E | Editing for Common Mechanics Problems
| E | Editing for Common Mechanics Problems |
E1Check for correct use of capital letters.
Capital letters begin a new sentence; names of specific people, nationalities, places, dates, and things (proper nouns); and main words in titles.
Q-63
EDITING CHECKLIST
Capitalization
Have you used a capital letter at the beginning of each complete sentence, including sentences that are quoted?
Have you used capital letters for proper nouns and pronouns?
Have you avoided using capital letters for emphasis?
Have you used a capital letter for the first, last, and main words in a title? (Main words exclude prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, and articles.)
A preposition is a transitional word (such as in, on, at, of, from) that leads into a phrase.
Coordinating conjunctions are one-syllable linking words (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) that join elements with equal or near-equal importance.
Capitalization at a Glance
| THE FIRST LETTER OF A SENTENCE, INCLUDING A QUOTED SENTENCE |
| She called out, “Come in! The water’s warm.” |
| PROPER NAMES AND ADJECTIVES MADE FROM THEM | ||
| Smithsonian Institution | a Mayan city | Marie Curie |
| RANK OR TITLE BEFORE A PROPER NAME | ||
| Ms. Olson | Professor Santocolon | Dr. Frost |
| FAMILY RELATIONSHIP ONLY WHEN IT SUBSTITUTES FOR OR IS PART OF A PROPER NAME | ||
| Grandma Jones | Father Time | |
| RELIGIONS, THEIR FOLLOWERS, AND DEITIES | ||
| Islam | Orthodox Jew | Krishna |
| PLACES, REGIONS, GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES, AND NATIONALITIES | ||
| Palo Alto | the Berkshire Mountains | Egyptians |
| DAYS OF THE WEEK, MONTHS, AND HOLIDAYS | ||
| Wednesday | July | Labor Day |
| HISTORICAL EVENTS, PERIODS, AND DOCUMENTS | ||
| the Boston Tea Party | the Middle Ages | the Constitution |
| SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES, AND SPECIFIC COURSES | ||
| Temple University | Introduction to Clinical Psychology | |
| FIRST, LAST, AND MAIN WORDS IN TITLES OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ARTICLES, WORKS OF ART, TELEVISION SHOWS, POEMS, AND PERFORMANCES | ||
| The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | “The Lottery” | |
E2Check spelling.
Q-64
Misspelled words are difficult to spot in your own writing, as you usually see what you think you wrote. Spell checkers are handy, but you need to know their limitations: a spell checker highlights words that do not appear in its dictionary, including most proper nouns. Spell checkers will not highlight words misspelled as different words, such as except for accept, to for too, or own for won.
An article is the word a, an, or the.
EDITING CHECKLIST
For a list of commonly confused words, see section C.
Spelling
Have you checked for the words you habitually misspell?
Have you checked for commonly confused or misspelled words? (See C3.)
Have you checked a dictionary for any words you are unsure about?
Have you run your spell checker? Have you read your paper carefully for errors that the spell checker would miss such as a stray letter?