Error and Correction Terms and Abbreviations

1.  Top-priority errors
Term or abbreviation	meaning	solution
coh	Coherence	add missing ideas or change the order of ideas
	The Order of a Sentence
	The Paragraph
	Coherence
copied	the material is copied	rewrite in your own words
	What is Plagiarism?
	Avoiding Plagiarism
	Characteristics of a Well-Done Paraphrase
quot	Quotation	add or change an author’s name, source title, signal verb/phrase, or the quoted passage
	Quotations
	When should I quote?
	Setting up and following up a quotation
	How much should I quote?
	Quotation and other punctuation
	Quotations within quotations?
	When do I use those three dots ( . . . )?
	Modifying words in a quotation
unclear	your meaning is unclear	rewrite in other words
	Sentence Clarity
vague	insufficient details	add more details
	Developing a Thesis
	What is a paragraph?
2. More serious grammar/vocabulary errors
Term or abbreviation	meaning	solution
cl	Clause	change or move a word/words in a dependent clause
	Using Clauses as Nouns, Adjectives, and Adverbs
	Adjective Clauses
	Adverb Clauses
	Noun Clauses
	Relative Pronouns
	Relative Pronouns
cond	Conditional	change the verb tense and/or a modal verb
	The English Conditional
	The Five Types of Conditional
	Present Conditional
	Past Conditional
	Future Conditional
	Continuous Conditional
	Mixed Conditional
	"Were to"
conn	Connector	change a clause connector word or phrase
	Conjunctions
	What is a Conjunction?
	Conjunctive Adverbs
modal	Modal Verb	change a modal auxiliary
	Modal Verb Tutorial
pass	Passive	change the form of a passive or active verb
	Active / Passive Verb Forms
	Passive Voice
ss	Sentence Structure	add or delete a word or words in a main clause
	The Structure of a Sentence
	Questions
	Direct & Indirect Questions
	Negatives
	Negative Phrases
	Appositives
	Using Do, Does, and Did
vf	Verb Form	change the form of a verb, usually a suffix
	Gerund or Infinitive
	Active / Passive Verb Forms
	Forming and Using Verb Tenses
	Irregular Verb Dictionary
	Participial Phrase
	Gerund Phrase
	Infinitive Phrase
vt	Verb Tense	change the tense of a verb
	Types & Tenses of Verbs
	Using Verb Tenses
	Past Tenses in Sequence
wo	Word Order	change the position of a word or phrase
	The Order of a Sentence
	Misplaced Modifiers
	Questions
	Direct & Indirect Questions
	Negatives
	Negative Phrases
	Appositives
	Using Do, Does, and Did
3. Less serious, but distracting and/or stigmatizing grammar/vocabulary errors
Term or abbreviation	meaning	solution
art	Article	add, delete or change an article (a, an, or the)
	Article Usage in English
aux	Auxiliary Verb / Helping Verb	add, delete or change an auxiliary verb (do, be, or have)
	Compound Verbs / Auxiliary Verb / Helping Verb
cap	Capitalize	use a capital letter at the beginning of the word
	Capital Letters
cs	Comma Splice	use a period or semicolon to separate main clauses
	Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences
	The comma
	The Semicolon
	The Colon
	End Punctuation
det	Determiner	add, delete or change an article, possessive, quantifier or other determiner
	Articles, Determiners, and Quantifiers
frag	Fragment	delete a period to join a clause or phrase
	Sentence Fragments
idiom	Nonidiomatic Language	rewrite the passage in other words
	What are Idioms?
	False friends
lc	Lower Case	use a lower case letter at the beginning of the word
	Capital Letters
p	Punctuation	add, delete, or change a punctuation mark
	Sentence Punctuation Patterns
	Punctuation
parallel	Coordination / Parallel Structure	Make Coordinated Elements Grammatically Parallel
	Parallel Structure
	Parallelism
poss	Possessive	add, delete, or change a possessive noun or determiner
	Forming Possessives
prep	Preposition	use a dictionary to add, delete, or change a prep
	Preposition Basics & Phrasal Verbs
	Verb + Preposition Dictionary
	Phrasal Verb Dictionary
	Prepositions: Locators in Time and Space
	Prepositions
pron	Pronoun	change the use of a pronoun
	What is a Pronoun?
	Noun and Pronoun Characteristics
	Pronouns
	Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
	Relative Pronouns
	Who and Whom
	Personal Pronouns
	Possessive Pronouns
	Demonstrative Pronouns
	Interrogative Pronouns
	Relative Pronouns
	Indefinite Pronouns
	Reflexive Pronouns
	Intensive Pronouns
quant	Quantifier	Add, Delete Or Change A Quantifier Or Related Phrase
	Usage of quantifiers
	Articles, Determiners, and Quantifiers
ro	Run-On Sentence	use a period or semicolon to separate main clauses
	Run-Ons
	Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences
	The Semicolon
	The Colon
	End Punctuation
sp	Spelling	use a dictionary
	Spelling
	Common Words that Sound Alike
	Alan Cooper's Homonym List
s/pl	Singular/Plural/Noncount	add or delete plural marking on a noun
	Noun and Pronoun Number
	Noncount and Count Nouns
	Non-Countable Noun
	Collective Noun
sv	Subject-Verb Agreement	make a singular or plural subject agree with its verb
	Making Subjects and Verbs Agree
	Subject-Verb Agreement
	Subjunctive
	The Subjunctive Mood
ts	Topic Sentence / Thesis Statement	State the main idea
	Writing Topic Sentences
	Thesis Statement
	Developing a Thesis
Wc	Word Choice	use your dictionary to find the correct word
	Suggestions for using a dictionary
	Look up a word in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
	Look up a word in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and Online Thesaurus
	Kellee Weinhold / U of Oregon's guide to accuracy in word choice
	Using a Reverse Dictionary to Solve Word Choice Problems
	False friends
wf	Word Form	change a suffix, prefix or part of speech
	Word Formation
	Comparatives and Superlatives
wordy	Too Many Words	Be Precise & Concise
	Increasing Clarity by Eliminating Wordiness
	Conciseness (Purdue's OWL)
	Conciseness (U of Oregon)
4.  Other symbols
symbol	meaning	solution
?	Unclear	rewrite in other words
!	This surprises me!	rethink your idea, do more research
5.  Other variations on terms or abbreviations (especially when the instructor has marked your paper by hand)
Term or abbreviation	meaning
vf/cs	slash mark with 2 symbols	one error, but two possible explanations/solutions
vf, cs	comma with 2 symbols	two errors, two corrections needed
vt?	question mark after symbol	one error, I’m not sure of what type
vt (2x)	This error occurs two times	locate every occurrence of the error
____	word or phrase underlined or highlighted without explanation	second or subsequent occurrence of an error