Common Problems With Reports
What to Watch for When Proofreading
Pronoun Reference
l Your pronouns should relate to a specific antecedent
l Vague:
O Under the heading, ”program requirements” it states…
ü The program requirements section states that…
O When you first become a welder you notice…
ü When people first become welders they notice
O We will be looking at ways of solving our problem
ü I will be looking at ways of solving your problem
O There are many fine people that like liver
ü There are many fine people who like liver
Apostrophes
l Memorize the difference between it’s and its.
n It’s means it is. “It’s a beautiful day.”
n Its is the possessive form of it. (Pronouns do not show possession with apostrophes).
O He’s house / it’s title.
ü His house / its title.
l Plural nouns ending in s add only an apostrophe to show possession.
O The worker’s salaries were increased.
ü The workers’ salaries were increased.
l Remember that contractions have a verb buried in them
O When your smiling, the whole world smiles with you
ü When you’re smiling… (you are)
Fragments and Run-ons
l All sentences must have complete subjects and verbs
l Fragments often begin with words such as although, if, that, so, because
n When in doubt, restructure such sentences or link them to another sentence
l Long sentences often turn into run-ons
n When in doubt, break up long sentences
Spelling
l Use spell checkers but don’t depend on them
l Watch for words in capitals (usually in headings)
n Spell checkers are set to ignore words in caps
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n There/their/they’re
n Personal/personnel
n Manger/manager
n Principle/principal
n Cite/sight/site
n Moral/morale
n If/of/off
n Till/until
n Alot/allot
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Misused Verbs
l Don’t let pronunciation influence spelling
X I use to like hot dogs until I found out how they were made
ü I used to like hot dogs
ü Hot dogs are used to reward students
X I could of done better
ü I could have done better
ü I could’ve done better
l Verbs such as “seen” or “done” always require an auxiliary verb (is, have, was)
l Verbs such as “did” or “went” do not take auxiliaries
X I done a good job / X I seen dead flies on the deskü I did a good job / ü I saw dead flies
ü I have done a good job / ü I have seen dead flies
Informal does not mean colloquial
l No slang
O I checked for the files on the server but they had gone 404
O They’ve been advertising the program for months but they haven’t release it yet. It’s vapourware
l No sarcasm
O Give me a break
O A 386 computer is only useful as an anchor
l No profanity
O I need a new stinking computer
Look for Unnecessary Words
l Remove redundant words (repetition)
n I have had many positive accomplishments
n The car is blue in colour
n My personal opinion is that we should quit
l Streamline wordy expressions
n At this point in time, we are considering our options
n It was of great interest to me to find that…
n The software is very compatible with your computer
Paragraphing
l A section of a report usually contains several paragraphs
l Look at long paragraphs (10 or more lines) to see if they should be broken up
l Most pages of the report will have at least one heading
Organization
l Make it clear which information comes from objective sources and which is personal opinion
l Don’t put new information in the conclusion
l Don’t draw conclusions or make recommendations about information that was not discussed in the body
l Introduce any pictures or tables before you present them
Introduction
l Explain the purpose of the report clearly near the beginning
l Explain the report’s purpose, scope, and limitations
l Preview the contents of the report
l Summarize the conclusions and recommendations if the audience is receptive
Format
l Use a memo format
n Date
n To
n From
n Subject
l The subject line should describe the topic
n The subject line should not be Business Report
l Number your pages (except page 1)
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