EDITING

PREPARATION
J U A N I TA W I L S O N
CONCORD
THE NUMBER (SINGULAR OR PLURAL)
OF THE SUB J EC T SHOUL D AG REE WI TH
THE NUMBER OF THE VERB.
 SINGULAR PLURAL

•I am / jump •We are/ jump

•You are / jump •You jump /
•He, she, it is / jump
jumps •They are / jump
 LACK OF CONCORD (NUMBER)
The number of the subject should Always find the subject by asking Change the verb to suit the subject.
Lack of agree with the number of the verb. “who” or what before the verb – The groups of boys jump. (wrong)
Singular subject = singular verb who jumps. The group of boys jumps (right)
concord Plural subject = plural verb. The group of boys jumps. (singular
verb/singular subject)
number. Watch out for
 The subject does not always
Some Exercises

stand closest to the verb. John and I was/ were

 There’s, there’re
 Either, someone, everyone,
there.
somebody, everybody are all
singular. The box of chocolates
 subjects are joined by “and” was/ were delicious.
take a plural verb.
Whenever one sees something one does not like, a viable
option is to close one’s eyes.

You should always try to do your best, because if you don’t you
will never be happy.

She knew that if she wanted to reach the top, she needed to
work very hard.

When you have finished you can give a copy to the secretary and
me (NOT MYSELF. Be careful of incorrect use of the reflexive
pronoun)
 LACK OF CONCORD: PRONOUN

All pronouns in a sentence Look for mixing of “you” Change all the pronouns to
Lack of should agree in number and and “one.” one type.
concord person. One should always do your
 He, one, she, it, they are all Some Exercises homework (wrong)
pronoun. third person . You should always do your
 You is second person. One should do what you homework (right)
 someone, everyone, are told. One should always do one’s
somebody, everybody are homework. (right)
all singular. She knew everybody
 “Man” when spoken of were / was present.
generically is singular.
WHEN TO USE “I” OR “ME”
DOUBLE
NEGATIVE
Y O U M AY O N LY H A V E O N E N E G AT I V E
IN A SENTENCE OR CLAUSE.
 DOUBLE NEGATIVE

Double You may only have one Look out for these I hardly never do it.
negative in a sentence words- not, never, (wrong)
negative or clause. hardly, nothing, don’t I hardly ever do it (right)
Some Exercises and didn’t. They may I didn’t do nothing
not be with another (wrong)
I didn’t do nothing wrong. negative in a I didn’t do anything.
I am very shy so I hardly never know
sentence. (right)
what to say in company. Change one of the
negatives to a positive.
I N C O R R E C T PA R T S
OF SPEECH

P R E P O S I T I O N I N S T E A D O F A U X I L I A RY V E R B
AD J E C T I V E I N S T E AD OF ADV E R B AN D V I C E V E R S A
ADJECTIVE OF QUANTITY INSTEAD OF NUMBER
 INCORRECT PART OF SPEECH

Should Should have, would Look out for He should of come

have, could have. should, could, with us. (wrong)
of
Some Exercises would- see what He should have
Would follows. come with
I could of screamed because
of, of what he had done. us.(right)
could She should of known what
to do.
of etc.
 Good is an adjective- She is a good girl.
Good /well Some Exercises
Owing to bad Well is an adverb. He did well at school.
weather the pool Fewer is used for number, things you can count. He has fewer marks
Fewer/less is closed. than I.

We have less/ Less is used for quantity, things you measure. There is less milk in this
fewer exercises jug.
to do in less/
fewer time. Among- used for many things.
Among/ He placed her book among the others.
between I’m good thank
you. Between- used for two things. Between you and me.
Due to can be used as an adjective or after “is” No other times
Due to / If you go in
His wealth is due to his hard work.
among them, the
owing to mob will lynch
you. Owing to may begin a phrase- Owing to the weather I shall not run
 Hanged/ hung A person is hanged.

