Page Comparison

Apostrophe
Circle the correct response in parentheses.1.

1. The seven (dwarfs / dwarf’s / dwarfs’) had (Snow Whites /

1. Snow White’s /

1. Snow Whites’) full attention.

1. The track meeting was held in the (girls / girl’s / girls’) locker room.

1. (Its / It’s / Its’) going to surprise everyone if you wear (your / you’re) wig to

1. the party.

Capitalization
Mark the letters that need to be capitalized in each sentence.1.

1. Are you going to take the course that integrates Shakespeare with film with Dr.

1. Jones next semester?

1. I went to the Mall of America with Grandma, Maizie, and my mom.

Colon
Insert colons where needed. Delete unnecessary punctuation.1.

1. I have a word of advice: run away!

1. The books that are her absolute favorites include Gone with the Wind,

1. Little Women, and Silas Marner.

1. The two sections that won the band scavenger hunt are the flute section and

1. the trombone section.

Comma
Insert commas where needed.1.

1. Blue, my favorite color, is the fifth color in the rainbow.

1. When I turned four, I moved to Ohio.

1. Holding his hat

1. Dr. Jones ran to the bus stop, but he still arrived after it

1. had pulled away.

1. The chicken relaxed in its coop, not understanding that the fox was nearby.

1. The goofy, carefree student collided with the professor in the coffee shop.

1. I enjoy drinking warm, soothing tea.

1. Whew, that was a close one!

Hyphen
Insert hyphens where needed.1.

1. In the course, he studied Victorian-era architecture and visited a two

1. story home.

1. The three-year-old girl was enrolled in a two-year preschool program.

Underlining (Italicizing)
Underline or remove underlining and add or remove quotation marks in the
following the following sentences.1.

1. The book Prince Caspian is quite a bit different from the new movie,

1. especially in the chapter entitled

1. "The Lion Roars.

1. "

1. “Christmas at Plum Creek” is an especially good episode of the television

1. show called Little House on the Prairie.

Quotation Marks
Insert quotation marks and other necessary punctuation (including capitalization)
in  in the following sentences.1.

1. Tim Sawyer said to his conducting class,

1. "The most important aspect of good

1. conducting is clarity.

1. "
2. "May I borrow,

1. " she wondered aloud,

1. "a pencil?

1. "
2. "To thine own self be true,

1. " said Polonius hypocritically.

Semicolons
Insert semicolons and commas where needed.1.

1. I don’t care for mustard; however

1. I do like ketchup.

1. He wanted to tour three capital cities: Sydney, Australia; Tokyo, Japan;

1. and Beijing, China.

