EducationalMay 6, 2020

5 Proofreading Tips You Must Not Avoid

Probably the most important part of your writing process is the final proofreading and editing stage. It’s no good slaving over an essay, report, or other project only to find that it’s riddled with careless errors. On the other hand, proofreading can seem so laborious after you’ve just spent all that time and mental energy putting the piece of writing together.

We cannot deny the importance of proofreading, so instead of despairing, we have prepared a handy list of tips and strategies to help make it easier and more effective for you. In this list, we don’t include any of the more obvious ideas like turning on spelling/grammar checks. You should always have those active.

Strategy #1: Be mindful of errors

One of the biggest problems when it comes to proofreading is that your computer doesn’t flag up certain mistakes because, in the computer’s eyes, they are not mistakes. For example:

Don’t forget to buy your father a gift for his birthday.

Do you see the mistake here? The computer system doesn’t show any error, so your eyes may gloss over it quickly. Look more closely, and you’ll see that where it says “but” it should say “buy.” Other common words that we type wrongly, but are all true words:

You – Your

Their – There

Your – You’re

Everyday – Every day

No – Not

The list goes on. Your writing software likely won’t pick up formatting errors either, so if you capitalize something wrong, or forget to use bold, italic, or underline something, the computer won’t know that it’s wrong. Microsoft Word is not able to read your mind!

Strategy #2: Proofread as you write

One simple strategy to use is to proofread as you write, paragraph by paragraph. Proofreading a single paragraph is easier and feels less rushed than when you’re glossing over the entire essay just to get to the end as fast as possible.

Develop this little habit and your work will be more accurate and easier for others to read.

Strategy #3: Try printing out the draft

Another common problem for some is that reading from the screen is difficult. If you’re tired, focusing on the screen is exceedingly difficult. Many people read more accurately and closely when reading on paper. Therefore, printing a finished draft and proofreading with a pen or pencil is preferable, and you’ll likely catch more mistakes.

Remember not to waste paper, though. Use scrap paper for drafts, and print on both sides of each sheet.

Strategy #4: Get a pair of “fresh eyes”

A further strategy is to use ‘fresh eyes,’ which means to have someone who has never seen the content before proofread for you. Never underestimate the power of fresh eyes in improving the quality of proofreading.

As a writer, you are much more prone to missing mistakes than a pair of fresh eyes. Your familiarity with the writing causes you to skip over errors or automatically fix them in your brain so you read it as correct, while it remains incorrect on paper.

Strategy #5: Don’t forget punctuation

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the words, but don’t forget about the punctuation, too. Typical writing software like Microsoft Word will flag up when most punctuation errors happen, but not always, and it will sometimes even offer bad corrections because it doesn’t fully understand your context.

In the end, the quality of your writing is important, so take care and make time for proper proofreading and checking. Your readers will thank you for it.

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EducationalMarch 26, 2020

Use of Articles

Articles are words used to modify nouns such as persons, places, objects, or ideas. To put simply, articles are technically adjectives, words that either aim to qualify, describe, or modify nouns. As is often the case, adjectives help to modify nouns describing them, but the articles have slight distinctions in their use as they only point out the nouns.

Types of Articles

In English, two types of articles are recognized in writing and refer to nouns (or a group of nouns). They are called the definite and indefinite articles.

Rules for Articles

The proper use of articles in the English language is quite straightforward.

1. The Use of Definite Article “the”:

The definite noun “the” refers to specific nouns or groups of nouns.

2. The Use of Indefinite Articles “a” and “an”:

Some trouble may, however, arise when one is trying to determine which indefinite article—”an,” “a”—to use. At times like this, it’s imperative to remember that the choice of indefinite article will depend on the sound at the start of the noun being referred to. There’s a way to remember this.

Use “an” if the noun after the indefinite article has a first letter with a vowel sound. The vowel sounds in the English language are sounds that are created by any of the five vowels: “a,” “e,” “I,” “o,” and “u.”

Example:

i) An adversary of the people (“a” begins this noun, which is a vowel).

ii) An elder in the religious group (“e” begins this noun, which is also a vowel).

Use the article “a”’ when the noun that is after it has its first letter as a consonant sound. In English, consonant sounds come from the letters of the alphabet other than the five vowels.

Example:

i) My brother wants a novel for his birthday.

ii) A woman brought a dog to church today.  

Types of Articles

1. Definite Article

As stated earlier, the definite article ‘the’ in the English Language directly refers to specific nouns or groups of nouns.

Examples:

i) The hair on his on his head.

ii) The Louis Vuitton crocodile bag in my closet.

iii) The flash fiction magazines on her table.

It should be noted that the definite article ‘the’ in these examples refers directly to the noun or groups of nouns in these examples.

2. Indefinite Articles

On the other hand, the indefinite articles are the two words “a” and “an.” Like the definite article, these two articles are used in English to refer to nouns. However, the nouns being referred to in this case—persons, places, objects, or ideas—are neither specific nor direct. The function of indefinite articles in pointing out nouns is unclear, as it can be any noun or a group of nouns.

Examples:

i) A mango from the tree.

ii) An envelope from the shelf.

iii) A BMW from the car park.

Note that the nouns referred to are not precise in each of the three cases. The mango could be any mango ripe for plucking from the tree. Similarly, the envelope could be anyone from the shelf, or the BMW could be any car of the same make parked in the car park.

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EducationalDecember 2, 2019

Comma Usage: An Essential Guide

The comma is one of the most commonly seen punctuation marks in English. Some teachers describe it as a period with a little tail, which certainly looks like one, but it also has a very different set of usage rules. In today’s article, we will show you the most important ways to use commas and hopefully help you improve your writing quality. We’ll do this by showing the main functions of commas and then including examples:

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