A picture is hung.

Each other/ one Each other refers to two people. They spoke to each
other.
another.
One another refers to many people. The ladies spoke to
one another.
Elder/ oldest Elder is used to compare two things. She is my elder
Some Exercises daughter.
Do you know the eldest/ elder of his
two daughters? Oldest is used for more that two things. This is the
oldest man I know.
There was talk in the class as the
pupils spoke to each other/ one
another.
Please note  definitely
 all right
Correct the spelling  threw- threw the ball / the thrown ball
It was definatly the most  through- through the door.
exciting adventure they  Throne – claimed the throne.
had been on. Untill one of  as well
them through the ball  a lot
threw the window. That  every day.
was not an every day
occasion. It was  until
wonderfull to see how  forgetful- all adjectives ending in ful have one “l”
quickly they recovered  in fact NOT infact
aswell. In a short while  in love NOT inlove
they were all talking to  I before “e” except after “c”
eachother again.
 Conscious /conscience
 College/collage
Auxiliary The present participle Check the subject of If you going to town.
verbs needs an auxiliary verb if the sentence Should be
it is going to be a finite If you are going to
verb. town.

His = personal pronoun Look out for his. His going to town
Confusion He’s = contraction of he Change it to “ he is” Should be
is in the sentence. If it He is going to town
between
Some Exercises does not make sense
his This is the first time his been here. it should be “his” His hat is crooked – This
and is how his should be
he’s His the most infuriating person I used.
know.

You looking good tonight.

 Like = preposition (takes Be alert when you He is like me. Correct.
Misuse an object) hear the word “like”
of He drives his car like he
As = conjunction ( joins is the king of the road.
“like” clauses) Incorrect.
and Some Exercises He drives his car as if he
“as” You should always live each moment like it is your last.
is king of the road.
He is like that when she behaves like he is a fool.

You should decide if it is like you want it to be or not.

The fire roared like a lion as it blazed over the

mountain.
PUNCTUATION
ERRORS
The apostrophe Indicates possession Jane’s book. The book of Jane
The girls’ books The books of the girls.
(Errors: The children’s books The books of the children
Incorrect use/
Misplaced/
Singular/ plural Indicates omission don’t = do not Apostrophe placed where
confusion It’s = it is the letter has been left
They’re = they are out.
‘em= them
Indicates contraction won’t = will not

The comma Separates items on a She wanted to go, but She went to the shop,
(Errors: list could not. bought some food, took a
Comma splice, Introduces a clause The shop sold peas, taxi home. (Wrong)
Omission of carrots, bananas and
comma) apples. She wanted to go to but
could not.
The apostrophe Indicates possession Jane’s book. The book of Jane
The girls’ books The books of the girls.
(Errors: The children’s books The books of the children
Incorrect use/
Misplaced/
Singular/ plural Indicates omission don’t = do not Apostrophe placed where
confusion It’s = it is the letter has been left
They’re = they are out.
‘em= them
Indicates contraction won’t = will not

The comma Separates items on a She wanted to go, but She went to the shop,
(Errors: list could not. bought some food, took a
Comma splice, Introduces a clause The shop sold peas, taxi home. (Wrong)
Omission of carrots, bananas and
comma) apples. She wanted to go to but
could not.
SPELLING
ERRORD
SOME MORE OF
COMMONLY MISSPELT
WORDS

