Written and spoken English often contain mistakes. Here are some typical examples of mistakes which a proofreader and editor must identify and correct.

 

    "I´ll send you an e. mail." This is a very typical, common mistake. The correct sentence should be: "I´ll send an e. mail to you." Why? The answer is simple: consider what is being sent - the person or the e. mail?

 

    Some people sign business e. mails and letters with the phrase "Best regards." This is incorrect. Why? The word 'regards' is actually a word used as a greeting. It is used when person A wants to say "hello" to person C via person B, as in the following example. Adam and Jack both know Chris. Adam and Jack meet. Adam says to Jack: "Please give my regards to Chris when you see him" which means "Please say 'hello' to Chris from me". Why, therefore, would anyone sign a letter with a form of the word hello? When you leave a room, do you say "hello"? Also, why best regards? Does this mean that there is an inferior form of hello? Perhaps an 'average' regards? Or even a 'very bad' regards?
    It should be noted that the correct way to sign a business communication is "Yours sincerely". This has nothing to do with being friendly or unfriendly, formal or informal. It has everything to do with being professional. The word "sincerely" simply means "honest, correct, open, in earnest", which is the professional image which we wish to present of ourselves in the world of business.

 

     "There's two things which I like about the cinema." "There's" is the short form (usually spoken) of "there is", which is used to express the singular. The correct form in the model sentence would be "There are" (plural).

 

      A popular trend in the U.S.A., which has spread to other parts of the English-speaking world, is the use of the Present Continuous tense as a substitute for the Past Continuous tense. Instead of stating: "I was walking down the road when I heard the shot", some people now say "I am walking down the road when I'm hearing the shot". Though substituting the Past Continuous with the Present Continuous is an attempt to create a sense of heightened drama, the use of the Present Continuous is incorrect here because the report is of a progressive action which took place in the past, not the present.

 

     "I recently have seen a report about..." The word "have" is in the wrong position in this sentence. It should be placed after the personal pronoun "I", "I have recently seen a report about...".

     "Overeating was his weakness: He had no discipline when it came to food." The mistake in this sentence is the use of a capital letter after a full colon. The full colon is not a full stop. As in the case of a semi-colon, a comma or a dash, the sentence has not ended. The word "He" should have been written with a lower casement h. The word after the full colon can begin with a capital letter if it is the first word of a name or title.

 

     A modern trend is to begin a sentence with the word "So", as in the following example:

Interviewer: "When do you think that mankind will colonise Mars?"

Scientist: "So we will probably colonise Mars sometime within the next one hundred years."

    The scientist should begin the sentence with the word "We". "So" is actually used to make a logical inference from a preceding statement: "We have run out of rice, so I will have to buy some more."

 

     "We should all be mindful that the budget is limited." The correct phrase in this sentence would be "bear in mind" or "be aware". Mindfulness is actually a concept within Buddhism in which the individual reaches a state of awareness. If we should all be "mindful", does this mean that we should all be Buddhists?

 

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Please note the following points:

The form of English used to correct or create texts will be British English.

Proofreader01 does not undertake translations.

All texts will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.