See Ross's video tutorials! (MP4 format.) These are based on the grammar principles as explained in the reading below.Return to Editorial Processes resources.
Proofreading and grammar highlights(Based on a lecture by Ross Collins, professor of communication, North Dakota State University)
See Ross's video tutorials! (MP4 format.) These are based on the grammar principles as explained in the reading below.
Most editing is done on-screen nowadays. But every editor still deals with hard copy that arrives in the mail, or as part of press releases. Editing proof sheets often also become part of an editor's duties, particularly on publications that have the time and resources to carefully re-check material before it's actually published. This means editors still have to know a few standard proofreading marks. Here are the most common, as a downloadable PDF file. Familiarize yourself with them. For online students I'll post an extra credit exercise later in the semester.
Spelling: a few common sneaky words
Yes, you need to use spell-check. But what if you have to edit hard copy? What if an important quiz for an editing job includes spelling? What if you just want to look smarter? Here is a list of commonly misspelled words. Memorize correct spelling, and look for them in exercises throughout this course.
The best of AP style
Style in media editing, as we noted in Reading One, means how we choose to spell or abbreviate words or phrases for consistency and readability. In the academic world, researchers may choose from several styles, including APA, MLA, and Chicago. In the media world, journalists and most public relations writers use the style manual of the Associated Press. I don't expect you to memorize the entire Associated Press guide. I do expect you to know common AP style rules you'll use over and over again. To refresh your memory on these basics, refer to this guide, Ross's Best of AP Style.
Grammar highlights
It's impossible to produce excellent grammarians in one basic editing course. That takes years of school, and interest in reading widely and writing often. As well, it has to be said that English is peculiarly difficult as a broad collection of all sorts of languages, with no accent marks as a guide, and rules with many exceptions. We suffer, for instance, from 16 different word combinations with the pronunciation "sh," and no grammatical guide as to that combination's pronunciation. In fact, research has shown that dyslexia, the condition in which people are unable to read, is rare in countries such as Spain and Italy, whose natives emphasize pronunciation of every letter, and rely on nearly universal rules guiding that pronunciation. It is, however, more common in France and England, whose languages have many letters unpronounced, or pronounced in a way not obvious by spelling. We're lucky that for most of us our first language is English, as it is, to quote a French professor I once studied under, "a pain in the neck to learn."
That having been said, it is possible at least to learn some of the most common pitfalls of written English as it's generally used by mass media practitioners--and how to avoid them. If you learn the things I cover in this class, at least, you'll be right a good share of the time without scurrying to a usage guide. You must, of course, also have a usage guide at hand. Few editors know everything (except Carr Van Anda?). Here are the guidelines and, as my fifth-grade teacher used to point out, sometimes memorization is a valuable thing.
Note: you may wish to review parts of speech (nouns, verbs, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives) if you're not sure how they function in a sentence. For a quick on-line guide, I kind of like this effort produced through the University of Ottawa, but a Google search will yield many alternatives, including SparkNotes.
Affect/Effect.
The two have different meanings, and can't be substituted for each other. Affect means have an influence on. Effect means bring about, cause, result in, produce a change. Example: "The use of computers affects everything an editor does." BUT "The use of computers has an effect on editing procedures."
Note: The first use of "affect" is as a verb; the second, "effect," is a noun. Less common but perhaps more confusing is the use of "effect" as a verb meaning, "bring about." So if we say, "the use of the Web will effect change in the newsroom," we now use "effect," to bring about. "Affect," to change, meaning, "have an influence on," wouldn't work here, as change is an influence on itself. Confusing? For me it's easiest to remember this by reading "affect" or "effect" and asking if there's a noun after. Ask, "affect (effect?) who or what?" If you can answer that, it's "affect," with the a. Example: "His books affect teaching of ethics." Affect what? Teaching of ethics. BUT "His books have an effect on ethics teaching." Affect (effect?) who or what? There is no direct answer to this question; the next word is "on."
Last note: If you happen to be in the counseling/psychology field, you'll know "affect" can be used as a noun, meaning showing emotion or mood. "He shows no affect" means he shows little emotional response.
