ELSAC Workout: Academic Writing 5, Proofreading

ELSAC Workout: Academic Writing 5, Proofreading
(EN/A/ 0402.001)
Get Writing Fit!

review some common grammar errors
practise finding and correcting them

Level: Foundation
Time: approx. 30 mins
Suggested next workout: Academic Writing 6, Citations
Choose a Grammar Workout according to your most common error.

Extra support: Several online resources are mentioned within this workout.

Work through the practice activities in order, by clicking on the tabs at the top of the next page. After completing all practices, the Result tab will summarize your workout. Record your results as proof of independent learning and as motivation to repeat the workout and beat your score. Practice makes you fitter!

Material developed by Hebe Wong, Alison Wood.

Strengthen knowledge

Stretch usage

Energize practice

*** All ELSAC Workouts ***

Practice 1 Practice 2 Practice 3 Practice 4 Practice 5 Practice 6 Result

1. Warm up for the workout

After you have written a draft of your text, you should read it carefully, through the eyes of your intended reader. Check whether the ideas make sense and the language conveys an appropriate tone. Finally, proofread for grammatical errors.

Below are some sentences which each contain one grammatical error, commonly found in our students' writing. Find the error, then label it by dragging and dropping from the right.

Sentences with common errors		Type of error
1. Swimming began as a life-saving skill at antiquity.		a. Lack of plural form b. Countability c. Lack of subject verb agreement d. Wrong preposition e. Incomplete sentence f. Misuse of comma g. Wrong tense h. Overuse of 'there is/are'
2. This important historical figure still live in our imaginations today.
3. Dietary habits have become a common issue in Hong Kong, people are becoming more knowledgeable about health.
4. There is some previous researches in Hong Kong, showing that student accommodations is limited.
5. The water quality may be one of the main factor affecting usage rates.
6. Although this report is comprehensive, there are some limitations still exist.
7. Twenty years ago, there are fewer policies to protect the environment.
8. Since the government changed the financial policy.

How much do you already know about the above common errors? You've probably learnt about them before, but still they appear very often in students' writing. This may be because these grammatical points either don't exist, or are different in your native language. Read about and practise finding the errors in Practices 2, 3, 4 and 5, then test yourself with Practice 6.

2. Check the strength of your nouns

Lack of plural form

In English, we usually show that there is more than one of something by changing the noun. We often add an 's' on the end, but some nouns change their spelling in a different way. For example:

one government two governments
one policy two policies
one person two people
one child two children

See here for more examples: https://www.lexico.com/en/grammar/plurals-of-nouns

The Chinese language does not change the noun to show plurality in this way, so students sometimes forget to do it. Look for nouns when proofreading and check whether they need to be in plural or singular form. In particular, check carefully when you mention one thing from a group of things. For example:

One of the students did not understand what to do.
One of the reasons is not very clear.

Also, when you introduce something in general terms, you can use the plural form:

In general, students in Hong Kong study hard.
Parks in Hong Kong are well-maintained.

See here for more information: https://www.quora.com/Should-I-use-plural-or-singular-form-when-I-describe-something-in-general

Countability

Some nouns in English cannot be counted, meaning that they do not form plurals in the usual way. For example, we can't count liquid or very small things. There are also several other nouns that we just don't count. If we need to count them, we add a 'counting' word:

five milks	three sands	one research	two accommodations
five litres of milk	three grains of sand	one piece of research	two types of accommodation

A good dictionary will tell you whether a noun is countable (C) or uncountable (U).
See here for more information: https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/countable-and-uncountable-nouns/

Let's practise proofreading. Decide whether these sentences are grammatically correct or whether they have a problem with plurality or countability.

3. Stretch your accuracy with verbs

Lack of subject verb agreement

Of course, you know that in English, verbs change according to the subject who is doing them. If that subject is 'he', 'she' or 'it' (i.e. third person singular) and the verb is in present simple tense, then we usually add an 's'. For example:

The researcher (he / she) claims that five respondents disagreed.
The study (it) shows that the medicine works well.

However, the same rule does not apply in other languages, so students sometimes forget to add the 's'. Therefore, always check your verbs carefully when proofreading.

For a further reminder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s05qvjepyE

Wrong tense

Other languages also do not always talk about time in the same way as we do in English. In Chinese, verb tenses don't exist in the same way, therefore this is another area that requires attention when proofreading. In particular, don't forget to use the simple past tense when talking about the past. Use a good dictionary to check whether a verb is regular (+ed) or irregular. For example:

The figures increased between 2016 and 2018.
The price went up significantly last year.

For further details, see here: https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/simple-past-tense/

Let's practise proofreading. Decide whether these sentences are grammatically correct or whether they have a problem with subject verb agreement or verb tense.

4. Strengthen your ability to write sentences

Incomplete sentences

A sentence must have a main verb. If it does not have a main verb, it is a subordinate clause, not a sentence, or independent clause. Subordinating conjunctions are often used to join a subordinate clause to an independent clause, so if there is a subordinating conjunction, there must be two clauses - otherwise, again, it's not a complete sentence.

Sentence?	Explanation
Run!	This is a sentence because there is a main verb with a tense (imperative).
Running round the park.	This is not a sentence. 'Running' is a gerund (verb being used as a noun), so there is no main verb.
Running round the park makes me tired.	This is a sentence, or independent clause. 'Makes' is the main verb.
Since I have been running round the park for thirty minutes.	This is not a sentence. 'Since' is a subordinating conjunction, so it must connect a subordinating clause to an independent clause within one sentence. There is no independent clause.
Since I have been running round the park for thirty minutes, I am tired.	This is a sentence. There is an independent clause (I am tired), with the main verb 'am'.

