Download Here are the Top 23 grammar usage, mechanics, and punctuation

Checklist for Proofreading and Revising
Check your paper:
 Do I have a meaningful title?
 Do I have an introduction?
 Do I have a conclusion or a summary at the end?
 Does my entire paper focus on the topic?
Check your paragraphs:
 Do I start every paragraph on a new line?
 Is the first line of every paragraph indented?
 Does every paragraph have a topic sentence?
 Does every sentence in the paragraph support and relate back to the main idea/topic sentence?
 Do I include evidence, explanations, examples, details, or illustrations to support my main idea?
 Do I need to take out any sentences that do not relate to my main idea?
Check your sentences:
 Do I capitalize the first word of every sentence?
 Do I end every sentence with the correct punctuation mark?
 Do I express a complete idea in every sentence?
 Do my pronouns have clear antecedents?
 Do I have any run-on sentences that I need to correct?
 Do I have any sentence fragments that I need to complete?
 Can I combine short, related ideas into longer, more varied sentences?
 Can I improve my sentences?
 Can I cut out any unnecessary words or ideas (double talk)?
 Do I avoid using slang or informal phrases, except where appropriate for voice?
 Can I add adjectives, adverbs, or prepositional phrases to make my writing more interesting?
Check your verbs:
 Do I have a subject and verb in every sentence?
 Do my subject and verb agree in every sentence? (The fighters were…NOT The fighters was…)
 Is my verb tense logical in every sentence? (past, present, future)
 Is my verb tense consistent in every sentence? (doesn’t change between past and present)
Check your punctuation and capitalization:
 Do I capitalize all my proper nouns and proper adjectives?
 Do I capitalize and punctuate all my direct quotations correctly?
 Do I use commas properly?
Check your spelling:
 Do I choose the correct spelling for each homonym? (there vs. their vs. they’re)
 Do I use an apostrophe only in contractions and possessive nouns?
Here are the Top 23 grammar usage, mechanics, and punctuation items that are most
commonly in error on high school papers. Self-check your writing before submitting.
MLA STYLE
MLA: Margins, Line Spacing, Page number & last name, Heading, Documentation,
NO boldface type, NO Underlining, Use Italics instead!
MECHANICS
Spelling: Use American spelling, except in direct quotations; use a dictionary or Spell Check!
Capitalization: Use at the beginning of sentences and direct quotations, beginning lines of
traditional poetry, in initials, in proper names, in historical events (World War I), and in titles.
Period: Use at the end of sentences, after initials, as a decimal; three periods show omission of
quoted material (ellipsis); place inside quotation marks, except when MLA documentation is at the
end of the sentence.
Comma: Use with series, with dependent phrases and clauses, with interjections, and with
conjunctions; place inside quotation marks, except when MLA documentation is at the end of the
sentence.
Colon: Use to introduce formally a word, a list, examples, a statement, or long quotation, after a
salutation, or between the parts of a number denoting time (6:15); place outside quotation marks.
Semi-colon: Use between to independent clauses of a sentence when they are not joined by a
conjunction; place outside quotation marks.
Quotation: Use to enclose a direct quotation, nicknames or phrases used ironically.
Apostrophe: Use the apostrophe to indicate the omission of letters from words, to denote plurals
of letters, figures, and symbols (a's, b's, and c's), to form the possessive of nouns and indefinite
pronouns (bird's, everyone's).
Possessive personal pronouns DO NOT use the apostrophe (its, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs
Plurals of nouns or dates DO NOT use the apostrophe (trees, 1960s).
Dash: Made with two hyphens (--) and used to mark a sudden break in a sentence, to set off a
parenthetic group, and to set off a summarizing statement.
Numerals: Dates, street numbers, page numbers, decimals, and percents should be written in
figures.
The general rule for writing numbers is to SPELL OUT a number if it may be done in one or
two words; otherwise it should be written in figures. When several numbers are used
mentioned in a series, use figures for all. A number that represents a person's age or
denoting the hour of the day is usually spelled out.
NEVER BEGIN A SENTENCE WITH A FIGURE; spell out the number.
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Completeness: A sentences must express a thought.
Therefore, it must have a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE. (Use this test to spot and AVOID
FRAGMENTS.)
It may also have other parts, such as objects, complements, and modifiers.
Variety: As to form, a sentence may be simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex.
Good writing uses a VARIETY of sentence forms.
Confusing references: A sentence may be faulty because a pronoun is placed where it may refer
to more than one word; there should be no uncertainty as to what word is the antecedent of a
pronoun.
Unrelated ideas: Do not place in the same sentence (Fred won the race, and he likes chocolate
candy.)
Comma fault: Two independent sentences should not be separated by a comma alone; they
should be separated by a comma and conjunction, or a semicolon, or a period.
Omission of subject of a dependent clause:
Incorrect: When in Chicago, my father sent me a watch.
Correct: When I was in Chicago, my father sent me a watch.)
Monotonous, short sentences: Avoid the habit of writing monotonous short sentences like those
a first-grader would write.
Childish: We went to town, We stayed all day. We came home. We were tired.
Better: After we had spent the day in town, we came home tired.
Parallel Structure: Parallel thoughts should be expressed in terms that are grammatically
parallel, i.e. with the same parts of speech appearing parallel sections.
Faulty: Swimming is more enjoyable to row.
Parallel: Swimming is more enjoyable than rowing. OR To swim is more enjoyable than to row.
Watch for parallelism in series.
Faulty: I like to take vitamins, to exercise, and stay fit.
Parallel: I like to take vitamins, to exercise, and to stay fit.)
Dangling Modifier: DO NOT leave modifiers dangling--with nothing to modify.
Faulty: Walking down the street, the beautiful building was admired.
Clear: Walking down the street, we admired the building.
Misplaced Modifier: Place modifiers--whether they are words, phrases, or clauses--so that their
meaning is immediately clear to the reader.
Confusing: We saw a man on a horse with a wooden leg.
Clear: We saw a man with a wooden leg on a horse.
Shifts in Structure:
Avoid shifts in person.
One must work if one (not you) would succeed.
Avoid in number.
(One should do one's (not their) duty.
Avoid shifts in voice.
As we went up the path, we saw a snake (not a snake was seen.)
Avoid shifts in tense.
The hunter entered the woods and he saw (not he sees)) a deer.
Avoid shifts in subject.
Ted's letters are interesting, because they are cleverly written. (not he is a clever boy.)
Redundancy and repetition: Avoid unnecessary, repeated words and ideas.
Passive voice: Use active voice whenever possible.
Passive: The flowers were grown by the girls.
Active: The girls grew the flowers.
Watch out for passive voice sentences beginning "There are...."
To help avoid passive voice, avoid using "There is" or "There are" when starting a sentence.
For example, instead of: There are many types of writing. Rewrite the sentence: Many types of
writing exist. Or better yet: Many types of writing create variety.