This document provides an overview of common grammar, punctuation, and writing errors and how to identify and correct them. It discusses topics such as subject-verb agreement, pronoun usage, parallel structure, spelling, capitalization, punctuation including commas, quotation marks and semicolons. Specific examples of errors are provided along with explanations of how to fix issues related to fragments, run-ons, dangling modifiers, homonyms and more. The goal is to help writers strengthen their editing and proofreading skills to improve the quality of their writing.

1. Proofreading &
Editing
Grammar Skill
Checks
2/2007

2. Have You Ever?
 Been penalized for too many errors on your
paper?
 Sharpen your eye for correct English. Make
proofreading a habit.
 Learned something and then found you
couldn’t remember it?
 Practice and application of skills help you
remember.

3. Have You Ever?
 Made a grammatical error but couldn’t
explain why?
 Learn how to identify common errors and ways
to correct them—and why.
 Questioned whether you will ever use what
you are learning?
 You will be writing to communicate for the rest
of your life.

4. Errors = Social
Markers
 Speaking and writing errors signal
 Social background
 Educational background/level
 One's concern for correctness

5. Common Errors
 Spelling
 Punctuation
 Capitalization
 Pronouns
 Verbs
 Sentence Fragments
 Run-on Sentences

6. Common Errors
 Word Usage
 Dangling/Misplaced Modifiers
 Parallel Structure
 Homonyms

7. Spelling
 Serious Errors: common words
 Be aware of your “enemies”
 Words you often misspell
 Create mnemonic tricks
 Help remember

8. Word Usage
Errors
 Usage—words often
confused
 Accept, except
 Advice, advise
 Affect, effect
 Between, among
 Lie, lay
 Than, then
 Really, real
 Good, well
 More errors
 A lot alot
 All right alright
 Could have could of
 From off of
 Regardless
irregardless
 Through thru
Wrong!

9. Homonym Errors
 Homonyms—similar sounds; different meanings
 To, too, two
 Their, they’re, there
 Your, you’re
 Whose, who’s
 Coarse, course
 Complement, compliment
 Council, counsel
 Principal, principle

10. Capitalization
 Titles—all words 4+ letters long
 First word in complete sentence
 Including direct quotes
 Proper nouns
 Names with Titles—President Obama
 Sacred Names—God, Allah

11. Capitalization
 Seasons
 Only when personified—Spring danced joyfully.
 Directions
 When naming specific regions—The North won.
 School Subjects
 Names of languages—French, English
 Numbered courses--Biology I, History 211

12. Review:
Sentence Elements
1. Subject
 Who is doing the action
1. Verb
 Action—State of being
1. Complete Thought
 Independent
Clause—IC
 Stands alone
 Dependent
Clause—DC
 Must be
attached

13. Phrases
 Prepositional phrase—most common
 Mnemonic trick: Preposition = anything a plane
can do to a cloud
 To, From
 Over, Under
 Through, Around
 Inside, Outside
The Subject will NOT be in a prep. phrase

14. Review:
Sentence Structure
Who Did (What)
Subj. Verb Obj.
Tom hit the ball.
Where
?
When?
How?
Why?
Where
?
When?
How?
Why?
(Optional)
Moveable
(Optional)
Moveable

15. Punctuation
 Commas
 Apostrophes
 Quotation marks
 Underlining
 Semi-colons

16. Comma Usage
 Compound Sentence
 IC ,conj IC (IC=Independent
Clause=sentence)
 Coordinating Conjunctions—see mnemonic device
 F For
 A And
 N Nor
 B But
 O Or
 Y Yet
 S So
Tom hit the ball, and he ran the bases.

17. Comma Usage
 Set off nonessential elements—not
necessary to the meaning of the sentence
 Phrases/clauses
 Mary, who has a great deal of talent, is a senior.
 Shaneka, wearing a jacket, walked into the room
 Parenthetical expressions
 however, of course, for example
– Each student, however, expected a new computer.

18. Comma Usage:
The Oxford
Comma
 Separate items in a list—3+
 The store sold potatoes, carrots, and beans.
 Kevin ran, leaped, and pranced for joy.
 She learned of her husband’s loss, of his great
labor, and of other efforts to make amends.
 Maintain Parallel Structure

19. Comma Usage
Who Did What
Subj. Verb Obj.
Tom hit the ball.
Where
When
How
Why
Where,
When,
How,
Why,
At May Park,
Saturday,
With my bat,
Because he was mad,
Separate introductory
words, phrases, and
clauses with a comma.

20. Parallel Structure
 Items joined by a conjunction must be
expressed in the same grammatical form.
 Word, word, and word
 reading, dancing, and cooking
 Phrase, phrase, or phrase
 over the hill, under the bridge, and into the cave
 either move to Kansas or move to Texas

21. Parallel Structure
The new school is large, rambling, and
it looks ugly.
The new school is large, rambling, and ugly.
 All items needed to be adjectives. The last
item was an IC.
Wrong!

22. Parallel Structure
I enjoy reading, writing, and to dance.
I enjoy reading, writing, and dancing.
 First two items end in –ing. The last item
was an infinitive. (to + verb)
Wrong!

23. Parallel Structure
Charlie is not only talented as a writer but also
as an artist.
Charlie is talented not only as a writer
but also as an artist.
 Move verb to indicate both items.
 Items following not only and but also must
be worded exactly the same.
Wrong!

24. Parallel Structure
The juniors decided that they neither found
the dance nor the breakfast enjoyable.
The juniors decided that they found neither
the dance nor the breakfast enjoyable.
 Place neither and nor directly in front of
ideas that are parallel.
Wrong!