I belabor this difference because it's probably the second or third most common mistake I see in mass media publications.
Between/Among.
Between introduces two items, among more than two. Pronoun following should be in the objective case. Example: "Just between you and me, he's quitting at the end of the week." BUT "The candy will be divided among the three children."
Its/It is/It's
"Its" is possessive. "It's" is a contraction of "it is." ("Its'" doesn't exist.) This is perhaps the most common grammar mistake in English, dating back to Shakespeare. Other possessive/contraction confusions: whose/who's; your/you're; their/they're/there.
The two (or three) have radically different meanings. My method of making the right choice is simple: read the sentence as if the contraction were spelled out. If it makes sense, use the contraction. If it doesn't use the possessive. Examples: "It's a sunny day today." Did I use the correct "it's?" Well, spell it out: "It is a sunny day today." Make sense? Of course. So correct usage is I-T-apostrophe-S. BUT "I can't ride my bike today. It's seat is broken." "It is seat is broken." Make sense? No. So it has to be the other one, its, without the apostrophe.
This works for the other confusing word pairs too. "Who's life is it, anyway?" "Who is life is it?" Nope. So correct is whose, possessive, and not the contraction of who is. "You're a good man, Charlie Brown." "You are a good man." Works. Apostrophe is correct.
Okay, one little problem with their/they're/there--that third possibility. But the meaning of "there" is completely different from the possessive/contraction, meaning, of course, a place: "Put the books down there." I actually seldom see college-level students make a mistake with this word.
Principal/Principle
This ranks right up with affect/effect among most common errors. Principal means main, most important, and is always followed by a noun, as it is an adjective. Principle IS a noun, meaning a guiding rule. So if you see principle followed by a noun, you know it's the wrong one.
Examples: "That car is the principal reason we prefer to walk." The main, most important, followed by a noun, reason. BUT "It's not that the car is dangerous, but as a principle we prefer to avoid gas guzzlers." As a guiding rule, noun, not modifying anything.
Ross's memory jog: It helps me to remember this by thinking that if the word modifies any noun, it most be "al." (Think: "al" ALters the noun.) Or think "princiPAL" can't stand alone; it needs its PAL, a noun. (Hey, if you think this mnemonic device is hokey, wait until you see what's coming up. But research shows that we do remember silly things!)
Two other uses of principal: the head of a school, and a sum of money. Never use "principle" in these cases. I suppose I don't have to remind you that "princible" doesn't exist, although sometimes people pronounce it that way.
Neither/Nor; Either/Or.
The two combinations must go together as pairs. Example: Neither the doctor nor the nurse knew of his heart condition." BUT "Either the doctor or the nurse could have helped." Ross's memory jog: vowel with vowel, or the two consonants, the "n's."
Teams and companies.
When referred together as one, each takes a singular verb. Examples: "The NDSU volleyball team won its [NOT their] sixth game at home last night." "Home Depot posted its fourth consecutive quarter of profit." BUT "NDSU volleyball team members believe they need more work on defense." Ross's memory jog: We work together, therefore we are one (singular).
Note: Yes, I know this sometimes "sounds weird," because Americans commonly refer to teams and companies as "their." I blame radio announcers, particularly advertisers. But in written English, the on-air people have yet to persuade the grammarians. It's a battle out there. Who will win? Probably the radio jocks. But not yet.
Dangling modifiers.
These are among those common mistakes you miss when you're writing something quickly, but see only too glaringly when it's too late to do anything. The beginning of a sentence is set up with a clause to modify something, but what follows it is not the intended noun. Example: "Faced with possible arrest, the jewels were dumped at police headquarters." Um, obviously, we didn't mean the jewelry would face arrest, but the real culprit slipped out of the sentence. Of course it should be: "Faced with possible arrest, the thief dumped the jewelry."
When you begin a sentence with a dependent clause, be alert to its reference. Example: "An accomplished web designer, the new job was a snap for him." Change to: "An accomplished web designer, he found the new job to be a snap."
