Software of the Month Club 1995 December/SOFM_Dec1995.bin/pc/dos/dtp/pcproof/pcproof.tut

Text File | 1995-10-31 | 26KB | 746 lines

^2
   ┌─────────────────┐
   │VERB DISAGREEMENT│
   └─────────────────┘

   To check if the subject and verb agree, make a short sentence that
   only contains the main subject and verb of the sentence.

   EXAMPLE: "The boat that held the lobsters are coming home."

   The main subject is "The boat."  The phrase "that held the lobsters"
   only helps to describe "the boat" and should be ignored when deciding
   subject/verb agreement.  The main verb "are coming" comes after the main
   subject and any descriptive phrases. The sentence "The boat are coming"
   doesn't sound correct because the subject and verb do not agree.
   The correct sounding sentence would be "The boat is coming."

   CORRECTION: "The boat that held the lobsters IS coming home."

   When determining subject/verb agreement, do not be fooled by phrases
   such as "that held the lobsters" which only describe the main subject.
   The main subject is not always the noun which is next to the main verb.

^3
  ┌──────────────────┐
  │UNUSUAL WORD USAGE│
  └──────────────────┘
  This message covers a variety of common errors. These errors include:
    (1) Accidentally leaving out a word
  EXAMPLE: "A teacher tried [] teach a difficult class."
    (2) Putting in an extra word
  EXAMPLE: "The [those] cars are good."
    (3) Misspelling a word into another word
  EXAMPLE: "I put the car [it] the garage." (should be "in" instead of "it")

  Since the program usually cannot pinpoint which type of problem has
  occurred, you should carefully proofread the sentence word-by-word.  You
  should pay special attention to the words highlighted in the error
  message.  However, the mistake can be located anywhere before the
  highlighted words.

  You may also get this message if your sentence is difficult to understand
  or if the sentence is poorly punctuated.  Check if you need to set off
  any phrases with commas. If you cannot find any mistakes in the sentence
  after proofreading it, you can ignore this message.
^4
  ┌──────────────────────────────┐
  │PRONOUN USAGE - AFTER THE VERB│
  └──────────────────────────────┘

  Examine the highlighted pronoun to make sure that you are using the
  appropriate form of the pronoun.  Pronouns usually come in two forms.
  One kind is used before the main verb (subjective) and the other kind is
  used after the main verb (objective).  Examples of subjective/objective
  pairs include "I" and "me", "he" and "him", "we" and "us", and "they"
  and "them".  If the highlighted pronoun is the object of a verb, then
  you should change the pronoun to its objective form.                                 ║

  EXAMPLE:  "I wanted to help Larry and he."

  To check if the pronoun is used correctly, make a sentence which only
  contains the pronoun in question.  The sentence, "I wanted to help
  he." doesn't sound correct because "he" is a subjective pronoun which
  cannot be used after the verb.  The objective form of "he" is the word
  "him".

  CORRECTION: "I wanted to help Larry and him."
^5
  ┌─────────────────────────┐
  │USING REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS │
  └─────────────────────────┘

  Check if the highlighted pronoun needs to be replaced by a reflexive
  pronoun such as "myself", "himself" or "yourself".

  If a sentence contains two pronouns and they both refer to the same person,
  then the second pronoun must be in a reflexive form.

  EXAMPLE:  "I like me."

  The pronouns "I" and "me" both refer to the same person.  Therefore, the
  second pronoun "me" should be in the reflexive form.

  CORRECTION: "I like myself."
^6
  ┌───────────────────────────┐
  │REFLEXIVE PRONOUN AGREEMENT│
  └───────────────────────────┘

  Check if the highlighted reflexive pronoun refers to the same person
  mentioned earlier in the sentence.

  If you use a reflexive pronoun such as "himself", "yourself", or "myself",
  it must agree with the pronoun it refers to earlier in the sentence.

  EXAMPLE: "I would like to find himself."

  The reflexive pronoun "himself" does not agree with the pronoun "I".
  These pronouns refer to different people.  To correct this sentence,
  one of the pronouns would need to be changed to match the other.