25. Apostrophes
 Possessives
 ‘s singular noun
dog’s Mary’s
 s’ plural noun or
ends in -s
dogs’ Charles’
 Contractions
 Did not = didn’t
 Are not = aren’t
 It is = it’s
 Drop contractions
from academic
work, except from
direct quotes
Do Not Add an ‘ to a possessive pronoun—your’s
Do Not Add an ‘ to form the plural of a noun—paper’s

26. Quotation Marks
 Direct Quotations
 Mary said, “You will be hungry because it’s late.”
 “You will be hungry,” Mary said, “because it’s late.”
 “Are you going to New York?” asked Bernie.
 “I remember that she said, ‘Turn here,’” said Al.

27. Titles
 Italicize the titles of
long works
 Books
 Magazines
 Journals
 Newspapers
 Movies
 Websites
 “Quotes” around
titles of short works
 Short stories
 Poems
 Chapters
 Journal articles
 Songs
 Essays
 Web pages
 Web articles

28. Semicolons
 Between IC not joined by a ,conj
 Between IC joined by one of the following:
 However, therefore, consequently, moreover
 Between series of items if those items
contain commas
 The Student Council elected its officers: Sarah
Long, president; Megan Wright, vice-president;
and Peg Miller, secretary/treasurer.

29. Capitalization
 Titles—all words 4+ letters long
 First word in complete sentence
 Specific nouns
 Names with Titles—President Obama
 Sacred Names—God, Allah

30. Capitalization
 Seasons
 When personified—Spring danced joyfully.
 Directions
 When naming specific regions—The North won.
 School Subjects
 Names of languages—French, English
 Numbered courses--Biology I, History 211

31. Pronouns
 Pronoun Shifts
 Do not shift between person
 I, we, us
 He, she, it, they, them
 Pronoun Reference
 Make sure clear
 She was one of those people who is always
helping others.
YO
U

32. Pronouns
 Pronoun Agreement
 Agree with antecedent
 Number—singular, plural
 Gender—masculine, feminine
 Case—subject, object, possessive
 Pronouns ending in –one, –body, or –thing
 Always singular
 Has everyone brought his or her book?

33. Indefinite
Pronouns

34. Pronoun/Anteceden
t Agreement
Each of them left their books on the
table.
Each of the students left his or her books on
the table.
The students left their books on the table.
Wrong!

35. Pronoun/Anteceden
t Agreement
Everybody on my floor hates their room.
Everybody on my floor hates her room.
Everybody on my floor hates his room.
All of the students on my floor hate their
rooms.
Wrong!

36. Verb Forms
 Subject-Verb Agreement
 Problem areas—finding the subject
 Prepositional phrases
 Sentences beginning with It, There, Here
 Questions—verb before subject
 Appositive phrases
 Problem areas—deciding number
 Indefinite pronouns—anybody, few, some
 Collective nouns—faculty, team, class
 Compound subjects—Tom and Shaneka

37. Verb Forms
 Verb Tense—indicates time of action
 Keep tenses consistent
 Past perfect tense (had done, had left…)
Indicates which of two actions took place earlier
1. When we entered the room, the fire started.
2. When we entered the room, the fire had started.
 -ing verbs must have a helping verb

38. Sentence
Fragments
 Missing one or more elements of an IC.
 Phrase
 Dependent Clause
 Corrections:
 Add the element(s)
 Attach the fragment to the IC before or after it.

39. Correcting
Sentence
Fragments
 She lived in China. Where her parents were
missionaries.
 She lived in China, where her parents were
missionaries.

40. Correcting
Sentence
Fragments
 Our country has many famous musicians.
Such as Pearl Bailey and Bing Crosby.
 Our country has many famous musicians
such as Pearl Bailey and Bing Crosby.

41. Correcting
Sentence
Fragments
 Because she was too tall.
 Because she was too tall, Anna had to duck
to enter the room.
 Anna had to duck to enter the room
because she was too tall.

42. Run-On
Sentences &
Comma Splices
 Two or more sentences joined together
(usually with only a comma – comma splice)
 Corrections:
 Use a period to separate the two sentences.
 Add a ,+ coordinating conjunction.
 Use a semi-colon—esp. if they’re closely related.
 Add a subordinating conjunction to make one
sentence subordinate to the other.
 Rewrite the sentence completely.

43. Correcting
Run-ons & CSs
 Finals week is next week, I am already
starting to feel stress.
 Finals week is next week. I am already
starting to feel stress.

44. Correcting
Run-ons & CSs
 I only have one final exam it is in my history
class.
 I only have one final exam, and it is in my
history class.
 I only have one final exam; it is in my history
class.

45. Correcting
Run-ons & CSs
 I just really need to pass this class, I plan to
graduate in June.
 Because I plan to graduate in June, I just
really need to pass this class.
 I plan to graduate in June; therefore, I just
really need to pass this class.

46. Dangling/Misplaced
Modifiers
 Modifiers—adjectives & adverbs
 Adjectives + nouns/pronouns
 Which one?
 How many?
 What kind?
 Adj, Adj + noun
 The small, blue hat
 Driving down the street, I ran over a bag of trash.

47. Dangling/Misplaced
Modifiers
 Modifiers—adjectives, adverbs
 Must be placed as close to word being described
as possible
1. Running down the hall, his jacket caught on a nail.
2. At the age of four, Alice’s family moved to Texas.
3. To improve our wrestling team, new weight
equipment was purchased by the school.

48. Authors Cited
Gayla S. Keesee
Education Specialist
Mack Gipson, Jr.
Tutorial & Enrichment Center
Vicki LeQuire
Lecturer, Rhetoric & Composition