Apostrophes as possessives.
In addition to their use in contractions, apostrophes in English are used to indicate possessiveness. This rather unfortunate idea is not part of Latin-based languages such as French and Spanish, and it causes confusing mistakes.
On the good side, it does streamline word usage. "The minister's book" is a smoother read than the French or Spanish equivalent, "The book of the minister." (Le livre du curé; El libro del padre.) In any case, we're writing and editing in English, so here's the rule: no apostrophe is used to indicate plural. While I don't see many college students making these mistakes, they are common in the larger world. In fact, I can almost guarantee you I can tell if someone has had college education by the mistakes she or he makes writing English. If he uses apostrophes for noun plurals, and "there" for "their," he is not a college graduate. (I can't say why college graduates seldom make these errors. They sure make a lot of others. It's just an observation.)
One book. Two books. One car, three Toyotas. One egg. I have a dozen eggs. North Dakota. The Dakotas. No apostrophes in plurals. No sweat.
Indicating the possessive, however, means adding apostrophes--somewhere. Where depends on if it's plural or singular.
The apostrophe goes before the s for singular possessive, after the s for plural. Examples: "I have a dozen eggs." BUT "This egg's shell is cracked." (Singular possessive.) "The car's battery needs to be replaced." (Singular possessive.) BUT "The cars' batteries were ruined in the recent flood."(Plural possessive.)
Students seem to forget apostrophes more often than they add them where they don't belong. For instance, time and date expressions need apostrophes when used possessively. Examples: "In one year's time I'll be living in New York." "The professor's assistant says two hours' time is long enough for the exam." BUT "The professor says two hours is enough for the exam."
Exception: Proper names of organizations sometimes drop the apostrophe. Examples: Herbergers Department Store. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We sometimes drop apostrophes for familiar websites, because apostrophes aren't used in URLs: Craigslist.
To/Too.
High on my list of common media writing errors. The two are not interchangeable, as their meanings are different. "To" is a preposition. "Too" means also, or more than enough. Examples: "He will go to class after his morning swim. He often runs too. It's all too strenuous for me."
Generally it's easy to get this right if you memorize the definition of "too": also, or more than enough. If that's not what's meant, you use the other one. Example: "I went to the fair yesterday." Always or more than enough the fair? That makes no sense. So "to," the preposition, is correct. Ross's memory jog: "Too," is the longer one, because it has "more than enough" o's.
Hyphenated words.
So confusing to so many that they've responded by dropping all hyphenations. Perhaps this trend will become standard English someday. After all, common words sometimes began life as two separate words, became hyphenated, then finally became one compound word: basket ball, basket-ball, basketball; to day; to-day; today; web site, web-site, website. Other words still languish in a hyphenated state: fund-raiser (AP style). Will this poor compound word separated by that dastardly hyphen someday join together as one? Probably.
But here we consider the still more confusing case of hyphens used between words serving as compound adjectives. The hyphen makes a link, so the general rule: if two or more words work together to modify a noun, and are used before the noun, they are hyphenated. Examples: "She wore a reddish-green dress." "He gave the class chocolate-covered potato chips." "The East Shoe Tigers have a 36-point lead." BUT: "Her dress shimmered an iridescent reddish green."
This would be easier to remember if it weren't for the common exceptions. Exception one: adverbs (ending in "ly") used as compound modifiers are not hyphenated. Example: Tthe lightly traveled road will be widened to encourage more traffic." Exception two: compound adjectives used with a form of the verb "to be" are hyphenated, even when used after the noun. Example: "Her dress was reddish-green."
The AP Stylebook recommends leaning toward fewer hyphens, and that might help us. If the meaning is clear, drop the hyphen. Example: "The health care center will begin accepting Medicare patients next year." Health care in this case is not hyphenated. It's sometimes your own best judgment. If, for example, you write, "He recovered the chair and sold it on Craigslist," well, it sounds like the chair was sick. We need a hyphen: "He re-covered the chair....".
Who/That.
People are who. Example: "The man who [not that] fights for his rights will get the raise."
