Grammatical Errors in Descriptive Text Written by Different Grades of SMP Dharma Pancasila Medan

The study aims to analyze grammatical errors in descriptive text written by different grades. This study was conducted by using descriptive qualitative design. The sources of this data were students in the eighth grade which consisted of 21 students and the ninth grade which consists of 20 at SMP Dharma Pancasila Medan.The data of the study were obtained from students’ descriptive text and interview. The analysis found that the grammatical errors written by eighth grade are subject verb agreement (46 cases), verb tense (7 cases), verb form (5 cases), singular/plural (2 cases), word form (11 cases) and sentence structure (26 cases), while the grammatical errors written by ninth grade are subject verb agreement (43 cases), verb tense (7 cases), verb form (4 cases), singular/plural (4 cases), word form (12 cases) and sentence structure (18 cases). From the analysis was found the factors underlying the grammatical error made by eighth grade are imperfect learning (4), overgeneralization (11) and influence of the native language (6), while the factors underlying the grammatical error made by ninth grade are imperfect learning (8), overgeneralization (6) and influence of the native language (6).