Proofreading Archives

A picture of a draw bridge with the words: "The Stairway was rehabilitated in 2018 by SDOT Roadway Structure's Crew's

Don’t Have It Printed Til You Read This Post!

Yesterday I went on an urban hike. Climbing stairs among lush greenery, I spotted the sign below. Not again! Someone had once again printed a sign without checking on their use of apostrophes. Don’t do it! Before creating a sign or printing cards that include… continue reading

The Commonest Error of 2019

Which error did you see most often in 2019? Was it a missing comma? A misplaced or missing apostrophe? A lack of subject-verb agreement? A word used incorrectly? The error I found most often in work projects—especially copyediting presentations and manuscripts—is described below, with one… continue reading

Google, You’ve Gone Too Far

Certainly we can admire Google for its growth, global reach, inventiveness, and the brilliance of its teams. But they’ve gone too far. Cleverness has its limits. Analyze, yes. Optimize, yes. Publicize, yes–those are all things online content providers want to do. But troubleshootize? No, Google,… continue reading

Do I Capitalize Words Followed by Numbers or Letters?

I received a good question by email today. A reader wanted to know my views on capitalizing words that are followed by numbers or letters, for example, Step 1 vs. step 1, Section A vs. section A, and Line 2 vs. line 2. How would… continue reading

Proofreading

Proofreaders, Follow the Rules!

As someone who designed the course Proofread Like a Pro, I pay attention when a competitor offers a training program on proofreading. Today my inbox included an invitation to a session. Below is the graphic with the program title. Proofreaders, do you see anything wrong?… continue reading

Find the Errors and Win the Prize

Warm up by finding one concisely spelled error in this sign. When you find it, go on to the next challenge. This dumpster sign has three punctuation errors, along with some funny commentary. Don’t quit until you find everything. Thank you to Eric W.,… continue reading

Why You Need a Style Sheet and How to Create One

I’m helping two friends who have just completed a book manuscript. They work beautifully together and will have a wonderful book when it’s finished. But right now, tiny inconsistencies appear everywhere. In one chapter, all numbers are in words; in another, most numbers are in… continue reading

Who/Whom, Whoever/Whomever: Test Yourself

The other day a friend told me he was concerned about having taken on a copy editing job because he didn’t yet feel confident of who/whom and whoever/whomever. How about you? Are you confident about where to use those pronouns? Take the test below to… continue reading

Proofreading

Signs That Need Your Proofreader’s Eye

Even when I am on vacation, I can’t turn off my proofreading eyes. The three signs below, which I spotted in Charleston, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina, got my attention. Can you recognize why? Each sign has at least one error. Sign 1 in… continue reading

Three More “Error Quests” for You

Test your error-finding skills in each of the three short passages below. Each passage has just one error. Passage 1: The purpose of the conversation is to recognize the common ground between members of the Republican Party and the Democrat Party in our state. We… continue reading