Proofreading is a separate skill from writing. When you write, your attention is on ideas.
When you proofread, it should be on forms. The way to keep it there is to check one thing per pass.
This lesson pulls together word endings, punctuation between ideas and your own slip-or-gap sorting from the previous lesson. It is part of spelling, punctuation and proofreading.
What are the passes?
Use four short passes. Each one has a single question.
- Endings pass. Put a finger under every verb and noun. Does the ending match the time and number?
- Punctuation pass. Find each comma. Does it sit between two complete ideas? If yes, change it. Check that every sentence ends with a full stop.
- Spelling pass. Read backwards, one word at a time, so that the meaning cannot carry you along. Circle any word you would not write the same way twice.
- Capitals and small words pass. Check the start of each sentence, names, and any repeated or missing little words such as “the”, “to” and “of”.
Change a word only if you can say why it is wrong. A guess can turn a right word into a wrong one.
Worked example
Here is a short draft for an email to a school librarian.
dear Ms Lim, I am writing to ask about the book club. My friends and I want to join, we reads a lot of mystery novel. Could you tell me when the next meeting is Thank you for you help.
Yours sincerely, Farah
Pass 1, endings. “we reads” becomes “we read” (plural subject). “mystery novel” becomes “mystery novels” (a lot of). No other ending problems.
Pass 2, punctuation. “My friends and I want to join, we read” joins two complete ideas with a comma. Change the comma to a full stop or use “and”.
For example: “My friends and I want to join, and we read a lot of mystery novels”. The polite request “Could you tell me when the next meeting is” is a question. It needs a question mark at the end.
Pass 3, spelling. “you help” is a real word, so spell-check would miss it. It should be “your help”. Reading word by word finds this.
Pass 4, capitals. “dear” needs a capital: “Dear Ms Lim,”.
Corrected:
Dear Ms Lim,
I am writing to ask about the book club. My friends and I want to join, and we read a lot of mystery novels.
Could you tell me when the next meeting is? Thank you for your help.
Yours sincerely, Farah
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is to fix errors while reading and to stop the moment one is found.
Mistaken routine: Read the text once, correct the first three errors, and then stop because it feels finished.
This finds the obvious errors and leaves the quiet ones, such as “you” for “your”. The correction is to finish every pass, even when an earlier pass found many errors.
Check yourself
1. Do a punctuation pass on: “It rained all day, the match was cancelled. The players went home disappointed.”
Show answer
The comma after “day” joins two complete ideas. Correct: “It rained all day, so the match was cancelled.” (or use a full stop or semicolon). The second sentence is fine.
2. Do an endings and a spelling pass on: “Every students need to bring there calculator.”
Show answer
“Every” needs a singular noun: student. A singular subject takes needs. “there” should be their. Corrected: Every student needs to bring their calculator.
3. Which pass would find the error in “we visited the museum on saturday”?
Show answer
The capitals pass (pass 4): “We” at the start and “Saturday” both need capitals.
Where this leads next
Your routine gets stronger when it is aimed at your own habits. Build that in create a personal correction list from original work. Then try the practice set under light time pressure.
A teacher can watch you proofread under time limits and point out which pass you skip, in online one-to-one English as a Second Language tuition.