Correction Symbols

SYMBOL

Meaning

parallel construction; faulty parallelism

insert word(s) or a letter space

start a new paragraph

adjective or adverb
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/adjectivedef.htm http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/adverbdef.htm

agr

pronoun agreement

awk

awkward

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/MarkAwk.html

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentTooLong.html

http://www.richmond.edu/~writing/wweb/gender.html

http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/writecenter/web/text/gender.html

cap

capital letter

case

pronoun case

cliche

worn-out expression

http://www.richmond.edu/~writing/wweb/cliche.html

coh

coherence

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/files/100.html

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/files/29.html

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/
ParagraphTransitions.html

colloq

informal expression

comp

faulty comparison

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentMixMet.html

http://www.edunet.com/english/grammar/adjectiv.html#comparison

comma splice

cst

sentence construction

dgl

dangling modifier

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentDanglMods.html

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/strunk.html#7

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/danglingmods.htm

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/files/24.html

wrong word form

frag

sentence fragment

run-on sentence; fused sentence

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentRunOns.html

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/files/10.html

idiomatic English

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/MarkIdiom.html

http://www.hut.fi/~rvilmi/help/grammar_help/idioms.html

ital

italics

log

confused thinking; logic

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/LogicTOC.html

misplaced modifier

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentMispMods.html

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/misplacedmod.htm

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentSqntMods.html

n/?

don't start a new paragraph

n/cap

no capital letter

n/ital

no italics

n/u

no underline

num

form of numbers

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/strunk2.html

http://www.richmond.edu/~writing/wweb/numbers.htm

org

problem with organization

punctuation problem

http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/writecenter/web/text/prose2.html

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/GramPunc.html

p/-

hyphen

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentHyphEnd.html

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SenthyphWords.html

p/--

dash

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/GramDash.html

p/( )

parenthesis

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/strunk2.html

p/,

comma

http://www.engl.uvic.ca/faculty/keller/pages/crunch/
Pages/diagnosticsetup.html

http://www.engl.uvic.ca/faculty/keller/pages/wherecomma/

p/”

quotation marks

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/strunk2.html

pgr/dev

paragraph development

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/ParOrderIntro.html

http://aix1.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar
/parunif.html http://aix1.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent
/hypergrammar/rvpardev.html

pgr/u

paragraph unity

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/ParUnity.html

plag

plagiarism

http://www.writing.nwu.edu/tips/plag.html

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/files/30.html

red

redundancy

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/MarkRed.html

ref

confusing pronoun reference

http://www.richmond.edu/~writing/wweb/pronoun.htm

rep

unnecessary repetition

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/MarkRep.html

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentRep.html

s/p

shift in person

s/t

shift in tense

http://www.richmond.edu/~writing/wweb/litpres.html

wrong spelling—check dictionary

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/MarkSp.html

spec

vag

be specific

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/ParDevIntro.html

sub

faulty subordination

http://www.richmond.edu/~writing/wweb/subidea.html

s-v

faulty subject-verb agreement

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentSVAgr.html

http://www.richmond.edu/~writing/wweb/svagree.html

wrong tense

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/MarkTense.html

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/strunk.html#17

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/perfectverb.htm

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/principalparts.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/5724/test4.html

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/5724/test6.html

trans

wrong transition

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/MarkTrans.html

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/writttech.transiti.htm

thesis statement

http://www.richmond.edu/~writing/wweb/thesis.html

topic sentence

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/ParTopicSent.html

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/strunk.html#10

underline the text

var

sentence variety

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/files/113.html

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/SentVariation.html

voice

active or passive voice

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/files/112.html

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/
SentPassiveVoice.html

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/active.htm

poor word choice

http://aix1.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/
hypergrammar/diction.html

http://www.hut.fi/~rvilmi/help/grammar_help
/wordchoice.html

wordiness

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages/
SentWordiness.html

http://uwc-server.fac.utexas.edu/stu/handouts
/wordines.html

wrong word; wrong word usage—see dictionary

http://www.maclab.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages
/MarkWW.html

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/
strunk3.html

http://www.richmond.edu/~writing/wweb/conford.htm

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/
homophon.htm
http://vweb1.hiway.co.uk/ei/sect20.html

http://vweb1.hiway.co.uk/ei/sect22.html