already
etc. sincerely
as well
friend thoroughly
college
immediately gullible
conscience
probably disappear
conscious
psychology occasion
definitely
receive necessary
Disappoint
weird each other
There/ they’re/ there
SPLIT
INFINITIVE
Y O U M AY N O T P U T A N Y T H I N G
B E T W E E N T H E P R E P O S I T I O N “ TO ”
AND THE VERB
Split To jump = infinitive Look for “to” . Remove the words
infinitive You may not put Check to see if in between and
anything between the verb follows place them
the “to” and the directly elsewhere (usually
verb afterwards. closest to the verb)
To quickly jump- to
jump quickly.
ENDING A SENTENCE
ON A PREPOSITION
P R E P O S I T I O N S A LWAY S G OV E R N
OBJECTS.
Ending the Prepositions Look to see if the Add a noun or
sentence on a always govern clause or sentence preposition.
preposition nouns or ends on – with, to, He came with
pronouns. in, of, by, near, etc. (wrong)
He came with us
(right)
COLLOQUIAL
L ANGUAGE
INFORMAL OR
EVERYDAY
LANGUAGE
 AMBIGUIT Y
WHEN THE SENTENCES CAN BE READ
I N T W O D I F F E R E N T WAY S A N D T H U S
H AV E T W O D I F F E R E N T
I N T E R P R E TAT I O N S .
“A GOOD LIFE DEPENDS ON A LIVER ”
“FOREIGNERS ARE HUNTING DOGS ”
“ T H E PA S S E R B Y H E L P S D O G B I T E
VICTIM”
MAL APROPISMS
DEFINITION:

MALAPROPISM IS THE
UNINTENTIONAL USE OF
INCORRECT, SIMILAR
SOUNDING WORDS.
 malapropism

Is the unintentional use of incorrect, similar sounding

words
REDUNDANCY
 REDUNDANCY
The use of unnecessary words. They can
be left out without affecting the meaning.
You are basically saying the same thing in
different ways in the same sentence.
• It was the general consensus of opinion that we must go to
the movie.
The two words which convey the same meaning are
consensus and opinion

• The three brothers had nothing in common with each other.

Here also two phrases in common and with each
other have been used to convey the same meaning.
TAUTOLOGY
 TAUTOLOGY
• Two words that are side by side in the same sentence
that mean the same thing.
• You are essentially repeating yourself, and should eliminate one thing.
Examples:

• I personally think
• This is a short summary of...
• Reverse backwards
• "Tuna Fish" is redundant because "Tuna" can only be a fish therefore, "fish" is
not necessary to mention.
• "Big Giant" The word "Giant" signifies something huge, big or large;
therefore the word "Big" is not necessary to mention.
• "Raise up" or "Lower down" the anchor. Raise can only go in one
direction,"Up" as lower can go in only one direction, "down".
ANTITHESIS
T WO O P P O S I T E T H I N G S
IN THE SAME SENTENCE.
“ I L OV E H I M A N D H AT E
H I M AT T H E S A M E T I M E ”
PARADOX
A N A P PA R E N T C O N T R A D I C T I O N
( B U T W H E N YO U S T U DY I T, I T M A K E S
SENSE)
“ M E N W O R K TO G E T H E R W H E T H E R T H E Y
W O R K TO G E T H E R O R A PA RT.” - RO B E RT
F RO S T
ACTIVE AND
PASSIVE VOICE
PASSIVE VOICE

•Passive – The subject has the

action done to it. [A pedestrian
was struck at the intersection.]
ACTIVE VOICE

•Active – The subject does the action.

[Mrs Crawford struck a pedestrian
at the intersection.]
SIMPLE,
COMPOUND,
COMPLEX
SENTENSES
CLAUSES AND PHRASES
• Clause = A chunk of information that contains a subject doing a
verb. E.g:
• I despise individuals of low character
• Phrase= a collection of words that does not have a subject doing
an action. E.g:
• leaving behind the dog
• smashing into a fence
• before the first test
• A simple sentence consists of only one
clause. (“I like big butts”)
• A compound sentence consists of two or
more independent clauses separated by a
conjunction. (“I like reading and long walks
on the beach”)
• A complex sentence has at least one
independent clause plus at least one
dependent clause.
USING ITALICS
WHEN QUOTING
SOMEONE’S WORDS
OR REFERRI NG TO
THE OFFICIAL NAME
OF SOMETHIN G (LIKE
A BOOK OR MOVIE)