Proofreading Techniques

What is proofreading?

Proofreading means reading each word and

punctuation mark in a document slowly
and carefully to look for errors.

Why should I proof-read?

The main reason for proofreading a

document is to find out any errors in the
passage.
A document that is full of errors will create
the impression that you do not care about
your work and that you do not respect your
reader. If this happens, you will get bad
results.

What should you look for?

When youre proofreading a passage, you should pay

attention to:

Spelling
Agreement
Punctuation
Plural/ singular
Articles
Tenses
Part of speech
Preposition
Pronouns

Spelling Mistake:

It is very common to misspell words in

writing.

Therefore, you should check the spelling of

every word very carefully.
e.g. English laguage > language

Agreement

e.g. Eric and Benny owns a car.

e.g. He always work hard.

Eric and Benny own a car.

He always works hard.

e.g. There are a boy standing near the door.

There is a boy standing near the door.

Punctuation

e.g. He went to the united states.

e.g. What did you go last Sunday.

He went to the United States.

What did you go last Sunday?

Amy said I dont know .

Amy said , I dont know .

Plural/ singular

e.g. They forgot to bring their book.

e.g.He has many friend.

They forgot to bring their

books.
He has many friends.

e.g. He has a lot of homeworks.

He has a lot of homework.

Articles

a or an is used with countable

nouns to indicate one.
When you mention the object for
a first time, you should use a or
an
When you mention the object for
a second time , you should use
the.

Articles

e.g. Jenny is understanding friend.

e.g. Amy is the university student.

Jenny is an understanding friend.

Amy is a university student.

e.g. Ms Lee bought a new dress

yesterday. A dress is made from
France.

Ms Lee bought a new dress

yesterday. The dress is made from
France.

Tenses

e.g. He buy a new car yesterday.

He bought a new car yesterday.

e.g. He went Shatin visit his auntie last

week.

He went Shatin to visit his auntie last

week.

Preposition

e.g. Mary sleeps in 10 oclock at night.

e.g. Mary sleeps at 10 o clock at night.

e.g. He was born in 18th May 1990.

e.g. He was born on 18th May 1990.

Part of Speech

e.g. Sam runs very quick (adjective).

e.g. She is an energetically (adverb) puppy.

Sam runs very quickly. (adverb)

She is an energetic puppy. (adjective)

e.g. My son cries very loud. (adjective)

My son cries very loudly. (adverb)

Pronouns
Subject
Pronouns

Object Pronouns

Possessive
Adjectives

Possessive
Pronouns

I
You
He
She
It
We
They

me
you
him
her
it
us
them

my
your
his
her
its
our
their

mine
yours
his
hers
ours
theirs

Pronouns

e.g. She went home. (subject pronouns)

The subject is the person or thing doing the

action.

e.g. We saw her.(object pronouns)

e.g. They invited us to join the party.

The object is the person or thing receiving the

action.

Pronouns

It is my book.

The possessive adjective is used before a

noun.

This pen is mine.

The possessive pronoun is used at the end of

a sentence and is never used before a noun.

-END-