Correct: Hopefully, my essay topic is suitable for the given type of assignment.
• Use semicolons in too complex sentences.

Sometimes the sentence is too long, yet the information should be taken together. In such cases, put a semicolon between two parts instead of separating them with a period.

• Incorrect: I was planning to study abroad however due to certain family issues I took a gap year and stayed at home. 
• Correct: I was planning to study abroad; however, due to certain family issues, I took a gap year and stayed at home. 

And now, last but not least. Here’s a helpful video about the most common mistakes in ESL student essays. The essay writing techniques explained in this video lesson are useful for any student who wants to write good papers.

Thank you for visiting our page! Use our tips and avoid common errors in essay writing. Don’t forget to leave your comment and share the article with your friends!

This might be interesting for you:

• Useful Revising and Editing Checklists
• Essay Checklist: How to Write an A+ Essay
• Effective Writing Strategies for College Students
• How to Control Words per Page
• Basic Writing Rules – Common Mistakes & Fixes
• 200 Powerful Words to Use Instead of “Good”
• List of Credible Sources
• An Ultimate Punctuation Guide

✏️ Frequent Questions

There are several tips to improve grammar in your article:

• Avoid overly complex grammatical structures;
• Use ready-made connecting phrases and collocations;
• Proofread your text several times, perhaps read aloud and correct your mistakes;
• Run your text through a grammar checker (through desktop software or online).

There is quite a few you should avoid in order to write a good essay, e.g.:

• Too colloquial phrases;
• Excessive repetition of some words;
• Misprints, mistakes, and wrong formatting;
• Too emotional and subjective sentences;
• Too long sentences with complex grammatical constructions, etc.

There are particular “stop”-words that you should not include in an article. They can be divided into the following groups :

• colloquial language, rude comments;
• simplified connecting words (e.g., “And,” “But,” “Or” at the beginning of a sentence);
• excessively complex and almost obsolete words.

You may correct your text in various ways. Some possible strategies are:

• Read the essay aloud;
• Ask your friend to proofread the essay;
• Read the paragraphs from the bottom to the top;
• Run an automatic checker (in desktop software or online), etc.
• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to LinkedIn
• Share to email

You’re probably thinking: I’m no Mahatma Gandhi or Steve Jobs—what could I possibly write in my memoir? I don’t even know how to start an autobiography, let alone write the whole thing. But don’t worry: essay writing can be easy, and this autobiography example for students is here to show...

Some people know which profession to choose from childhood, while others decide much later in life. However, and whenever you come to it, you may have to elaborate on it in your personal statement or cover letter. This is widely known as “Why I Want to Be a Teacher” essay.

Assigned with an essay about friendship? Congrats! It’s one of the best tasks you could get. Digging through your memories and finding strong arguments for this paper can be an enjoyable experience. I bet you will cope with this task effortlessly as we can help you with the assignment. Just...

When you are assigned an autobiography to write, tens, and even hundreds of questions start buzzing in your head. How to write autobiography essay parts? What to include? How to make your autobiography writing flow? Don’t worry about all this and use the following three simple principles and 15 creative...

A life experience essay combines the elements of narration, description, and self-reflection. Such a paper has to focus on a single event that had a significant impact on a person’s worldview and values. Writing an essay about life experience prompts students to do the following: evaluate their behavior in specific...

Who has made a significant impact in your life and why? Essay on the topic might be challenging to write. One is usually asked to write such a text as a college admission essay. A topic for this paper can be of your choice or pre-established by the institution. Either...

Are you about to start writing a financial assistance essay? Most probably, you are applying for a scholarship that will provide additional funding for your education or that will help you meet some special research objectives.

What does it mean to grow up? Essays on this topic might be entertaining yet challenging to write. Growing up is usually associated with something new and exciting. It’s a period of everything new and unknown. Now, you’ve been assigned to write a growing up essay. You’re not a kid...

Probably, a murder essay is not a fascinating assignment to complete. Talking about people’s deaths or crazy murderers can be depressing. However, all assignments are different, and you are supposed to work on every task hard. So, how are you going to deal with a murder essay? You can make...

Are you a nursing student? Then, you will definitely have an assignment to compose a nursing reflective essay. This task might be quite tough and challenging. But don’t stress out! Our professionals are willing to assist you.

