Grammar Points

Style and Tone

Style refers to your choice of words or the way you write. It is less
about your ideas and more about the way you express those ideas.

Tone on the other hand, refers to your attitude towards the topic. It
expresses what you think or feel about the subject.

Things to remember when revising the style and tone:

1. Your goal is to make your essay easier to understand, not to

sound smart. Choose words that express exactly what you
mean. Avoid using jargons or pretentious words.
2. If you are writing an academic paper, do not use an informal
tone. However, keep in mind that using a more formal tone
does not mean that you should sound bored and
uninterested.
3. Delete unnecessary words. Express ideas with the fewest
words possible. Remove clichés, qualifiers (basically, really,
often etc.), and prepositional phrases that do not add
anything to the content. Look for phrases or clauses that
you can replace with one or two words.
4. Use the active voice instead of the passive voice. The active
voice is more straightforward whereas the passive voice can
make it harder for the reader to understand what you are
saying
5. Using verbs that are more specific and would give your
reader a better idea of the action.
6. The tone should contribute to the content, not distract the
reader from it. Although, tone is important, make sure that
it does not keep your reader from focusing on the content.
Look at the table below as an example of revising your style and
tone:
What is EDITING?
Version 1 Version 2
If I’m not mistaken, my friend’s My friend’s kind-hearted sister.
really good sister. Amy, Amy, stopped the fight.
basically stopped the fight.
Editing is the act of fixing the content of your paper. When you edit,
War sucks because it makes War makes people harm
you focus on the structure of your essay, the validity of your
people, like, harm one another. others.
arguments, and the transitions.
Aside from revising the style and tone, you can also look at the
commas, end marks, and capitalization.

Capitalize the following:

What is Proofreading?
a. The first word of each sentence
Dad preferred to talk things over Mom.

b. Proper Nouns Proofreading on the other hand, focuses on the technical side of
Christine Espina apologized to her best friend.
your paper. When you proofread, you focus on the spelling,
grammar, and punctuation.
c. Days and Months
Last Tuesday, Joey and Marco became friends again.

d. Pronoun
She asked if I wanted to come with her.

e. Proper Nouns used as adjectives

The Korean woman gave us food.

f. Titles
We like Teacher Joan because she understands us.
 g. Historical Events h. Before a direct quotation
The Philippine-American War ended in 1902 She said, “I forgive him.”

h. Initials or abbreviations i. After a direct quotation if it is at the beginning of a

Last week, we visited uncle at PGH. sentence.
“I’m not mad at you,” she replied.
Use commas for the following purposes:

a. To separate three or more things in a series Use a period after each declarative and imperative sentence.
I used to be enemies with Frances, Carrine, and Faith
Can we be friends?
b. Between adjectives that describe the same noun
Use and exclamation point after each exclamatory sentence.
She is a kind, loving person.
Their solidarity is truly admirable!
c. Between a city and a province
I live in Manila, Rizal. All of these come in handy when you edit and proofread your
work.
d. To separate the day and year in a date
She was born on June 9, 1962

e. Before a conjunction that connects an independent clause

to another independent clause.
I tried to talk to her, but she just ignored me.

f. After a dependent clause.

When she hugged me, I felt my anger subside.

g. To separate the name of the person you are talking to from

the rest of the sentence
Andrea, it is better to talk about it than ignore it.
 My
Proofrea
ding
Guidelin
e
Mini-
Submitted by:
Earl Lawrence G. Fabian
booklet