Common Errors
Before you turn in your review you might want to visit Common
Errors in English Usage.
Common errors in usage, punctuation and spelling
- Do not use contractions. Don't should be do not in formal
writing.
- Think in paragraphs. Develop a point and then move to the
next.
- Refer to your author by his/her last name after you have
introduced him/her.
- Do not call your book a novel. "Novel" implies fiction. You
are not reading fictional works.
- Periods and commas go inside quotation marks. Mary said, "See
the dog."
- Book and magazine titles are italicized.
- Pronouns must agree with antecedents. The South seceded. It
(not they) left quickly.
- Subject and verb must agree in number. Pilgrims were (not
was) Congregationalists.
- Avoid passive voice. Booth shot Lincoln rather than Lincoln
was shot by Booth.
- Do not use personal pronouns such as I and we or possessives
such as my and our, etc.
- Avoid using the first person. Write directly. Do not say, "I
think," or "I believe." Just make your argument.
- Avoid slang terms.
- Do not be "wordy." Write clearly and use as few words as
possible to convey the meaning.
- Try not to begin a sentence with "However." Place it within
the sentence.
- Use 1800s instead of 1800's
- Use spellcheck
- Let's is a contraction of "let us." Lets is third person
singular conjugation of "let," meaning to allow.
- Their = possessive; there = at that place, point, etc.
- Its = possessive; It's = contraction for it is.
- You lie down on the bed. Yesterday, you lay down. You are
lying down. Please lay down the book. You left it where she laid
it? You are laying it down now. Lie has to do with people or
animals resting. Lay has to do with putting, placing, or
preparing things.
Questions to answer before submitting your paper.
- Does my paper answer the question (or in our case, give the
reasons) that I posed at the beginning?
- Does my introduction adequately prepare the reader for all
that follows?
- Does my writing flow smoothly and logically from point to
point? Are there adequate transitions between sentences and
paragraphs?
- Does each sentence make its case completely, concisely, and
clearly?
- Is each fact, idea, opinion, interpretation, etc., placed in
its logical location within the paper?
- Does the conclusion adequately sum up the facts and ideas
contained in the paper?
- Have I proofread and revised for spelling, grammatical, and
typographical errors?
- Have I followed all about typing, margins, pagination,
footnotes, and bibliography?
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