Mansfield Library Subject Guides
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Successful Researching and Writing:
Proofreading and Editing
Sentence Structure
Parallel Structure
- Sentences that link words and phrases with words like and, or,
also, neither…nor, etc., should have a parallel structure. All
of the linked words should have the same grammatical form. Verbs should
follow the same form (gerund, infinitives, etc) and clauses (they
should, he would, etc.) should be consistent in form and not switch
between active and passive voice.
NO: Bob hates flossing, dressing and to shower daily. But, his doctor told him that he should wear clothes, he should shower regularly and that he would be told to floss by his dentist.
YES: Bob hates flossing, dressing and showering daily. But, his doctor told him that he should wear clothes, he should shower regularly and that his dentist would tell him to floss.
- For more examples, visit the page on Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab about Parallel Structure.
Subject/Object/Verb Agreement
- Try to identify the main verb of each sentence. The subject and
object that belong to that verb should agree in number.
NO: When they notice Bob in his slovenly state, Bill, along with his sweet girlfriend Sally, prepares for him to pass by holding their nose.
YES: When they see Bob in his slovenly state, Bill, along with his sweet girlfriend Sally, prepare for him to pass by holding their noses.
- Words that are joined by or, nor, either…or, neither…nor,
etc., should have verbs that agree with the nearest subject.
YES: Neither Bill nor Sally and her friends know the degree of Bob’s bad habits.
YES: Neither Sally and her friends nor Bill knows the degree of Bob’s bad habits.
- For more examples see the ABCheckers page on subject/verb agreement.
Pronoun Usage
- When using a pronoun, be clear as to which noun the pronoun is replacing
in the sentence.
NO: At universities, they often require medical records in order for a student to enroll. (Who requires?)
NO: Many universities have detailed applications for enrollment. This can help them with admissions by providing more complete information. (What can help? Whom does it help?)
NO: Often, if a student sends an application into a university, it can be kept on file for another year. (Is “it” the application or university?)
- A pronoun must also agree in number and person to the noun in the
sentence.
NO: Everyone wore their jackets to the park.
YES: Everyone wore her or his jacket to the park.
NO: If one of the partygoers had brought their jacket, they would have to carry it.
YES: If one of the partygoers had brought her or his jacket, she or he would have to carry it.
Punctuation
Sentence Fragments
-
Fragments can be incomplete for a number of reasons, and therefore, can be corrected in a number of ways. One of the easiest and most common ways to correct a sentence fragment is by making a compound sentence using the fragment and a neighboring sentence.
NO: Baseball is considered the American national pastime. Although football can be regarded as an American pastime as well.
YES: Baseball is considered the American national pastime, although football can be regarded as an American pastime as well.OR
YES: Baseball is considered the American national pastime. Although it doesn’t have an official designation as such, football can also be thought of as an American pastime.
- In contrast to the pieces of sentences above, some fragments do
not have a neighboring clause that can be attached to create a complete
sentence. In these cases, the fragment can be missing a main verb
or subject.
NO: The sun, rising in the east and cresting the mountain.
YES: The sun, rising in the east, crests the mountain.
OR
YES: The sun was rising in the east and cresting the mountain.
NO: A refreshing, cool glass of water.YES: After his run, Bob craved a refreshing, cool glass of water.
OR
YES: A refreshing, cool glass of water sat on the counter.
NO: Running all the way to the top of the mountain.YES: Bob was running all the way to the top of the mountain.
- For more examples of sentence fragments, see Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab page Sentence Fragments.
Compound Sentences
- Punctuation in compound sentences can vary using commas or semicolons
depending on the way the different clauses are connected in the sentences.
A comma should be used when the clauses are linked by words like and,
or, yet, but and for.
YES: The newsreel was badly damaged from decay, but the cinema still screened the film.
- If a compound sentence does not have any of these linking words,
it can be susceptible to the problem of comma splices. In order to
avoid this common mistake, a semicolon should be used to connect the
clauses in the sentence.
