QUESTION 5 LANGUAGE EDITING CHEAT SHEET

Concord Error Malapropism Active & Passive Voice

When the subject of a sentence and
the verb of a sentence agree.
If the subject of the sentence is
singular, the verb must be singular.
If the subject of a sentence is plural,
the verb must be plural.
Ex. The pages (subject) is/ARE
(verb) held together by a staple.
The humourous misuse of a word by
confusing it with a similar sounding
word.
Ex. He's a wolf in cheap
clothing. He’s a wolf in SHEEP
clothing.
Ex. The doctor gave me a
subscription for my allergies.
The doctor gave me a
PRESCRIPTION for my allergies.
Rules to change from active to
passive: I bake a cake.
• Identify the verb: bake
• Change the verb into past
tense: baked
• Ask the question which refers to
the subject as the answer:
Who baked a cake? Me.
• Rewrite the into passive
form: A cake is baked by me.

Apostrophe Reported – Speech Punctuation Functions

List/pauses
Omission (Contraction) Identify the tense that needs to ,
Where letters are missing because change Identify the place/time that comma
of omitting. needs to change Extra info
you’re = you + are Identify the subject and add ‘said ()
parenthesis
that’ John: “I’m going to be back Join info
Possession
a person owns an object/it belongs -
to them. tomorrow.” hyphen
Split info
e.g.: Jason’s school bag
–
John said that he was going to be dash
back the next day. Omits
…
ellipsis
Stops
.
period
Exclaims
!
Asks
exclamation mark
?
Joins ideas
question mark
Lists
;
semi-colon
Quotes
:
colon
and
“” / ‘’
quotation marks
Possession
&
ampersand
/omission
’
apostrophe
 Split Infinitive
An adverb is placed between ‘to’ and
the verb makes a split infinitive.
Ex. We were told to carefully view
each star.
Correction: We were told to view
each star carefully.
Blending
It refers to joining the beginning of
one word and the end of another to
make a new word with a new
meaning.
Breakfast + lunch = brunch
Smoke + fog = smog
Motor + hotel = motel
Spoon + fork = spork
Spanish + English = Spanglish
Cybernetic + organism = cyborg
Emotion + icon = emoticon
Picture + element = pixel
Picture + dictionary = Pictionary
Types of Sentences
Exclamatory (!)
I got an A on my book report!
Interrogative (?)
Who are you?
Imperative (./!)
Please sit down. / I need you to sit
down now!
Declarative (.)
I want to be a good writer
Tautology/Redundancy
If all of us cooperate together, then
we will succeed.
Both have similar meaning.
Remove the redundancy:
If all of us cooperate, then we will
succeed. / If all of us work
together, then we will succeed.
Prefixes
Changes the meaning of the word.
Re- again = review
De- reverse = destruction
Co- together = construct
Dis- separate/not = disinterest
Pre- before = prehistoric
Mis- wrong = mistaken
Im- not/opposite of = impolite
Non- not = nonsense
Un- not = unkind
Anti- against = antisocial
Bi- two = bicycle
Sub- under = subway
Sentence Clause Structure
Noun Clause
Pepperoni is fine with me.
(subject/object/complement)
Adjectival Clause
Mikes car, which he bought 3
months ago, is the shiniest car.
(S + V)
Adverb Clause
I’ll make diner, when I’ve
finished watching the movie.
(time/place/manner)
Truncation/Clipping
To shorten by cutting off a part of
a word.
Expo – Exposition
Flu – Influenza
Varsity – University
Uni – University
Cell – Cell phone
Tech – Technical/Technology
Burger – Hamburger
Ad – Advertisement
Memo – Memorandum
Suffixes
Often changes the part of
speech, changes into past
tense or past
participle, changes word into plural
form, changes degree of comparison.
-ed (verb/in the past) = walked
-ing (verb/doing something) =
walking -ly (adverb/how) = slowly
-fully (adverb) = beautifully
-sion (noun/quality/action) =
tension -ment (noun) =
government
-er (adjective) = taller
-al (adjective) = political
-s (plural) = girls
Phrases
Noun Phrase A red box.
Prepositional Phrase In the
car. Adjective Phrase Quite
big.
Adverb Phrase Very slowly.
Verb Phrase Will go.
Infinitive Phrase To cheer.
Gerund Phrase Exercising regularly.
Participle Phrase Surprised by the
gift, my mother was speechless.
Absolute Phrase Her arms folde
across her chest, …
 Sentence Clause Structure Types of Verbs Parts of Speech

Finite Verbs
DETERMINER The
Subject Verb Agreement – just needs one
Independent/Main Clause verb/can stand by itself in a sentence.
NOUN boy
I washed my dog yesterday. I love potatoes.
She loves parades. ADJECTIVE brave
(makes sense) VERB yelled
Mom loves parades.
NOUN dog
Dependent/Subordinate Clause Non-Finite Verbs INTERJECTION help

I washed my dog yesterday because The need to love (infinitives) ADVERB quickly
A loved one (past participles) CONJUNCTION and
he smelt awful. A loving parent (present participles) VERBS run
(bold doesn’t make sense alone) Loving is a gift (gerunds) PRONOUN he
PREPOSITION to
Linking Verb: is; are; was; were; being; am; be.
Underline the FINITE VERB to Helping (Aux.) Verb: shall; will; could; would;
VERB saw

identify the clause in a sentence. being; were; must’ might; may; have; had; did; DETERMINER the
DETERMINER a
do; is; are. Action Verb: ran; hide; walk; smell;
told; deliver; listen; measure; colour; explore; NOUN rescue
move; push; go.

Connotation & Denotation UK vs. USA Spelling Predicates

Denotation: literal meaning of a The predicate is the part of a sentence

UK USA UK USA Favourite Favorite Fulfil
word Connotation: associations (or a clause) that tells us what the
made with a word, either positive or subject does or is. To put it another
negative. Fulfill Theatre Theater Encyclopaedia Encyclopedia way, the predicate is everything that
is not the subject.
Memorise Memorize Banque Bank Dreamt Dreamed
Positive
Neutral The man from the shop is a monster.
Jewellery Jewelery Judgement Jugment Lift Elevator
Negative
connotation Predicate
connotation Dialogue Dialog Grey Gray Subject
connotation
He stole my bike last week.
interested questioning nosy
Subject
dedicated tenacious stubborn Predicate

courageous confident conceited

unique different weird

elated happy manic

Italics Acronyms/Abbreviations Tenses

TITLES: AIDS – Acquired Immune

• Journals, newspapers and Past Present Future
Deficiency Syndrome
magazines: South African Journal of BEE – Black Economic
Science; the Sunday Times; YOU.
Empowerment ASAP – As soon as Simple I did I do I will
• Plays/books: Macbeth; The Fault in
possible do
our Stars.
WHO – World Health I will
• Movies: Oceans 8.
• Artworks: The Mona Lisa. Organisation GIF – Graphics
Continuous I was
Interchange Format I am
EMPHASIS: I don’t like you! be
FOREIGN WORDS: et cetera; bon Abbreviation Rule: if the doing
voyage. WORDS REFERRED TO: there abbreviation ends with the last doing
were four and’s and one therefore in the letter – no period. doing
last sentence. REPRODUCED I will
SOUNDS: Grrr! Went the bear. Dr – Doctor
NAMES OF VEHICLES: Titanic; Perfect I had
Capt. – Captain I have
Orient Express.
R.S.V.P – French for ‘Réspondez have
s’il vous plait’ meaning please done
respond NY – New York done
UCT – University of Cape Town done
I will
I had
I have
have
Perfect
been
been
been
Continuous
doing
doing
doing