10 Common Mistakes Proofreaders Must Watch For
There are certain mistakes that inexperienced writers in particular make frequently, and it's important that proofreaders look out for these. Here are ten of the most common...
1. Confusing 'its' (meaning belonging to it) with 'it's' (short for it is). The former never requires an apostrophe; the latter always does.
2. Assuming that 'there' at the start of a sentence always takes a singular verb. This common mistake comes from the erroneous belief that 'there' is the subject of the sentence, when in fact it is just an adverb. So you should write, 'There is a tree in the town square' but, 'There are lots of trees in the park.'
3. Confusing 'your' (meaning belonging to you) with 'you're' (short for 'you are'). So it should be, 'This is your computer' but, 'You're always welcome in this house.'
4. Getting the apostrophe in the wrong place in expressions such as women's refuge and people's choice. Many writers, if they use an apostrophe at all in these constructions, put it after the 's'. This is incorrect. The phrase is short for 'refuge of the women' or 'choice of the people', so the apostrophe needs to go before the 's'.
5. Incorrectly inserting an apostrophe in plural nouns, e.g. orange's, potato's, volcano's. In Britain this is sometimes called the greengrocer's apostrophe, after the reputed habit of fruit and vegetable sellers of doing this. Simple plurals never require apostrophes.
6. Omitting the vocative comma in speech. When someone is addressed directly in speech, the name (or other term) they are addressed by must always be offset by a comma. So you should write, 'What's up, Alan?' or, 'Can you help me, officer?'
7. Confusing 'who' and 'whom'. The former is used in the subjective case, the latter in the objective. Thus, you should write, 'Who is driving?' (he is driving), but 'Whom are you following?' (you are following him). In speech and casual writing today 'whom' is falling out of use, but in formal writing such as business reports, the distinction should still be preserved.
8. Using 'should of' instead of 'should have'. This mistake is becoming more and more common, presumably because one sounds like the other. 'Should of' is bad grammar, however, and it is always wrong.
9. Confusing 'to', 'too' and 'two'. These words all sound alike but have quite different meanings. 'To' is a preposition and it is used in phrases such as, 'Give the book to me.' 'Too' means 'also' or 'as well', as in, 'I liked that book too.' Finally, 'two' is, of course, the number after one.
10. Confusing 'loose' with 'lose'. The former is the opposite of 'tight', while the latter is the opposite of 'win'. So it would be correct to write, 'This knot is loose', but, 'Against superior opposition it was inevitable that the team would lose.'
These are all common problem areas among non-expert writers. As a proofreader you need to be constantly on the alert for them -- and obviously, you should try to avoid committing these mistakes yourself!
About the Author: John Hamilton is Course Leader for the Professional Proofreading & Editing Course, the leading correspondence course for freelance proofreaders and editors, run by Maple Academy (UK). For full details see http://www.mapleacademy.com/maple.nsf/Courses/Professional+Proofreading+Course
More articles by John Hamilton
Print Article | Download PDF | 21 views | Jun 23 2008
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