Tag Archives: apostrophe

Treasure Hunt #2

28 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by in Grammar Tips, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

As promised, here is a second exercise for you to practice your proofreading skills. Only this time, the stakes are a little higher because there are three kinds of errors rather than just one. So put on your magic glasses and proofread the following essay for a total of 15 errors: 6 errors in missing words or word endings, 5 errors in apostrophe use, and 4 errors in sentence punctuation (placement of periods). Check back next week for the answers. 4/11 – Note: Answers are now posted!Proofreading 3

Writing an Essay

After much experimenting, Sam finally learn (learned) the best way to write an essay for the school magazine there (magazine. There) were several steps, and each step was essential in achieving the goal of good (of a good) essay.

The first step involved making a list of possible topic’s (topics) that he thought would be interesting to his audience and then narrowing his choices until he found the one he liked best. After he decide (decided) what his thesis was going to be. Sam (be, Sam) made a rough outline of main points that would support the thesis and wrote his first draft in one sitting. Sams (Sam’s) tutor had advised him not to worry at this point about punctuation, spelling, or other mechanics but just to concentrate on getting the idea’s  (ideas) down on paper.

The second step involved reading the first draft for it’s  (its) content and organization. Sam improved the paper by adding more explanation where was (where it was) needed, taking out irrelevant material, and strengthening his introduction and conclusion, he (conclusion. He) also proofread this draft for errors in sentence punctuation, word choice, subject-verb agreement, and comma use. Experience with other assignments had taught him that he made those errors most often, so he took time look (time to look) especially for those.

The last and most important step was to put the paper away for a few hour’s, that (hours. That) enabled him to look at it again with fresh eyes. He read it once more for content. Then he took his finger and pointed at each word while reading it out loud in order to find any errors he might have overlook (overlooked) before.

The day he sent the finished essay to his editor, Sam was confident that he had done his best. It was a good feeling to know that he had made progress in producing a well-written and error-free document.

The 15 errors are underlined, and the correct forms are in parentheses. Note that the answer for hour’s, that actually contains 2 errors.

 

Five Proofreading Tips

14 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by in Grammar Tips, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Proofreading 2Are you one of those writers who have a lot to say and can say it well, but who seems to have a blind spot for finding your own spelling errors or misplaced commas? If so, take heart!

After nearly a quarter of a century helping college students improve their writing skills, I’m convinced that it is possible to improve your proofreading ability. It takes concentration, effort, and a willingness to spend a little more time with your writing than you might normally want to do, but in the end what a difference it can make in the quality of your final product! Yes, you may still have to rely on the extra-sharp eyes of a professional (That’s why we’re here!) for a final go-through, but just imagine how much more satisfying it will feel when you can catch some of those pesky errors for yourself!

So if you were unfortunate enough to miss the lesson in school on basic proofreading techniques or are just looking for a  quick review, here are five tried and true ones to get you started.

  1. Be sure to use Spell Check and Grammar Check (or similar programs) but do not rely solely on them. Neither one can read your mind and know what you really wanted to say. Spell Check, for example, will not flag a word like “defiantly,” even though you meant “definitely.” Grammar Check is still not sophisticated enough — and may never be — to cover every possible variation in sentence structure and punctuation available in English.
  2. Don’t proofread immediately after you finish writing something. Put it away for at least an hour, and then come back to it with a clear mind and fresh eyes.
  3. Proofread for only one error at a time. It seems redundant but will help you focus on finding just those words that need apostrophes (or not!) or on searching out all those places where there are missing words and/or word endings.
  4. Use a ruler or your finger to slow down your eye so that you see exactly what is on the page and not what you know should be there.
  5. Read your paper out loud to yourself, again reading only what’s actually on the page. This technique is especially helpful for finding awkward or missing wording or incomplete sentence structure. If it doesn’t sound right to you, then it’s definitely not going to make sense to your reader!

These five techniques have proved to be helpful to other writers who struggle with finding their own pesky errors. Hopefully, they’ll prove helpful to you! But practice makes perfect, so stay tuned.

For the next several weeks, I’ll be posting short proofreading exercises for those who want to test their own ability to find errors in word usage, apostrophes, and sentence punctuation.

Join the fun!

