PROFESSOR
KABAY’S LIST OF
FREQUENTLY CORRECTED ERRORS
Version 5 – 2007-12-27
I’ve been editing technical writing since 1970 and notice that some errors
keep popping up in many writers’ and especially students’ papers. I’ve been
collecting the comments I make about these errors and hope that you will find
some of them helpful. Please send me your own observations for possible inclusion.
I’ll be happy to acknowledge your contributions.
Contents (double-click to move to specific section)
1 acronyms defined on first use
2 acronym plurals do not take an apostrophe
6 and creates a compound subject
7 apostrophes don’t create plurals
11 compound adjectives take hyphens
12 compose / comprise /consist of / constitute / include
18 elisions and interpolations
19 eminent / immanent / imminent
22 gerundial takes the possessive
27 intensifiers weaken your text
28 Internet and Web vs internet and web
32 number: singular or plural?
33 number of the verb must accord with number of the subject
41 quotation marks are not for emphasis
42 quotation marks are not for slang
43 real figure and table numbers
44 real footnotes or endnotes, not manually-entered superscripts or brackets!
47 restrictive and non-restrictive clauses
50 short, simple words vs long, fancy words
52 symbol or numeral does not start a sentence
56 useless introductory padding
Define each acronym on first use in an essay even if you have defined it in previous essays. Use the acronym consistently throughout the rest of the paper.
The plural of ACL is ACLs, not ACL’s; that of MMPORPG is MMPORPGs.
If you define an acronym on its first use, you should generally use it consistently later in the paper or chapter.
In general use, affect is only used as a verb, whereas effect is commonly used as a noun and only in formal contexts as a verb. What causes confusion is that they have very similar pronunciations and closely related meanings. If one thing affects [acts upon] another, it has an effect on it [causes it to change]. Notice also that you can affect [cause a change in] people as well as things, but you can only effect [bring about] things such as changes: The election has affected our entire society, for it has effected major changes in the government. The bad weather has a bad effect [not affect] on him.
Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
MK adds: There are technical meanings of the word affect that make the confusion worse. In psychology, affect refers to feelings or emotions. Thus, The autistic child lacked affect.
While is best used for duration. In contrast, although instantly makes it clear to the reader that you mean to provide a clarification whereas while leaves a momentary confusion about your meaning.
The moment you link two nouns with “and” you have created a compound plural subject. Means, motive and opportunity are [not is] the basis for prosecution.
Never write “By having… it” if you intend “it” to refer to the fact indicated in the clause starting with "By having." WRONG: By having a large enough stock of products, it led to high profits. In your original sentence, the reader has to try to imagine exactly what you mean by "it" because that pronoun cannot point to the entire preceding clause. Using it to point mistakenly to the adverbial clause momentarily confuses the reader as (s)he looks for the precise antecedent of that pronoun – and cannot find one because “by having” isn’t a noun (although “having” is a gerund).
You could write,
· Having a large enough stock of products led to high profits or
· By having a large enough stock of products, we were able to make high profits or
· Having a large enough stock of products allowed us to make a high profits.
1
The Chicago Manual of Style admits that hyphenating words is complicated: “There are, quite lieterally, scores if not hundreds of …rules for the spelling of compound words. Many of them are nearly useless because of the great number of exceptions.” [3] The authors of the Chicago Manual provide a table several pages long showing details of various types of hyphenation. The specific issue in this case is whether to hyphenate compound modifiers. The fundamental principle is that the hyphen helps to avoid even momentary doubt or confusion about the writer’s precise meaning. For example, what is meant by The large grained wood chest weighed a ton? Does the writer mean that (a) The chest was large and it was “grained?” (b) The wood had large grain? Using a hyphen in The large-grained wood chest eliminates all hesitation for the reader and immediately points to meaning (b). So here are a very few key rules about hyphenating (or not) compound adjectives:
· If the first word in a compound modifier is an adverb, don’t hyphenate the words. His weakly uttered words were nonetheless effective. She found the poorly concealed treasure behind the sink. Professor Kabay’s Frequently Corrected Errors.
· If the first word in a compound modifier is an adjective, hyphenate the words. His weak-kneed reaction was shameful. The pink-toed aardvark was astounding.
· If the first word is a noun and the second is a present participle (verb form ending in –ing) then hyphenate the compound adjective. The advertising copywriter’s writing was irritation-producing twaddle. (Note the radically different meaning of irritation producing twaddle.) She is building an awe-inspiring log cabin. They had an eye-watering meal at the Indian restaurant.
