PROOFREADING:

WRITING MECHANICS
RETUYAN, MOLDE AND ANSAO
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PROOFREADING
The post-writing stage in the writing
process is revising and proofreading one’s
own work (and that other people).
while proofreading:
*Spelling;
*punctuation;
*capitalization, and abbreviation

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COMMONLY MISSPELLED
WORDS
 THERE ARE WORDS IN ENGLISH THAT CAN BE 5
CONFUSING. SOME OF THESE WORDS ARE THE ONES WITH
CONTRACTIONS
Commonly Misspelled Words with and without Equivalent Spelled-out
Contractions: Words without
Contractions

Were We’re We are

Your You’re You are
His He’s He is
Their They’re They Rare
Its It’s It is

To lessen your confusion, spell out the

contracted word and see if it is
grammatically correct.
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For example, let’s look at the

BIG IDEA
sentence “It’s amazing!” Spell out the
contracted word “It’s” to “It is amazing ,”
Knowing how to properly and you will see that the sentence is
use contractions will help grammatically correct; therefore, the
you improve your writing. word to use should be the contracted
word “It’s” and not “its.”
 ASIDE FROM
CONTRACTIONS, HERE IS A
TABLE OF COMMONLY
MISSPELLED OR MISUSED
WORDS. THEIR DEFINITIONS
ARE ALSO GIVEN SO YOU CAN
DIFFERENTIATE THE TWO.

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 Word 1 Meaning Word 2 Meaning 8
Accept To agree to receive or Except Not including
do
Adverse Unfavorable, harmful Averse Strongly disliking; opposed

Advice Recommendations Advice To recommend something

about what to do

Affect To change or make a Effect Result; To bring about a result

difference to

Aisle A passage between Isle An island

rows of seat

All together All in one place, all at Altogether Completely on the whole
once
Along Moving or extending Al long Referring to something of
horizontally on great lengths
Aloud Out loud Allowed Permitted 9

Altar A sacred table in the Alter To change

church
Amoral Not concerned with right Immoral Not following accepted
or wrong moral standards
Appraise To assess apprise To inform someone

Assent Agreement; approval Ascent The action of rising or

climbing up
Aural Relating to the ears or Oral Relating to the mouth;
hearing spoken
Balmy Pleasantly warm Barmy Foolish; crazy

Bare Naked; to uncover Bear To carry; to put up with

Bated In phrase “with bated Baited With bait attached or

breath” (i.e., in great inserted
suspense)
Bazaar A middle eastern market Bizarre strange
Berth A bunk in a shipped, Birth The emergence of a 10
train, etc. baby from the womb
Born Having started life Borne Carried
Bough A branch of a tree Bow To bend the head; the
front of a ship
Brake A device for stopping a Break To separate into pieces;
vehicle; to stop a vehicle a pause

Breach To breakthrough or Breech The back part of a gun

break a rule; a gap barrel
Broach To raise a subject for Brooch A piece of jewelry
discussion
Canvas A type of strong cloth Canvass To seek people’s votes
Censure To criticize strongly Censor To ban parts of a book
or film, a person who
does this
Cereal A grass producing an Serial Happening in a series
edible grain, a breakfast
food made from grains
Chord A group of musical Cord A length of string; a 11
notes cord-like body part

Climactic forming a climax Climatic Relating to climate

Coarse Rough Course A direction; a school
subject; part of a meal
Complacent Smug and self-satisfied Complaisant Willing to please

Complement To add to as to improve; an Compliment To praise or express

addition that improves approval; an admiring
something remark

Council A group of people who Counsel Advice; to advise

manage or advise
Cue a signal for action; a
wooden rod
Curb To keep something in
check; a control or limit
Queue A line of people or vehicles
Kerb (in British English) the
stone edge of a pavement

Currant A dried grape Current Happening now; a flow of

water, air or electricity
Defuse To make a situation less Diffuse To spread over a wide area 12
tense
Desert A waterless, empty area; to Dessert The sweet course of a meal
abandon someone

Discreet Careful not to attract Discrete Separate and

attention
Disinterested Impartial; uninterested; not Uninterested Not interested
interested
Draught A current of air Draft A first version of a piece of writing