Watch here for a video explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ8faQgi6UE

Misuse of comma

A comma is used to make a pause within a sentence, often between a subordinate clause and a main clause. It is not strong enough to link two independent main clauses. Instead, you should use a conjunction, a full stop (period) or a semi colon.

Today we are learning about punctuation, the comma is tricky.
Today we are learning about punctuation; the comma is tricky.
Today we are learning about punctuation, but the comma is tricky.
Today we are learning about punctuation. The comma is tricky.

The first sentence above is wrong, because there are two independent clauses (each clause has a main verb and can exist on its own).

See here for a video explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC-CSmOIUBA

Overuse of 'there is/are'

As you probably know, 'there is/are' is used to explain that something exists or happens in English. For example:

'There are five books on the shelf' means 'Five books exist on the shelf'.

We do not put these two structures together: 'There are five books exist on the shelf'.
In fact, this sentence is grammatically incorrect. We could make it correct by adding a relative pronoun: 'There are five books that exist on the shelf' - but we don't need to. It's easier to write: 'Five books are on the shelf.'

When proofreading, check whether you are overusing 'There is/are'.

Let's practise proofreading. Decide whether these sentences are grammatically correct or whether they are incomplete sentences, misuse the comma, or use 'There is/are' incorrectly.

5. How flexible are your prepositions?

Prepositions are tricky. There is no short cut, you just have to learn which preposition goes best in which context. You could check here for more details about prepositions:
https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/prepositions/
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/prepositions

The best way to learn how to use prepositions correctly, is to practise! Decide whether these sentences are grammatically correct or whether they include a preposition error.

6. Test your stamina

Here are some of the sentences identified as incorrect in practices 2 - 5. Can you type them into the box below each sentence correctly? Some sentences have more than one error. Be accurate with capital letters, spelling, spacing and punctuation.

1. Some recent researches disagree with this finding.

2. Some schools require their student to wear those attires.

3. Traditional cigarette produce harmful substance such as nicotine and tar.

4. The braking system converts the energy to electric energy, which recharge the battery.

5. The researcher took notes and make an audio-recording.

6. With the rapid development of technology. Most people own at least one smart phone.

7. As shown in Table 3, there are 68% of students believe smart phones are harmful to their health.

8. The language difference may affect local students' answers, they may be shy to say much in English.

9. The university should provide the students more study space.

10. In my point of view, the policy should be cancelled immediately.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have completed this workout and improved your writing fitness. Your results are below. Record your results as proof of independent learning. Take a rest, then repeat this workout to beat your personal best, or try a different one.

Suggested next workout: Academic Writing 6, Citations
Choose a Grammar Workout according to your most common error.

Student's Name (Type in):

Final Result of Writing 5

Date:

Activity	Correct	Maximum	Percentage
Practice 1	0		0%
Practice 2	0		0%
Practice 3	0		0%
Practice 4	0		0%
Practice 5	0		0%
Practice 6	0		0%
Total Score	0		0%

Time Taken:


1. Cleaning the gravestones and leaving a bunch of flower are typical behaviours during this festival.
2. Evidences have shown that the legalization of same-sex marriage brings several benefits to society.
3. Traditional cigarette produce harmful substance during this process, such as nicotine and tar.
4. Introverts describe themselves as preferring solitary activities over social activities.
5. In China, it is compulsory for all first year students to live in college accommodations.
6. Some schools require their student to wear those attires.
7. Even though smoker object to the ban, it should be upheld.
8. Opponents argue that this new tax would cause a large drop in the public's income.
9. Some community see homosexuality as a mental illness.
10. Some recent researches disagree with this finding.


1. Smoking is bad for us, and a majority of people know this.
2. The existence of genetically-modified crops cause irreversible harm to the environment.
3. These are the main chemicals that causes cancer.
4. Female toilets always seems to have the longest queues.
5. The braking system converts the energy to electric energy, which recharge the battery.
6. After the school adopt this policy, attendance rates improved dramatically.
7. Refuelling of hybrid vehicles are more convenient then recharging electric vehicles.
8. In the previous decade, three studies reported the same conclusion.
9. The researcher took notes and make an audio-recording of the interview.
10. The reasons why we chose swimming team members to participate in the survey are simple.


1. Because there is no label, we are unable to identify ingredients. Especially with those overseas products.
2. We used two research instruments. An online questionnaire was designed, as well as an interview guide.
3. As shown in Table 3, there are 68% of students believe smart phones are harmful to their health.
4. For the morning meal, most students take breakfast between 6am and 11am.
5. The language difference may affect local students' answers, they may be shy to say much in English.
6. There are less than half the participants spent over 4 hours watching youtube videos.
7. With the rapid development of technology. Most people around the world own at least one smart phone.
8. Smart phones bring us convenience, we can easily communicate with friends and family.


1. Good health is important to achieving success, both on life and learning.
2. The university should provide the students more study space.
3. Students reach the age of adulthood at the same time as entering university.
4. Regular exercise has plenty of benefits to us.
5. All team members put a lot of effort on the project.
6. The managers will have discussed about it by the time we meet them.
7. In my point of view, the policy should be cancelled immediately.
8. The counselors listened our suggestions very carefully.