stuff123

Proofreading

More than once

If you are going to gain any respect from your readers, you will make sure that what you publish is free from typographical and grammatical errors, as well as improper spelling and the equally annoying homonym. The only way I see of avoiding this is to read and reread and read again. Spell checkers can only go so far, as I’m sure you have found out. I’m Canadian and, in this country, we use UK English so I find it necessary to switch dictionaries in just about every software package I choose to use. Often, I learn to ignore the highlighted “incorrect” spelling of a word if the software does not support UK English.

Grammar, on the hand, is a horse of another colour (there’s that u again). I would like to thank my elementary school principal, Mr. Stiver for his efforts in getting us to use the language correctly. He would get up in front of the class, rub his hands together vigorously and say, “I just love grammar!” Of course, the entire class would groan in unison. Little did we know that he was preparing us properly for our life ahead.

He probably would be happy that I take the time to actually use the tools that he gave us.  A good teacher arms you with knowledge and sends you off in your life’s journey hoping that they did enough to make you successful. His efforts were not lost on this school’s graduates. It isn’t a coincidence that they all had higher scores in high school English than their classmates.

Here’s some examples of my common mistakes.

• form instead of from
• againg instead of again
• you instead of your (Today.com made the same mistake)

Please feel free to leave some examples of your personal mistakes in the comments box. It’s all about communicating clearly.