‘L’s g on with it’

03 Read your paper out loud, one sentence at a time.

Often your ear will catch mistakes or problems
that your eye misses—especially in punctuation.

What is Find a Proofreading Buddy

PROOFREADING? 04 Give your buddy a copy of your paper and give
him/her time to go over it.
Later, get back with your buddy and have him give
you his feedback.

looking for and

Proofreading is Repeat
chanical’ errors
eliminating ‘me one’s writing – 05 Proofread several times, working your way through
e a k in to e ve ry
that sn d -up words (“the
your own checklist of possible problems. Go
s lik e d o u b le through your paper once for each problem area.
problem b jects and verbs For example, review your paper once, checking for
is m a tc h e d su
the”), m at have been left
subject-verb agreement. (Do all your plural sub-
a ve ”) , w o rd s th
(“she h a d i costs $12”) or
jects have plural verbs?). Then you might check
u r ti c k e t N for appropriate use of verb tenses (past, present,
out (“yo in (“your ticket to future, conditional).
a ve sn e a k e d
that h ”), or words tha
t
a d i c o st s $ 12
the N Some other problems on your checklist might in-
mispelled”).
are misspelled (“
clude pronoun usage, missing or inappropriate
articles (“a” and “the”), missing or inappropriate
punctuation, sentence fragments (missing verbs),
and any other problems that you know occur often
Proofreading comes after you have looked at your fin- in your own writing.
ished paper one last time to make sure that it has consis-
tency, focus, and a logical flow. 06 If in doubt, always double-check spelling, choice
of words, dates, names, and other references. A
good dictionary and a good Thesaurus are useful
How to proofread during proofreading and when you’re writing or
revising your paper.
Leave enough time
01 Once you have finished your paper, leave it for at
Proofreading & Word
least two or three days before you proofread it.
But doing this requires good time management.
You need to start writing your paper well before
Processing
its due date so that you can leave it after complet-
ing it and return to it with ‘fresh eyes’.
01 Use a spell–checker, keeping in mind that most
systems default to the American spelling but
NOT the British one. But don’t rely on the spell
Read Slowly checker to catch words that are correctly spelled
02 Look at each letter, word, and punctuation mark but incorrectly used (e.g., “there” for “their”) or
incorrectly typed (e.g., “comfort” for “conform”).
so that you notice:
• things that are present but shouldn’t be. Some spell–checkers can identify repeated words
• things that are missing but should be there. (e.g., “the the”) or possible punctuation prob-
lems (e.g., a missing period before a capital let-
ter), but these computer aids are not substitutes
Hint: As you read, use a pointer (pen or pencil) for your own careful reading and judgment.
or a ruler that you move down the page one
line at a time. 02 Don’t proofread your document by reading it on
the computer monitor. Print it out and check the

Proofreading 1 of 4
 hard copy. Reading a long document on a scrolling It’s important to remember the rules for adding the -
screen is both tiring and confusing. ing suffix to root words that end in ‘e’ or a short vowel
followed by a consonant.
03 Set line–spacing to double space (if you are using
pen and paper, write on every other line) so that E.g. Make + -ing = making (drop the final ‘e’)
you have room to enter your corrections. For the shut + ing = shutting (double the final conso-
same reason, leave adequate margins on both the nant)
left and right sides of the pages

04 If someone else does your typing or word-process- Using a small ‘i’ as a pronoun.
ing, you must go through the finished paper your- A pronoun is a word that stands in place of a name
self, word by word. Typists make guesses about such as Sheila or John. Remember that whenever
hand-writing, and often they guess incorrectly, ‘I’ is a word on its own, you should use a capital
especially when the subject matter is technical letter.
or complex.
E.g. Max and I went to the cinema last night.

Above all Missing words out altogether.

,
yourself e give
Most people think much faster than they can write,
so it’s easy to leave out small words such as a, the,
nough and, it, and in. Careful proofreading can help you
time! spot this type of mistake.

Getting letters the wrong way round, especially

i and e.
freind ˚ friend ¸
cheif chief
˚ ¸

Common mistakes to look for Hint: Remember the spelling rule ‘i before e
except after c’.
when proofreading
Leaving out apostrophes.
Putting the wrong word in the wrong place, es- Apostrophes are punctuation marks which are
pecially when using homophones. either used to show possession, or to show
Homophones are words which sound the same but where letters have been left out. Apostrophes
have different spellings and meanings. are important because they often make mean-
ing clearer.
E.g. E.g. Can’t = cannot
The men left there coats in the hallway. (wrong) don’t = do not (shows missing letters)
The men left their coats in the hallway. (correct).
The boy’s books are missing = books belonging
Other common homophone pairs to watch out for are to one boy
of and off; to and too; and then and than. The boys’ books are missing = books belonging
to several boys
Leaving letters out, especially in the middle of
words. Using one word when you should use two.
Many words contain silent letters, or letters that
are not sounded clearly when you speak quickly. E.g. Alot should be written as a lot
infront should be written as in front
E.g. Debtor and Library

Mistakes with subject-verb agreement.

Mistakes when adding an ending, or suffix, to a Mistakes in agreement include subject–verb agree-
root word. ment, noun–pronoun agreement, and tense agree-
It’s easy to make mistakes, especially when adding ment.
the -ing suffix.