· Phrases used as modifiers should be hyphenated: The first-in-line effect… but He was first in line. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. . . but This opportunity comes only once in a lifetime.
· Compounds using a number and –odd use a hyphen. There were a hundred-odd participants. Contrast the meaning of There were a hundred odd participants which means something quite different (indeed, potentially insulting).
· Numbers with a unit need a hyphen. We were in a twenty-mile race. It is a sixteen-ton squasher used by Monty Python. That’s the eight-year-old girl who is first in her math class.
· However, percent does not take a hyphen: We’ve seen an eight percent decline in rhinoceros dung in the classrooms this year.
· Quasi-, half-, all- and cross- take hyphens in compound adjectives. That’s a quasi-legal solution. It’s a half-hearted approach. He’s a high school all-star [team member]. Note that compound adjectives with all- keep the hyphen even if they follow the noun or are free-standing. She is a cross-country skier (but watch out for words with cross that have been joined together; e.g., crossword puzzle, crosscut saw).
Comprise and consist of are concerned with a whole having a number of parts. They are used in the active voice, with the whole as their subject and the parts as their object: The house comprises three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. The meal consisted of several small dishes that everybody dipped into and shared. Use of comprise in the sense "to constitute" is controversial. Avoid constructions like this if you wish to steer clear of criticism: WRONG: The house is comprised of three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. WRONG: Three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room comprise the house. If some rather than all the parts are mentioned, include may be used instead: The house includes a kitchen and a living room on the first floor. Compose and constitute are concerned with parts making up a whole. Compose is normally used in the passive, and constitute in the active: The team is composed of several experts in the field.The following commodities constitute the average household diet.
Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
In a published book, sometimes authors make reference to a previous source by either copying the reference outright (thus generating two identical footnotes or endnotes). Sometimes authors will refer to exactly the same point in a reference as in the immediately preceding reference; they use ibid. (stands for Latin ibidem, “the same”). If they are referring to the same work as in the immediately preceding reference but a different location, they use op. cit. (stands for Latin opus citatum, “the work cited”). However, I strongly recommend that you not use these forms. In an essay or manuscript where you may decide to change the order of materials or to introduce new references, you may find the backward references to be incorrect. Instead, use the INSERT CROSS-REFERENCE function of your word processor. In MS-Word, the function shows you a list of types of references (e.g., section headings, footnotes, tables) from which you can select a subset and then point to the specific cross-reference. You can then format the cross-reference to match other references according to your chosen style. All these cross-references will then automatically be adjusted if there are changes in the order or content of your text.
This error is known as a “dangling participle.” E.g., After biting me on the ankle, the dog-catcher put Fido in a cage. “Biting” modifies the proximate (nearest) noun suitable as a subject, which in this case is “dog-catcher!” Try After Fido bit me on the ankle, the dog-catcher put him in a cage.
Some people object to the use of the phrase due to in sentences like these: The concert has been canceled due to circumstances beyond our control and The flight was delayed due to bad weather. Their objection is based on the fact that due is an adjective and should be used with a noun, as in The delay was due to bad weather, where due modifies delay. You can avoid using due to with a verb by replacing it with owing to or because of: The concert has been canceled owing to circumstances beyond our control. The game was postponed because of bad weather.
Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Do not confuse these two abbreviations, which mean different things and have different origins. The abbreviation e.g., meaning "for or as an example," comes from the Latin expression exempli gratia ("for example"). Use it when you want to list a few typical examples of the thing mentioned: I have the laboratory equipment, e.g., [not i.e.] beakers, thermometers, and test tubes, that we need. Do not end a list that starts with e.g. with etc. [MK adds: etc. stands for et cetera and means and the rest. Do not spell it ect.] The abbreviation i.e., meaning "that is, that is to say," comes from the Latin expression id est ("that is"). Use it when you want to give a more precise description of the thing mentioned: The hearing, i.e., [not e.g.] the preliminary hearing, is set for noon Friday. Two periods punctuate e.g. and i.e. in U.S. English, whereas they may be unpunctuated in British English. [Follow] these abbreviations with commas.
Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
MK adds: If you begin a clause with “e.g.” or “i.e.,” use a semicolon before the abbreviation; e.g., this sentence itself illustrates the point in question; i.e., the sentence is self-referential.