Draw An even score at the end of Drawer A sliding storage compartment

a game
Dual Having two parts Duel A fight or contest between two people

Elicit To draw out a reply or Illicit Not allowed by law or rules

reaction
Ensure To make certain that Insure To provide compensation if a person
something will happen dies or property is damaged
Envelop To cover or surround Envelope A paper container for a letter 13
Exercise Physical activity; to do Exorcise To drive out an evil spirit
physical activity
Fawn A young deer; light brown Faun A mythical being, part man, part goat

Flaunt To display ostentatiously Flout To disregard a rule

Flounder To move clumsily; to have Founder To fail

difficulty doing something

Forbear To refrain Forebear An ancestor

Foreword An introduction to a book Forward Onwards, ahead

Freeze To turn to ice Frieze A decoration along a wall

Grisly Gruesome, revolting Grizzly A type of bear

Hoard A store Horde A large crowd of people

Loose To unfasten; to set free Lose To be deprived of; to be unable to find
Meter A measuring device Metre A metric unit; to be unable to find 14

Militate To be a powerful factor Mitigate To make less severe

against
Palate The roof of the mouth Palette A board for mixing colors

Pedal A foot-operated lever Peddle To sell goods

Pole A long, slender piece of Poll Voting in an election

wood
Pour To flow or cause to flow Pore A tiny opening; to study something
closely
Practice The use of an idea or Practise To do something repeatedly to gain
method; the work or skill; to do something regularly
business of a doctor,
dentist, etc.
Prescribe To authorize use of Proscribe To officially forbid something
medicine; to order
authoritatively
Principal Most important; the head Principle A fundamental rule or belief
of a school
Sceptic A person inclined to Septic Infected with bacteria 15
doubt

Sight The ability to see Site A location

Stationary Not moving Stationery Writing materials

Storey A level of a building Story A tale or account

Titillate To arouse interest Titivate To make more attractive

Tortuous Full of twists; complex Torturous Full of pain or suffering

Wreath A ring-shaped Wreathe To surround or encircle

arrangement of
flowers, etc.
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PUNCTUATION
MARKS
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PERHAPS THE MOST BASIC PUNCTUATION
MARK IS THE PERIOD.

Always remember to complete the

thought or the idea in your sentence,
and then place a period and the end
of it.
 COMMAS ARE NOT USED BECAUSE THERE 18

SHOULD BE A BREAK OR PAUSE IN YOUR SENTENCE.

HERE ARE THE BASIC RULES:

» Use commas to separate items in a series.

I’d like to buy apples, oranges, lemons, and mangoes.
» Use commas to separate independent clauses.
I took the challenge, so you should not be scared to try it, too.
» Use a comma after an introductory clause or dependent clause.
Therefore, all things have worked as planned.
» Use commas in direct address.
Raphael, please leave the room.
» Use commas to set off appositives.
Rosemarie, the best aunt ever, sent me a ticket to Canada
 A SEMICOLON ADDS FLAVOR IN YOUR WRITING STYLE. 19
IT CANNOT ALWAYS REPLACE A PERIOD; HOWEVER, IT CAN BE
USED TO SHORTEN THE GAP BETWEEN TWO SHORT
SENTENCES WITH PARALLELED THOUGHTS.
The curtain closed; the audience clapped.
» A semicolon is also placed before conjunctions such as “however,”
“therefore,” and “furthermore.”
Gerald knows the truth; however, he remained quiet during the
entire time of investigation.
» A semicolon is placed in a series when the series contains commas.
I have been to Sarrat, Ilocos Norte; Legazpi, Albay; and
Mambajao, Camiguin.
CAPITALIZATION
AND
ABBREVIATION
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» The most basic rule of capitalization is to

capitalize the first letter of the first word of every
sentence. You should also capitalize proper
nouns and proper adjectives.
» There is no specific rule on how to abbreviate.
Words that are usually abbreviated are names of
places such as countries, streets, and provinces,
units of measurement, and titles.
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ESSENTIAL LEARNING
Learn to proofread your own writeup before you submit any or your
work. Your work is a mirror of yourself, and it tells the reader a lot
about you. In proofreading your own work, you should also look for
common lapses in writing mechanics such as spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, and abbreviation.
It takes patience and constant exposure to these things to imbibe
them. If you are not sure with anything, you can always use the
dictionary or your downloaded mobile apps.