Editing and Proofreading: Identify errors

1. EDITING/PROOFREADING
Identifying Common Mistakes

2. FIND THE ERRORS
1. Jane went to work and helped her boss finish a project and
it had a lot of problems but came out well.
a. Jane went to work and helped her boss finish a project,
which had a lot of problems but came out well.
b. Jane went to work and helped her boss finish a project. It
had a lot of problems but came out well.
If more than one S+V+O group is used, they must be added
using: A colon, semi-colon, or a connector (and, or, but, so,
for, yet), or a relative clause pronoun (who, that, which,

3. 2. My friend, who is a priest and who works in the rural areas
of my country.
My friend who is a priest and who works in the rural areas of
my country, often works in the city as well.
FRAGMENT
Each sentence must have an implied subject and verb to
be a complete sentence.
3. I lived here since 1992.
I have lived here since 1992.
Each verb must agree with the time frame or time word in
the sentence.

4. 4. Scientists at MIT discovered a new life form last year. They
published their research in "The Journal of Biology.” Others
are questioning the validity of their work.
TENSE UNITY Each verb must agree with the general
time frame in the context .
5. The pilot was caused the accident.
The accident caused by the pilot…/The accident was caused
by the pilot.
PASSIVE: the obj. of an active V. becomes the S. of a
passive V: the S. is the “receiver” of the action.
Others have been questioning...

5. 6. The number of students in community colleges are
increasing.
The number of students in community colleges is increasing.
The verb must agree in number with the subject noun.
7. Every one of the students have to carry their books in their
backpacks. (2 versions)
a. Every one of the students has to carry his books in his
backpack.
b. All the students have to carry their books in their
backpacks.
Nouns and pronouns must agree within each sentence.

6. 8. We saw the White House and the Buckingham Palace on
our two trips last year.
We saw the White House and Buckingham Palace on our two
trips last year.
Every noun needs to be considered for article use. Ask
yourself if the noun is countable or uncountable. Is the noun
definite (already identified by earlier mention, later mention,
shared knowledge, or uniqueness), or is the noun indefinite.
9. I parked my car on the parking lot and couldn't find it later.
…IN the parking lot and later I couldn’t find it.
Although some rules cover prepositions, most of them must
be learned as individual expressions.

7. 10. The hotel acommodations were very luxurious.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Spelling
11. She gave to me her class notes
a. She gave me her class notes. b. She gave her class notes to
me.
Give/Show/Send s.o. s.t. / Give/Show/Send s.t. TO s.o.
12. I expect to seeing him today.
I expect TO SEE him today.
13. My friend also attends to Stanford University.
My friend also attends Stanford (without TO)

8. 14. I will study there during the Fall semester.
…fall
No Capitalization
15. I am attending college, because I want to improve my
English.
I am attending college because…
No Comma
16. He was trying looking important to everyone.
He was trying trying TO look important…
17. When my mother was child, she lived in small town.
When my mother was A child…

9. 18. Now, this town is big city with tall building & many
highway.
BUILDINGS/ HIGHWAYS
19. English has borrowed quite a few of word from another
languages.
…WORDS from OTHER languages.
20. There is many student from differents countries in my
class.
There ARE…
21. Hundred of athlete take part in the Olympics.
HUNDREDS of ATHLETES…
22. Almost all of the house in the town are white with red

10. 23. Education is one of the most important aspect of life.
ONE of the most important ASPECTS
24. Knowledges about many different things help us live fuller
lives.
KNOWLEDGE…HELPS us…
25. All of the students names were on the list.
STUDENTS' names
26. I live in a four rooms apartment.
…a FOUR-ROOM apartment.
27. A lot of people prefer to live in small towns.
Sentence is correct.

11. 28. They do not want to move to another places to find
works.
…to find WORK/JOBS.
29. Todays news is just as bad as yesterdays news.
TODAY’S…YESTERDAY’S
30. One of the member of our class speak more than five
language.
One of the MEMBERS of our class SPEAKS…
31. The instructor gave us several homework to hand in next
Tuesday.
…SEVERAL ASSIGNMENTS/A LOT OF HOMEWORK…

12. 32. Both of my mother and father are teacher's.
BOTH my mother and father are TEACHERS.
33. Every employees in our company respect the former
president.
Every employee RESPECTS…
34. A child needs to learn how to get along with another
people.
…OTHER people.
35. A child also needs to know how to depend on yourself .
…depend on HIMSELF.