Throughout our life, we meet plenty of people and participate in various events. If some of them are just regular, the other people or occasions play a critical role in our fates. Your life-changing experience might become a perfect ground for creating a remembering essay.

Environment vs. development is a multifaceted present days’ dilemma. On the one hand, environmental problems are increasing year after year. We have more polluted areas on our planet, more polluted rivers, fewer trees that produce oxygen. On the other hand, can we stop development and progress in various fields? Is...

is there a set author taking credit for publishing this information ? because i would love to reference the author in my paper

Hello! You can reference it as a web source/web page.

People do not have much time for essays and are usually distracted in different things. Essays writing requires tons of concentration and a particular flow that the writer should maintain. Otherwise, it will not be interesting for the audience. Planning is so important in essay writing. Thanks for sharing these tips.

Totally agree with you, William! Thanks for stopping by.

Thanks for your hard work

Help | Advanced Search

Computer Science > Computation and Language

Title: can llms learn from previous mistakes investigating llms' errors to boost for reasoning.

Abstract: Recent works have shown the benefits to LLMs from fine-tuning golden-standard Chain-of-Thought (CoT) rationales or using them as correct examples in few-shot prompting. While humans can indeed imitate correct examples, learning from our mistakes is another vital aspect of human cognition. Hence, a question naturally arises: \textit{can LLMs learn and benefit from their mistakes, especially for their reasoning? } This study investigates this problem from both the prompting and model-tuning perspectives. We begin by introducing \textsc{CoTErrorSet}, a new benchmark with 609,432 questions, each designed with both correct and error references, and demonstrating the types and reasons for making such mistakes. To explore the effectiveness of those mistakes, we design two methods: (1) \textbf{Self-rethinking} prompting guides LLMs to rethink whether they have made similar previous mistakes; and (2) \textbf{Mistake tuning} involves finetuning models in both correct and incorrect reasoning domains, rather than only tuning models to learn ground truth in traditional methodology. We conduct a series of experiments to prove LLMs can obtain benefits from mistakes in both directions. Our two methods offer potentially cost-effective strategies by leveraging errors to enhance reasoning capabilities, which costs significantly less than creating meticulously hand-crafted golden references. We ultimately make a thorough analysis of the reasons behind LLMs' errors, which provides directions that future research needs to overcome. \textsc{CoTErrorSet} will be published soon on \texttt{Anonymity Link}.

Submission history

Access paper:.

• HTML (experimental)
• Other Formats

References & Citations

• Google Scholar
• Semantic Scholar

BibTeX formatted citation

Bibliographic and Citation Tools

Code, data and media associated with this article, recommenders and search tools.

• Institution

arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs .

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• March Madness
• AP Top 25 Poll
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Women’s NCAA Tournament games in Portland played on court with mismatched 3-point lines

Texas players defend as North Carolina State players pass the ball during the second half of an Elite Eight college basketball game in the women’s NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Portland, Ore. North Carolina State won 76-66. (AP Photo/Tim Booth)

North Carolina State guard Zoe Brooks, right, dribbles the ball against Texas guard Shaylee Gonzales, second from right, at the top of the three-point line during the second half of a Elite Eight college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)

North Carolina State coach Wes Moore holds the net after the team’s win against Texas in an Elite Eight college basketball game in the women’s NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Portland, Ore. North Carolina State won 76-66. (AP Photo/Howard Lao)

Texas coach Vic Schaefer shouts to players during the first half of the team’s Elite Eight college basketball game against North Carolina State in the women’s NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)

North Carolina State coach Wes Moore wears the net around his neck after the team’s win against Texas in an Elite Eight college basketball game in the women’s NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Portland, Ore. North Carolina State won 76-66. (AP Photo/Howard Lao)

North Carolina State guard Zoe Brooks (35) tries to get around Texas forward Madison Booker (35) during the first half of an Elite Eight college basketball game in the women’s NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)

• Copy Link copied

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The 3-point line for the women’s NCAA Tournament at Moda Center had a discrepancy in distance at each end of the court that went unnoticed through four games over two days before Texas and North Carolina State were informed of the problem ahead of their Elite Eight matchup on Sunday.

UPDATE: NCAA says a 3-point line was drawn 9 inches short at Portland women’s regional by court supplier

While the NCAA did not provide details, one 3-point line near the top of the key appeared to be about 6 inches closer to the basket than at the opposite end of the floor. The NCAA 3-point line is at 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches for both women and men.

