Proofreading SymbolsProofreading Symbols

Symbol Meaning Example

       insert a comma                                   

       apostrophe or singlequotation mark

                                

     insert something                                

            use double quotation marks                          

      use a period here                            

         delete                                  

         transpose elements                            

        close up this space                              

        a space needed here                                        

       begin new paragraph                                     

          no paragraph                      

Abbreviation Meaning Example

Ab a faulty abbreviation She had earned a Phd along with her M.D.

AgrSee also P/A and S/V

agreement problem:subject/verb orpronoun/antecedent

The piano as well as the guitar need tuning.The student lost their book.

Awk awkward expressionor construction

The storm had the effect of causingmillions of dollars in damage.

Cap faulty capitalization We spent the Fall in Southern spain.

CS comma spliceRaoul tried his best, this time thatwasn't good enough

Frag fragmentDepending on the amount of snow we get thiswinter and whether the towns buy new trucks.

| | problem in parallel form My income is bigger than my wife.

P/A pronoun/antecedentagreement

A student in accounting would be wise to seetheir advisor this month.

R-O run-on sentenceRaoul tried his best this timethat wasn't good enough.

Sp spelling error This sentence is flaude with two mispellings.

STET Let it stand Ignore any corrections placed here.

WW wrong wordWhat affect did the movie have on Sheila?She tried to hard to analyze its conclusion.

What Not to do in MLA Style

• Extra spaces• Bold titles, or anything in bold• Titles in caps• Different fonts or font sizes• Incorrect references: (p. 137)• Overuse of quotation marks or italics• Misuse of dashes• Names of centuries in numbers: 21st

• Dates: 25th October, 2007 or Nov. 6th, 2007• Incorrect headers, such as: Name-1-

HomonymsWhich Witch is Which

• There, their, and they’re

• Your, you’re (and yore, for that matter)

• Two, too, and to

• Were, we’re

• Then, than (not really a homonym, but close enough to confuse)

Simple Mistakes• “Being such rare opportunities, I am proud . . .”

• “Most people have at one point or another in their lives have felt ‘othered.’”

• “. . . my lessons books . . .”

• “The jokes lose their humor when they told hours later.”

• “I have spoke in English.”

• “I had spoke . . .”

• “In the society you and me belong to . . .”

• “The need to have ones values . . .”

Verb conjugations

Mistakes I have found:

“I find myself struggling with exchanges, which separates me from the majority.”

“There is an endless amount of expectations to fulfill.”

“Many get good marks in school and therefore is stereotyped as a nerd or a geek.”

“The buildings has to be kept clean.”

Unclear referents

“It is believed . . .”

“It is especially hard to find this when you’re in an environment where it is already handed to you by numerous people.”

Pronoun agreement“It is hard for one to know every single detail attached to their culture.”

“Like any young person who is growing into who they are going to be, they struggle with their own identity.”

“People do not expect someone to spend all of their time . . .”

Semicolons“What this means is basically any time when a person feels as though he or

she does not belong; like the majority of individuals present are of a totally different group than himself.”

“I believe the causes for this are twofold; one because . . .” (a semicolon is not a colon)

Cranking the engine“For me being a teenager I feel . . .”

“I, myself . . .”

Lacking clarity

“. . . are propagating exactly what they are discriminating towards me for.”