Proofreading Techniques

What is proofreading? Proofreading means reading each word and punctuation mark in a document slowly and carefully to look for errors.

Why should I proof-read? The main reason for proofreading a document is to find out any errors in the passage. A document that is full of errors will create the impression that you do not care about your work and that you do not respect your reader. If this happens, you will get bad results.

What should you look for? When you’re proofreading a passage, you should pay attention to: Spelling Agreement Punctuation Plural/ singular Articles Tenses Part of speech Preposition Pronouns

Spelling Mistake: It is very common to misspell words in writing. Therefore, you should check the spelling of every word very carefully. e.g. English laguage > language

Agreement e.g. Eric and Benny owns a car. e.g. He always work hard. Eric and Benny own a car. e.g. He always work hard. He always works hard. e.g. There are a boy standing near the door. There is a boy standing near the door.

Punctuation e.g. He went to the united states. e.g. What did you go last Sunday. What did you go last Sunday? Amy said “I don’t know .” Amy said , “I don’t know .”

Plural/ singular e.g. They forgot to bring their book. They forgot to bring their books. e.g.He has many friend. He has many friends. e.g. He has a lot of homeworks. He has a lot of homework.

Articles ‘a’ or ‘an’ is used with countable nouns to indicate ‘one’. When you mention the object for a first time, you should use ‘a’ or ‘an’ When you mention the object for a second time , you should use ‘the’.

Articles e.g. Jenny is  understanding friend. Jenny is an understanding friend. e.g. Amy is the university student. Amy is a university student. e.g. Ms Lee bought a new dress yesterday. A dress is made from France. Ms Lee bought a new dress yesterday. The dress is made from France.

Tenses e.g. He buy a new car yesterday. He bought a new car yesterday. e.g. He went Shatin visit his auntie last week. He went Shatin to visit his auntie last week.

Preposition e.g. Mary sleeps in 10 o’clock at night. e.g. Mary sleeps at 10 o’ clock at night. e.g. He was born in 18th May 1990. e.g. He was born on 18th May 1990.

Part of Speech e.g. Sam runs very quick (adjective). Sam runs very quickly. (adverb) e.g. She is an energetically (adverb) puppy. She is an energetic puppy. (adjective) e.g. My son cries very loud. (adjective) My son cries very loudly. (adverb)

Possessive Adjectives Pronouns Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns Possessive Adjectives Possessive Pronouns I me my mine You you your yours He him his She her hers It it its - We us our ours They them their theirs

Pronouns e.g. She went home. (subject pronouns) The subject is the person or thing doing the action. e.g. We saw her.(object pronouns) e.g. They invited us to join the party. The object is the person or thing receiving the action.

Pronouns It is my book. This pen is mine. The possessive adjective is used before a noun. This pen is mine. The possessive pronoun is used at the end of a sentence and is never used before a noun.

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