The teams’ coaches agreed to play Sunday’s game as scheduled with the mismatched 3-point lines rather than delay it, the NCAA said in a statement. N.C. State beat Texas 76-66 to advance to the Final Four.

“The NCAA was notified (Sunday) that the 3-point lines on the court at Moda Center in Portland are not the same distance. The NCAA staff and women’s basketball committee members on site consulted with the two head coaches who were made aware of the discrepancy. All parties elected to play a complete game on the court as is, rather than correcting the court and delaying the game,” Lynn Holzman, the NCAA’s vice president of women’s basketball, said in a statement.

Holzman said all lines would be measured after practices concluded on Sunday evening and the correct markings would be on the floor ahead of Monday’s game between Southern California and UConn .

“While the NCAA’s vendor has apologized for the error, we will investigate how this happened in the first place. The NCAA is working now to ensure the accuracy of all court markings for future games,” Holzman said. “We are not aware of any other issues at any of the prior sites for men’s or women’s tournament games.”

Connor Sports makes the March Madness floors for both men and women.

“We apologize for the error that was found and have technicians on site at the Moda Center in Portland who were instructed to make the necessary corrections immediately following (Sunday’s) game,” the company said in a statement.

The court issue was another distraction for the NCAA during a women’s tournament in which the play has been exceptional but other issues have taken the spotlight.

There was a referee pulled out of a game at halftime in the first round. Utah faced racist harassment before its first-round game. Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo was forced to remove a nose ring and missed time in a Sweet 16 loss to Oregon State. LSU coach Kim Mulkey threatened to sue The Washington Post over a then-unpublished profile of her and later called out a Los Angeles Times columnist for what she said was sexist criticism of her team. The Times edited the column in response.

And now, the court issue in Portland.

“I hate to say this, but I have a lot of colleagues that would say, ‘Only in women’s basketball,’” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “I mean, it’s a shame, really, that it even happened. But it is what it is.”

Four Sweet 16 games on Friday and Saturday were played without any of the participating teams saying anything publicly about a problem with the court.

During pregame warmups, Schaefer and N.C. State coach Wes Moore were informed that the 3-point line distance at the top of the key was different on both ends of the floor. The distance between the top of the key and the 3-point line was too short at the end in front of the N.C. State bench, while the line at the Texas end was correct, Moore said.

NCAA officials were asked to measure the distance and brought out a tape measure about 15 minutes before tip-off. After discussions between NCAA representatives, the coaches and officials, the game went on as scheduled.

A delay would have taken at least an hour, both coaches said, because someone from the outside would have to be brought in to remark the floor and could have forced the game to be bumped from being broadcast on ABC.

“That’s a big deal to be on ABC,” Moore said. “We’ve been fortunate to be on it a couple of times the last couple of years. But it’s a big deal.”

Both coaches said their players were not aware of the discrepancy, and N.C. State’s Aziaha James in particular had no trouble, making a career-high seven 3s on nine attempts. The NCAA said the court would be corrected before Monday’s Elite Eight matchup between Southern California and UConn.

“At the end of the day we had already played a game on it and we both won, so we just decided to play,” Schaefer said.

The numbers showed that players struggled with the line that was too close to the basket.

Through five games, teams shooting on the end with the closer 3-point arc were 25.8% (23 of 89) on 3s. At the end of the floor that was correct, teams shot 33.3% (29 of 87).

“These kids, they shoot so far behind it sometimes nowadays, who knows where the line is?” Moore said. “It is an unusual situation. But, like I said, I don’t know that it was an advantage or disadvantage, either way.”

Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team lost to USC in the Sweet 16, posted on social media that with eight teams at one site, the focus was on game plan, not what the court looked like.

Baylor was 6 of 14 on 3-pointers in the second half while shooting at the end of the floor with the correct arc.

“Guess that’s why we shot it better in the 2nd half,” Collen posted.

AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg in Albany, New York, contributed to this report.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Screen Rant

Road house 2024 corrects the 1989 original movie's odd ending mistake.

Road House 2024 ends with a brutal brawl, with the remake's finale correcting a couple of mistakes made by the Patrick Swayze-fronted original.

Warning: Major spoilers for Road House 2024 below!

