|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
Take the Punctuation Challenge!
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
Take the Punctuation Challenge!
|
Why? Congratulations!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
Explanations are linked to a 75-point checklist of common errors.
Note: Examples on the checklist illustrate the error or the incorrect usage.
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
No!
|
Explanations are linked to a 75-point checklist of common errors.
Note: Examples on the checklist illustrate the error or the incorrect usage.
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
No!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
No!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
No!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
No!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
No!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Yes!
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
|
Why? Congratulations!
|
|
Weekly error Weekly tip Weekly word Column of the month Books
|
|
Writing for Business and Pleasure |
Note: Examples illustrate the error or the incorrect usage.
References for rules are linked to the University of Minnesota Style Manual, published by the Office of University Relations.
Apostrophes Commas: Missing, Nonrestrictive, Unnecessary Parentheses
Quotation Marks Semicolons & Colons Unit Modifiers
|
Punctuation
□ 3. Missing nonrestrictive commas (commas setting off nonessential elements, as in He distributed the quarterly report_ which indicated record earnings; but note that no comma is used with restrictive or essential elements, as in He distributed the report that emphasized positive trends, and he withheld the report that revealed potential problems): “If [an adjectival] phrase or clause is . . . nonrestrictive, set it off with commas. . . . If [the] phrase or clause is restrictive, do not set it off with commas” (U of M Rule 5, p. 32).
□ 5. Inconsistent use of serial commas. (The serial comma – the comma before the conjunction in a series of three or more items – may be used or omitted. Both practices are correct as long as one or the other is followed consistently.) □ 6. Missing hyphens in unit modifiers (as in five year option for five-year option and long term project for long-term project): “In most cases, use a hyphen between words or between abbreviations and words combined to form a unit modifier that precedes the word modified” (see U of M, pp. 15-16). □ 7. Hyphens for dashes (as in Her resignation - a shock to everyone else - came as a relief to him, for Her resignation – a shock to everyone else – came as a relief to him): “In typewriting, use two hyphens . . . to indicate the em dash” (U of M, p. 36 – Note: Contrary to the U of M's recommendation to "close up the spaces before and after em and en dashes," I recommend that you leave a space before and after your dashes.). □ 8. Missing apostrophes with possessive forms (as in my childrens toys for my children’s toys and two weeks vacation for two weeks’ vacation; see U of M, pp. 44-45). □ 9. Unnecessary apostrophes in plural words (as in We have three Harley’s for sale). □ 10. Incorrect placement of apostrophes with singular and plural possessive forms (as in one students’ work for one student’s work and three student’s work for three students’ work). □ 11. Unnecessary colons between verbs and their complements, and between prepositions and their objects (as in My three favorite vegetables are: broccoli, spinach, and radishes, and as in They bought three loads of: hay, wheat, and oats). □ 12. Semicolons for colons (as in Dear John; and We have three concerns;). □ 13. Semicolons between main clauses and subordinate clauses (as in There were four errors in my copy; although I proofread it carefully).
□ 15. Periods and commas outside – rather than inside – closing quotation marks – as in He described the process as “inherently unfair”. “Place a comma or period following a quotation or part of a quotation inside the quotation marks” (U of M Rule 2, p. 38). □ 16. Periods inside – rather than outside – closing parentheses when the sentence is only partly enclosed by parentheses, as in Here are more than 70 common errors (relating mainly to punctuation.); but when the sentence is completely enclosed by parentheses, as in (This is a very long list.), the period does go inside the closing parenthesis. □ 17. Missing periods
Grammar □ 18. Subject-verb nonagreement (as in The network of systems are not working). □ 19. Nonparallel structure (as in She was healthy, wealthy, and an athlete) □ 20. Sentence fragments (as in She was angry. Although she wouldn’t admit it.). □ 21. Shifts in modified subject (also called misplaced modifiers, as in When pickled, I think herring tastes like caviar, and dangling modifiers, as in Working 12-hour days, the project was completed on time. In the second example, the implied subject fails to appear, which leaves the modifying phrase, working 12-hour days, dangling.). □ 22. Shifts in person (as in If writers proofread carefully, you will find your errors). □ 23. Incorrect pronoun case (as in Please send the memo to John and I or Please send the memo to John and myself rather than Please send the memo to John and me). □ 24. Pronoun-antecedent nonagreement (as in A secretary who finishes their work early should be permitted to go home). □ 25. Their for its in reference to an organization or company (as in The University of Minnesota and their students rather than The University of Minnesota and its students). □ 26. Unclear or ambiguous pronoun antecedent (as in Susan told Georgia that her proposal had been accepted by the board). □ 27. Shifts in verb tense (as in The team members worked on the project for three months, and they do a first-rate job), and incorrect verb tense. See U of M Style Manual, pp. 57-63.(Punctuation, Grammar, Spelling, Numbers, Format)
Spelling
□ 60. Names □ 61. Compound words □ 62. Spaced words spelled as solid words (as in Did you setup the room for the presentation?) □ 63. Capitalization (as in web for Web and internet for Internet). □ 64. Other:
Numbers
□ 65. Words or figures: “In nonscientific writing, spell out exact numbers of less than 10; use figures for numbers of 10 or more” (U of M, Rule 1, p. 22). □ 66. In a series: “Treat consistently throughout a sentence or paragraph all numbers referring to the same category” (U of M, Rule 2, p. 22). □ 67. At sentence beginnings “When it is the first word of a sentence, spell out a number that would normally be written as a figure. If possible, rephrase a sentence to avoid beginning with a number” (U of M, Rule 3, p. 22). □ 68. Dates: “Do not use st, nd, rd, and th after dates to indicate ordinals” (as in We will meet again on April 15th; U of M, Rule 2, p. 23). □ 69. Money: “Do not use ciphers (zeros) with even dollar amounts, except for consistency within a series” (U of M, Rule 2, p. 24). □ 70. Legalese: “Do not repeat a spelled-out number in figures” – as in You have three (3) days to return these four (4) forms – U of M, Rule 3, p. 25. Format □ 71. Missing page numbers (on pages after the first page in a multiple-page document). □ 72. Missing page identification lines (on pages after the first page in a multiple-page document). □ 73. Page number on first page (page numbering should be suppressed on page 1; page numbering first appears on page 2). □ 74. Full justification rather than left justification. Proofreading □ 75. |
|
Weekly error Weekly tip Weekly word Column of the month Books
|