NO: The newsreel was badly damaged from decay, the cinema still screened the film.
YES: The newsreel was badly damaged from decay; the cinema still screened the film.
- A good way to check for a comma splice is to separate the clauses
where to comma separates them and see if the clauses could stand on
their own as independent sentences. Another way to fix the comma splice
would be to add a linking or transitional word to the compound sentence
so that the clauses can no longer be independent sentences.
NO: The newsreel was badly damaged from decay, the cinema still screened the film.
YES: The newsreel was badly damaged from decay, but the cinema still screened the film.
OR
YES: Although the newsreel was badly damaged from decay, the cinema still screened the film.
- Compound sentences that use conjunctive adverbs like however, therefore,
thus, etc. (often seen as transitional adverbs), require both a semicolon
and a comma.
YES: The newsreel was badly damaged from decay; however, the cinema still screened the film.
Commas and Introductions
- A clause or phrase used at the beginning of a sentence that introduces
the main clause should be offset by a comma.
YES: Following his normal routine, Bob went to the corner drugstore in the morning to get his paper.
YES: Because of the high morning traffic, the workers in the store moved quickly in order to serve all of their customers.
- If the first clause in a sentence is the main clause and it is followed
by a secondary clause, a comma should not be used.
NO: The students worked on their own, because the professor wanted to finish grading their essays.
YES: The students worked on their own because the professor wanted to finish grading their essays.
- Commas should also be used after introductory words (like however,
still, in addition, etc.) in a sentence.
YES: The rest of the group started to set up the tents. Meanwhile, Bob worked on starting a fire.
Commas and essential vs. nonessential clauses and phrases
- Commas should only be used to offset nonessential clauses, phrases
and words in a sentence. If a nonessential clause is left out of a
sentence, the sentence should still make sense. A nonessential phrase
somewhat interrupts the word arrangement in the main part of the sentence.
YES: The summer months, like July and August, are popular dates for employees to take vacations from work.
YES: Bob’s dog, tail wagging, trotted back with the thrown stick.
YES: I decided I wasn’t going to make it to the bank. I was, however, still going to the store.
- If a clause or phrase is essential to the sentence, it should not
be offset by a pair of commas.
NO: The plant, that is on the table, needs to be watered.
YES: The plant that is on the table needs to be watered.
NO: The cat, lying on the couch, is the youngest.
YES: The cat lying on the couch is the youngest.
Other uses of commas
- Commas should separate items of a list or series of three words
or more.
NO: The injured bird, which couldn’t fly, or eat, was taken to the animal hospital.
YES: The injured bird, which couldn’t fly, eat, or walk, was taken to the animal hospital.
YES: The injured bird, which tottered as it walked, which couldn’t fly, and which wouldn’t take any food, was taken to the animal hospital.
- Commas should also be used to separate two coordinate adjectives
that are describing the same noun. Coordinate adjectives will still
make sense in a sentence if their order is reversed or if an “and”
is placed in between the adjectives.
NO: His angry tense face showed how much he wanted to start a fight.
YES: His angry, tense face showed how much he wanted to start a fight.
- Non-coordinate adjectives, on the other hand, should not use a comma.
Non-coordinate adjectives cannot be reversed or use an “and”
between them. Non-coordinate adjectives are not of the same importance.
NO: His black, leather jacket was unnecessary because of the summer heat.
YES: His black leather jacket was unnecessary because of the summer heat.
- Commas should also be used to set off modifiers in a sentence. These
modifiers can shift places in a sentence, but need to be monitored
so that the sentence carries the same meaning and clarity.
NO: Dressed in a heavy coat, Bob and his dog went for a walk. (Unclear what subject the modifier refers to, Bob or his dog)
NO: Bob took his dog for a walk dressed in a heavy coat. (Unclear whether Bob or his dog is wearing the coat)
YES: Bob, dressed in a heavy coat, took his dog for a walk.
- Commas should also mark the transition to a quotation in a sentence.
YES: “It was”, he said excitedly, “an amazing show.”
