Editing Resources

There are many different forms of abbreviation and contraction in the English language, some more clearly and universally defined and accepted than others. The use of the apostrophe to form contractions, for instance, (can’t, shouldn’t, I’d, he’ll, we’d) is widely acknowledged as standard usage, though it may be frowned upon or considered out of place in more formal or academic writing.

The term ‘abbreviation’ is most commonly used to describe a shortened form of a given word which has been accepted into standard usage, and is followed by a period (full stop) to indicate that shortening has taken place. Examples are Mr. and Mrs. or Dr. Note that the replacement of a name or title which is several words long with a word made up of the capitalised first letters of each word, is not an abbreviation but an acronym, such as NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) or WHO (the World Health Organization).

“The Americans are identical to the British in all respects except, of course, language.”
Oscar Wilde
Winston Churchill in his memoirs discusses a rather animated debate with his American counterparts in the heart of World War Two. A disagreement arose in the discussion of a particularly sensible wartime matter, which when the British side argued it should [...]

The proper uses of ‘e.g.’ and ‘i.e.’ can be confusing. They are the remnants of a fashion for using Latin phrases in English writing and have been reinforced through use even though hardly anyone really knows what they stand for.
In the first place, therefore, it is very helpful to know that ‘e.g.’ stands for exempli [...]

A very common query.
This is one of the most common grammatical mistakes of all and one I come across very frequently when editing work at all levels. The problem seems to arise from the fact that, unlike other common grammatical constructs, the word ‘whom’ is not very often used in day-to-day life. In fact, [...]

When editing and proofreading, there are a whole host of mistakes I come across that are commonly repeated. Some of these are major grammatical errors, whereas others are simply small mistakes which make a piece look untidy, and can result in dropped marks with a more selective tutor. Below is a summary of those which [...]

When should you drop the ’s’?

When a plural ending in ’s’ (e.g. “elephants”, but not “formulae” or “sheep”) possesses something, the ’s’ following the apostrophe is omitted (elephants’, formulae’s, sheep’s). However, there is no strict rule on this in the case of singular proper nouns ending in ’s’. Therefore, ‘James’s’ and ‘James” are both correct, but many people opt for the latter spelling. In the case of nouns ending ’ss’ (mass, princess etc.), an apostrophe followed by an ’s’ is used to denote possession (princess’s, mass’s etc.).

The simple misuse of ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’ is one of the most common, clear and costly grammar mistakes in essay writing. An experienced professor will spot incorrect usage from a glance. To avoid sounding like your work has been written by a child, a few simple mental markers can be employed to erase the [...]

1. Take time away from your work, and unwind from ‘essay mode’ before proofreading. If possible, leave any proofreading until the next day. Most people find that reading a paper once the next morning is more effective than checking it [...]

These two words are often used incorrectly by the writer. Both can be applied as transitive and intransitive verbs, and although having similar meanings to one another, each has, essentially, a mutually exclusive application. Although both possess the identical suffix ‘tain’, the etymology of the two words is somewhat different, with ‘attain’ being derived from [...]