Douglas Waters’ Guide to Feedback Symbols and Codes (in his courses)
Symbol or Code Meaning
underline There’s a problem. I don’t think
or highlight you need my help to solve it.
word
Delete this word or sentence.
or D
ꓥ Add a word. A word is missing.
or ADD If you see ꓥ ꓥ, add two words.
SP Fix the spelling mistake.
It’s a subject-verb agreement
SV
error. Fix it!
It’s a verb tense mistake.
VT
Change the verb tense.
It’s a verb form error. Use a
VF
different form of the same verb.
It’s a word form error. Use a
WF
different form of the word.
It’s a word choice error. Choose
WC
a different word.
It’s a word order error. Change
WO
the order of words.
It’s a sentence structure and/or
SS
sentence punctuation error.
It’s a punctuation error. Delete,
P
change, or add punctuation.
It’s a Spanish-transfer error.
ST
Your Spanish causes problems.
Your idea is illogical, difficult to
???
understand, or hard to read.
It’s not an error, but you can
( something )
remove it or improve it.
There are many problems.
< something >
Rethink or rewrite it.
I can’t believe you made this
Arghhhh!
same error again!
Examples of Errors and Corrections
Incorrect: We livein Bogota.
Correct: We live in Bogota.
Incorrect: He can to speak French.
Correct: He can speak French.
Incorrect: They like play tennis.
Correct: They like to play tennis.
Incorrect: I live whit my family.
Correct: I live with my family.
Incorrect: She have a pet.
Correct: She has a pet.
Incorrect: They go to Melgar last year.
Correct: They went to Melgar last year.
Incorrect: You have has many boyfriends.
Correct: You have had many boyfriends.
Incorrect: The company is very success.
Correct: The company is very successful.
Incorrect: He has 21 years old.
Correct: He is 21 years old.
Incorrect: It’s a day beautiful.
Correct: It’s a beautiful day.
Incorrect: We made dinner, it was delicious.
Correct: We made dinner, and it was delicious.
Incorrect: We studied all night
Correct: We studied all night.
Incorrect: I didn’t assist class yesterday.
Correct: I didn’t attend class yesterday.
Incorrect: She hates calculus, so she chose to major in math.
Correct: She loves calculus, so she chose to major in math.
Incorrect: They think that I am brilliant.
Correct: They think I am brilliant.
Incorrect: Exist many information of the conferencia.
Correct: There is a lot of information about the conference.
Incorrect: He is agree with me.
Correct: He agrees with me.