I-20
CORRECTION SYMBOLS
Many instructors use these abbreviations and symbols to mark errors in student papers. Refer to this chart to find out what they mean.
| Abbreviation or Symbol | Meaning | See the Handbook | See the Quick Editing Guide |
| abbr | abbreviation | 36 (p. 853) | |
| adj | misuse of adjective | 13 (p. 784) | A7 (p. Q-45) |
| adv | misuse of adverb | 13 (p. 784) | A7 (p. Q-45) |
| agr | faulty agreement | 8 (p. 758), 12 (p. 782) | A4 (p. Q-41), A6 (p. Q-44) |
| appr | appropriate | 22 (p. 814) | C1 (p. Q-48) |
| awk | awkward | ||
| bias | use bias-free language | 24 (p. 819) | |
| cap | use capital letter | 37 (p. 856) | |
| case | error in case | 10 (p. 775) | A5 (p. Q-43) |
| cl | clause error | 4 (p. 746) | |
| compl | complement error | 3 (p. 741) | |
| coord | faulty coordination | 19a–c (p. 804) | |
| cs | comma splice | 7 (p. 755) | A2 (p. Q-39) |
| dm | dangling modifier | 15c (p. 793) | B1 (p. Q-46) |
| exact | exact words | 23 (p. 818) | |
| frag | fragment | 6 (p. 752) | A1 (p. Q-38) |
| fs | fused sentence | 7 (p. 755) | A2 (p. Q-39) |
| gl or gloss | see Glossary of Troublemakers | C3 (p. Q-50) | |
| hyph | error in use of hyphen | 40 (p. 863) | |
| inc | incomplete sentence | 16 (p. 794) | |
| irreg | error in irregular verb | A3 (p. Q-40) | |
| ital | italics | 39 (p. 861) | |
| lc | use lowercase letter | 37 (p. 856) | E1 (p. Q-62) |
| mixed | mixed construction | 17 (p. 798) | |
| mm | misplaced modifier | 15a–b (p. 792) | B1 (p. Q-46) |
| mood | error in mood | 8 (p. 758) | |
| num | error in the use of numbers | 38 (p. 859) | |
| obj | object error | 3 (p. 741) | |
|
I-21 |
ineffective passive voice | 21b (p. 812) | |
| phr | phrase error | 4 (p. 746) | |
| pos | part of speech error | 1 (p. 730) | |
| pron agr | pronoun-antecedent error | 12 (p. 782) | A6 (p. Q-44) |
| punct | error in punctuation | 27–35 (p. 826) | D (p. Q-59) |
| ref | error in pronoun reference | 11 (p. 779) | A6 (p. Q-44) |
| rep | too much repetition | 25 (p. 822) | |
| rev | revise | (See Ch. 23.) | |
| run-on | comma splice or fused sentence | 7 (p. 755) | A2 (p. Q-39) |
| sent | sentence structure error | 5 (p. 748) | |
| shift | shift error | 14 (p. 789) | |
| sp | misspelled word | 41 (p. 865) | E2 (p. Q-64) |
| sub | faulty subordination | 19d–f (p. 807) | |
| subj | subject error | 2 (p. 740) | |
| t or tense | error in verb tense | 8 (p. 758) | A3 (p. Q-40) |
| v | voice | 14c (p. 789) | |
| var | sentence variety needed | 20 (p. 810) | |
| vb | error in verb form | 8 (p. 758) | A3 (p. Q-40) |
| vb agr | subject-verb agreement error | 9 (p. 771) | A4 (p. Q-41) |
| wc | word choice | 22–26 (p. 814) | C (p. Q-48) |
| w | wordy | 25 (p. 822) | C2 (p. Q-49) |
| ww | commonly confused word | 26 (p. 823) | C3 (p. Q-50) |
| // | faulty parallelism | 18 (p. 801) | B2 (p. Q-47) |
| x | obvious error |