• Road House 2024 fixes the original by giving Dalton a worthier opponent in Conor McGregor's Knox. The final showdown feels evenly matched.
• The remake wisely stages the showdown in the roadhouse itself, correcting a strange choice from the 1989 version.
• Amazon's reboot retains the basic structure of the original but has cleaned up some elements.

Amazon's remake of Road House corrects an issue with the 1989 original's finale. The original Road House was produced by action producer extraordinaire Joel Silver, who was coming off a run of hits like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard . The Patrick Swayze-fronted action pic was a change of pace since it largely eschewed gunfights or car chases in favor of brutal barfights. Swayze's Dalton was also a unique action hero, since the character liked to avoid fighting at all costs - even though he's supernaturally gifted at them.

Despite mixed reviews, the film was a hit and has become a cult favorite for its quotable dialogue, great cast and fun action sequences. Amazon's Road House remake cast Jake Gyllenhaal as the new Dalton and retains the same basic structure as the original, though it has cleaned up some of the spicier elements. Road House 2024's fight scenes can be just as visceral, with Gyllenhaal's Dalton getting two standout sequences against Conor McGregor's Knox.

Road House 1989 Suffered From An Anticlimatic Final Showdown

Patrick swayze's dalton versus ben gazzara's wesley was not a fair fight.

*Availability in US

Not available

With a story and screenplay by David Lee Henry and direction from Rowdy Herrington, Road House is a 1989 Action release starring Patrick Swayze in the lead role. Swayze steps into the shoes of James Dalton, a bouncer that is hired by a club owner to provide security for the establishment.

Road House 1989 is filled to the brim with great fights, including the infamous throat rip moment when Dalton faces off with Marshall Teague's Jimmy Reno. That particular bout is the movie's highlight, with Reno being the henchman for slimy local businessman Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara). Throughout the story, Wesley pushes Dalton to breaking point until the zen bouncer finally confronts him in Road House's bloody ending .

Dalton then kills most of Wesley's men but resists the temptation to rip out Wesley's throat after defeating him. The issue with this finale is that, simply put, Wesley never feels like a real threat to Dalton . Swayze was in peak physical condition when he shot Road House , and throughout the story takes on fighters way bigger and meaner than Gazzara's Wesley. The veteran actor is fantastic in the villain role and makes Wesley enjoyably reprehensive, but it stretches credibility to put him up against Swayze's Dalton.

What Happened To The Cast Of Road House 1989 After The Movie

Road House 1989 closes on the movie's lamest brawl, and the film needed to give Dalton a more fitting opponent than Wesley.

The film has Wesley wounding Dalton just before their battle and quickly following through with some spear attacks, but their confrontation lacks any genuine tension. Road House closes on the movie's lamest brawl, and the film needed to give Dalton a more fitting opponent than Wesley. It would have made more sense for the character to fight Reno instead.

Road House 2024 Fixes The Original's Mistake By Giving Dalton A Worthy Opponent

Dalton vs conor mcgregor's knox is the movie's standout setpiece.

One of the big casting announcements around Amazon's reboot was that Conor McGregor would be starring as the main villain. Road House cast real-life UFC legend Conor McGregor as Knox , a ruthless henchman dispatched to the Florida Keys to get rid of Gyllenhaal's Dalton. Reviews are split on McGregor's hammy turn, either finding him to be a lot of fun or distractingly bad.

Road House 2024 marks Conor McGregor's acting debut, having previously turned down roles in movies like The Return of Xander Cage .

Regardless, Knox is an imposing physical threat and even beats Dalton during their first brawl. Road House 2024's final showdown corrects the mistake made by its predecessor, with Dalton facing off against Knox in a fight that is evenly matched. It isn't a given that Gyllenhaal's bouncer will prevail, and he receives some grueling punishment before bringing Knox down. Complaints about the lackluster finale of the original must have made their way to returning producer Silver and director Doug Liman since their reimagining closes on the best brawl instead.

Road House 2024 Wisely Stages The Showdown In The Roadhouse

The 2024 remake corrects another odd mistake from the patrick swayze version.

Since Road House 1989 revolves around the roadhouse (dubbed The Double Deuce), it was an odd choice to move the action elsewhere for the finale.

Road House 2024 closes on a high following the Dalton/Knox fight, which fittingly takes place in the titular bar. Like the original, the story is about a property battle over the roadhouse itself, so there is no better location to end it. Even so, the Swayze film takes the finale to Wesley's estate, where Dalton battles some henchmen before his confrontation with the big man. Since Road House 1989 revolves around the roadhouse (dubbed The Double Deuce), it was an odd choice to move the action elsewhere for the finale.

