about proofreading

[sasa21]

I always perform badly in proofreading, how can I improve it?

 

[RonBee]

I presume you are talking about proofreading your own writing. The whole point of proofreading is to find errors so you can correct those errors. Of course, you first have to be able to recognize those erros.

In the next posting I will deliberately make some errores. See if you can find all of the misteaks in that posting. Have fun!

:wink:

 

[RonBee]

Ron is the obsesive sort. He is a perfectionist. He likes to think he rarly makes misteaks. But its the rare day when he makes no misstakes at all.

Ron thinks he iss smart, but can he fool yew? I bet yu can catsch all the misteaks in this pose.

Ron has the most postings on this forum. May be he has to much time on his hans. (I wonder what time it is their when it is five o'clock PM here.)

Red says Ron is an expert. What is you opinion of his expertease? Do you think Ron is guid at ansering questions? How do you think he ciould do better?

(Rons cat is lying on the bed snooxing while Ron is typing this.)

Time waits for noman, and people talk about running out of time, but their is always more. Wel, thats enuf. I think its my nap time.

:wink:

 

[RonBee]

How did I do?

:wink:

 

[sasa21]

Thanks Ronbee

Actually in Hong Kong A-level exam syllabus, we got a part called "Proofreading" and there's a paragraph for us to proofread, and I find it's soooooo difficult.
Here's part of a paragraph:

"Where the great plates of the Earth's crust met, the great stresses and stains cause terrible earth-quakes. Something similar is happen where the earth's major peoples, language, religions and cultures meet. One such area being the eastern end of Mediterranean."

Would you mind proofread it for me?
I wanna know whether I'm stupid or it's quite difficult...

 

[RonBee]

Re: Thanks Ronbee

You need to ask yourself whether the sentence makes sense as written. If it doesn't you probably need to change something.

• "Where the great plates of the Earth's crust met, the great stresses and stains cause terrible earth-quakes. Something similar is happen where the earth's major peoples, language, religions and cultures meet. One such area being the eastern end of Mediterranean."

In the first sentence you need to change one word. Tectonic plates don't meet the same way people do, and met is quite inappropriate in that sentence. You need to change it to meet. That is because the word as used there means they are in constant contact. In the second sentence, is happen simply is not used. It has to be either happens or is happening. Which do you think is better there? Finally, the sentence fragment at the end should be a part of the second sentence.

 

[RonBee]

Did you find all the errors in my postings? What are they? Tell me what you think the errors are, and I will tell you if you missed any.

 

[sasa21]

Here's the answer

Thanks!
Here's the answer:

Where the great plates of the Earth's crust meet,
the great stresses and strains cause terrible earth-quakes. Something similar is happening where the Earth's major people, languages, religions and cultures meet. One such area is the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

And I got them...all wrong... [/b][/u]

 

[RonBee]

Re: Here's the answer

Thanks!
Here's the answer:

Where the great plates of the Earth's crust meet,
the great stresses and strains cause terrible earth-quakes. Something similar is happening where the Earth's major people, languages, religions and cultures meet. One such area is the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

And I got them...all wrong...

It's an interesting comparison--that of tectonic plates and people. I would written that a little differently.

Where the great plates of the Earth's crust meet,
the great stresses and strains cause terrible earth-quakes. Something similar is happening where the Earth's major people, languages, religions and cultures meet. One such area is the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

Rewrite:

• Where the great plates of the Earth's crust meet, the great stresses and strains sometimes cause terrible earth-quakes. Something similar sometimes happens where people of divergent languages, religions and cultures meet. One such area is the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

Perhaps your instructor can give you some sample paragraphs to practice on. Or you can read the daily paper to see how many errors you can find there.