If you are quoting material and leave out words within a sentence, replace the missing text with a three-dot ellipsis. Thus, “If you … leave out words within a sentence, replace the missing text with a three-dot ellipsis.” If you leave out material that crosses a sentence boundary, you must use a four-dot ellipsis. If you insert clarifying text of your own, surround the insertion with square brackets [ ]. These distinctions help the reader evaluate the trustworthiness of your quotation. Thus, “If you leave out material [in a quotation] that crosses a sentence boundary, you must use a four-dot ellipsis….[to] help the reader evaluate the trustworthiness of your quotation.”
em•i•nent [émminənt], adjective
1. of high standing: superior in position, fame, or achievement
2. noticeable: easy to see or notice
3. high: in a high or raised position
[15th century. < Latin eminent-, present participle of eminere "stand out, project" < minere "stand, project"]
* * *
im•ma•nent [ímmənənt], adjective
1. within something: existing within or inherent in something (formal)
2. existing in all parts of universe: describes God as existing in and extending into all parts of the created universe
[Mid-16th century. < late Latin immanent-, present participle of immanere, literally "dwell within" < Latin manere "remain, dwell"]
* * *
im•ma•nence, noun & im•ma•nent•ly, adverb
Do not confuse the spelling of immanent and imminent ("about to occur"), which sound similar.
* * *
im•mi•nent [ímminənt], adjective
about to occur: about to happen, or threatening to happen
[Early 16th century. < Latin imminent-, present participle of imminere "hang over" < minere "to project"]
* * *
im•mi•nence, noun / im•mi•nent•ly, adverb / im•mi•nent•ness, noun
Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
gerundial takes the possessive
In my experience, the following is grammatical rule little known in the USA: the gerundial always takes the possessive. For example, the following sentence is wrong: It having three legs made it very odd indeed. The subject is the possession (having), so “it” should be possessive (its), as follows: Its having three legs made it very odd indeed. A simpler example: My going to the store delayed the whole family by half an hour. When I was a graduate student starting my PhD in 1972, my research professor popped out of his office to ask all of us, “Is it ‘My going to the store’ or ‘Me going to the store?” Without thinking, I said, “The gerundial always takes the possessive” and kept washing glassware. I noticed a sudden silence in the lab: everyone was staring at me in disbelief. I understood then that US schools did not have quite the same educational details as my own experience had led me to accept as normal.
Didn’t you enable grammar/style checking? On my system, this word is underlined with a green wavy line; floating the cursor over it shows a suggestion for improvement (correct, in this case, although it’s not always on the mark). In Word, use Word Options | Proofing | When correcting spelling and grammar in Word options to select Grammar & Style as well as spelling.
Many careful writers strongly dislike the verb impact in any figurative sense whatsoever, as in The revised budget impacts the university unfavorably and The revised budget impacts on the athletic program. Though the verb in senses extending beyond the infliction of physical force is undeniably common in business, legal, journalistic, and political discourse, anyone who hopes to achieve an effect even faintly literary [or scholarly, adds MK] should avoid it in favor of affect, change. Use of the verb is uncontroversial only in physical senses: The car impacted the railing. By the same token, the noun impact should not be used as a catchall alternative for words like effect or impression; rather, it should be used to convey the idea of powerful, dramatic consequence: The sudden rise in prices had a calamitous impact on many economies.
Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
To imply something is to suggest or bring to mind an idea without making it explicit. For example, the question When did you stop taking bribes? implies that the person addressed must have been taking bribes. In contrast, to infer something is to deduce it or to reason towards a conclusion. I inferred that he had been taking bribes from observing him to accept many money-filled, unmarked envelopes from building contractors without recording these sums in his taxable income. Unfortunately, a recent dictionary accepts the use of infer as equivalent to imply – an unnecessary and regrettable loss of precision in our language. [4]
Avoid indefinite antecedents for pronominal adjectives “this” and “that.” Provide a specific object so that the reader does not have to guess to know exactly to what you are referring. Thus WRONG: The countries went to war in 1914. This led to serious death tolls across Europe in the next four years. RIGHT: The countries went to war in 1914. This conflict led to serious death tolls across Europe in the next four years.
Don’t use intensifiers such as highly, extremely and very in your professional writing. Such adjectives and adverbs weaken your text instead of strengthening it. They give the impression that you have to defend your position because the reader won’t agree with your appraisal. Compare This attack was effective and destructive with This attack was very effective and extremely destructive.
