Most writers habitually repeat 3 or 4 common types of errors. This list can help you edit your own work. Go through the list, identify editing problems in your drafts, and make corrections:

1. Missing comma after introductory element: Frankly I don’t know. (Frankly, I don’t know.)

2. Vague pronoun reference: If they took both of them, they will be stranded. (If Jerry and Ann took both of the cars, their parents will be stranded.)

3. Missing comma in a compound sentence: She walked but I drove. (She walked, but I drove.)

4. Wrong words: There costing us a nominal leg. (They’re costing us an arm and a leg.)

5. Missing commas with nonrestrictive element: Jo who’s the boss quit. (Jo, who’s the boss, quit.)

6. Wrong/missing verb ending: Yesterday, he walk the dog. (Yesterday, he walked the dog.)

7. Wrong/missing preposition: Lloyds of London is over at Union Street. (Lloyds of London is on Union Street.)

8. Comma splice: I came to the bank, the robber had just left. (When I came to the bank, the robber had just left.)

9. Missing/misplaced possessive apostrophe: Those boys mom asked about this semesters’ report. (Those boys’ mom asked about this semester’s report.)

10. Unnecessary tense shift: Cary was laughing so hard she slips and falls. (Cary was laughing so hard, she slipped and fell.)

11. Unnecessary pronoun shift: If someone tries, you’ll succeed. (If someone tries, she will succeed.)

12. Sentence fragment. The boat drifted away. Because he didn’t tie it to the post. (The boat drifted away because he didn’t tie it to the post.)

13. Wrong tense/verb form: If I saw the police, I would of drove slower. (If I’d seen the police, I would have driven slower.)

14. Lack of subject-verb agreement: One part of her chores are done. (One part of her chores is done.)

15. Faulty parallelism: She plans to work out at the gym, renewing her membership, and will meet us there. (She plans to work out at the gym, renew her membership, and meet us there.)

16. Non-agreement between pronoun/antecedent: Each person prefers their own chair. (Each person prefers her own chair.)

17. Unnecessary comma(s) with restrictive element: The play, Othello, moved him. (The play Othello moved him.)

18. Fused sentence: I liked the book I cried at the end. (I liked the book. I cried at the end.)

19. Misplaced/dangling modifier: We saw the whales using binoculars. (We used binoculars to see the whales.)

20. Its/it’s confusion: Its a red car on it’s side. (It’s a red car on its side).

21. Quotation mark confusion: He ordered me to “move it”. I replied, say “Please”. (He ordered me to move it. I replied, “Say ‘Please.’”)

22. Hyphens in compound adjectives before a noun: This worn out jacket is my favorite one. (This worn-out jacket is my favorite one.)

23. Unnecessary apostrophes: When she went to school in the 70’s, she earned two BA’s and took two specialized GRE’s. (When she went to school in the 70s, she earned two B.A.s and took two specialized GREs.)

Adapted from Lunsford & Connors, Everyday Writers,1997