Proofreading 101 10 Presented by E rin Maguire

1. Proofreading 101 10Presented by Erin Maguire

2. Proofreading 101 The what, why, how, and when of it all Consistency is key Spell check and grammar check Punctuation Numbers Capitals Hyphenation Commonly confused words Miscellany Where to go from here

3. Proofreading 101 What Why How When

4. Consistency Is Key As important as correct spelling and grammar In a particular document In all documents produced by person, department, or company Even if you’re wrong, be wrong throughout

5. Spell Check & Grammar Check Always use, but always double check Helpful, but not infallible Should be an integral part of your work Turn on email software’s spell check prior to sending

6. Punctuation: Commas • Separate elements in a series • I bought lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and celery. • Connecting 2 independent statements with a little conjunction (junction what’s your function…) • I bought the lettuce, but forgot the tomatoes. • Introduction of elements • Dashing into the grocery store, I realized I left my wallet in the car. • Set off parenthetical phrases • The grocery store, which is in the next town, really needs to be updated.

7. Punctuation: Commas • Separate adjectives • Erin would like to be a tall, leggy blonde, with the IQ of a fern. • Quotes • Momma always said, “Life is like a box of chocolates.” • Phrases of contrast • That money is mine, not yours. • Avoid confusion • Outside the parking lot was covered in leaves. • Outside, the parking lot was covered in leaves.

8. Punctuation: Commas • Typographical reasons • City, State • Alexandria, Virginia, is considered a good place to live. • Date and the year (January 10, 2013) • July 4, 1776, is regarded as the birthday of American Liberty. • July 1776 is regarded as the birthday of American Liberty. • 4 July 1776 is regarded as the birthday of American Liberty. • Name and title • Erin Maguire, Center of the Universe • Long numbers • My retirement plan is to win $50,000,000 in the state lottery.

9. Punctuation: Commas • Typographical reasons (continued) • Name and a suffix • Robert Downey, Jr. • Richard Harrison, III • Martin Luther King Jr. • NOT between a subject and its verb • Being a good proofreader is the key to success

10. Punctuation: Semicolons • Semicolons • Most commonly used when you link 2 independent statements that are closely related • Some authors write on a computer; some prefer pen and pad. • Used when you have a series of items that involve commas • Some people write with a word processor, typewriter, or a computer; but others, for different reasons, choose to write with a pen or pencil.

11. Punctuation • Semicolons vs. comma • How do you know what to use? • Semi or comma? • The cow is brown, it is also old. • The cow is brown; it is also old. • The cow is brown, but not old. • The cow is brown; but not old.

12. Punctuation: Quotes • Quotes • Straight • Straight quotes = " = an inch mark (I need 8" of rope.) • Straight apostrophe = ' = a foot mark (I need 8' of plywood.) • Curly • Considered more polished • Called the “published style” or “smart quotes” • The true apostrophe (or single quote) looks like ‘this’ • True quotation marks (also called “smart quotes”) look like “this”

13. Punctuation • Punctuation and quotes • Err on putting punctuation inside the quotes, and you’ll be right more often than not • Periods and commas alwaysgo inside • The sign changed from “Walk,” to “Don’t Walk,” to “Walk” again within 30 seconds. • She said, “Hurry up.” • He said, “Dawn said, ‘Hurry up.’”

14. Punctuation • Punctuation and quotes (continued) • Question marks – Use logic • If quote is a question, put mark inside quotes • She asked, “Will you still be my friend?” • Outside the quotes • Do you agree with the saying, “All’s fair in love and war”? • No double punctuation • No need to have .”? • Wrong: Did she say, “May I go?”? • Right: Did she say, “May I go?”

15. Punctuation • Punctuation and quotes (continued) • Single/Double • Use single quotation marks for quotes within quotes (and put the period inside all quotation marks) • He said, “Tammy said, ‘Do not treat me that way.’” • Only use quotes to set up a direct quotation • “When will you be here?” he asked. • He asked when you would be here.

