I come across a wide variety of typos and errors when proofreading manuscripts, but certain mistakes pop up repeatedly. Familiarize yourself with these common mistakes so you can correct them—or avoid them entirely—in your own writing.
1. A single quotation mark instead of an apostrophe
Examples:
Incorrect: Go get ‘em.
Correct: Go get ’em.
An apostrophe—not a quotation mark—takes the place of a missing letter or letters. The direction that this little mark curls determines whether it’s an apostrophe or a quotation mark. In the first example, a single quotation mark takes the place of th (the missing letters in the word them), and that is wrong. Yet I see this error all the time in self-published books.
We can thank autoformatting for this prevalent mistake. To ensure you type an apostrophe and not a single quotation mark, type a letter, any letter, before you type the mark, and your word processor will curl the mark correctly—giving you an apostrophe. (Just don’t forget to delete that extra letter once you have the apostrophe.)
2. Unnecessary commas and missing commas
Since there are many different ways to use and misuse commas, I won’t try to address them all here. But if you’re not familiar with basic comma rules, you’ll do yourself (and your readers) a huge service by brushing up on the rules.
Don’t simply toss a comma in where you think there’s a pause. While the use of commas in certain sentences may come down to style choice—with neither choice being technically wrong—most of the time, comma rules are clear on whether or not a sentence requires a comma (or commas).
Commas with direct address
Examples:
Incorrect: Jenny I like your new earrings.
Correct: Jenny, I like your new earrings.
Jenny is being spoken to directly, so her name should be set off by a comma. This also holds true at the end of a sentence:
Correct: I’m glad I saw you today, Jenny.
And in the middle of a sentence:
Correct: Hold on, Jenny, I want to talk to you.
Commas with essential vs. nonessential information
Examples:
Incorrect: My husband Joe likes chocolate cake.
Correct: My husband, Joe, likes chocolate cake.
Since I have only one husband, the word Joe is extra information and isn’t necessary for the sentence to be understood. That’s why the word is set off by commas. This also holds true for clauses:
Correct: Jenny’s sister, who likes playing in the sand, is outside.
However, if Jenny has more than one sister, “digging in the sand” identifies which sister is being referred to, so that information is essential to the sentence and should not be set off by commas. In that case, the following would be correct:
Correct: Her sister who likes playing in the sand is outside.
It’s up to you, the writer, to identify what information is essential to your sentence.
Commas with conjunctions
Don’t worry if you don’t know what a conjunction is—it’s just a fancy word for and, but, yet, or, nor, for, or so. When a conjunction links two independent clauses, use a comma before the conjunction. Of course, now you need to know what an independent clause is—it’s any clause that can stand alone as a sentence (meaning it will have a subject and a verb and will express a complete thought). If what follows the conjunction is not an independent clause, no comma is needed.
Examples:
Incorrect: I hired a proofreader to identify the errors in my manuscript and she found a comma mistake on every page.
Correct: I hired a proofreader to identify the errors in my manuscript, and she found a comma mistake on every page.
“She found a comma mistake on every page” can stand alone as a complete sentence. Therefore, a comma is necessary before the conjunction (and).
Important note: It is generally acceptable, particularly in fiction, to omit the comma if the conjunction joins two short independent clauses.
Example: He wrote the novel and I proofread it.
Now let’s look at a sentence without an independent clause after the conjunction:
Examples:
Incorrect: I ate three pancakes, and two sausages.
Correct: I ate three pancakes and two sausages.
“Two sausages” cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. Therefore, do not use a comma before the conjunction—even if you think there should be a pause when you read it.
Commas with compound predicates
Predicates is just another word for verbs—which are action words (such as run, eat, drive) or “state of being” words (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been).
Examples:
Incorrect: Jenny drove Mary to the store, and bought her a doll.
Correct: Jenny drove Mary to the store and bought her a doll.
The two verbs, drove and bought, refer to the same subject, Jenny, and should not be divided by a comma—even if you think there’s a pause there.
Remember, comma placement is not dictated by pauses!
3. Unnecessary hyphens and missing hyphens
As with commas, there’s a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to using hyphens. Some words always require hyphens, while some words require hyphens only sometimes, depending on how the words are used. No wonder hyphens cause confusion for writers. (And no wonder The Chicago Manual of Style provides a lengthy guide on this topic. We proofreaders make good use of that book.)
Keep this basic guideline in mind: typically hyphenate compound words that come before the noun they modify, but don’t hyphenate compound words that come after the noun.
Examples:
Incorrect: That movie star is well-known.
Correct: That movie star is well known.
Incorrect: She is a well known movie star.
Correct: She is a well-known movie star.
Note: movie star is the noun in these sentences.
4. Lay instead of lie and lie instead of lay
I hear you—these words and all of their forms are difficult. I often refer to references to double-check the correct use of these words myself. (It’s as if whoever created the rules for these verbs purposely made them confusing.) Also, we hear these words misused every day, which often makes our ears think that the wrong words are right!
Lay means to put or place something. (The action is being done to something.)
Examples:
Incorrect: Rover, go lay down.
Correct: Lay the folded laundry on the bed.
Lie means to rest or recline. (The subject is doing the action.)
Examples:
Incorrect: Lie that blanket down.
Correct: Rover, go lie down.
Please note that the above examples use lay and lie in the present tense. Things get complicated when we move into the different tenses, which of course we writers do all the time. I recommend printing out a reference chart, such as this one, and keeping it handy. Better yet, tape it to your mirror, where you’ll see it every day, until you have it memorized. 🙂
That’s it for today!
I hope you found the above examples and tips helpful for mastering the correct use of apostrophes, commas, hyphens, and lay vs. lie.
Please check back soon for more grammar and proofreading tips. Meanwhile, keep in mind that I offer 50% off proofreading services for first-time clients.
God bless you and your writing!
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