Proofreading is the final stage in the revision process.
Proofreading allows you to catch small errors, such as typos or misspellings that you missed while revising and even while editing your writing.
This video will cover some of the things to remember when you are proofreading.
Make proper use of Spellchecker. Spellchecker is a handy tool to use when looking at misspelled words.
For example: The word exagurate. [‘exagurate’ is incorrectly typed out onto the screen and then corrected to its correct spelling ‘exaggerate’.]
Remember to change your Spellchecker language settings to Canadian English from American Standard English.
Spellchecker misses words that are spelled correctly but are out of place.
For example: ‘The girl the dog bought’ instead of ‘The girl bought the dog’.
Always proofread a hard copy. Proofreading on a computer screen can be hard because you cannot refer back to changes you have made.
It is much easier to print out a copy of the essay and then make changes on the page with a pencil.
Read the essay out loud. Many errors are missed when you read in your head;
whereas, when you read out loud, you can see and hear when something is wrong,
such as when a word has been left out or a subject and verb don’t agree.
Read every word. Don’t skim read. Make sure you are reading every word in the order it is found on the page.
People have a tendency to correct their mistakes orally as they are reading and leave off suffix endings.
Break down sentences. If you have problems with things like subject-verb agreement, break questionable sentences down into their parts.
Underline the subject of the sentence once, the verb twice, and make sure that they agree.
Remember that plural verbs have a singular ending and singular verbs have a plural ending.
For example, you can say, “the girls walk” or “the girl walks” but not “the girls walks” or “the girl walk”.
Decide at the beginning of the paper if you are writing in present, past or future tense.
Check your verbs to make sure that the tense remains consistent.
Learn when to capitalize. Capitalization may seem unimportant, but can save you easily lost marks.
Only capitalize proper names and not common nouns.
Read backwards. Reading backwards removes sentences from the context of their paragraph.
It can help you spot errors by letting you focus on the words and not the meaning of the paragraph.
Work paragraph by paragraph. Start with the last sentence in the paragraph and read it for coherence.
Does the sentence make sense on its own? Is it a sentence fragment?
Know your style guides. Pay attention to whether you are supposed to use MLA style or APA style or another style when writing.
Each has specific rules for citation, bibliography, footnotes, quotations, etc.
Have someone else read it. A second person may catch things that you miss because you are too close to the writing
and are already familiar with what has been written.
A second person can also let you know if the paper makes sense to them
and may notice incomplete sentences or small grammatical errors.
Leave time for proofreading. After you are finished with the paper, leave yourself enough time so
that you can step away from the paper for a while and come back to it at a later date with a fresh perspective.
Thanks for watching!