16. Numbers • To spell out or not to spell out, that is the question • Spell out zero to nine • Use actual numbers 10 and up • Exception: Spell out any number that starts the sentence • Eighteen people thought this exception was silly. • Use actual number when talking about percentages (5%) • Exception: Spell out at beginning of sentence • Seventy-five percent of the population believe this to be true. • Sentence that contains both • There were three clients and 12 colleagues at the meeting. • They had 4 four-room houses, 10 three-room houses, and 12 10-room houses.

17. Numbers • To spell out or not to spell out, that is the question • Ordinals • Spell them out (first, second, etc.) if they can be expressed in one or two words • The twenty-first item in the list. • The 150th item on the list. • Not, the one-hundred-fiftieth item on the list. • Numbered lists vs. bulleted lists • What to use?

18. Capitals • When to capitalize • First word of a quoted sentence • Rhett said, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” • A proper noun • Betty and Erin drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, screaming. • A person’s title • Chairperson Smith • Martha Smith, chairperson of the corporation, will speak. • Governor McDonnell • All governors are expected to attend. • Direct Address • I need a tourniquet, Doctor.

19. Capitals • When to capitalize (continued) • Points of compass only when referring to a specific region • I had three relatives from the North visit over the holidays. • Go east 3 blocks and then turn south. • Names derived from proper nouns • I must take English and math. • Names of specific course titles • I have to take history and Calculus II. • I have to take American History and Intro to Underwater Basket Weaving.

20. Capitals • Lowercase • Companies vary, but in general, no need to capitalize department or group • The department is going to deliver that document to you. • If you prepare the name, then capitalize • The Human Resource Department (Department) can address your personnel issue. • Names of seasons • spring, summer, autumn, winter • earth vs. Earth • Everything on Earth • Everything on the earth

21. Hyphenation • Hyphenation is tricky because the experts do not agree • Companies may have different styles • When to hyphenate • To join two or more words serving as a single adjective before a noun: • a one-way street • chocolate-covered peanuts • But, when compound modifiers come after a noun: • The peanuts were chocolate covered. • The author was well known.

22. Hyphenation • When to hyphenate (continued) • Compound numbers: • forty-six • sixty-three • To avoid confusion or an awkward combination of letters: • re-sign a petition (vs. resign from a job) • semi-independent (but semiconscious) • reelection vs. re-election • shell-like (but childlike) • coworker vs. co-worker

23. Hyphenation • When to hyphenate (continued) • With the prefixes ex- (meaning former), self-, all-; with the suffix -elect; between a prefix and a capitalized word; and with figures or letters: • ex-husband • self-assured • all-inclusive • mayor-elect • mid-September • T-shirt • mid-1980s • NOT -ly

24. Commonly Confused Words • Accept/Except • Accept—verb meaning to receive or to take • Except—preposition meaning with the exclusion of • Advise/Advice • Advise—verb meaning to counsel or to inform • Advice—noun meaning recommendation or suggestion • Affect/Effect • Affect—verb meaning to influence (preferred over “impact”) • Effect—noun meaning outcome or result; verb meaning to cause to happen • Complement/Compliment • Complement—noun meaning something that fills up, completes, or makes perfect; verb meaning to complete or make perfect • Compliment—noun meaning recognition or praise; verb meaning to praise

25. Commonly Confused Words • Ensure/Insure/Assure • Ensure—verb meaning to make certain • Insure—verb meaning to protect monetarily against loss • Assure—verb meaning to give someone confidence (so the “object” of this verb should be a person) • Every Day/Everyday • Every Day—adverb phrase meaning each day • Everyday—adjective meaning ordinary or customary • Its/It’s • Its—pronoun—possessive form of it • It’s—contraction of it is and it has

26. Commonly Confused Words • Loose/Lose • Loose—adjective meaning not fastened or tight, having freedom of movement • Lose—verb meaning to fail to win, gain, or keep; to mislay • Than/Then • Than—conjunction used to indicate comparison • Then—chronological adverb meaning “at that time” or “next” • Led/Lead • Led—the past tense of “lead” (don’t spell it like pencil “lead”!)