Proofreading 2 of 4
 E.g. ‘We was going to the airport when we dis-
covered we’d forgotten our tickets.’ ˚ (cont’d)
‘We were going to the airport when we discov-
ered we’d forgotten our tickets.’ ¸
‘Every girl is supposed to sign their name.’ ˚ the public services, most of the critical posi-
‘Every girl is supposed to sign her name.’ ¸ tion in the public service has been taken over
‘They presented their gifts as soon as they by local people and the process of localisation
arrive.’ ˚ have been large successful in some cases, the
‘They presented their gifts as soon as they pace of localisation has thought to be too rap-
arrived.’ ¸ idly and that local people without the neces-
sary qualifications and experience has been
placed in responsible positions alleged to lead
Using “should of”. This is another common mis- to drop in the quality of public service the re-
take in sentences such as: lationship of employments and education have
now become very tenuous in the islands.

E.g. I should of packed my raincoat. ˚

I should have packed my raincoat. ¸

Mistakes with ‘one of...’ expressions.

Plate Tectonics Theory and Earthquakes

E.g. ‘One of my mentor is Ricky.’ ˚ (adapted from Chemistry Dept. USP, 2000 p.31)
One of my mentors is Ricky.’ ¸

Theory of plate tectonic is attraction to geolo-

Writing incomplete sentences gist and other scientists in that it easyly ex-
plains the distibutions of earthquake and the
E.g. ‘Whereas preserving our traditions has its rock motion associated with they. The very
advantages.’ ˚ close correspondence between earthquake
belt and tectonic plate edges are very clear
‘Many people believe we should get rid of old
customs, whereas preserving our traditions has when you study the maps that have beeing
its advantages.’ ¸ constructed; there are three type of plate
boundaries: diverging, transform, and converg-
ing; each types has a characteristic patterns of
earthquake distribution and rock motions.

These exercises will give you practice in

spotting and correcting common mistakes
in spelling, grammar and punctuation. Each sentence should
be grammatically complete. Practise, spotting and correcting
common mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation. Each Efficiency and Scarcity
sentence should be grammatically complete. Check carefully; (adapted from Sharma, 1986 p.101)
there is more than one mistake in many of the sentences. An
answer key is on the back page. The continuing choosing or decising among al-
tervatives is necessary because a fundamen-
tal human condition scarcity. No people no
country can have too much of of everything as
he or she want. Given scarcity it is important
not only to produce the cost desirable goods
to make the right output decisions but also to
Education, Manpower and Employment
produce those good effeiciently. Efficiency is
(adapted from Baba, 1986 p.186)
important because human want are outrun-
ning what can produced from the available
One of thing that school has done very effec-
resources which if they were used efficiently
tive in the South Pacific has being the produc-
then the maximum value of production can be
tion of manpower to met the needs for inde-
maintained. efficiency has meaning and impor-
pendence or self-government in the islands
tant because of scarcity.
particularly those need pertaining to posts in

Proofreading 3 of 4
 of 4 Proofreading 4
Task 3: Efficiency and Scarcity (Sharma, 1986 p.101)
Students. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
The continual choosing or deciding among alternatives is neces-
Swales, M. & Feak, C. (1994). Academic Writing for Graduate
sary because of a fundamental human condition: scarcity. No
person nor any country can have as much of everything as he
Exposition. Suva: Print Centre
or she wants. Given scarcity, it is important not only to produce
Sharma, P. (1986). Development of Economic Theory – A Brief
the cost desirable goods, to make the right output decisions,
but also to produce those goods efficiently. Efficiency is impor-
tension, University of the South Pacific
tant because human wants outrun what can be produced from
(2000). SC106: Earth Science Coursebook. Suva: University Ex-
the available resources. If the resources can be used efficiently,
Chemistry Department, School of Pure and Applied Sciences.
then the maximum value of production can be obtained. Effi-
ciency has meaning and importance because of scarcity.
Extension
(pp.183-191). Suva: University of the South Pacific, University
Task 4: The Spelling Checker
ED153 Education and Society Readings
(Source unknown, quoted in Swales & Feak, 1994 p.31)
for alternatives. In Jones, A. (ed.) (1992).
I have a spelling checker,
land states of the South Pacific: the search
It came with my PC.
Baba, T. (1986). Education in the small is-
It plainly marks for my review
Mistakes I cannot see.
I’ve run this poem through it,
I’m sure you’re pleased to know,
It’s letter perfect in its way,
My checker told me so.
Task 1: Education, Manpower and Employment (Baba, 1986
p.186)
One of the things that the school has done very effectively in
the South Pacific has been the production of manpower to meet
the needs for independence or self-government in the islands,
particularly those needs pertaining to posts in the public ser-
vices. Most of the critical positions in the public services have
been taken over by the local people and the process of locali-
sation has been largely successful. In some cases, the pace of
localisation has been thought to be too rapid and local people My checker tolled me sew.
without the necessary qualifications and experience have been It’s letter perfect in it’s weigh,
placed in responsible positions, allegedly leading to a drop in I’m sure your please to no,
the quality of public service. The relationship between em- I’ve run this poem threw it,
ployment and education has now become very tenuous in the Mistakes I cannot sea.
islands. It plainly marks four my revue
It came with my PC.
Task 2: Plate Tectonics Theory and Earthquakes I have a spelling checker
(Chemistry Dept. USP, 2000 p.31)
The theory of plate tectonics is attractive to geologists and p.31)
other scientists in that it easily explains the distribution of (Source unknown, quoted in Swales & Feak, 1994
earthquakes and the rock motion associated with them. The The Spelling Checker
very close correspondence between earthquake belts and tec-
tonic plate edges is very clear when you study the maps that
have been constructed. There are three types of plate bound-
aries: diverging, transforming, and converging. Each type has
a characteristic pattern of earthquake distribution and rock
motion.