Transcript Punctuation: Commas

Proofreading 101
10
Presented by Erin Maguire
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Proofreading 101
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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
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Proofreading 101
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What
Why
How
When
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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
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Spell Check & Grammar Check
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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”
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Punctuation
 Punctuation and quotes
– Err on putting punctuation inside the quotes, and you’ll be right
more often than not
– Periods and commas always go 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.’”
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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?”
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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Commonly Confused Words
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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
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Commonly Confused Words
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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
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Commonly Confused Words
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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”!)
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Miscellany
 S apostrophe S?
– Mr. Jones’s golf clubs
– Texas’s weather
or
or
Mr. Jones’ gold clubs
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
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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”
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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…
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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
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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
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Parting Words
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No one is perfect
Sometimes you have to go with what sounds right
Plant your flag
Choose your battles
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QUESTIONS?
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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
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What About –ly?
 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
 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 -ly
adjective here
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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
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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.
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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).
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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)
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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”
OR
An “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”
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