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Treasure Hunt #2

28 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Nancy Clark in Grammar Tips, Uncategorized

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apostrophe, English grammar, grammar, missing word endings, proofreading, punctuation, spelling

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.

 

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Five Proofreading Tips

14 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Nancy Clark in Grammar Tips, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

apostrophe, English grammar, grammar, proofreading, punctuation, spelling

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!

 

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Affect vs. Effect

23 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Nancy Clark in Grammar Tips, Uncategorized

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Tags

affect, effect, English grammar, grammar, spelling

question mark

AFFECT vs. EFFECT

These two words are so close in spelling and pronunciation, it’s no wonder people get them confused. The easiest way to keep them straight is to remember this little mantra: Use affect when you are describing an action (verb); use effect when you are naming something (noun).

Examples: The weather always affects the attendance at my son’s soccer games. (influences)

                      My mother affected agreement even though she disapproved of my decision. (pretended)

                       Lacy’s accident had an immediate effect on the mood of the party. (outcome, result)

                        Lacy’s tears were purely for effect. (distinctive impression)

If that were the whole story, it wouldn’t be so hard to keep them separate, would it? Unfortunately, there’s more. Affect can sometimes be used as a noun, while effect can sometimes be used as a verb. Isn’t English fun?

Thankfully, affect is used as a noun only in the context of psychology, and the accent is on the first syllable rather than the second. It refers to the display of emotion or mood. Example: Jason displayed no affect when he was confronted with the murder weapon.

Effect as a verb means to make something happen, to cause to come into being, or to put into operation. Example: The goal of the demonstration had been to effect a major change in campus politics.

Using effect as the verb instead of affect will change the meaning of the entire sentence, so tread lightly here!

          The adverse publicity affected the election of Mr. Jones. (Mr. Jones may or may not have been elected.)

          The adverse publicity effected the election of Mr. Jones. (Mr. Jones was elected.)

     Explanation: The verb affect denotes having an effect or influence. The verb effect goes beyond mere influence and refers to actual achievement of a final result.

If you’ve followed this far, good for you! Now you can confidently use affect and effect correctly in every situation. If you’re still a little confused, just remember the first two examples at the top and you’ll probably be correct 99% of the time.

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Comma or No Comma – Part I

02 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Nancy Clark in Grammar Tips

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

comma, English grammar, grammar, grammar tips, Oxford comma, punctuation

Commas       Commas — the stuff of nightmares? Well, maybe not, but that simple punctuation mark is the most confusing one in English because it has so many different uses. And the uses keep changing over time.

With that said, I’m going to limit this post to a discussion of only one use — the comma with “and.” Even that can be a little confusing because the conjunction “and” can be used to connect everything from items in a grocery list to events in a child’s day.

Let’s get down to specifics. When “and” is used to connect two complete sentences, there is usually a comma before the “and” (never after). Example: The students had to work together on the project in groups of three, and each group had to decide what part of the project to work on.

However — and here comes an exception — when the sentences are short, the comma is often optional. Example: The freshmen are scheduled for orientation on Monday and the sophomores are scheduled for Tuesday. Didn’t I warn you that commas are confusing?

Style books even disagree as to when a comma is optional or not. Take the case of what is referred to as the Oxford comma. That’s a fancy name for the comma used before the “and” in a list. Example: The scientists collected the specimens, cataloged them, and planned their research. The comma after “them” is the Oxford comma. A grammar book from the 1980s described the use of this comma as “old-fashioned.”

Other grammarians have been quick to point out, however, cases in which omitting that final comma in a series sometimes leads to misunderstandings. Here is a humorous example: The young reporter interviewed the senator’s rivals, a prostitute and a bank robber. No problem getting elected with rivals like that! But not all examples are humorous. In this sentence, using or omitting that Oxford comma may make a difference in what kind of treatment a patient receives: The patient needs to be scheduled for physical therapy, massage and whirlpool. Is the patient to receive three different therapies or only two? Since there is a possibility of misunderstanding, I would suggest always using that last comma in a series, just to be safe.

Finally, there is one place you should never use a comma, and that is when the “and” is connecting only two items. Example: That senator supported reproductive rights and gay marriage. The two items can also be longer. Example: My dog ran away one night and didn’t return for a week. If there are only two items and there is not a complete thought on either side of the “and,” then a comma is not needed.

Hopefully, this little discussion helps boost your confidence in using a comma with “and” — or not. If you still have questions, feel free to comment. And stay tuned for more posts about that crazy squiggle called a comma!

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Those Pesky Apostrophes

14 Friday Aug 2015

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

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

apostrophe, grammar

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!

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