D. Editing for Common Mechanics Problems

D1 Check 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.

FAULTY During my Sophomore year in College, I took World Literature, Biology, American History, Psychology, and French — courses required for a Humanities Major.
CORRECT During my sophomore year in college, I took world literature, biology, American history, psychology, and French — courses required for a humanities major.

For exercises on using and punctuating quotation marks, see the Take Action charts on Re:Writing.

EDITING CHECKLIST

preposition: A transitional word (such as in, on, at, of, from) that leads into a phrase

coordinating conjunction: A one-syllable linking word (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) that joins elements with equal or near-equal importance

article: The word a, an, or the

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.)
D2 Check spelling

See a list of commonly confused words.

Misspelled words are difficult to spot in your own writing. You usually see what you think you wrote. Spell checkers offer a handy alternative to the dictionary, but you need to know their limitations. A spell checker compares the words in your text with the words in its dictionary, and it highlights words that do not appear there, 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.

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 Freudian reading 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 Buddha

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”

EDITING CHECKLIST

Spelling

For a list of commonly misspelled words and spelling exercises, visit bedfordstmartins.com/ bedguide.

  • Have you checked for the words you habitually misspell?
  • Have you checked for commonly confused or misspelled words?
  • 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 it would miss such as a stray letter?

COMMONLY CONFUSED HOMONYMS

accept (v., receive willingly); except (prep., other than)

Mimi could accept all of Lefty’s gifts except his ring.

affect (v., influence); effect (n., result)

If the new rules affect us, what will be their effect?

capital (adj., uppercase; n., seat of government); capitol (n., government building)

The Capitol building in our nation’s capital is spelled with a capital C.

cite (v., refer to); sight (n., vision or tourist attraction); site (n., place)

Did you cite Aunt Peg as your authority on which sites feature the most interesting sights?

complement (v., complete; n., counterpart); compliment (v. or n., praise)

For Lee to say that Sheila’s beauty complements her intelligence may or may not be a compliment.

desert (v., abandon; n., hot, dry region); dessert (n., end-of-meal sweet)

Don’t desert us by leaving for the desert before dessert.

elicit (v., bring out); illicit (adj., illegal)

By going undercover, Sonny should elicit some offers of illicit drugs.

led (v., past tense of lead); lead (n., a metal)

Gil’s heart was heavy as lead when he led the mourners to the grave.

principal (n. or adj., chief); principle (n., rule or standard)

The principal problem is convincing the media that the high school principal is a person of high principles.

stationary (adj., motionless); stationery (n., writing paper)

Hubert’s stationery shop stood stationary until a flood swept it away.

their (pron., belonging to them); there (adv., in that place); they’re (contraction of they are)

Sue said they’re going over there to visit their aunt.

to (prep., toward); too (adv., also or excessively); two (n. or adj., numeral: one more than one)

Let’s not take two cars to town — that’s too many unless Hal comes too.

who’s (contraction of who is); whose (pron., belonging to whom)

Who’s going to tell me whose dog this is?

your (pron., belonging to you); you’re (contraction of you are)

You’re not getting your own way this time!