An internet is a collection of networks that are linked together; the Internet is the global TCP/IP-based internet that people often call the ‘Net or the Net. A web is made by spiders; the Web refers to the World Wide Web, a system based on HTTP for linking Web pages written in HTML.
number: singular or plural?
The attacker can do [such and such]. Furthermore, they can do [whatever]. If “they” refers to “attacker” then either (a) make it “attackers” or (b) use “the attacker” again or (c) use “he.” Sometimes I alternate the use of “he” and “she” in such cases just for variety. You can also use “he or she” (but not “he/she”).
Spell out numbers from one to ten and use numerals for 11 and up.
Sometimes you need to force an entire block of text to stay together on one page. If all of that block doesn’t fit at the bottom of the current page, it should move to the next page. Instead of using a manual page break (in Word, CTL-ENTER) in the middle of your text, you can highlight the section of text in one paragraph that has to stay together and, in Word, use the Paragraph | Line and Page Breaks function to check Keep lines together. If you have headings or multiple paragraphs in the block, also check Keep with next. You can also force page breaks before certain types of headings automatically by checking Page break before.
I removed all double-carriage-returns and switched your formatting to 6 pt before and 6 pt after every paragraph. Automatic formatting options allow you to skip having to insert an extra space after each paragraph and therefore helps you maintain a consistent style throughout your document.
Think about the meaning of components that follow conjunctions such as and or or. The normal pattern is that these conjunctions apply to the proximate (nearest preceding) verb. For example, the sentence, Medical information can be hacked by civilians using computers to obtain patient records or change different medications results in momentary confusion as the reader tries to parse “…to obtain records or change….” by interpreting change as a noun in parallelism with records. To ensure seamless communication, write, “…to obtain patient records or to change….” Another example of a non-parallel construction is Medical information can be hacked by civilians or professionals can access the data directly. In this case, the first impression is that medical information can be hacked by civilians or by professionals – not the intended meaning. The sentence could be correctly written as Medical information can be hacked by civilians; professionals can access the data directly.
Lack of parallel construction often shows up in lists; for example,
The key factors in preventing data leakage are as follows:
Encrypt all sensitive data
Assigning access privileges with care
. . . .
The list should use the same verb form in all entries; thus either encrypt and assign or encrypting and assigning or encryption of and assignment of. Similar parallelism should apply to lists that include they in some items but he or she or one in others.
Don’t use quotation marks as a form of emphasis – they’re for quoted materials. I don’t see how this text is a quotation. I just wrote, “I don’t see how this text is a quotation.” You can use italics if there is some reason to emphasize a specific word or phrase; e.g., when introducing a technical term. BTW, my favorite example of this kind of error is from a highway restaurant whose sign read Good “Food”. Another one of this type was “Good” Food.
Use real (word-processor-defined) figure and table numbers, not manual numbers. If you change the order of your figures or tables, your manual numbers may have to be repaired one by one, whereas word-process labels readjust themselves automatically.
If you don’t use automatically-numbered notes, adding one in the middle will force you to renumber all the references following – by hand! Using automated endnotes creates an automatic list at the end of the document so you don’t have to do it by hand. You can also get a complete list of footnotes by converting them to endnotes, copying that list, then reversing the conversion. Paste your copy into the document as text only to get your workable, editable list. If you have Word 2007, enter your references into the Manage Sources tool under References, which allows you to create footnotes or endnotes and also to create a bibliography automatically in various standard formats. And use INSERT CROSS-INDEX if you have to refer to the same source, not a new footnote with ibid or op. cit.
Use your word-processor’s headings feature to create headings, not manually-formatted headings. The automatic heading style can be modified to suit your preferences – and all the headings of that level can then instantly change to meet your requirements (saves a lot of time and avoids inconsistencies of formatting). In Word, real headings also let you create a table of contents instantly (in a variety of styles) as well as showing up in the document map, a nifty feature that sits to the left of your screen and lets you not only see the structure of your work but also click on any heading to move to it.
· One popular method is to use a footnote for the first occurrence of the reference. The note includes author (date) Title (italicized for a book,” enquoted” for a chapter or an article) and page. E.g., Whosit (2003). “Whatsit mean?” p. 34.
· You can use endnotes of the same style if you like instead of footnotes.
· If you have a quotation or a pointer to the same place in the same article you have just cited in the previous reference, you can avoid another footnote by making it clear in the text that you are using the same reference; e.g., “Whosit (2003) continues with. . . .” If necessary, insert a cross-reference.