  CORRECTION: "I would like to find myself."
                  or ...
              "He would like to find himself."
^7
  ┌───────────────────────────────┐
  │PRONOUN USAGE - BEFORE THE VERB│
  └───────────────────────────────┘
  Examine the highlighted pronoun to make sure that you are using the
  appropriate form of the pronoun.  Pronouns usually come in two forms.
  One kind is used before the main verb (subjective) and the other kind is
  used after the main verb (objective).  Examples of subjective/objective
  pairs include "I" and "me", "he" and "him", "we" and "us", and "they"
  and "them".

  If the highlighted pronoun is the subject of a sentence, or a phrase
  then you should change the pronoun to its subjective form.

  EXAMPLE:  "I know that them are good."

  Although the word "them" is not at the beginning of the sentence, it
  is the subject of the phrase "them are good."  Starting a sentence
  with the word "them" is incorrect because this word is in the objective
  form.

  CORRECTION: "I know that they are good."
^9
  ┌─────────────────────┐
  │ MISSING PUNCTUATION │
  └─────────────────────┘

  Every sentence must end with a punctuation mark.  The most common marks
  are the period (.), the question (?), and the exclamation (!).  Check
  if you need to add a punctuation mark to the end of your sentence.  Also
  check if your sentence is broken into two sections.  There should never
  be a blank line in the middle of a sentence.

  EXAMPLE:  "This is an example of

             a sentence that is broken into sections."

  This example shows that there is a blank line in the middle of the
  sentence.  This blank line should be removed.
^11
  ┌───────────────────┐
  │PLURAL NOUN PHRASES│
  └───────────────────┘
  Check if there are any words in the sentence which would imply that the
  highlighted noun must be plural.

  Certain words such as "several" and "many" imply that there are several
  objects involved.  When you create a noun phrase which uses one of these
  words, all the nouns must be in a plural form.

  EXAMPLE:  "John found several problem with the car."

  The word "several" does not agree with the singular noun "problem."
  The word "problem" should be replaced by the word "problems" which is
  plural.  Plural noun phrases can also be required after sentences which
  use the word "there."

  EXAMPLE:  "There are the car."

  The verb "are" implies a plural number of objects.  This disagrees with
  the singular noun phrase "the car."  It should be changed to "the cars."
^13
  ┌──────────────────────────┐
  │USING CONJUNCTIONS - NOUNS│
  └──────────────────────────┘

^14
  ┌───────────────────────┐
  │DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND│
  └───────────────────────┘

  This message means that the program was unable to find a specific
  problem in the sentence.  However, you should carefully proofread
  the sentence since the sentence could not be fully processed.

  You should check for extra, missing, or misused words.  Carefully check
  for an error near the highlighted word.  However, the error could be
  located anywhere in the sentence.

  You may also get this message if your sentence is difficult to understand
  or if the sentence is poorly punctuated.  Check if you need to set off
  any phrases with commas. If you cannot find any mistakes in the sentence
  after proofreading it, you can ignore this message.
^16
  ┌─────────────────────┐
  │SINGULAR NOUN PHRASES│
  └─────────────────────┘
  Check if there are any words in the sentence which would imply that the
  highlighted noun must be singular.

  Certain words such as "a" and "one" imply that there is only one
  object involved.  When you create a noun phrase which uses one of these
  words, all the nouns must be in a singular form.

  EXAMPLE:  "John found a problems with the car."

  The word "a" does not agree with the plural noun "problems."
  The word "problems" should be replaced by the word "problem" which is
  singular.  Singular noun phrases can also be required after sentences
  which use the word "there."

  EXAMPLE:  "There is the cars."

  The verb "is" implies a single object.  This disagrees with the plural
  noun phrase "the cars."  It should be changed to "the car."
^17
  ┌─────────────┐
  │DOUBLED WORDS│
  └─────────────┘

  Repeating a word in a sentence is always a problem.  Even if the sentence
  is grammatically well formed, a doubled word causes confusion.

  EXAMPLE:  "I know that that car is going to win the race."