Road House 2024 makes the battle over the bar extremely literal, with Dalton having to earn his victory. The remake might improve on certain elements of the original, but the latter is still the better movie. It's funnier and more colorful, though to director Liman's credit, he managed to update a 1980s action favorite while putting his own spin on it.

Both the original Road House and the remake are available to stream on Prime Video.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Road House (2024)

Road House is a remake of the original 1989 film, which followed protagonist Dalton, a Ph.D. educated bouncer at the roughest bar in the south known as the Double Deuce. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Dalton, with two major changes including Dalton being a retired UFC fighter and the bar locale being in the Florida Keys.

Death certificate mistake remains months after Knoxville woman’s attempt to correct it

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A Knoxville woman has been waiting for months to have a mistake corrected on a death certificate.

Patty Graybeal’s stepson died on April 2, 2023. She took action to correct the mistake, but the long delay slowed down settling the estate. An amendment to the death certificate was sent to the Tennessee Office of Vital Records more than three months ago.

A death certificate is a vital record that documents the end of a person’s life and is equally as important as a birth certificate. Some would actually say the death certificate is even more important given that it is needed to manage an estate and financial affairs. That means accuracy is extremely important when it comes to death certificates.

Shawn Talbert died unexpectedly at 42 in April 2023.

“I cry every single day over my son being gone. In my heart, he is my son,” said Graybeal.

Talbert, who was single, lived with his stepmother in this mobile home in Powell for years.

“It is hard getting through losing a child. He was not my biological child. But I have known Shawn since he was nine years old. He always wanted me to be his mom, so I could teach him how to do things,” said Graybeal.

Talbert’s remains were handled by Dogwood Cremation in Powell. His death certificate was completed eight days after he died and sent to the state. However, it had a mistake. It listed Graybeal as Talbert’s mother instead of his biological mother.

On a draft copy of what was to appear on the certificate, two names were written down under mother, Pat Graybeal and Della Stapleton, Talbert’s biological mother.

“They had asked the father’s name. I gave them the father’s name. They had asked the mother’s name. I gave them Della Stapleton’s name and quoted to them that I was the stepmother,” said Graybeal.

Talbert’s 2006 Hyundai is parked in front of Graybeal’s house. Legally, she can’t drive it until the death certificate is corrected.

Stapleton, Talbert’s biological mother who lives out of state, is named on an insurance policy of Talbert’s. However, the mistake prevents her from collecting it.

In Tennessee to amend a death certificate, the application may be made by the next of kin or the informant listed on the death certificate, in this case Graybeal, or the person acting as such who submitted the death certificate. Once the mistake was caught, Graybeal called Dogwood Cremation.

“They got a hold of the state of Tennessee. It took months for the state of Tennessee to get back with them. I had to sign the amendment. I signed the amendment,” said Graybeal.

The amendment to the original certificate was signed in mid-December 2023.

“I was then told I’d have a death certificate within two weeks to two months. It has been past two months,” said Graybeal. “I have emailed [the Office of Vital Records]. They have not responded to three emails that I have sent them.”

Graybeal continues to mourn for her stepson and wants this issue behind her.

“Shawn was very important to me. I would like to have some closure,” said Graybeal. “I just want it resolved so I can move forward with my life.”

Like everything in life, mistakes can happen when a death certificate is created. In this case, the mistake was unintentional and procedures were followed to make the correction. So why is it taking so long to change a name? We contacted the state, and they are checking into it.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side.

Morning Rundown: Aid group pauses Gaza operations after workers killed, flood watch as storms head east, lawmakers allude to 'chemtrails' conspiracy

Turkey's resurgent opposition thumps Erdogan in pivotal local elections

Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed on Monday to correct any mistakes that led to his party’s defeat in local elections where the opposition capitalized on economic woes and alienated Islamist voters, casting uncertainty over his reform plans.

Sunday’s vote marked Erdoğan and his AK Party’s (AKP) worst defeat in more than 20 years in power, revitalizing the opposition party and strengthening Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s standing as the president’s main rival.

Redrawing a political map long dominated by the AKP, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) won the popular vote for the first time in decades and swept most of the main cities, penetrating far into conservative central Turkey.

