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Rules of Thumb, 5/e
Jay Silverman, Nassau County Community College
Elaine Hughes, Nassau County Community College
Diana R. Wienbroer, Nassau County Community College


Correction Symbols

Correction Symbols

Here is a list of symbols the instructor may use when marking papers. The numbers in parentheses refer to the pages that explain the skill involved.

AgrCorrect the mistake in agreement of subject and verb (454-459) or pronoun and the word the pronoun refers to (464-466).
AposCorrect the apostrophe mistake (502-508).
BalBalance the parts of the sentence so they have the same (parallel) form (103-104).
CapCorrect the mistake in capital letters (491-498).
CohRevise to improve coherence (77-86; 146-149).
CommaAdd a comma (516-525).
CSCorrect the comma splice (432-444).
DMCorrect the dangling modifier (484-488).
DetSupport or develop the topic more fully by adding details (55-61).
FragAttach the fragment to a sentence or make it a sentence (418-431).
lcUse a lowercase (small) letter rather than a capital (491-498).
MMCorrect the misplaced modifier (481-483).
Indent for a new paragraph.
No ¶Do not indent for a new paragraph.
ProCorrect the pronoun mistake (464-475).
QuotCorrect the mistake in quotation marks (509-515).
R-0Correct the run-on (432-444).
SpCorrect the spelling error (531-535).
TransSupply or improve a transition (80-84).
UndUnderline (513).
VerbCorrect the verb or verb form (445-453; 460-463).
WordyOmit needless words (112-113).
WWReplace the word marked with a more accurate one.
?Write the illegible word clearly.
/Eliminate the word, letter, or punctuation mark so slashed.
^Add the omitted word or words.
;/:/-/—Add semicolon (527), colon (526); hyphen (529), or dash (528-529).
<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=gif::Check::/sites/dl/free/0072449861/25308/check.gif','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif">Check (0.0K)</a>CheckYou have something fine or good here: an expression, a detail, an idea.