Writing mistakes can happen, but some mistakes are more repetitive than others. If your writing style also includes them then this article will guide you to correct those errors. However, opting for final dissertation proofreading from professional sources is the best way to ensure an error-free document.
While proofreading dissertations, editors often encounter some common mistakes made by writers. Focusing on them will improve their writing quality significantly. Here is a list of the most common errors cited by editors and proofreaders. While going through your dissertation proofreading, you can keep the following in mind to minimize your grammatical errors.
The commonest error is the inability to discern between 'effect/affect'.
'Effect' is usually a noun and the meaning is a result of a change. When used as a verb it means to bring about or achieve.
Affect, on the other hand, is usually a verb and means to influence or produce a change. When being used to refer to someone’s mood, affect is used as a noun.
The correct usage of Apostrophes
Apostrophes are used for marking of the possessive case of nouns. They are positioned after a singular or plural noun. For plural words, those already ending in 's' take only an apostrophe after the pre-existing 's' to form the possessive. If a singular noun ends with an 's' sound, practice varies as to whether to add 's' or the apostrophe alone.
When contracting a word or replacing a missing letter, an apostrophe is used, e.g. Isn’t and aren’t. However, in scholarly writing contractions are not used.
Capital letters
A capital letter is used when starting a sentence after a full stop, for writing someone’s name and the name of a place. In titles, some like to capitalize the words. Articles, conjunctions and prepositions are not capitalized in titles. You can just capitalize the first letter of the first word too. When writing a title, for example, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the entire address is capitalized. In the same way, when referring to a department like The Ministry of Commerce, only the first letters will be in capitals or upper case while the rest follow in the lower case. When you refer to the 'ministry' later you can write it in lower case.
The use of passive voice
Passive voice tends to make your sentences wordier than an active sentence and the other problem is that it makes the object of the action the subject of the sentence and the sentence becomes difficult to understand. However, in places where the action is more important than its performer, a passive voice is used.
Comma misuse or splice
Some people place a comma to separate the subject from the verb. This is wrong. Also putting a comma between two verbs or verb phrases in a compound predicate or a comma between two nouns, noun phrases, or noun clauses in a compound subject or compound object is incorrect. Don't put a comma after the main clause when a dependent clause follows it.
Using coordinating conjunctions
Conjunctions such as ‘but’, ‘yet’ or ‘and’ should be joined with similar elements in a sentence like two nouns, two verbs, two independent clauses, etc. The words or sentences should bear equal importance.
Confusion between ‘it’s’ and ‘its’
‘Its’ is a possessive determiner used to say that something belongs to something else, while ‘it’s’ is a contracted form of ‘it is’. They cannot be confused. Again, you must avoid the use of contracted forms for formal writings.
The use of less and fewer
Few are related to numbers, so anything that can be counted will be written as few while less should be used with a grammatically singular noun.
Conclusion
English grammar can be confusing but once you get used to the rules it is not too difficult to form proper sentences. Attention to and emphasis on your writing will help you achieve the desired results. Finally, you can get an expert opinion by approaching the professional proofreaders at https://www.hknets.net/. They will ensure that your dissertation proofreading ensures that your work is free from all grammatical errors.
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