SPaG Samurai Training

Grammar – Proofreading
Learn the Ways of the Samurai
In skirmishes with exam papers you are still likely to make mistakes.
This is not a problem; even grandmasters make mistakes. What you must do is
guard against errors by employing our secret weapon: proofreading.
Proofreading means checking your work carefully in order to make it foolproof.
Here are the top tips:
1. Give yourself time – be able to read through your work without rushing. If
you have more time, then rest for a while and come back to it with fresh eyes.
2. Know your weaknesses – be especially alert to exercises that you have
struggled to master. If ever in doubt, clarity is king.
3. Go backwards – because your mind knows what you meant to write, it can
become lazy; leaving your comfort zone will make it focus. Start with your last
sentence and read in reverse so that the focus is on one sentence at a time.
Reading aloud can also help to override a lethargic brain.
4. Practise – the eye is a powerful muscle that can be trained but is also
easily tricked!
 The Seven Steps
1. Check for complete sentences
2. Check for words that are left out and check
for words or ideas that are repeated
3. Check all words for capitalization mistakes.
4. Check for all punctuation mistakes.
5. Check for subject-verb agreement.
6. Check for problems in usage.
7. Check for misspelled words.
Step 1 – Complete Sentences

• A sentence is complete when it has:

– A Subject – What or who is the sentence
about.
– A Verb – What is being said about the
subject, or what did the subject do.
– A Capital letter at the beginning.
– An end mark at the end.
– It makes complete sense.
 Step 2 – Are Words left out or
repeated?
• Sometimes we start a sentence with an idea
and then restate the idea at the end because
we forgot what we said.
• Sometimes we accidentally repeat or leave out
words because we know what we meant to
say, but forget to actually say it.
 Step 3 – Check for
Capitalization Mistakes
• All proper nouns should be capitalized.
• All proper adjectives should be
capitalized.
• Important words in Titles should be
capitalized.
• Common nouns should not be
capitalized.
• If you aren’t sure LOOK IT UP!
Step 4 – Check for Punctuation
Mistakes
• Five Punctuation marks:
– Commas,
– Periods,
– Apostrophes,
– Quotation Marks
– Underlining.
• Check for each kind of mistake.
• If you aren’t sure LOOK IT UP!
 Step 5 – Subject-Verb
Agreement
• If you have a singular subject you should
have a singular verb.
– The cat plays with the yarn (correct)
– The cats plays with the yarn (incorrect)
– The cat play with the yarn (incorrect)
• If you have a plural subject you should have
a plural verb.
• Be careful in identifying the correct subject so
you know which type of verb to use.
 Step 6 – Check for problems in
usage.
• Pronoun usage – does the pronoun
refer to a specific, already identified
noun within the paragraph.
• Double negatives – two ‘not’s make a
do.
• A/an choices – An comes before a …
 Step 7 - Check for Misspelled
Words
• Keep an eye out for misused homonyms
(words that sound alike but have different
spellings and meanings)
• Check each word starting from the end of the
sentence and working toward the beginning.
• IF YOU AREN’T ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE LOOK IT
UP!
Practise the Ways
This text contains twenty SPaG errors. Can you identify
and put them right?
The exam paper staired up at her. The words on the page,
began to swim bluring before her eyes. Jenny wish that she’d
had more practise, that she’d truely mastered every-thing them
teachers had taught her! What were the thing she was
supposed to be looking for. She vaguely recalled hereing the
word homophone repeated inn the last revision session but
couldn’t remember what a homophone actually was.
Punctuation! That was one of the things’ to check. Were their
any exclamation marks! Or an ellipsis? Or,
No matter how hard she tryed, she couldnt think of anything
else. Defeated, she putted her pen down. That was the end
Have You Mastered It?
This text contains twenty SPaG errors. Can you identify and
put them right?
The exam paper stared up at her. The words on the page began
to swim, blurring before her eyes. Jenny wished that she’d had
more practice, that she’d truly mastered everything those
teachers had taught her! What were the things she was
supposed to be looking for? She vaguely recalled hearing the
word homophone repeated in the last revision session but
couldn’t remember what a homophone actually was.
Punctuation! That was one of the things to
check. Were there any exclamation marks? Or an ellipsis? Or…
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t think of anything
else. Defeated, she put her pen down. That was the end.

Full marks
to secure