Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Introduction
Proofreading, one of the six questions in Section C, is difficult for candidates who are weak
in grammar and usage. They find it difficult because of the following reasons:
The question items in proofreading can be categorized into the following 4 levels:
2. Analyze the syntactic structure of each sentence, e.g. subject, verb, verb-to-be,
complement, participle clause / phrase, object, etc.
4. Do not correct those pseudo-errors, e.g. styles of writing: changing ‘a’ into ‘the’,
changing the singular noun into the plural form, changing another word which carries the
same meaning. These are not dead errors that can make the sentence ungrammatical.
5. Look for big & dead errors, e.g. verb form, tense, subject verb agreement, finite & non-
finite (gerund, infinitive & participle), complement, independent clause as the subject,
etc.
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UE – SECTION C – Proofreading instructor: agnes chan
Verbs:
1. verb forms, e.g. pp form after ‘have / has / had’, ing form after verb-to-be, etc.
2. Transitive & Intransitive verbs
3. passive & active voice (main verb not in p.p. form, missing of auxiliary verb ‘be’,
missing of preposition ‘by’ – agent)
4. missing of verb-to-be before the subject complement
5. participles, participle clause
6. Subordinate clause without finite verbs (e.g. When entering the room, before entering…)
7. conditional sentence verb forms (e.g. use of modal verbs, verb forms)
8. Phrasal Verbs
9. preposition + verb (gerund), e.g. 97UE No. 79
Nouns:
1. Plural noun referring to something general
2. Number in a noun, e.g. one of the resource(s), either (singular noun) or (sing. Noun)
3. Noun functioning as an adjective (hotel safe: 1997UE No. 94)
Sentence Structures:
1. Sentence structures (subject, verb, clauses, direct object & indirect object) parallel
structure (consistency of verb forms / tense)
2. Phrases & Clauses (Prepositional Phrase, Noun Clause, Relative Clause, Subordinate
Clause, etc.)
Part of Speech:
1. Part of speech, e.g. noun adjective; wrong word, e.g. destruct (correct one: destroy),
comparative & superlative adjectives
Prepositions:
1. Preposition (either missing / wrong use)
Pronouns:
1. Pronouns (relative pronoun, reflexive pronoun, possessive pronoun, etc.)
Special Expressions
e.g. used to, be used to
2. Compound Sentence (SV + SV) And, or, nor, for, but, so, yet
joining individual words, phrases
e.g. Agnes Chan is an English tutor (1st clause) and
or clauses.
(conjunction) she studies English at City University of
HK. (2nd clause)
3. Complex Sentence (Subordinate Clause + Main after, although, as, because, before,
Clause) how, if, once, since, than, that,
though, till, until, when, where,
e.g. Agnes Chan has been teaching students English (1st whether, and while showing the
clause) since she was a Sixth Former. (2nd clause) relationship between sentences.
2. Prepositional Phrase F(1): I’ve read a book about cooking. (adj. After noun)
Function (1) adjective F(2): You will be happy with your new arrangement. (adv. After
after a noun, (2) adverb noun)
after an adjective, (3) F(3): The cockroach is hiding under the table. (adv. Of place)
adverb of place, (4) F(4): I will have a meeting with Rodney in the morning. (adv. Of
adverb of time, (5) time)
adverb of manner. F(5): In my opinion, we should hold more activities for students
this year. (adv. Of manner)
2. That-clause F(1): That he leaves Hong Kong is his final decision. (Subj.)
F(1): Subject F(2): I know that George wanted to copy Henry’s assignment to
F(2): Object his. (Obj.)
*The ‘that’ here can help
Modify the preceded (whom): The man whom you are talking to is very nice.
noun (形容名詞) (preposition + whom): The girl with whom you are discussing the
issue is kind. (Original: You are discussing the issue with the girl)
Relative pronouns: (which): The notes which Agnes typed to me are quite useful.
Who (subj.), whom (in which): The theatre in which you performed in is very big.