  The repeated word "that" can cause confusion.  To correct the problem,
  use another adjective to describe "car".

  CORRECTION: "I know that this car is going to win the race."
^18
  ┌───────────────┐
  │MISSING ARTICLE│
  └───────────────┘

  Singular nouns usually require an article.  If you want to refer to a
  particular object, you use the article "the".  If you want to refer to
  any object, you use the article "a".  You do not need to use articles
  for objects which represent plural entities.  For example, "boats", "trees"
  and "cars" do not require the use of an article.  Articles are also not
  required for objects that represent a substance.  Words such as "iron",
  "water", and "candy" do not require an article.  If a noun is singular
  and doesn't refer to a substance, it probably requires an article.

  EXAMPLE:  "I like car."

  The word "car" is not plural and it does not refer to a substance.  To
  correct the sentence, an article is needed.

  CORRECTION:  "I like the car."
^19
  ┌────────────┐
  │MISSING VERB│
  └────────────┘

  A sentence may contain many verbs, but only one of them can be the main
  verb.  Check if the sentence relates a complete thought.  If the sentence
  does not relate a complete thought, then the sentence is incomplete.

  EXAMPLE:  "The board leaning on the car."

  This sentence contains the verb "leaning", but this verb is describing
  "board".  The main verb would tell us what "the board" is doing to
  something else.  Since we don't know what is happening to "the board",
  this sentence is incomplete.  To correct the sentence, a main verb
  must be added.

  CORRECTION:  "The board leaning on the car IS scratching the paint."
^21
  ┌──────────────────┐
  │UNCLOSED QUOTATION│
  └──────────────────┘

  A quotation always uses two quotation marks.  These marks must match
  each other.  Examples of quotation mark pairs include:

  " "
  ' '
  ( )
  [ ]
  { }

  If the program finds more than a page of text after starting a quotation,
  it will signal a quotation problem.  If you want to use a large quotation,
  you can ignore this message.
^23
  ┌───────────────────────┐
  │MISSING INFINITIVE - TO│
  └───────────────────────┘

  Check if the highlighted verb needs to be preceded by the word "to".  The
  word "to" is known as an infinitive.  It is usually required before the
  plain or regular forms of verbs.

  EXAMPLE:  "I wanted teach children."

  The word "to" is missing before "teach".  The corrected sentence would be:

  CORRECTION:  "I wanted TO teach children."
^25
  ┌─────────────────┐
  │NEEDS POSSESSIVE │
  └─────────────────┘

  Check if the highlighted plural noun should be in a possessive form.  It
  is easy to leave out the apostrophe.

  EXAMPLE:  "The boats trailer is in the water."

  The word "boats" is supposed to modify the main subject "trailer".  It
  is unusual to find any noun following a plural noun form.  The word
  "boats" needs to be made into the possessive form "boat's".

  CORRECTION:  "The BOAT'S trailer is in the water."
^27
  ┌────────────────────┐
  │MISSING VERB PHRASE │
  └────────────────────┘

  Check if there is a verb phrase missing at the end of the sentence.

  EXAMPLE:  "John knows that Mary wants to."

  What does Mary want to do?  It is unclear from the sentence.  The sentence
  should fully indicate what Mary wants.

  CORRECTION:  "John knows that Mary wants to GET married."

  If the sentence contains a verb phrase, check if you need to add commas
  to make the phrases in the sentence clearer.
^28

^29
  ┌──────────────────┐
  │UNUSUAL COMMA USE │
  └──────────────────┘

  Commas can appear in many places, but never after an article.

  EXAMPLE:  "I have a, car, a boat, and a house."

  An extra comma could be a revision leftover.

  CORRECTION:  "I have a car, a boat, and a house."
^30
  ┌──────────────────┐
  │COMMAS IN NUMBERS │
  └──────────────────┘

  Use commas to separate numbers longer than three digits into groups of
  three.  The comma is optional for a number which contains only four
  digits.

  EXAMPLE:  "The boat cost $15000."

  The value "$15000" needs to be separated by commas.