· A riskier alternative is to use a note with “Ibid.” which stands for “Ibidem” or “in the same place.” However, if you change your text to introduce a different reference, the “Ibid.” will be wrong. Use cross-references (insert cross-reference) using your word processing capabilities instead of Ibid.
· If the immediately following reference is to the same work but to a different place, you can note “Op. cit. p. 433” – (“Opus citatum,” – the work cited). Again, you run the risk of making this reference wrong if you insert another reference in between the first and second reference to the work in question. I do not recommend this method – use cross-references.
· All of these methods require a Bibliography or List of Works Cited (or Referenced) at the end of the paper. Typically, you will alphabetize by author and by date within author if necessary. Use lowercase letters for multiple works in a year: thus
o Whatsit (2007a)…
o Whatsit (2007b)…
o Whosit (1997)…
A restrictive clause (a clause that defines which type of object it is modifying) does not take commas; a non-restrictive clause (a clause that adds supplementary information) does take commas.
Consider the meaning of The dog which was brown bit me. The restrictive clause (which was brown written without commas) cannot be removed without altering the meaning – specifically, that of all the possible dogs the writer could be pointing to, it was specifically the brown one which bit the writer. There is presumably only one brown dog in the group of potential biters.
In contrast, The dog, which was brown, bit me uses a non-restrictive clause (note the commas) and simply adds information that could be removed without losing the main meaning of the sentence. In other words, the main point of the sentence is that the dog bit the writer. Other dogs, may also have bitten the writer and the fact that this particular dog was brown is incidental to the purpose of the sentence. It is even possible that there were several brown dogs that might have bitten the writer.
sentence fragment
Every sentence must have at lease a subject and a verb. For example the second “sentence” in this pair is a fragment: This habit would have cost him $1,470 per account he owned. A substantial fee simply to play a computer game. The error could be corrected by using a subject and a noun; e.g., That level of expense is a substantial fee simply to play a computer game. Another solution would be to combine the two components using a colon or a dash, as in the following: This habit would have cost him $1,470 per account he owned--a substantial fee simply to play a computer game.
I always wince when I see utilize. What’s wrong with use? It’s shorter and it means the same! Aim for simple, clear language. Many editors criticize other fancy words such as assist instead of help, effectuate instead of make, efficacious instead of effective and objective instead of goal. Long words used only for effect don’t impress anyone except pompous fools. I remember an incident in 1979 when someone changed one of the sentences in my curriculum vitae from “He helped his colleagues with statistical analysis” to “He assisted his colleagues with statistical analysis.” I asked her why she was changing the word and she answered, “It sounds better.” I retorted, “No it doesn’t: help is shorter and it means the same thing.” She sneered, “So what?” I answered, “AHA! I have been fighting people like you all my life and now I have finally met the enemy!” I didn’t get a date.
Don't start a sentence with a symbol (e.g., §, °, %), a numeral (½, 2, 3rd) or a year (2003); spell out the word instead. The Chicago Manual of Style suggests that if the result seems clumsy, you can use a different construction for your sentence to avoid the problem. Thus Two thousand seven was a bad year for penguins could be rewritten as The year 2007 was bad for penguins.
useless introductory padding
whom vs who
When you need to use who as the object of a verb, use whom. Thus Who gave you the ball? but To whom did you give the ball? The distinction is particular important when you start the sentence with Who or Whom (as may occur if you finish a question with a preposition -- some older editors still frown on that practice), as in Whom did you give the ball to? The objective case of the pronoun avoids any ambiguity, even for a moment, about whether the pronoun is the subject of the verb that follows it (Who did....).
Don’t use Wikipedia
as a primary reference. You can use it as a source for further research, but
it is not trustworthy as a primary source. See the following article: Farkas,
M. (2006). “Wikipedia: What is it Good For?” MSIA Director’s Corner archives
< http://grad.norwich.edu/msia/directorscorner/02_20_06/index.html
>
—–
[1] With thanks to Prof Don Holden
[2] With thanks to Prof Elizabeth Black
[3] Chicago Manual of Style, 12th Edition, Revised (1969). University of Chicago Press (ISBN 0-226-77008-7). §6.18, p 132.
[4] With thanks to Prof John MacMichael for noting this distinction in grading one of his MSIA students’ essays.
[5] With thanks to my cousin Guy Letourneau.