EDITING

EDITING

After you reveise your paragraph for content and organization, all you need to do is edit it. Editing means looking for and correcting mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Finding the mistakes in your paragraph is not always easy, especially if english is not your native language. However some mistakes are very common, so you should look for them first. The activities below will help you learn to correct some of the most common mistakes that students make.

Agreement Of Subjects And Verbs

You already know that every english sentence must have a subject and a verb. In order for a sentence to be grammaticalliy correct, the subject and verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural.

Example :

1.       My friend was late for class

2.       My friends were late for class

For subject/verb agreement :

1.       Find the main verb in each sentence

2.       Macth the verb to its subject

3.       Make sure that the subject and verb agree in number

Use a Singuler Verb With These Pronouns :

Anybody	Everybody	Somebody	Nobody
Anyone	Everyone	Someone	No one
Anything	Everything	Something	None
Either	One	Neither	Nothing

Each of the students is required to write a five-paragraph essay. (each is the subject).

One of the kids wants to take a nap, (one is the subject).

Everybody wants to start the movie now.

Use a Plural Verb With These Pronouns :

Both                                            Others Few                                              Several Many

 

                                                                                                                                                                        

Several of the students are required to write a five-paragraph essay, (several is the subject.

Others want to start the movie later.