Agreement
Circle the correct word.
1. Either Dr. Jones or his many talented TAs (remind / reminds) the students to
turn in their papers online.
2. The group of students (was / were) relieved to finish the First Year Experience
sessions.
3. There (is / are) a bucket of cookies waiting in your room for you.
4. None of the puppies (is / are) allowed to live on campus.
5. Everybody from the Bethel soccer team (is / are) welcome to attend our
breakout chapel.
Dangling, Misplaced, and Squinting Modifiers
Revise the following sentences so that the modifiers make sense and refer to the
correct word or phrase.
1. While I walked to class, my homework sat forgotten on my bed.
2. The student who was talking disappeared quickly behind a book.
3. The mother’s bed was full of children and pets who were scared to death during
the big thunderstorm.
4. The book that he needed to read for his presentation was on the shelf.
5. Totally thrilled, Will Smith accepted the Oscar.
Fragmentary Sentences
Revise the following sentences so that there are no fragments among them.
1. As many people walked to chapel, the people with the cameras took their
picture.
2. Dr. Jones is an understanding teacher because he was once a student.
Guide to Editing Essentials 91
3. The group of friends drove to the restaurant: time to eat.
4. Frodo stood up and volunteered to take the ring to Mordor, his voice small but
determined.
5. The ice cream shop reopened. It now offers more flavors.
Run-on Sentences
Revise the following run-on (also known as “fused”) sentences.
1. She has to buy a new computer; her hard drive crashed with all of her files on it.
2. There are fruit flies everywhere. Please wash your dishes.
3. Aslan is not a tame lion, but he is good.
4. Dr. Jones’ TA took his humor lit class last spring. His new TA was in that class
as well.
5. Our teacher accidentally called Fall Break “Spring Break” in the syllabus; I
noticed it this afternoon when I was doing my homework.
Adjectives/Adverbs
Circle the appropriate word in parentheses.
1. I think that the essay test that Dr. Jones gave went (real / really) (good / well).
2. Of the two novels, I think that To Kill a Mockingbird is (better / best).
3. It is difficult to know which of the many college majors is the (better / best)
choice.
4. It is (good / well) for students to decide on a major eventually.
5. Last week, the soup tasted (good / well).
6. The shaggy dog needed his furry coat trimmed (bad / badly).
7. The chemistry experiment to make artificial chocolate failed (bad / badly).
Guide to Editing Essentials 92
8. The artificial chocolate made by the chemistry experiment tasted (bad /
badly).
9. Like a (real / really) bad dream come true, that embarrassing moment was
(real / really).
10. The stew that boiled over onto the burner smelled (bad / badly) to the
household.
Case
Circle the appropriate word in parentheses.
Case
Circle the appropriate word in parentheses.
1. He gave the handouts to Tiffany, Sander, and (I / me).
2. (We / Us) Northwestern students must make a good impression on
prospective students.
3. (He / Him) and the detective couldn’t believe who the culprit was.
4. No one was more surprised than (I / me)!
5. The maroon minivan belongs to (I / me).
6. The conversation is between you and (I / me).
7. My relatives from Vietnam are coming to visit (I / me) in Minnesota.
8. My best friend never goes anywhere without (I / me / myself).
9. The prize was given to (she / her) last year.
10. This year, the prize was given to (us / we) juniors.
11. Jack and (I / me) went to Cub so I could buy food and he could buy a rose
for his first date.
12. I am very grateful for (him / he / his) discovering the treasure.
13. Bethel students and (we / us) are competing in this weekend’s volleyball
tournament.
Guide to Editing Essentials 93
14. (Us / Our / We) competing with one another in a friendly manner is always
good fun.
15. Her neighbor can get around easier than (she / her).

1. I like to order my pizza with all the vegetables (except / accept) onions.
2. You should put your keys somewhere where you won’t (lose / loose) them.
3. That lazy cat (lays / lies) around all day.
4. Dr. Jones went (further / farther) today in his explanation of further vs.
farther than he had done before.
5. These long, snowy days won’t have a negative (effect / affect) on me.
6. (Being that / Because) my favorite movie was sold out, I decided to rent a
movie instead.
7. (Besides / Beside) being late to the movie, I also got a speeding ticket. What a
terrible day!
8. Our class sang a song to welcome the new (principle / principal), Mrs.
Wallace.
9. The (number / amount) of students late for class today gave Dr. Jones cause
for alarm.
10. No one has (less / fewer) kindness than Ebenezer Scrooge.
11. My sister had (fewer / less) tokens than I did at Chuck E. Cheese, so I decided
to share some of mine.
12. The (effect / affect) of the hurricane was disastrous.
13. I was late to class (as / because) my alarm clock didn’t go off this morning.
14. Let’s take a trip to the state (capital / capitol). No, I don’t mean the
building—I mean the city.
15. You can never walk (further / farther) than halfway into the woods. After
halfway, you’re walking out of the woods.
16. Your keys may be (besides / beside) that enormous pile of papers.
17. I’m sure I didn’t (lay / lie) my keys by that enormous pile of papers.
Guide to Editing Essentials 95
18. I had (laid / lain) my keys up on the shelf; I’m just sure of it.
19. Many times, I have (lain / laid) down to take a nap after a hard day’s work.
20. My friend always (lies / lays) her backpack in the entryway.
21. The (number / amount) of mystery in this haunted house would be enough to
fill a book.
22. (There / Their / They’re / There are) just some things that those (to / too /
two) are (to / too / two) young (to / too / two) do.
23. I’m so (enthused / enthusiastic) about learning all this fun stuff.
24. Please (try and / try to ) behave yourselves.
25. (Alright / All right), I’ll go with you to the mall. Let’s just not buy (alot / a
lot) of stuff.