Analysts said voters lost patience with both a cost-of-living crisis driven by near 70% inflation and Erdoğan’s divisive political style.

The result bruised his hopes of adopting a new constitution, which could potentially extend his rule beyond 2028 when his term ends, they said. Though AKP and its allies have a majority in parliament, Erdoğan would need broader support or a successful referendum for a new constitution.

Erdoğan delivered a somber and introspective speech in the early hours of Monday. “This is not an end for us, but actually a turning point,” he said, acknowledging a “loss of altitude” for the AKP.

“If we made a mistake, we will fix it,” he told crowds gathered at AKP headquarters in Ankara, without indicating what changes he might make within his party or in policy.

In response, Turkish stocks rose and the lira — which has shed more than 80% of its value in five years — touched another record low versus the dollar on a holiday for many world financial markets.

Erdoğan made an abrupt U-turn in economic policy after his triumph in a national election last year, resulting in aggressive interest rate hikes to rein in inflation expectations that soared under his yearslong unorthodox policy stance.

Erdoğan has asked for patience with slower economic growth and high borrowing costs, promising reprieve later this year, and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said on Monday the belt-tightening program would carry on.

But AKP election candidates were thumped in the cities of Istanbul and Ankara and even in deeply pro-Erdoğan strongholds like Bursa, Afyonkarahisar and Adiyaman provinces.

“I think it’s mainly about the economy and in particular the inflation ... story. I think voters decided to punish Erdoğan for these reasons,” said Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of political risk consultancy Teneo.

He said AKP lost control of industrial regions where lots of workers are on a minimum wage, which has trailed inflation despite big rises.

AKP overall “suffered due to over-confidence hubris,” Piccoli said, pointing to the success of the Islamist New Welfare Party, which emerged as the third biggest party in a big surprise, with 6.2% support.

New Welfare benefited by taking an even more hardline stance than Erdoğan against Israel over the Gaza conflict, which helped draw pious voters away from the Islamist-rooted AKP, analysts said.

The CHP — the party of modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk — won near 38% support nationwide, more than two points ahead of the AKP and shattering the ceiling of 25% support it has had this century.

Opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper called it a “historic victory” that taught Erdoğan a lesson.

The CHP’s İmamoğlu won 51% support in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, 11 percentage points ahead of his AKP challenger despite polls pointing to a close race.

He won despite the collapse of an opposition alliance after last year’s election defeats, reaching out to Kurds and others typically outside of the secularist CHP base.

“The period of one-person rule has ended as of today,” İmamoğlu, 53, told thousands of jubilant supporters on Sunday evening.

The former businessman, who entered politics in 2008, had defeated Erdoğan’s candidate in the local election five years ago, ending 25 years of rule in the city by AKP and its Islamist predecessors. He is now touted as a presidential challenger.

“We didn’t vote for (AKP) obviously due to the economic conditions and promises that were not kept,” said accountant Onur Hizmetci, 42, adding he had voted AKP the last 15 years.

“All parties need to move away from polarization and do something for our country with unity,” he said in a public square on the Asian side of Istanbul. “People are sick of fighting and arguing.”

The Federal Register

The daily journal of the united states government, request access.

Due to aggressive automated scraping of FederalRegister.gov and eCFR.gov, programmatic access to these sites is limited to access to our extensive developer APIs.

If you are human user receiving this message, we can add your IP address to a set of IPs that can access FederalRegister.gov & eCFR.gov; complete the CAPTCHA (bot test) below and click "Request Access". This process will be necessary for each IP address you wish to access the site from, requests are valid for approximately one quarter (three months) after which the process may need to be repeated.

An official website of the United States government.

If you want to request a wider IP range, first request access for your current IP, and then use the "Site Feedback" button found in the lower left-hand side to make the request.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

Biden Is Breaking Campaign Rule No. 1. And It Just Might Work.

By Felicia Wong

Ms. Wong is the president and chief executive of Roosevelt Forward, a progressive advocacy organization.

Should we have trillionaires? Should we even have billionaires? According to at least one recent analysis , the economy is on track to mint its first trillionaire — that is 1,000 billion — within a decade. Such staggering accumulations of wealth are made possible in large part by the fact that America’s federal tax burden is so comparatively light. After a long period of seeming to venerate the 1 percent, or the 1 percent of 1 percent of 1 percent, American sentiment is swinging hard against this imbalance.