Extremely common mistake. Perhaps another case of careless radio announcers spoiling it all for us persnickety editors.
Media, Data.
Both are plural. Examples: "The media have become rich and powerful in America." "The data indicate that cancer is more common among smokers." Note that singular for data is datum, but we usually just write, "a piece of data." Yes, I know you're moaning, "but 'media have' just sounds wrong." But it ain't. I mean isn't.
A Lot, All Right, Every Day.
A lot is still two words, although it's so commonly thrown together that I expect that rule to change. Ditto for all right. Language is dynamic. When I was an undergraduate (some four or five years ago...), under way and per cent were two words. Now it's all right (not alright) to use both as one word.
As for everyday, well now, it depends. If it's used as an adjective (before a noun), it's one word. Example: "An everyday shirt you'll wear often." "It's not an everyday thing, but we like to celebrate now and then after exams."
BUT, and here's where a whole lot of people err, every day is TWO words if it stands alone. This is because day is no longer an adjective, but has become a big important noun. Examples: "She takes her laptop to class every day." "Every day you'll find new bargains at the local thrift shop."
Lie/Lay.
Lie, lay, lain. They mean to rest or recline, and are intransitive. That means they take no direct object. Examples: "He lies down for a nap every afternoon." "the dog is lying on the beach." "Yesterday she found time to lay on the sofa for an hour, but not today."
Lay, laid, laid. They mean to put or place, and are transitive, taking a direct object. To find the direct object, ask, who? or what? Examples: "You should lay the bomb down now." [Lay who or what? Lay the bomb=transitive.] "The foundation was laid last week." If you are putting something down, the verb is lay: "His book is laying on the desk."
Perhaps the reason so many of us confuse these verbs is based on what must be one of the biggest design flaws in the language. I blame it on grammar gnomes in northwest London who sat around in a pub one evening about 800 a.d. saying after a few pints of bitter, "we've got to find a replacement for this old-fashioned Latin. How about this?"
The deal is, the past tense of lie (lay=rest or recline) is the same as present tense lay (put or place). So today we lie down; yesterday we lay down. But we can still lay the book on the table. Hoo boy.
Bonus! This rule also works for sit/set and raise/rise. You set (not sit) something down, lay (not lie) something down, or raise (not rise) something up.
Commas and Punctuation
In the ye olde time of the grammar gnomes, commas, and indeed all punctuation, was thought to be unnecessary. Even spaces between words--who needs 'em?
Thelanguagewasstillreadablebutitbecamesuchachoretoconcentratethatmuchallthetime
Some people today still wish that punctuation, particularly commas, would just go away, as we could then dispense with the apparent mountain of rules covering those tiny flecks. Usage is confusing, but we're moving today toward getting by with fewer commas. Still, we can't dispense with punctuation completely; it not only gives the reader an idea of inflections that change meaning in spoken English, but also indicates useful distinctions between words. Example: "That was smart." "That was smart!" "That was smart?" Pauses also indicate meaning, and may be directed by commas, semicolons, dashes, colons, and periods. It can make a difference: "When lightning struck George Ross fainted." "When lightning struck George, Ross fainted." Or that perennial favorite of high school grammar teachers: "Let's eat Grandma!" "Let's eat, Grandma!"
One of the big confusions people seem to have over the use of commas is in sentences of appositive. Appositives mean a name that stands for another name. For instance, we refer to Irving J. Nern, and also to the company CEO; the two are really the same person. To decide whether or not to use commas in these phrases, you have to determine if they are restrictive or non-restrictive.
A restrictive clause means that no other person could be meant. Example: "Company CEO Irving J. Nern today said business increased 20 percent last year." However, a non-restrictive clause is not quite as specific: "The company CEO, Irving J. Nern, said today that business increased 20 percent." (Note: the commas must be used in pairs.) Hint: if you see an article (a, an or the) at the beginning, chances are you need to set off the name with commas before and after. Try reading the sentence without the name to see if it makes sense as a complete sentence. If it does, you need the commas. Example: "The company CEO said today that business increased 20 percent." (Need commas.)