  CORRECTION:  "The boat cost $15,000."
^31
  ┌─────────────────────┐
  │SPELLING NUMBERS OUT │
  └─────────────────────┘
  Numbers under ten should be spelled out.  In general, if the number
  requires less that two words to spell out, then it should be spelled out.

  EXAMPLE OF NUMBERS WHICH SHOULD BE SPELLED OUT:

  seventy-two, six hundred, twenty-two thousand, five, sixteen

  Exceptions to the rule include numbers used in:

  Days and Years:  July 4, 1776,   200 B.C.
  Pages, Chapters:  Chapter 6, page 4
  Decimals, Percentages:  54.6, 87%
  Addresses:   435 Stonewall Ave.
  Scores and stats:  a ratio of 8 to 1, 28 to 3
  Exact amounts of money:  $4.50, 2.5 million
  Time of day: 4:00, 11:00

  Numbers which start sentences should always be spelled out.
^32
  ┌────────────────────┐
  │COMMAS - ADJECTIVES │
  └────────────────────┘

  If two or more adjectives are used to describe a noun and if those
  adjectives can be rearranged without changing the meaning, then
  the adjectives should be separated by commas.

  EXAMPLE:  "The humid hot climates can be uncomfortable."

  To check if a comma is needed between the adjectives "humid" and "hot",
  rewrite the sentence with the adjectives rearranged.

  "The hot humid climates can be uncomfortable."

  Since this didn't change the meaning of the sentence, a comma is needed
  between the adjectives.

  CORRECTION:  "The humid, hot climates can be uncomfortable."
^33
  ┌───────────────┐
  │CAPITALIZATION │
  └───────────────┘

  Words normally only have one capital letter at the beginning or the entire
  word is in capital letters.  It is unusual to have mixed capitalization.
  Some company names and tradenames can use mixed capitalization.

  EXAMPLE:  "I wanted to thanK Mr. Jones."

  The word "thank" ends with a capital letter.

  CORRECTION:  "I wanted to thank Mr. Jones."
^34
  ┌─────────────────────┐
  │QUESTION MARK NEEDED │
  └─────────────────────┘

  If a sentence starts with a question word such as "where", "why"
  or "when", then it usually requires a question mark at the end of
  the sentence.  Check if your sentence is actually a question.

  EXAMPLE:  "Did you clean your room."

  This sentence is clearly a question.  It needs a question mark.

  CORRECTION:  "Did you clean your room?"
^35
  ┌───────────────────────┐
  │UNNEEDED QUESTION MARK │
  └───────────────────────┘

  Check if the sentence is actually a question.  The punctuation or the
  format of the sentence may be unclear.

  EXAMPLE:  "The captain did not know where the crew went?"

  This sentence might be appropriate if the speaker wanted to confirm
  the statement, but if the speaker wanted to make a statement, the
  question mark is inappropriate.

  CORRECTION:  "The captain did not know where the crew went."
^36
  ┌────────────┐
  │USE OF 'AN' │
  └────────────┘

  Words which begin with a vowel sound use the word "an" as an article.
  Most words which start with the vowels 'a', 'e', and 'i' use
  'an' as an article.  However, there are exceptions.  You must always
  sound out the word to decide if it starts with a vowel sound.

  EXAMPLE:  "A apple fell from the tree."

  The word "apple" starts with a vowel sound.  It should use "an" as
  an article.

  CORRECTION:  "An apple fell from the tree."
^37
  ┌────────────┐
  │USE OF 'A'  │
  └────────────┘

  Words which begin with a consonant sound use the word "a" as an article.
  Most words which start with consonants use 'a' as an article.
  However, there are exceptions.  You must always sound out the
  word to decide if it starts with a consonant sound.

  EXAMPLE:  "An car is parked in the lot."

  The word "car" starts with a consonant sound.  It should use "a" as
  an article.