 

Spelling Tip #2: 3 for the price of 1

01 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by in Grammar Tips, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

possessive pronouns      Our English spelling system is so confusing! Rules are hard to come by, and even if one works in most situations, there are always exceptions you have to remember.

Here is a rule that always works, with no exceptions! And it will take care of three different common errors all in one fell swoop. Three for the price of one — now that’s a bargain worth remembering!

This is the rule: There is never an apostrophe in any of the possessive pronouns.

What are the possessive pronouns, you ask? They are listed in the little box above, but in case you can’t read them, here they are again: her, his, your, their, our, its, my. 

Now, I’m sure you’re never tempted to put an apostrophe in his, even though the word ends in -s. Its, however, is a different story because not only does it end in -s, there is also a word spelled it’s.

And it gets worse. Your doesn’t end in -s, but what about the word you’re? And their doesn’t end in -s either, but what about the word they’re?*

All three of these confusing sets of words can be explained the same way — and hopefully remembered the same way. If you read my earlier post on apostrophes, you’ll remember that there are two absolutely different uses of that punctuation mark: to show possession and to show contraction.

The rule above takes care of the apostrophe for possession: There is never an apostrophe in any of the possessive pronouns.

So the apostrophe in words like it’s, you’re, and they’re must be the second use: to show contraction. And that can be tested out in the following sample sentences.

It’s (it is) going to be a great day!

If you’re (you are) planning to go on the field trip, you need to let Mr. Smith know.

They’re (they are) right on schedule to finish the project by the deadline.

So here is the easy solution to remember: If you want to say it is, you are, or they are, use the pronoun with the apostrophe. If you don’t, then use the other form without the apostrophe. 

Mother’s garden was known for its brilliant colors in the fall.

I can tell that your interests lie elsewhere.

Their flight was cancelled due to the snowstorm.

Voila! Three for the price of one! And that’s a real bargain in our rule-confused English spelling system.

______________

*Unfortunately, there’s also a third form (there) for this word that doesn’t fit the pattern. But it’s easily disposed of. Use there any place where you don’t want a possessive (their) or a contraction (they’re).

There were many reasons for the delay in shipment.

I won’t go there unless I have to.

They’re (contraction) going to arrive there before their (possessive) luggage does.

 

Those Pesky Apostrophes

14 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by in Grammar Tips, Uncategorized, What's the Latest?

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

,

The apostrophe is one of the most misunderstood punctuation marks in English, mainly because it serves two distinctly different functions.

The first function is the easy one, and the one most likely to be used correctly. An apostrophe is used to show that two or more words have been combined by dropping letters and putting the apostrophe where the letters are omitted. You may know them as contractions. Here are some examples: don’t = do not; could’ve = could have; I’ll = I will; he’s = he is. Pretty simple, right?

The apostrophe is also used to show ownership or possession. That’s the hard one to keep straight because it involves the -s ending on nouns, and an -s on the end of a noun can mean possession or it can simply mean plural (more than one of something). So when you have an -s on the end of a noun (name of person, place, thing, idea), you need to decide if the noun is simply plural or if it owns or possesses something. If the noun is simply a plural word, then no apostrophe is needed. If the noun possesses something, then you do need an apostrophe.

Here are some examples of simple plurals:

  • Many apples fell from the tree during the storm.
  • The publisher rejected his manuscript because there were too many errors.
  • I looked at five different cell phone plans before choosing one.

Here are examples of noun possessives:

  • The dictator’s speech frightened my parents.
  • Jack’s inability to concentrate is having an effect on his job performance.
  • The doctor was unaware of that patient’s history of seizures.

The only other complication is seldom seen or used, but you need to be aware of it, and that is the use of the apostrophe in nouns that are already plural. You may remember this use from pages of drill foisted on you in school by a well-meaning but overly zealous teacher. The rule is actually simple. Whatever is before the apostrophe is the root word. If the root word is singular, then the apostrophe goes before the -s. If the root word is plural, then the apostrophe goes after the -s.

Here are some examples:

  • my brother’s room (one brother occupies the room)
  • my brothers’ room (more than one brother occupies the same room)
  • the parent’s wishes (one parent has wishes)
  • the parents’ wishes (more than one parent has wishes)

Don’t be afraid of that little “upstairs comma.” Use it correctly and you’ll be the envy of all your friends!