Composition Correction Guide
Symbol / Type of error / Sample Error / Sample Correction^ / add verb, noun, etc.
/ delete / You should omit, take out or delete words that do not add meaning to your sentence. / You should omit words that do not add meaning to your sentence.
# / number / They bought three pen. / They bought three pens.
? / unclear meaning / From ten feet, the boy was hit by the ball. / The ball fell ten feet and hit the boy.
ab / abbreviation / U/A / University of Alberta
adv / adverb / The boy did his work quick. / The boy did his work quickly.
agr / agreement / She walk to school. / She walks to school.
ante / pronoun antecedent / He bought a book and a pen. It was red. / He bought a book and a red pen.
art / add, change, or delete article (a, an, the) / Head north on the 97th Street. / Head north on 97th Street.
awk / awkward phrasing / Up the river, he sailed away. / He sailed up the river.
c / combine short sentences / I like skiing. He likes hockey. / I like skiing and he likes hockey.
cap / capitalization / We live in canada. / We live in Canada.
conj / conjunction / However he didn’t want to go, he went to school. / Although he didn’t want to go, he went to school anyway.
cs / comma splice / He ate lunch, he went to work. / He ate lunch and went to work.
frag / sentence fragment / Although he was tired. / Although he was tired, he couldn’t sleep.
ger / gerund / To swim is his favorite sport. / Swimming is his favorite sport.
incl / include both genders / A student can store his books here. / Students can store their books here.
iv / Incorrect voice (passive/active voice) / Eighteen-year-olds should draft into military service. / Eighteen-year-olds should be drafted into military service.
n / noun or noun form / My happy is not defined by how much money I have. / My happiness is not defined by how much money I have
ni / not idiomatic / You look not well. / You look unwell. OR You look sick.
ns / nonstandard usage (require more formal expression) / The food at this restaurant is awesome. / The food at this restaurant is delicious.
p / add, change, or delete punctuation / She added pink blue and white ribbons. / She added pink, blue and white ribbons.
// / parallelism / I enjoy cooking, sewing and to knit. / I enjoy cooking, sewing and knitting
poss / possession / This is my friend house. / This is my friend’s house.
prep / preposition / They live in the university campus. / They live at the university campus.
pron / pronoun / John bought her wife a surprise gift. / John bought his wife a surprise gift.
red. / redundant / Mary likes the color red. / Mary likes red.
rep / repetitious / The teacher assigned the assignment. / The teacher assigned the homework.
ro / run on sentence (2 clauses/sentences joined incorrectly) / Please turn off the lights then lock the door when you leave the room. / Please turn off the lights and lock the door when you leave the room.
sa / see above (repeated error)
sp / spelling / We are takking the bus. / We are taking the bus.
trans / transition / Then next, we will.... / Next, we will....
vf / verb form / I feeled sick yesterday. / I felt sick yesterday.
vt / verb tense / Jack goes to the party yesterday. / Jack went to the party yesterday.
wc / poor or incorrect word choice / She feels good. / She feels well.
wf / incorrect word form / They feel happiness / They feel happy.
/ change word order / There is a brown big dog on the road. / There is a big brown dog on the road.
ww / wrong word / The child likes to see TV. / The child likes to watch TV.
/ no new paragraph
¶ / start a new paragraph