  CORRECTION:  "A car is parked in the lot."
^38
  ┌──────────────┐
  │ARCHAIC WORDS │
  └──────────────┘

  There are some words which should be avoided.  Words signaled by this
  message belong in this class.  You should only use them when you
  want to write in an informal or vulgar manner.  Otherwise they should
  be avoided.
^39
  ┌─────────────────┐
  │SPLIT INFINITIVE │
  └─────────────────┘

  An infinitive phrase consists of the word "to" followed by a regular
  verb.  Examples of infinitive phrases include "to eat" and "to find".
  A split infinitive occurs when there is a word between the word
  "to" and the verb.  Examples of split infinitive would be "to quickly eat"
  and "to only find."  Authorities disagree if split infinitives
  should not be used.  Split infinitives can often be eliminated by
  moving the intervening word to the end of the sentence.

  EXAMPLE:  "He wanted to quickly find the answer."

  The word "quickly" splits the infinitive phrase.  It can be moved
  to the end of the phrase.

  CORRECTION:  "He wanted to find the answer quickly."
^40
  ┌───────────┐
  │VERB TENSE │
  └───────────┘

  Verbs come in several different forms.  For example, the word "write" has
  the forms "writes", "written", "wrote", and "writing".  These different
  forms are not interchangeable.  Check that you are using the correct form.

  EXAMPLE:  "I have wrote several books."

  The word "wrote" is not the appropriate form of the verb to use after
  have.  The past participle form should be used here.

  CORRECTION:  "I have written several books."

  The past participle verb form usually ends with 'en' or 'ed'.
  The present participle verb form usually ends with 'ing'.
^42
  ┌─────────────┐
  │"IF" PHRASES │
  └─────────────┘

  When starting sentences with "if", the word "were" is always used as
  a verb instead of "was".  The word "were" expresses a condition which
  is contrary to fact.  The word "was" would indicate that the condition
  was fact.

  EXAMPLE:  "If John was at home, he would be happy."

  The word "was" implies that "John" is already "at home."  This is not
  logical.  The word "were" needs to be used to indicate that
  "John" is not already "at home."

  CORRECTION:  "If John WERE at home, he would be happy."
^44
  ┌───────────────────────┐
  │EXCESSIVE CONJUNCTIONS │
  └───────────────────────┘

  If a sentence contains more than four conjunctions, it can become confusing
  to understand.

  EXAMPLE:  "John and Mary ate and went to the park and found Jim and left."

  This sentence strings together too many different thoughts.  It should
  be broken into separate sentences.

  CORRECTION:  "John and Mary ate and then went to the park.  They found
                Jim at the park and left with him."
^45
  ┌──────────────────────────────┐
  │EXCESSIVE SUBORDINATE CLAUSES │
  └──────────────────────────────┘

  If a sentence contains more than three subordinate clauses, it can become
  hard to understand.  A subordinate clause is any clause which is used
  to describe an object.  Such clauses usually start with "that" or "which".

  EXAMPLE:   "The car that is in the garage that is in my house which
             is located in Seattle which is a good place to live is a
             classic car.

  This sentence contains too many clauses which begin with the words "that"
  and "which".  The sentence should be broken up and the subordinate
  clauses should be removed.

  CORRECTION:  "The car is a classic.  I keep it in the garage of my house.
               My house is located in Seattle which is a good place to live."
^46
  ┌──────────────┐
  │SHIFT IN TIME │
  └──────────────┘

  If you join two sentences with a conjunction, then both of the sentences
  should express the same time relationship.  However, there are cases
  where it is appropriate to express both the past and present tense
  in the same sentence.

  EXAMPLE:  "John finished his job and the boss is going home."

  The first part of the sentence uses "finished" which expresses a
  past tense.  The second part of the sentence uses "is" which
  expresses a present tense.  The two parts of the sentence do
  not match.  The sentence should be rewritten with a consistent
  tense.

  CORRECTION:  "John finished his job and the boss went home."
^47
  ┌────────────────┐
  │DOUBLE NEGATIVE │
  └────────────────┘

  Avoid using two negative words in the same sentence.  The words usually
  cancel each other out.

  EXAMPLE:  "We could not never find him."

  The word "not" reverses the effect of "never".  One of the negative
  words should be dropped.

  CORRECTION:  "We could never find him."
^48
  ┌──────────────┐
  │EITHER ... OR │
  └──────────────┘

  When the word "either" is used in the sentence, it is usually paired up
  with the word "or" instead of "nor".

