Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
The errors that come round again and again
Name the kind of mistake a faulty line contains — agreement, tense, article, preposition or word form — and then correct it.
Editing improves when you stop hunting for mistakes in general and start looking for a small number of them by name. The same faults come round year after year, and once you can say what kind a fault is, the correction almost writes itself — because each kind has exactly one repair.
The five kinds worth naming
Agreement: the verb does not match its subject. Tense: the verb does not match the time word beside it. Article: a, an or the is wrong or missing. Preposition: the wrong small word follows a verb or an adjective. Word form: the right word in the wrong shape — went for gone, most tallest for tallest.
Verbs that hold on to their own preposition
Some verbs take one and only one. Explain something to somebody. Discuss something, with no preposition at all. Marry somebody, not with them. Senior and junior take to rather than than. These are worth learning as fixed pairs, because no rule predicts them.
The word that is one too many
Returned back, repeat again, rose up, more better, most tallest — in each of these two words are doing one job. Take the extra one out rather than trying to fix it, and the line is repaired in a single stroke.
Time words settle the tense
Yesterday, last week and in 1998 are closed times, so they take the simple past: I saw him yesterday. Since points up to now and takes the present perfect; a closed time word beside a present perfect is a clash, and it is the present perfect that gives way. The past perfect is the exception — it lives with closed times: in 1998 he had already retired.
Worked example
Name and correct the error: "One of my friend is a teacher."
Ask which kind of error this is. The verb agrees, the tense is fine, the article is fine.
Ruling out the kinds you can name is faster than staring at the line.
Try it together
Let us name and repair three faults.
One line at a time. First say to yourself what kind of error it is, then write only the word the question asks for.
1."The news of the floods are worrying." Write the corrected verb.
Have a go
Correct the error: "He is more taller than his brother." Write the word that must be removed.
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.