Everyone makes typos and errors while writing. However, it is the job of the professional proofreader to locate these errors and create a flawless piece of writing. The following are some of the most common errors that arise while writing and the reasons why they are considered significant. This article will help you identify and fix common writing problems while avoiding these errors in the future.
Punctuation Errors
A huge portion of any text contains punctuation. It’s an easy mistake to make when writing, especially if you’re busy or stressed. While it’s not hard to remember to use punctuation correctly, it’s a pain to constantly stop and check for errors. That is why it’s crucial to have a reliable tool that can identify incorrect uses of punctuation and provide guidance on how to fix them. Punctuation errors can be attributed to either a lack of knowledge or an attempt to be too clever by half. The truth is that there is no such thing as a perfect writing style, and you must be prepared to admit your mistakes and learn from them. Luckily, there is an app for that—and it’s free! Take the time to learn how to use it correctly and your writing will be much richer for it.
Word Order
A common error that many people make is to put words in the wrong order. When you read the sentence “I went to the store. Then I bought a gift. Then I opened the gift,” you would have assumed that the word “then” was there to connect the two other verbs. However, it was actually used to show the order of events, not to join them. Another example of a word order error is swapping the word “for” and “to” in the phrase “for food” and “to eat.” The first one is used to indicate a purpose, while the second one means that the food is for the purpose of being eaten. This error is difficult to detect simply by ear. While it’s not difficult to fix, it’s an easy mistake to make when writing and could potentially lead to significant trouble. Ensure that the words you choose are appropriate to the context and never use interchanged words.
Spelling Errors
Like with punctuation, spelling errors are common and easy to make. There are several words in English that have different meanings, but share the same spelling. For example, the word “the” can mean “a”, “an”, or “the” as in “the store”,”the sky”, or “this”. To avoid any ambiguity, it is crucial to familiarize yourself with the correct spellings for the words that you use often. You can do this by looking up the words in a dictionary or thesaurus, or by checking Google Translate. Even when you think you’ve used the correct spelling for a word, there is no guarantee that Google will understand what you mean. For that reason, you must always check your work against what you’ve translated or typed using a dictionary or online help. This is an essential step to take before publishing your writing, especially if you’re aiming for a more formal setting. Fortunately, there is an app for that too! Take the time to learn how to use it correctly and your spelling will be much easier to read and improve upon.
Capitalization
The correct way to capitalize a word is to begin words with a capital letter only when you specifically need to identify that word as being a title. When you use a verb or adjective as a noun, you should lowercase the first letter. For example, you would capitalize the word “read” if you were quoting something, but lowercase it if you were describing an action, “She read a book.” You would also capitalize the first letter of the names of proper nouns, countries, and months. When in doubt, consult the dictionary.
Numeric Errors
Numeric errors are very common and they can arise from many causes. Sometimes it’s simply a mistake in copying or pasting numbers from one place to another. Other times it’s a problem in the way you entered the numbers in the first place. It is not uncommon for people to use a reference tool like Wolfram Alpha to check their work. However, you must never, ever use a tool while writing. It is easy to become distracted by the ease of obtaining the results you want, and neglect your primary task—to write a flawless piece of text. Luckily, there is an app for that too! Take the time to learn how to use it correctly and your numeric errors will be much easier to spot and correct.
Hyphenation
A hyphen is a special character that is used to indicate missing letters or words in a piece of writing or speech. It is quite easy to become disheartened when you encounter a string of words that you cannot spell or a line that does not make sense. Suddenly, your entire piece of writing seems incomplete and you are faced with the unpleasant task of going through and fixing all of the errors. Even when you are careful not to make any errors while you are typing, there will come a time when you are not paying attention and a hyphen will sneak in there. Remember, as a general rule of thumb, longer words should be hyphenated and a hyphen should never be used when there is a less than five letter word that could serve as a stand-in. For example, you should write “tennis shoes” instead of “tennis shoes”, and never, ever write “wristlet” instead of “wrist-let”. Hyphenation can be confusing, and it’s often hard to know which words should be hyphenated and which should not. Fortunately, there is an app for that too! Take the time to learn how to use it correctly and your hyphenation will be much easier to identify and correct.
To help you become a better writer, avoid making these common errors and use the tools and resources available to you to fix them. Once you become familiar with these tools, you will wonder how you ever lived without them. With a little bit of effort, anyone can be a productive, successful writer. It just takes time and effort to get there.