How to Proofread for Common Errors


  • Be sure that every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

  • Be sure that every proper noun (name) begins with a capital letter.

  • Check for homonyms, words that sound the same but have different meanings and are spelled differently: their/there/they're, two/too/to, and its/it's. Be sure you have used the correct word. Pronounce words carefully to avoid muddling those that are nearly the same, such as accept/except and your/you're.

  • Check that your subjects and verbs agree. This can often be a problem if other words are between the subject and the verb. For example, "One of the sisters live near me." This is incorrect. The writer has made the verb live agree with the noun sisters. However, sisters is not the subject of the sentence. The word one is. The correct version is "One of the sisters lives near me."

  • Check that you are using a consistent tense. In other words, you should not be switching between past and present tense. For example, In the story, Harold is the main character. He has a pet cat. Harold was sad when the cat got lost. Do you see the tense shift between the first two sentences and the third one?

  • Be sure that you are using complete sentences. For example, Harold was sad. When the cat got lost. When the cat got lost is a fragment. It is not a complete thought, and it is not a complete sentence. It needs to be joined to Harold was sad.

  • Check for run-on sentences, which are put together without using a joining word (such as and, but, or). For example, He had a pet cat he was sad when it got lost. This should read: He had a pet cat. He was sad when it got lost. Another correct option is He had a pet cat, and he was sad when it got lost. Sometimes, too many sentences are put together with joining words. For example, In the story, Harold is the main character, and he has a pet cat, and he was sad when the cat got lost, but he found the cat in the nearby park, and he brought it home, and it was really glad to see him. This sentence should be divided into at least three sentences.

  • Did you use apostrophes when you used the possessive form? (Exception: "its.") For example, That is my brother's car. ;(singular possessive) He has two brothers. (plural and not possessive - no apostrophe)

  • Have you given your composition an appropriate and interesting title?

  • If this is a formal writing situation, be sure you avoid slang, chat abbreviations (such as u for you ), or emoticons (such as:   smile  ;^)  :^(  ). Also in a formal writing situation, numbers should be written in full text (ten, not 10), unless they are more than three words (147, not one hundred forty-seven).

  • Have you used commas properly? Use commas for lists. For example, He bought apples, pears, and oranges. Use commas when you are joining two complete sentences using a conjunction, such as and, but, or or. For example, He went to the store, and he bought some milk. Use commas after an introduction to a sentence. For example, When he got there, the store was out of bananas. On the other hand, there were plenty of grapes.

  • Have you avoided these common errors?

    • alot - incorrect
      Correct version - a lot ...but much or many may be far better! (A lot is a piece of land on which to build a house!)

    • would of, could of, or should of - incorrect-based on weak pronunciation of would've, could've, etc.
      Correct versions - would have (or would've), could have (or could've), should have (or should've)