Editing Practice Corrections and Explanations
Instructions:
1) Examine the correct sentence.
2) Identify, circle, and correct the error in each of the following sentences. Use a caret (v) to insert anything that is left out. . Look for what is different from the original, complete sentence.
Part A. How'd They Do It? -- Editing Practice with a Compound Sentence
Correct sentence:
He yelped in pain, and she grabbed his wrists and pinned his arms to the floor.
-- Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
1. He yelped in pain, and she grabbed his wrists and pinned his arms the floor. A word is left out.
2. He yelped in pain, and she grabs his wrists and pins his arms to the floor. Here the verb tense (time) has been changed from past tense to present tense.
3. He yelped in pain, and she grabed his wrists and pinned his arms to the floor. The word is misspelled. It should be "grabbed." The misspelling would be pronounced with a "long a."
4. He yelped in pain and she grabbed his wrists and pinned his arms to the floor. The comma is left out. Remember that in a compound sentence you need both a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FAN BOYS conjunction).
5. He yelped in pain, and she grabbed his wrists, and pinned his arms to the floor. An extra, unneeded comma has been inserted.
You do need a comma before a FAN BOYS conjunction when it is joining two independent clauses.
You DO NOT need the comma when the FAN BOYS conjunction is joining two words or phrases.
Part B. How'd They Do It? -- Editing Practice with an AAAWWEUBBIS Sentence
Correct sentence:
When the web is finished, the spider waits for insects to fly into its web.
-- Seymore Simon, Spiders(2003)
6. When the web is finished, the spider waits for insects to fly into it's web. This is a commonly confused word error. "Its" is misspelled "it's."
7. When the web is finish, the spider waits for insects to fly into its web.
The -ed has been left off the word "finished."
8. When the web is finished, the spider wait for insects to fly into its web. This is a subject/verb agreement error. It should be "the spider waits." If the subject were "spiders," the correct verb would be "wait," but with a singular subject, you need "waits."
9. When the web is finished the spider waits for insects to fly into its web. The comma is left out. Remember that an AAAWWEUBBIS at the beginning of a sentence causes a comma.
These exercises are from Jeff Anderson's book Everyday Editing, pages 140 and 44.
