Editing in English Grammar
Error Spotting -
Omissions - Spelling or Grammatical Mistakes - Correcting
The importance of a written work being impeccable or grammatically correct can hardly be undermined. It is of utmost importance that the written work is error free and words are correctly spelled, be it some business correspondence or a document required for an academic purpose. In either case a trivial lapse in a document can cause a big loss to the purpose for which it is created. Besides it being error free, there should be necessarily a flow of continuity and coherence of thoughts in the article.
The English language is vast, cumbersome and sometimes difficult and thus it requires good practice and knowledge for writing a document correctly and deftly. A writer generally first prepares a draft of his writing and then checks it to make corrections, amendments or improvements in it. For this knowledge of using an appropriate word at an appropriate place is very essential. This not only makes it correct but also effective and appealing to the mind of the reader. Besides a writing being grammatically correct there are other factors also required to make it perfect. The language used should be correct. The matter contained must have coherence. For this one needs rich vocabulary and complete grasping of the subject.
The writer always writes a document correctly but mistakes creep in. There may be mistakes of omission, spellings or wrong use of words. One has to spot errors of all types in a draft document. For this it is very important to learn and understand the basic rules of the language such as structure grammar and punctuation.
In vocabulary building, the problem is not so much finding new words or even finding out what they mean. The problem is to remember them, to fix them permanently in one's mind. One of the effective ways of fixing the meaning of words is getting at the roots of words - taking words apart i.e. to know about prefixes, suffixes and the main word. This makes a word stick.
For a technical editor it is also necessary to know the purpose and nature of contents of the writing so as to determine what type of the readers the writer is addressing to. This will help in making the writing more purposeful and effective.
Here are passages for practice of editing a draft.
ONE
In the following passage, there are mistakes of grammar, spellings and missing words. Spot the errors and correct them.
People reside in the vincity of a hinterland near the ocean generally is fond for taking sea food. Most fish is the principal food of these people as is easily avalable in the area. There are different specis of fish that are used food by the people. Fugu is one of the species of fish used as food to people. Koreans relish eat delicious food of Fugu fish which is also known puffer fish. It is a fish in small size. It has spikes with its body which it uses saving itself from its enemies in the ocean. Its spikes containing a type of poison that it injects in the enemy. Due these spikes this fish is considered as a danger fish.
On reading the stanza written above one easily finds errors in the underlined words. After correcting these errors sentences will be as under.
People residing in the vicinity of a hinterland near the ocean generally are fond of taking sea food. Mostly fish is the principal food of these people as it is easily available in the area. There are different species of fish that are used as food by the people. Fugu is one of the species of fish used as food by people. Koreans relish eating delicious food of Fugu fish which is also known as puffer fish. It is a fish of small size. It has spikes on its body which it uses to save itself from its enemies in the ocean. Its spikes contain a type of poison that it injects into the enemy. Due to these spikes this fish is considered as a dangerous fish.
TWo
The following sentences have mistakes of spellings, grammar and missing words. Trace out the errors and correct them.
The task _ cyber security experts today become thoroughly engaging and challenge by hackers and cyber criminals constantly upping there game. Cyber security is a rapid expending field full of much exciting work profiles. Since the risk of cyber attacks is great than ever, companies are fighting to full their ranks of professionals which can protect theirs information and networks against cyber infringements. Whyle the roles played with cyber security experts differs from profile by profile, the basic job remains the same too monitor, investigate and advice on how to stay save in cyber world. A background on technology and IT though are necessary prerequisite for a expert but he needs to constantly update oneself with not only the latest gadgets and tools but also within the latest trends and happening in the domain.
SOLUTION
The task of cyber security experts today becomes thoroughly engaging and challenging with hackers and cyber criminals constantly upping their game. Cyber security is a rapidly expanding field full of many exciting work profiles. Since the risk of cyber attacks is greater than ever, companies are fighting to fill their ranks with professionals who can protect their information and networks against cyber infringements. While the roles played by cyber security experts differ from profile to profile, the basic job remains the same to monitor, investigate and advise on how to stay safe in cyber world. A background in technology and IT though is necessary prerequisite for an expert yet he needs to constantly update himself with not only the latest gadgets and tools but also with the latest trends and happenings in the domain.
