10 Grammar Mistakes Every Transcriptionist Must Learn From And Avoid

Grammar can be quite confusing at times. It can be quite easy to make a few mistakes here and there. However, as a transcriptionist, there are some grammatical errors that just aren’t acceptable. These mistakes may consequentially end up backfiring on the one transcribing. The quality of a person's transcription is not just found in how fast transcription is done, it is also in how accurate and how minimal the mistakes are.

The more professional the transcription is done, the less grammatical mistakes can be expected. Most professional transcriptionists use a transcription tool in order to both bypass hours and hours of transcription and get instant results. Other tools like Grammarly are also available to aid transcriptionists in improving grammar by offering automated corrections and indications of the presence of grammatical errors.

Here are the 10 most common grammar mistakes every transcriptionist must avoid

1. The use of “aid” and “aide”

Although these words might not seem to pop up that often, they are still very confusing to some. Aid is used as a verb while aide is used as a noun.

Correct example: I would like some aide to clean my house. Can you aid me while I pick up the groceries?

2. The use of “affect” and “effect”

In most cases, affect is used as a verb while effect is used as a noun. However, affect can be a noun when talking about a person’s mood. On the other hand, effect can also be a verb when it means to bring about.

Correct example: The current economic crisis will not affect us. Even if it will, the effect won’t be too long.

Correct example: Despite his grumpy affect, he still wanted to effect change as he entered the party.

3. The use of “principle” and “principal”

It is important to note that principle is a specific rule, law, guideline, or even fact. Principal, on the other hand, is the headmaster of a school or maybe a person in charge of some things within the company. Principal can also mean original.

Correct example: The principal reminded us of the principle to always factor in the principal amount when computing interest so that the company’s financial principal won’t have a hard time

4. The use of “awhile” and “a while”

This one can be tricky so please bear with us. Use awhile when trying to replace an adverb and use a while when trying to replace a quantity of time. To simplify things, use awhile when substituting the word “quickly” “silently” “loudly” etc.

Correct example: The rabbit only took awhile. The congressman’s term lasted a while.

5. The use of “past” and “passed”

Although this might be quite tricky, there is actually a way to shortcut everything. Basically, when referring to a movement, all that needs to be done is to substitute “move past” with passed. Otherwise, just use the simple past.

Correct example: We already passed the intersection. Well, there’s no point dwelling on the past now.

6. The use of “ensure” and “insure”

This one, again, could be quite tricky. Basically, ensure means to make certain while insure means to be able to protect against loss. Just remember, insurance!

Correct example: The applicant has to ensure that their files are in order for them to insure their property should any damage occur.

7. The use of “every day” and “everyday”

Every day talks about each day while everyday is an adjective that is used to describe something daily or even ordinary.

Correct example: We walk through the park every day. One day, we spotted a red kitten. This isn’t a typical everyday kitten since kittens aren’t red.

8. The use of “emigrated” and “immigrated”

Although uncommon, the difference between the two is very important since these words are more likely to be used in more serious content where mistakes are unforgivable. The misuse of this word could even cost quite a lot of confusion and possible damage. Emigrate means exiting the country while immigrate means coming into a country. Remember that emigrate refers to exit and immigrate refers to entry.

Correct example: My sister plans to emigrate to Australia. However, it seems like there are a lot of people planning to immigrate there. The competition might be quite rough.

9. The use of “eminent,” “imminent,” and “immanent”

These are other words that are very important and should never be mistaken. It’s important to check the context in order to apply the right words since they sound almost exactly the same. According to the known Merriam-Webster dictionary, eminent means popular, imminent talks about something that is going to happen, and immanent means inherent or present within.

Correct example: He is quite eminent at work but due to what he did, it is imminent that he could get fired. This could be because of his immanent behavior.

10. The use of “capital” and “capitol”

Capital is used when referring to a city within a province, state, region, or country, which is usually known as the seat of the government. Capitol, on the other hand, refers to a particular building that is holding a government’s own legislative branch.

Correct example: Berlin is the capital of Germany. We went there to see their famous capitol last year.

Grammar can be quite confusing and most beginner transcriptionists would usually rely on an editor to fix their work. However, in order to truly become a professional transcriptionist, it is necessary to make sure that the final transcription comes up with the least grammar mistakes. For those wanting to improve in this path, it is important to make sure to minimize grammar mistakes made.

Using the right transcription tool can automatically take care of the most common grammar mistakes for transcriptionists. Usually, the automatic audio-to-text tool still takes a look at the sentence structure and makes sure to insert the right word within the sentence.

A great transcription tool to use is Izitext.io which not only automatically transcribes from audio to text, it also comes up with pretty accurate word usage. This way, users won’t have to be baffled out of their minds with most of the confusing word choices. Not to mention, Izitext also has an editor feature that enables the transcriptionist to edit the transcript freely and conveniently.

Want to edit your transcript in an easier way? Check out Izitext.io's transcription tool for editor feature.