(obj.), that (subj / obj.), (Original: You performed in the theatre.)
Which, whose (whose): Mrs. Wu whose daughter has taken HKCEE is very poor.
(Original: Mrs. Wu’s daughter has taken HKCEE.)
5. Subordinate Clause (time): When you came back home, you had to finish all the tasks.
Function: provide more (place): Staying in New York, she didn’t feel secured.
information about the (condition): If you have got a cold, you can’t go to the party
time, place, condition, tonight.
purpose, manner that (purpose): To get good results in the test, he revised all the
things happen. chapters of the textbook last night.
(manner): Karen gave a blind eye to George, as if he had done
something wrong to her. (manner---showing attitude, how
something is like.)
2. Verb [動詞]
2.1 Finite Verb She does not want to go to school.
The first verb element in She wants to go shopping with her husband.
a verb group, showing She was having her lunch at 3:30 p.m.
the tense & no. of She had submitted the loan for her tuition fees.
agreement.
2.2 Non-finite Verb (Gerund): Hiking is my favorite hobby.
(gerund, infinitive, (To-infinitive): She wants to go shopping with her husband.
participle) (bare infinitive): She suggested me write a letter to my teacher to
make the application of this scholarship.
(present participle): She was having her lunch at 3:30 p.m.
(past participle): My brother has broken the vase.
(perfect participle): Having been to the UK for more than 3
months, I have got used to the life there.
verb + ing => Verbal I don’t like talking on the phone. (obj.)
Noun [動名詞]
2.2.2 Infinitive (to-infinitive) I want to be an excellent language teacher in Hong
Kong.
i) To-infinitive
ii) Bare infinitive (bare infinitive) Please let me know your difficulties.
2.2.3 Participles i) I have been swimming in this pool for 2 hours. (Present
Participle)
i) Present Participle
ii) Past Participle ii) I have swum in this pool for 2 hours. (Past Participle)
iii) Perfect Participle iii) Having swum for 3 hours, I felt very exhausted. (Perfect
Participle)
2.3 Modals Can, could, may, might, shall, should, ought to, need, care, must,
have to, will, would, may, might, etc.
2.4 Auxiliary Verbs Do, does, did, done; be, is, am, are, was, were, being, been; have,
has, had
4.1 Adverb of Place In the building, at home, at school, in the jungle, in the office
4.2 Adverb of Time In the morning, at noon, at midnight, at 4:30
4.3 Adverb of Manner Beautifully, conveniently, clearly, loudly, fast, quickly, well
4.4 Adverb of Degree Very much, so, quite, rather, pretty, less, more
5. Preposition [介詞]
In, on, at, from, against, about, concerning, beside, behind, under, with, beneath, between,
into, onto, to, etc.
6. Article [冠詞]
A F(1): a computer, a cup, a printer, a table, a desk,
etc.
F(1): any one of a particular thing
F(2): before singular count noun F(2): I’ll be in the UK for a year.
F(3): words begin with consonant sounds Please wait for a minute. I’ll come back to your
question later.
F(3): a university / / , a one-parent
family //
An F(1): an orphan / /, an Italian / …/
F(1): words starting with a vowel sound
F(2): same as the Function (1 ~ 2) of ‘a’
The F(1): Beijing is the capital city of China.
F(1): something unique F(2): Charlene Choi is the youngest female singer
F(2): before a superlative adjective holding her first concert in The Hong Kong
F(3): there is only one of a particular thing Coliseum.
F(4): a thing / person that is modified by a F(3): the sun, the North Pole, the world, the
relative clause (i.e. a particular thing) international market, etc.
F(5): with phrases beginning ‘of…’ / ‘The F(4): The teacher who teaches us English is very
of…’ nice.
F(6): a thing / person mentioned in the 2nd F(5): Do you know the meaning of these new
time words?
F(6): I put a coin into a cup, and the coin sinks.