EXERCISE FOR PRACTICE
ONE
In the following passage, there are mistakes of grammar, spellings and missing words in sentences. Find out and mark the errors.
Nuclear fission is a process with
which an unstable atom splits
by two or more smaller pieces
that is more stable.The fission
of heavy elements is a exothermic
reacition and huge amounts of
energy is released in the process.
Most of this are binary fissions
that produce two charged frigments.
Extra neutrons also released in
the process and these can then spleet
additional atoms, resulting at a chain
reaction that releases lot of energy.
There are also way to modulate the
chain reaction with soaking up the
neutrons. Within the nucleus their
are diferent forces that act between
the particle. The strong nuclear force
is the forces between two or more
nucleons. This force bind protons
and neutrons togather inside the
nucleus. The electromagnatic force
causes the repulsion between likely
charged protons.These too forces
produce opposite affect in the
nucleus. The former act to hold
all protons and neutrons togather
whiel the electromagnetic force
act to push protons farther apart.
SOLUTION
Nuclear fission is a process by
which an unstable atom splits
into two or more smaller pieces
that are more stable.The fission
of heavy elements is an exothermic
reaction and huge amounts of
energy are released in the process.
Most of these are binary fissions
that produce two charged fragments.
Extra neutrons are also released in
the process and these can then split
additional atoms, resulting into a chain
reaction that releases a lot of energy.
There are also ways to modulate the
chain reaction by soaking up the
neutrons. Within the nucleus there
are different forces that act between
the particles. The strong nuclear force
is the force between two or more
nucleons. This force binds protons
and neutrons together inside the
nucleus.The electromagnetic force
causes the repulsion between like
charged protons. These two forces
produce opposite effect in the
nucleus.The former acts to hold
all protons and neutrons together
while the electromagnetic force
acts to push protons further apart.
TWO
In the following passage, there are mistakes of grammar, spellings and missing words in sentences. Find out and mark the errors.
The benifits of homework students is the most debate issue among teachers,parents and
students. The very word evokes great negative connotations to everyone involvd, students, parents and teachers. A majorty of the people think of homework for doing more harm then good in causing unnecessary stress for everyone. Others believes that it developes a habit of thinking more independantly among students. One benifit of homework is that it helps students to work togather among teachers and parents. Parents too got more involved their children's educational life. Homework make the students more responsible the habit of discipline and punctuality. But the quantam of homework remain the issue that how homework should be given to a student.
SOLUTION
The benefits of homework to students is the most debated issue among teachers,parents and students. The very word evokes great negative connotations to everyone involved, students, parents and teachers. A majority of the people think of homework as doing more harm than good by causing unnecessary stress to everyone. Others believe that it develops a habit of thinking more independently among students. One benefit of homework is that it helps students to work together with teachers and parents. Parents too get more involved in their children's educational life. Homework makes the students more responsible by the habit of discipline and punctuality. But the quantum of homework remains the issue that how much homework should be given to a student.
THREE
In the following sentences there are mistakes of grammar, spellings and missing words in sentences. Find out mistakes mark and correct them.
Two friends set for on a journey to the adjoining town. They were to made some perchases of householdes there. Through the day they remaned busy in the town. They started there journey back to their homes by the evening. They had covered little distance when it start getting dark. On their way to homes there was a thick forest. The forest was infested by wild animals. It was a very risk job to cross the forest at night. Both of the friends were in fix what to do in that time. They were not able to decide wheather to stay back in the town and go to their homes in the morning or to continue their journey and cross over the forest at night. But they decided to continue their journey. Soon they were engulfed with darkness. They could not hardly see anything near them. Strange voices of animals started coming from all the sides in the forest. They were preplexed and afraid but they continued to walking. After sometime they chanced on to see a small hut near their passage. There was a dim light by a lamp in the hut. They knocked at the door. A thin and frail sage came out. He offered to them to come in the hut and spent the night there. They both went in and spent the night there.They started their journey back to their homes at the next morning. They thanked to the sage for his kind help to them.
SOLUTION
Two friends set out