  EXAMPLE:  "I wanted either the car nor the boat."

  This sentence doesn't make any sense because the "nor" implies that
  something is not wanted.  This sentence needs to use "or".

  CORRECTION:  "I wanted either the car or the boat."
^49
  ┌────────────────┐
  │NEITHER ... NOR │
  └────────────────┘

  When the word "neither" is used in the sentence, it is usually paired up
  with the word "nor" instead of "or".

  EXAMPLE:  "I wanted neither the car or the boat."

  This sentence doesn't make any sense because the "or" implies that
  something is wanted.  This sentence needs to use "nor".

  CORRECTION:  "I wanted neither the car nor the boat."
^50
  ┌───────────────────┐
  │USING WHO OR WHICH │
  └───────────────────┘

  When you create a phrase which modifies an object which refers to a
  person, you should use "who" or "that" to start the phrase.


  EXAMPLE:  "The person which took the food was hungry."

  The noun "person" refers a human person.  The word "who" should be used
  instead of "which".

  CORRECTION:  "The person who took the food was hungry."
^52
  ┌─────────────┐
  │SEXIST WORDS │
  └─────────────┘

  Certain words distinguish roles played by men and women.  If a role can
  be played by either a man or a woman, then you should use a gender
  neutral term.


  EXAMPLE:  "The chairman controls the company."

  The word "chairman" implies that this is a role which is only played
  by men.  A more gender neutral term could be used.

  CORRECTION:  "The chairperson controls the company."
^53
  ┌──────────────────────┐
  │AWKWARD CONSTRUCTIONS │
  └──────────────────────┘

  Sentences which begin with "Being that" are awkward and should be avoided.

  EXAMPLE:  "Being that you are safe, we can go home."

  This is an awkward construction which can be replaced by "because".

  CORRECTION:  "Because you are safe, we can go home."
^54
  ┌──────────────────────┐
  │AWKWARD CONSTRUCTIONS │
  └──────────────────────┘

  Sentences which begin with "Seeing that" are awkward and should be avoided.

  EXAMPLE:  "Seeing that you are safe, we can go home."

  This is an awkward construction which can be replaced by "since".

  CORRECTION:  "Since you are safe, we can go home."
^55
  ┌───────────────┐
  │USING "AMOUNT" │
  └───────────────┘

  When you use the word "amount" to describe something, the thing which is
  being described should be singular and represent something which can
  be measured.

  EXAMPLE:  "The amount of cars was good for the show."

  You cannot measure "cars".  For example, you cannot say: "I would like
  a cup of cars."  For something which cannot be measured, you need to use
  the word "number" to describe "cars".

  CORRECTION:  "The number of cars was good for the show."
^56
  ┌──────────────────────────┐
  │CAPITALIZATION - SENTENCE │
  └──────────────────────────┘

  The start of every sentence needs to begin with a capital letter.

  EXAMPLE:  "this is a sentence."

  The start of the sentence does not begin with a capital letter.

  CORRECTION:  "This is a sentence."
^57
  ┌──────────────┐
  │PASSIVE VOICE │
  └──────────────┘

  A passive voice sentence uses the subject of the sentence to describe
  the receiver of the action.

  EXAMPLE:  "The ball was hit by John."

  The receiver of the action is "ball".  Since the word "ball" is in the
  subject position, this is a passive sentence.  Passive sentences usually
  contain a form of the word "be" followed by a verb in the past tense.
  To make the sentence use the active voice, the subject and object
  positions should be switched.

  CORRECTION:  "John hit the ball."

  Forms of the word "be" include "been", "is", "are", "was" and "were".
  Verbs in the past tense usually end in "ed" or "en". (eaten, tried, etc.)
^62
 ┌──────────────────┐
 │SENTENCE TOO LONG │
 └──────────────────┘

 Unless you have a specific need, sentences should only relate a single
 thought and should be under forty words in length.  Sentences which
 are longer that forty words can be difficult to understand.
^default



                This program setting or message is not supported


^END