27. Miscellany • S apostrophe S? • Mr. Jones’s golf clubs or Mr. Jones’ gold clubs • Texas’s weather or Texas’ weather • Plurals • Adding “s” alone creates the plural forms of capital letters, acronyms, and initials • Rs, PCs, IRAs, HMOs • An apostrophe before the “s” should be used in cases where confusion could result • Three A’s, too many I’s

28. Miscellany • i.e. or e.g.? • i.e.: Latin for id est(that is) • e.g.: exempli gratia (for the sake of example) • i.e. • Used to paraphrase • I went to my least favorite place (i.e., the dentist). • Swap with “in other words” • e.g. • Used to give an example • I like Baroque composers, e.g., Bach, Handel, Scarlatti. • Swap with “for example”

29. Miscellany • Who or whom? • Substitute he for who, him for whom • Who/Whom propped open the outside door? • For/To who/whom should I address this letter? • We all know who/whom pulled that prank. • Either, neither, or, nor • Neither this or that…

30. How Did I Miss That?! • Best way to not miss anything • Use what works best for you – we’re all different • Read/edit online • Print it out, mark it up • Double-proof with someone else • Double-proofing can be fun, if you have the right partner. • Backwards

31. Where To Go From Here • Marketing/Sales Department • Manuals of Style • The Associated Press Stylebook • The Chicago Manual of Style • The MLA Style Manual • Gregg Reference Manual • Online resources • Universities/Colleges • Grammarbook.com • Englishgrammar.org • Practice, practice, practice

32. Parting Words No one is perfect Sometimes you have to go with what sounds right Plant your flag Choose your battles

33. Questions?

34. If You Only Have 5 Minutes • Scan • You’d be surprised what will jump out at you • Check client name • Client’s website • Go to their Press Room, see how they refer to themselves in press releases • Margins • Consistency gives polish • Paragraph Spacing • Is everyone neat and tidy? • Font • One size usually does the trick

35. What About –ly? • Hyphen • -ly words can be adjectives, and you add the hyphen when it is before a noun and forms a single idea with another adjective • What kindly-looking eyes you have, Grandma. • “Kindly” is an -lyadjective here • No hyphen • When an -ly adverb comes before the adjective • Between two or more adjectives when they are separate ideas that could each be used alone with the noun • Do not hyphenate adverbs that follow the verb

36. Active vs. Passive Voice • Active • The dog bit the boy. • Subject: dog • Action: bit • Streamlined • Preferred • Passive • The boy was bitten by the dog. • Subject: the boy • Action: was bitten

37. Changing Passive to Active • Change these Passive sentences to Active • The box was mailed by Betty. • At each concert, at least one tune from a well-known opera was sung by the soprano. • Large chunks of asbestos-laden material will be removed from the hallways on the second and third floors by asbestos abatement teams.

38. Objective vs. Subjective Pronouns • Is it “I” or “me”? “We” or “us”? • If you have 2 pronouns (or a noun and a pronoun), drop the other noun and see if it makes sense. • Betty and me like to laugh. (If you drop “Betty and,” you have “me like to laugh”…?) • Barb gave the tickets to Richele and I. (“Barb gave the tickets to I”…?) • Us men like football. (“Us like football”? I think not.) • When comparing using “than” or “as” (repeat) • He is taller than {I or me?} (am tall). • He is taller than me am tall. (No!) • This helps you as much as (it helps) {I or me?}. • She is as noisy as {I or me?} (am).

39. Ending in Prepositional Phrase • Very common in oral and written communication • Informal • Popular preps • At, but, by, for, from, in, of, to • There are too many to list on this page, but these are the common ones • Consider revising sentence to present a more formal (and, might I mention, correct) structure • Who should I give the report to? • To whom should I give the report? • Where you at? • Where are you? (okay, that was just for fun)

40. A or An With Acronyms • Go with pronunciation • ROI (Return on Investment) • A “are – oh – eye” OR An “are – oh – eye”  • NGO (non-governmental organization) • A “ehn – gee – oh” ORAn “ehn – gee – oh”  • SOS (Save Our Ship/Souls) • A “ess – oh – ess” OR An “ess – oh – ess”  • TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) • A “tee – vee – aiy” OR An “tee – vee – aiy”