Now President Biden, behind in many polls and with an economy that is objectively strong but politically unpopular, is hoping to boost his re-election bid with a policy idea that would once have been almost unthinkable: For this portion of the population, at least, he is vowing — almost gleefully — to raise taxes.

Even for a popular president, this would seem like a huge risk. For a Democrat with low job approval ratings and precarious poll numbers on his handling of the economy, it’s a shocking rebuke to conventional wisdom — and practically an invitation to critics to call him a tax-and-spend liberal. But on the politics as well as the policy, Mr. Biden is making the right call. Economic ideas that were once dead on arrival are now gaining traction on both the left and the right. The moment has arrived for changes in the tax code — and maybe beyond.

For at least the past half-century, raising taxes has been the third rail of American politics. Ronald Reagan rode the wave of the late-1970s tax revolt into the Oval Office. I was a kid in California then, and I remember how fierce the anti-tax sentiment was. Howard Jarvis and his followers, mostly older white property owners, pushed for the ballot initiative known as Proposition 13 because they were, in their words, mad as hell that their rising taxes would help educate immigrant families. The anti-taxers won by a nearly two-to-one ratio.

Time magazine put Mr. Jarvis on its cover and called Prop. 13 the “most radical slash in property taxes since Depression days.” The movement devastated schools and social services. But it was political gold and spread nationwide.

During his first year as president, Mr. Reagan cut the highest personal income tax rate from 70 percent to 50 percent. He cut taxes for low-income Americans, too, decreased the maximum capital gains rate from 28 percent to 20 percent and cut corporate taxes. These tax cuts caused such deficits that Mr. Reagan had to reverse some of them during the rest of his time in office, but that is not how history remembers his presidency. By the end of his second term, the top individual rate was only 33 percent.

Anti-tax activists made cutting taxes an explicit political litmus test . In 1988, George H.W. Bush famously pledged, “Read my lips: no new taxes.” Twenty-five years later, Barack Obama modestly raised taxes on the highest-earning Americans, but he kept quiet about it, instead touting middle-class tax cuts that, he said, left middle-income families with a lower tax rate than at “almost any other period in the last 60 years.”

Fast-forward to Mr. Biden, who is making $5 trillion in tax increases central to his re-election campaign. During his State of the Union speech this month, he even made fun of Republicans for favoring cuts. Getting the rich to pay their share is right up there with getting greedy companies to stop charging you junk fees and, he said, shrinking your Snickers bars .

What explains the pivot? The president is following the money. Over the past decade and even more since the pandemic, wealth concentration has shot up astonishingly. Elon Musk was worth about $25 billion in 2020 and at the end of 2023 was worth almost 10 times that. In 1990 there were nearly 70 American billionaires . Today there are nearly 700. To what earthly end are we encouraging trillionaires?

The trend toward extreme inequality has fueled tremendous populist outrage, like the tax revolt in reverse. It may have been the Bernie Sanders left that started the “billionaires are a policy failure” meme, but poll after poll shows that two-thirds to three-quarters of Americans want higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

It isn’t all outrage, though. A lot of it is common sense. As one of the wealthy nations with the lowest tax rates, the United States has put off investing in our families and children. This deferred maintenance is costly: Our child care, health care, family leave and higher education systems are, as a result, among the most expensive and least accessible in the world. Making these arenas a priority is affordable and effective, and they have waited far too long.

Raising high-end taxes can be good for business, too. In the 1960s, George Romney, Mitt’s father, regularly turned down his bonuses from his auto executive job, perhaps in part because his marginal tax rate would have been about 90 percent. It made more sense for companies then to invest excess profits back into their businesses rather than in C.E.O. pay packages. Today, C.E.O. pay at the largest companies has skyrocketed while businesses have invested less in research , physical plant and other capital assets.

“Tax and spend” wasn’t always an epithet. Reagan Republicans and 1970s-era right-wing populists weaponized the label every chance they got. “You could be talking about the Mets versus the Dodgers,” the former U.S. Representative Steve Israel of New York recalled , “and good Republican operatives would be able to weave in tax-and-spend.”

