After revising your paper for content and adequate development of ideas, it's time to edit your work. What errors do you commonly make in writing? It's important to be aware of your own frequent errors so that you can edit them out of your paper. Below is a list of errors ESL students often make and grammar tips for correcting them. Focus on the kinds of errors you make and make an effort to eliminate them from future writing assignments.

SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT
Find the main verb or the verb phrase in each sentence. Look back for the subject and check for agreement. Get help with basic agreement problems with this link: S + V Agreement

VERB FORM
If you have a verb phrase, is the main verb the correct FORM for the tense and aspect (perfect, progressive) you are using?

• Base form after modal auxiliaries: might go, should come, has to leave, must return
• Base form after simple present, past, and future auxiliary verbs: doesn't have, didn't have, won't have
• Past participle for passive and perfect forms: was born, have had, had had
• Present participle for progressive forms: is studying, was working, has been trying, will have been reading, will be writing
  

Check the form and meaning of tenses with this link: Verb Tense

PRONOUN REFERENCE AND AGREEMENT Check this link: Pronouns and Pronoun Case

• Skim for pronouns - especially for personal pronouns and demonstratives.
• Look for the noun each pronoun replaces and check that the pronoun agrees with this noun.
• If there is no previous noun (antecedent) for the pronoun, change it to a noun.

PARALLEL STRUCTURE

Skim for coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, so, for) that signal parallel structures. Check that the items connected by these conjunctions have the same grammatical form:

• noun + noun
• verb + verb
• adjective + adjective
• adverb + adverb
• infinitive phrase + infinitive phrase
• gerund + gerund
• clause + clause

Check this link: Joining Parallel Forms

WORD ORDER

Examine independent clauses for correct word order:

• Subject + Verb: Wolves howl.
• Subject + Verb + Object: Children fear wolves.
• S + V + O + Modifier: Children fear strange noises at night.
• S + V + IO + DO: Parents should give their children a lot of love. (Dont' use the preposition to or for when the indirect object precedes the direct object.

S + V + DO + IO: Parents should give a lot of love to their children. Parents should also set a good example for their children. (Use the preposition to or for only when the indirect object follows the direct object.)

• S + LV + C + Modifier: Children become frightened easily.

Look for correct adjective placement:

• Adjective + noun: She is a beautiful child.
• Linking Verb + Adjective: That child is beautiful.

Check word order of adverbs of frequency:

• before an action verb: (He usually works)
• after the verb BE: (He was always late.)

Check word order of adverbs of manner and adverbs of degree. Put adverbs of degree at the end of the sentence.Adverbs of manner usually follow the verb but are always placed at the end for mode of transportation.

• Adverb of degree: He enjoyed the trip very much.
• Adverb of manner: He walked slowly to school. His sister goes to school by bus.

WORD FORM

Make sure subjects and objects of verbs are nouns, pronouns, gerunds, infinitives, or noun clauses. Objects of prepositions must be nouns or gerunds.

Check plural nouns for +s endings: apartments, condos, cottages

Check for 's for singular possessive nouns and for s' for plural possessive nouns: the boy's bicycle; the boys' bicycles

Check for correct form of possessive adjectives and pronouns: Those are their books vs. Those books are theirs.

Make sure all nouns, adjectives, and adverbs derived from verbs have correct suffixes: happiness, comfortable, happily, etc.

OMITTED WORDS

Check infinitives for "to" + base form of verb: I need to study.

Omit infinitive "to" after causative verbs make, let, have: " He made me study."

Look over phrasal verbs for verb particles (the preposition with the verb) such as listen to and take care of...

Check for a definite or indefinite article or some other determiner before singular count nouns: A book; the book on the desk; my book, this book.

PUNCTUATION

Check this link on Punctuation Patterns in simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Check for commas after any of the following elements. If you have placed commas elsewhere, omit them.

• between the name of a city and a state: San Jose, California
• after introductory phrases
• After an introductory adverbial clause
• before a coordinator joining two independent clauses
• after a reporting verb introducing a quotation
• after each item in a series joined by and
• after a transition beginning a sentence
• before and after a transition in the middle of a sentence
• before and after any word, phrase, or clause giving extra information in the middle of a sentence, or before such an element if it is last in the sentence.

Comma vs. Semicolon

More on Commas

FRAGMENTS
Read aloud and make sure each sentence contains a subject and a verb.
If a clause has a dependent marker (a subordinator like because, after, when, who, etc.) make sure it is joined to an independent clause that has its own subject and verb. Check for these punctuation patterns: DC, IC. OR IC DC.

If you find a period after a phrase, decide if the phrase belongs with the previous or following sentence. Put the phrase within the sentence it belongs to and punctuate the full sentence correctly.

Check this link for further editing tips and explanations: Fragments

RUN-ON SENTENCES
See this link for further explanation: Run-On Sentences
Begin reading from the last sentence in your paper to the first, covering the sentences above the one you're reading. This way you can focus on each sentence, making sure it has all of the essential elements and end-of-sentence punctuation. If you find two independent clauses running together without punctuation, place a period between them.

COMMA SPLICE
If you placed a comma between independent clauses, remove it and add a period. If the two sentences joined incorrectly by the comma are closely related in meaning, you can use a semi-colon between them but never a comma. You are always correct to use a period after every independent clause.

If the two sentences joined incorrectly by the comma are closely related in meaning, you can use a semi-colon between them.

You are always correct to use a period after every independent clause.

SPELLING
Use spell check but watch out for homophones (road, rode) and commonly confused words. Always look up the base form of verbs. Check this link: Spelling.

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