ESL 222 Correction Symbols Guide Wong

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Correction Symbols
VT
verb tense
Example: Yesterday, I do my homework. Do is incorrect; it should be past tense
did.

VF
verb form
The verb tense is okay but the form of the verb is not.
Example: I have bring a lot of new clothes. Have bring is the incorrect verb
form. It should be have brought.

WW
wrong word
Example: I have many thinks to do this weekend. Thinks is the wrong word. It
should be things.
WF
word form
Example: She received some beautifully roses for Valentines Day. Beautifully
is an adverb, but here you need an adjective. The adjective form is beautiful
WO
word order
The words are not in the correct position.
Example: He didnt know where was he. The words was he are not in the right
order. The order should be changed to he was.
WP
wrong preposition
An incorrect preposition is used or a preposition has been added when one is not
needed.
Example: Are you happy to attend to school? To is incorrect here. No
preposition is needed after attend for this sentence.
#
number, singular/plural
Example: Some of the student gave us some very bad advices.
An s was used to form the plural noun. Men is an irregular plural, so it never
has an s. Advice is an uncountable noun, so s is not used on
uncountable/non-count nouns.

Sp
spelling
ESL 222 Correction Symbols Guide Wong
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Example: There are two main charaters in the movie. The correct spelling is
character.
TV
transitive verb
The sentence needs an object after the verb.
Example: Marcus wants from his parents. Wants is a transitive verb, so it
requires a direct object. What does Marcus want from his parents? A correct
answer could be Marcus wants a present from his parents.
Pron
pronoun problem
Example: The boy hurt his knee when it went skateboarding. It is an incorrect
pronoun to refer to the boy. He is the correct pronoun.
Coord
Coordination-coordinating conjunction missing or incorrect coordinating
conjunction
Two independent clauses have been joined without a coordinating conjunction or
with an incorrect one.
Example: It was too hot, we put on the air conditioning.
In this example, we cannot join two independent clauses with a comma, so we
should use the conjunction so after the comma.
Example: I really like Calvin, and I dont like his brother.
In this example, and is incorrect because the ideas of contrasting each other.
The conjunction but should be used instead.
Trans
Transition-transition missing or incorrect transition
Example: They will remodel their kitchen. However, they would like to get some
new cabinets and a new stove.
However is incorrect here because the second sentence does not contrast the
ideas of the first sentence. It adds information to the first one.
Rep
Repetitive- the writing repeats the same words and/or ideas again without
saying anything new
ART
article
a/an/the is missing. Use a and an for non-specific countable singular nouns and
the for specific singular or plural noun.
ESL 222 Correction Symbols Guide Wong
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Example: He gave his girlfriend hug on Valentines Day. Hug is a countable
singular noun here, so a is needed before it.

SV
subject verb agreement
The subject and verb do not agree.
Example: Her family dont live in the U.S. Dont is the helping verb for a plural
subject, but here the subject is singular. The correct verb is doesnt.
Frag
fragment
The sentence is not a complete thought.
Example: When we ran out of soap. This is a dependent time clause and need
another independent clause to complete it.
R.O.
run-on sentence
There are 2 or more sentences that are not connected correctly.
Example: Men like to shop quickly women like to browse and take their time.
There are two independent clauses, but there is no connector or punctuation.
One way to correct would be, Men like to shop quickly, but women like to browse
and take their time.
C.S.
comma splice
A comma is used to connect two or more independent clauses.
Example: Shelley is competing in the Olympics, she expects to take the Gold for
Norway.
One way to correct this mistake is to put a FANBOYS after the comma. Shelley is
competing in the Olympics, and she expects
^
missing word
A necessary word is missing from the sentence. Often, it could be a missing
subject, missing verb, punctuation etc.
Example: In the story
^
tells his wife that he loves her. A subject is missing
before tells.
SS or Unclear
Sentence structure is not clear.
Off topic
Sentences do not support your topic sentence.
ESL 222 Correction Symbols Guide Wong
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CH
coherence
Ideas need to be in a logical order. A sentence needs to be moved into another
place in the writing.
CO
cohesiveness
Ideas need to be connected. The readers become confused because the
sentences do not appear to be related to each other or there is some missing
explanation.
P
punctuation
A comma, period, question mark, colon, quotation marks etc. has either been
used incorrectly or not used when needed.

Example: I wasnt happy, because I didnt sleep much last night. Here, there
should be no comma in the sentence.

Cap
capitalization
A word should be capitalized OR a word has been incorrectly capitalized.
Example: When i watch a sad movie, i cry. The pronoun I is always capitalized.