A second comma trip-up involves use with coordinating conjunctions. Generally you need a comma before these six: and, or, nor; but, yet, for. But you have some flexibility: if the clauses connected by "and," "or," or "but" are short, or if you are writing in a more conversational style, you can drop the commas. Examples: "Some students will pass this class and some won't." "No one comes to dinner Friday, for everyone goes home." "He'll need to see your passport, and he'll need to take your picture." "Either he is a qualified technician, or he is not." Note: No commas are used if conjunctions begin a sentence.
Introductory clauses need commas. Examples: "If he is as important as that, we should try to recruit him for our company." "Before leaving, the soldiers blew up the fort."
Parenthetical expressions generally need commas, although if you're writing conversationally, again, sometimes you can get by without. Example: "An experienced writer, generally speaking, tries to avoid clichés."
Generally, we also use commas if the meaning would otherwise be confusing.
Note that a comma will not substitute for a semicolon or period in two complete sentences. This is called a comma splice. Example: "The restaurant plans to announce three new chicken dishes, the first will be on the menu beginning next month." You need a period or semicolon here. Frequent error: a semicolon (or period) is needed before the word "however" when joining two sentences. Example: "The semester officially begins Monday, however, day classes begin Tuesday morning." After "Monday" you need to replace the pathetically insufficient comma with a more robust semicolon.
Three FAQs about punctuation
1. Do you use the comma before "and" in a series? Examples: "He brought, pens, paper, and erasers to the exam room." What about that comma after "paper?" How about "the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences?" Comma after "Humanities?" Answer: it's your choice! (See! Grammar with a heart!) It's a bit more formal to use the comma before the "and," and sometimes makes a sentence more understandable. A few years ago at a college meeting my colleagues engaged in a firm, but ever polite, argument for what seemed like an hour over whether we ought to put that serial comma after "Humanities." (We decided against it, trying to prove grammatically that we are the friendly, informal college we'd like to be.)
2. Do you use a comma after a date or a city and state? Examples: "On Jan. 20, 2001, George W. Bush was sworn in as president." "The Dec. 21, 1954, summit proved indecisive." "Duluth, Minn., is the largest inland port in the United States." Answer: you must use a comma after the year and state if the full date or the city/state combination is used. So all the above examples are correct.
3. Inside or outside: where does the quote mark go? This is a bit confusing in British English, but for a United States editor, it's no problem: the quote mark always goes outside the punctuation, unless it's a semicolon or colon. Examples: see all my examples above. Quote marks are always outside.
World's funniest book on punctuation: Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Buy it now. It's less than $10.
Non-Sexist Writing
You may be aware that English has been moving toward replacing indications of gender with more neutral words, particularly in traditionally male-oriented professions. Examples: chairman=chair; fireman=fire fighter; mailman=letter carrier; paperboy=newspaper carrier; policeman=police officer; stewardess=flight attendant.
Also try to watch for stereotypical uses of "he," such as: "any lawyer worth his salt would file a lawsuit." Try to rewrite, "Any lawyer worth anything..." or "Any competent lawyer...." As for the he/she pronoun dilemma, most writers nowadays try to avoid sounding awkward, using "he/she" over and over, perhaps by rewriting to avoid the pronoun, or by using "she" in one reference, and "he" in the next.
One popular alternative to avoid the sometimes clumsy he/she construction is to change the noun to plural, allowing correct usage of the gender-neutral third-person plural pronoun "they." In the example,"Everyone has the right to their own opinion, but no one has the right to their own facts," they is incorrect, as "everyone" is singular. But I sympathize for the poor writer trying desperately to avoid both sexist and awkward construction. So let's try this: "People have the right to their own opinion, but not to their own facts." Tah-dah!
Yes, it's still grammatically incorrect to use "they" with a singular noun: "If anyone thinks they can play short stop, please step forward." "Anyone" still takes a singular pronoun, although I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation of grammarians finally bows to common usage and lets this one slide into informal grammatical correctness. But not yet.