YES: She added, “You could really see the results of all the work that the producers put into the show.”
- A comma can also be used as signal of a natural pause or distinct
change in a sentence.
YES: I was surprised to find him still sitting on the couch, not prepared at all to leave.
YES: You have always found him ready to go when you arrive, haven’t you?
YES: He seemed reluctant to leave, even listless.
- For more help on commas, visit Purdue’s Online Writing Center’s pages on proofreading for commas.
Apostrophes
- Double check your paper for words ending in an “s” or
with a contraction (i.e. “nt”). Be sure that apostrophes
are used correctly.
NO: Student’s often stay up late to study for exams.
YES: Students often stay up late to study for exams.
NO: The student’s workloads often required them to stay up late to study for exams.
YES: The students’ workloads often required them to stay up late to study for exams.
Grammar and spell checks
- Most word processing programs have a grammar check that will scan
a document for common grammar problems. While this check can be helpful,
it can also fail to recognize many grammar problems. The programs
are not sophisticated enough to identify as many mistakes as a thorough
human editing check can discover. For example, the next sentence is
definitely a run-on sentence, but the grammar check on Microsoft Word
does not catch that there is anything wrong with it.
I left the pan under the leak by morning it had filled with water.
A proofreading can easily flag this error and correct it by adding a semi-colon.
I left the pan under the leak; by morning it had filled with water.
-
The computer run spell checks can also miss many errors. One of the largest gaps left by the spell check’s corrections are the words that might be spelled correctly, but are the wrong words in the context of the sentence. For example, the spell check on Microsoft Word does not indicate that any words in the following sentence are spelled incorrectly, but it is obvious to a human proofreader that there are.
It would take a long time to get there, but after we red the map we new that we were going the write weigh.
An editor can easily replace the incorrect words with the correct homonyms in the sentence.
It would take a long time to get there, but after we read the map we knew that we were going the right way.
Citations
- Having correct citations is important in avoiding accidental plagiarism. Every quotation should be cited. If the paper has a direct quotation, it should be referenced in the text or in the footnotes of the paper and the source should be included in the works cited or bibliography for the paper. If information is used indirectly, as in a paraphrase, the source should be included in the works cited or bibliography, and often it is also cited parenthetically in the text of the paper. Check the library’s online citation guides for more information.
Passive voice and unnecessary qualifying phrases
- Using active voice over passive voice is usually recommended for
research papers, but the use of passive voice is often a gray area.
Passive voice is not always wrong to use and can be hard to detect.
A sentence can be grammatically correct in passive voice. Nonetheless,
using an active voice in a research paper can provide more effective
and confident sentences. Active voice can also provide clarity with
its more logical sequencing of subjects, verbs and objects within
sentences.
NO: A sentence in passive voice was used by the teacher to point out confusion in the paper.
YES: The teacher used a sentence in passive voice to point out confusion in the paper.
Passive voice is not always incorrect. If the receiver of the action is more important than the performer of the action, passive voice can call attention to the receiver over the performer. In the example below, it is evident that the performer of the action is insignificant, whereas the receiver of the action is essentially important.
YES: By increasing the speed at which it is spun, the matter begins to take on a new shape.
- Using unnecessary qualifying phrases can have the same effect as passive voice on a paper. A sentence that is prefaced by phrases such as “I would like to discuss”, “In my opinion” or “In the next paragraph I will show” can take away momentum and command from a paper. Phrases that state what the writer will do later in the paper are unnecessary because a paper should prove the writer’s points, provide an adequate description and present relevant information on its own. A paper is, itself, evidence of the writer’s intention and shouldn’t need the writer’s declaration. Similarly, phrases that assert that the writer is giving his or her opinion are unnecessary because it can be assumed that the paper is, of course, from the writer’s point of view and includes his or her opinions. Although many objective facts and evidence can be used in papers, analysis and perspective still come from the writer, and are, therefore, opinions of the writer.
Back to Successful Researching and Writing
9 August 2004