Daniel Kies Department of English College of DuPage
Composition and Modern English Grammar		Contact Form

Error Correction Terms and Abbreviations

1. Serious grammar/vocabulary errors

Term or abbreviation	Meaning	Solution
coh	Coherence Coherence in Writing The Order of a Sentence The Paragraph Coherence	Add missing ideas or change the order of ideas.
copied	This material is copied from the source. Summarizing and Paraphrasing Successfully Successful and Unsuccessful Examples of Paraphrasing What is Plagiarism? Avoiding Plagiarism	Rewrite in your own words.
quot	Quotation Summarizing and Paraphrasing Successfully Quotations When should I quote? Setting up and following up a quotation How much should I quote? Quotation and other punctuation Quotations within quotations? When do I use those three dots (...)? Modifying words in a quotation	Add or change an author’s name, source title, signal verb/phrase, or the quoted passage.
unclear	Your meaning is unclear. Sentence Clarity	Rewrite using different words.
vague	Insufficient details Developing a Thesis What is a paragraph?	Add more details.
cl	Clause Using Clauses as Nouns, Adjectives, and Adverbs Adjective Clauses Adverb Clauses Noun Clauses Relative Pronouns Relative Pronouns	Change or move a word/words in a dependent clause.
cond	Conditional The English Conditional The Five Types of Conditional Present Conditional Past Conditional Future Conditional Continuous Conditional Mixed Conditional Were to	Change the verb tense and/or a modal verb.
conn	Connector Conjunctions What is a Conjunction? Conjunctive Adverbs	Change a clause connector word or phrase.
modal	Modal Verb Modal Verb Tutorial	Change a modal auxiliary.
pass	Passive Active / Passive Verb Forms Passive Voice	Change the form of a passive or active verb.
ss	Sentence Structure The Structure of a Sentence Questions Direct & Indirect Questions Negatives Negative Phrases Appositives Using Do, Does, and Did	Add or delete a word or words in a main clause.
vf	Verb Form Gerund or Infinitive Active / Passive Verb Forms Forming and Using Verb Tenses Irregular Verb Dictionary Participial Phrase Gerund Phrase Infinitive Phrase	Change the form of a verb, usually a suffix.
vt	Verb Tense Types & Tenses of Verbs Using Verb Tenses Past Tenses in Sequence	Change the tense of a verb.
wo	Word Order The Order of a Sentence Misplaced Modifiers Questions Direct & Indirect Questions Negatives Negative Phrases Appositives Using Do, Does, and Did	Change the position of a word or phrase.

2. Stigmatizing grammar/vocabulary errors

Term or abbreviation	Meaning	Solution
art	Article Article Usage in English	Add, delete or change an article (a, an, or the).
aux	Auxiliary Verb / Helping Verb Compound Verbs / Auxiliary Verb / Helping Verb	Add, delete or change an auxiliary verb (do, be, or have).
cap	Capitalize Capital Letters	Use an uppercase letter at the beginning of the word.
cs	Comma Splice Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences The Comma The Semicolon The Colon End Punctuation	Use a period or semicolon to separate main clauses.
det	Determiner Articles, Determiners, and Quantifiers	Add, delete or change an article, possessive, quantifier or other determiner.
frag	Fragment Sentence Fragments	Delete a period to join a clause or phrase.
idiom	Nonidiomatic Language What are Idioms? False Friends	Rewrite the passage in other words.
lc	Lower Case Capital Letters	Use a lower case letter at the beginning of the word.
p	Punctuation Sentence Punctuation Patterns Punctuation	Add, delete, or change a punctuation mark.
parallel or //	Coordination / Parallel Structure Parallel Structure Parallelism	Make coordinated elements grammatically parallel.
poss	Possessive Forming Possessives	Add, delete, or change a possessive noun or determiner.
prep	Preposition Preposition Basics & Phrasal Verbs Verb + Preposition Dictionary Phrasal Verb Dictionary Prepositions: Locators in Time and Space Prepositions	Use a dictionary to add, delete, or change a preposition.
pron	Pronoun What is a Pronoun? Noun and Pronoun Characteristics Pronouns Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement Relative Pronouns Who and Whom Personal Pronouns Possessive Pronouns Demonstrative Pronouns Interrogative Pronouns Relative Pronouns Indefinite Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns Intensive Pronouns	Change the use of a pronoun.
quant	Quantifier Usage of quantifiers Articles, Determiners, and Quantifiers	Add, delete or change a quantifier or related phrase.
ro	Run-On Sentence Run-Ons Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences The Semicolon The Colon End Punctuation	Use a period or semicolon to separate main clauses.
sp	Spelling Spelling Common Words that Sound Alike Alan Cooper's Homonym List	Use a dictionary.
s/pl	Singular / Plural / Noncount Noun and Pronoun Number Noncount and Count Nouns Non-Countable Noun Collective Noun	Add or delete plural marking on a noun.
sv	Subject-Verb Agreement Making Subjects and Verbs Agree Subject-Verb Agreement Subjunctive The Subjunctive Mood	Make a singular or plural subject agree with its verb.
ts	Topic Sentence / Thesis Statement Thesis Thesis: Traits and Myths Writing Topic Sentences Thesis Statement Developing a Thesis	State the main idea.
wc	Word Choice Suggestions for using a dictionary Look up a word in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Look up a word in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and Online Thesaurus Kellee Weinhold / U of Oregon's guide to accuracy in word choice Using a Reverse Dictionary to Solve Word Choice Problems False Friends	Use your dictionary to find the correct word.
wf	Word Form Word Formation Comparatives and Superlatives	Change a suffix, prefix or part of speech.
wordy	Too Many Words Increasing Clarity by Eliminating Wordiness Conciseness (Purdue's OWL) Conciseness (U of Oregon)	Be precise and concise.

3. Other symbols

Symbol	Meaning	Solution
?	Unclear	Rewrite using different words.
!	This is surprizing!	Rethink this idea, or do more research.

4. Other abbreviations

Term or abbreviation	Meaning	Solution
vf/cs	Slash mark with 2 symbols	One error, but two possible explanations or solutions.
vf, cs	Comma with 2 symbols	Two errors, two corrections needed.
*?	Question mark after symbol	An error, but I’m not sure of what type.
* (2x)	Parentheses after the proofreading symbol means the error occurs two times. The number may vary.	Locate every occurrence of the error.
____	Word or phrase underlined or highlighted without explanation	Second or subsequent occurrence of an error.

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See also

1. "Grammar & Usage Tip of the Week"
2. the bottom of http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/comp1/compwrit.htm
3. http://www.esl.ucsb.edu/people/rightmire/tools/errorchart.html

Adapted from Brusaw, Alred, and Oliu The Business Writer's Handbook, "Proofreaders' marks."

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