But the term, as Mr. Biden and his team clearly know, no longer stings in quite the same way, especially not if taxes are linked to a vision that would make Americans’ lives less anxiety-ridden and more stable. Donald Trump’s hallmark legislative achievement, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which cut more than $1 trillion in taxes — mostly for the wealthy and corporations — has major provisions that are set to expire next year. A partisan battle will ensue. Mr. Biden’s 2024 push on taxes is a shot across that bow. Can we imagine an even bigger shift on taxation than the one Mr. Biden is making?

Could we get past the sense that taxes are what the government takes and toward an idea of taxes as a means of patriotism, a kitty we all pay into to build something for community use: a school, a library, a road, a college, a hospital? What if taxation could bring us all together? It’s not that wild an idea. As the political scientist Vanessa Williamson notes, both liberal and conservative Americans view paying taxes as a moral duty. Just think of the pride with which people refer to themselves as taxpayers.

Of course, taxes are a civic good only if the tax rules are perceived as being fair. Which is why Mr. Biden’s calculated risk could pay many dividends come November.

Felicia Wong is the president and chief executive of Roosevelt Forward, the advocacy partner of the progressive think tank the Roosevelt Institute.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

Dimensions of 3-point lines on Portland court differ for women’s March Madness

The court used at Portland’s Moda Center, one of the sites for the women’s NCAA Tournament Regionals, has dimension discrepancies for the 3-point line, according to the NCAA. The NCAA said that they were informed Sunday that the 3-point lines on the floor were “not the same distance.”

“The two head coaches were made aware of the discrepancy and elected to play a complete game on the court as is, rather than correcting the court and delaying the game,” the NCAA said in a statement.

Advertisement

The court will be adjusted before Monday’s Elite Eight matchup featuring UConn and USC , per the NCAA.

According to the ABC broadcast, the NCAA notified NC State coach Wes Moore and Texas coach Vic Schaefer at approximately 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. local time) of the issue. Moore and Schaefer went onto the floor during pregame shootaround to see the discrepancy, measuring out in steps the distance from the free-throw line to the top of the arc.

“The line on the Texas bench’s end was correct,” Moore said after the game. “The line on our end was a little bit shorter.”

Moore went on to say the lines have been like this the whole time they’ve been in Portland, “They didn’t paint them overnight.”

Following the coaches’ request during the Elite Eight game, the NCAA measured from the baseline to the top of the 3-point line and discovered a discrepancy at one end of the court from the other, per the broadcast. Despite this, Moore and Schaefer agreed to play the game, avoiding lengthy delays. NC State defeated Texas 76-66 to advance to the Final Four.

The three-point lines are different on each side of the court in Portland for the Women's Elite Eight 😬 🎥 @ESPN pic.twitter.com/U159aIF4e1 — The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 31, 2024

“They were measuring some things that’s all I want to say at this time,” Moore said on the broadcast following the first quarter.

After the game, Schaefer said the NCAA “gave us the option of bringing somebody in and remarking it correctly which would’ve taken an hour and we might have lost our window with ABC or playing how it was.”

“Wes wanted to play and we played,” Schaefer said. “I wasn’t gonna be the guy that goes, ‘No, I don’t want to do it.'”

Moda Center had four Sweet 16 games on Friday and Saturday and two Elite Eight games on Sunday and Monday. No coach or player in media availabilities mentioned the apparent court discrepancy until Sunday during pregame of NC State-Texas.

Nicki Collen, the Baylor Lady Bears coach who lost in Portland to USC in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, said on X that her team shot better from beyond the arc in the second half because of “the correct 3-point distance.” In the first half, Baylor shot 3 of 12 from beyond the arc (25 percent). In the second half, Baylor was 6-of-14 from 3 (42.9 percent).

“With eight teams at one site you get so little prep time on the main court and your focus is on game planning and simply getting shots up,” Collen said.

The college 3-point line distance for women’s college basketball is supposed to be 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches. This was adopted in women’s college basketball before the 2021-22 season.

Required reading

• Follow The Athletic ’s live coverage of the Elite Eight.

( Photo: Ashley Young / The Athletic)

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.

Lukas Weese is a Staff Editor of News at The Athletic. Before The Athletic, Lukas was a freelance sports journalist, working as an associate editor at Sportsnet, an OHL reporter for the Toronto Star and had bylines in outlets such as ESPN's Andscape, USA Today, Complex, Yahoo Sports, GOLF Magazine, Just Women's Sports and Raptors Republic. Lukas also does freelance play-by-play broadcasting. Follow Lukas on Twitter @ Weesesports