Common Writing Errors and Corrections
Correction Symbols
- ¶ -- start a new paragraph
- r-o -- run-on (two complete thoughts run together)
- /\ -- insert a word or a letter
- c-s -- comma splice (two sentences connected by a comma)
- sp -- check spelling
- frag -- fragment
- a /b -- transpose these letters
- || -- parallelism issue
- agr -- agreement
- pv -- passive voice
- P -- check for punctuation
- w-c -- word choice
- h -- capitalize this letter
- inc -- incomplete
- / -- make lower case
- ---- -- wordy -- delete text
- check mark -- something well-done
Cautions
Do Not
- conclude your papers with The End
- use you (second person) in place of 1st or 3rd person
- use get in place of become, receive, obtain
- use a lot in place of often, many, several, frequently
- use should of in place of should have
- use like in place of just as, as, as if, as though
- use thing or stuff in place of the specific object or concept
- use all of the sudden in place of all of a sudden or suddenly
- use this without placing a noun directly after This _ belongs to me.
Avoid
- clichés, dangling or misplaced modifiers
- slang, redundancy
- passive verbs, vagueness, and sweeping generalities
- wordiness, shifts in construction (number, tense, person, voice)
- intensifiers such as very, totally, really – these vampire words suck the life from your writing
Be careful with
- affect/effect, real/really, accept/except
- among/between, that/which, your/you’re
- imply/infer, then/than, quotation/quote
- its/it’s, there/their/they’re, lie/lay
- to/too/two, alright/all right
The Twenty Most Common Errors
- Missing comma after an introductory element
- Vague pronoun reference
- Missing comma in a compound sentence
- Wrong word
- Missing comma(s) with a nonrestrictive element
- Wrong or missing verb ending
- Wrong or missing preposition
- Comma splice
- Missing or misplaced possessive apostrophe
- Unnecessary shift in tense
- Unnecessary shift in pronoun
- Sentence fragment
- Wrong tense or verb form
- Lack of subject-verb agreement
- Missing comma in a series
- Lack of agreement between pronoun and antecedent
- Unnecessary comma(s) with a restrictive element
- Fused sentence
- Misplaced or dangling modifier
- Its/It's confusion
Sources
Additional Resources