7. Conjunction
7.1 Co-ordinating Joining words, phrases or independent clauses — And, or, so, but,
Conjunction nor, for, yet
7.2 Subordinating Indicating the nature of the relationship among the independent
8. Pronoun [代名詞]
8.1 Personal Pronoun
8.1.1 As subjects I, you, we, they, he, she, it
8.1.2 As objects Me, you, us, them, him, her, it
8.1.2 As adjectives My, your, our, their, his, her, its
8.2 Possessive Pronoun Mine, yours, ours, theirs, his, hers, its
8.3 Indefinite Pronoun One, other (plural), the other (1 out of 2, singular), the others (the
left people / things), others (other people / things) another
(singular), someone (singular), everybody (singular), anybody
(singular), neither (singular / plural), all, many, etc.
8.4 Reflexive Pronoun Myself, yourself, yourselves, ourselves, themselves, himself,
herself, itself.
clauses.
Which — a particular thing
Whose — a agent who owns a thing / person
Whom — Object of the relative clause
Who — Subject of the relative clause
Perfect Participle F(1): Having had our dinner, we went to the Arts Gallery.
Clause
(= After we had had our dinner)
F(1): Action happened
before that in main clause F(2): Having been scolded by his mum for 2 hours, Jack felt
Perfect Participle very sorry. (= After Jack had been scolded by his mum for 2 hours)
Clause in PASSIVE
F(1): Same as the active Having been trained for 3 years, he became skilful in doing this
voice one job. (= After he had been trained for 3 years)
Participle Clause after a The man employed in 1993 has been fired by Francis last Friday.
Noun —to modify the
noun (= who was employed in 1993)
My niece, drawing a colorful picture to me, is very diligent.
(= who is drawing a colorful picture to me)
*** WARNING: The subject in the Participle Clause and main clause MUST BE the same
person, and the subject in the main clause CANNOT be an inanimate subject. [死物]
[在分詞句式和主句式裡面,主語必須為同一人,而且不可以物件作主語。]
‘-ve’ verb + Positive Tag You don’t like playing ICQ, do you? (don’t like + positive tag: do
— showing suspicion / you)
doubt / uncertainty
(TONE: rising tong in the She hasn’t applied for her first job, has she? (‘hasn’t applied’ +
question tag) positive tag: has she?)
George isn’t teaching well today, is he? (isn’t teaching + positive
tag: is he)
1. Run-on Sentence
Wrong: English grammar was the first thing that I encountered when I was in primary
school, I didn’t think that it did any harm to me, because I loved studying grammar,
living with grammar, reading English books to improve my grammar.
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UE – SECTION C – Proofreading instructor: agnes chan
Right: English grammar was the first thing that I encountered when I was in primary
school. I didn’t think that it did any harm to me, because I loved studying grammar,
living with grammar, reading English books to improve my grammar.
Explanations — The first sentence is wrong because the sentences “English grammar…
primary school” and “I didn’t think…my grammar” are not linked together by any
conjunctions or connectives. The first sentence contains 1 main clause plus two other
clauses: relative clause & subordinate clause. The second sentence contains 1 main clause
plus a subordinate clause telling the reason that I loved studying grammar. If these 2
sentences do not have any relationship in meaning (e.g. cause & effect, concession, etc.),
they should not be written in ONE sentence. If they are, they will be regarded as Run-on
sentences.
2. Fragment Sentence
Wrong: Although I am hungry.
To identify this kind of errors, you can ask yourself after you have written these clauses,
for example, “Because he is still young” (so?); “Since he lived in this flat” (what
happened then?); “Before he went out to have a walk” (what had he done?). If there is no
answer after these sentences, you can be sure that the clauses are fragment sentences.
Right: That he puts so much effort in answering our questions impresses most of us.
Right: The fact that he puts so much effort….impresses most of us.
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UE – SECTION C – Proofreading instructor: agnes chan
Explanations — The main clause of the first sentence should be [Subject + impresses
most of us]. The subject is [he puts so much effort in answering our questions]. However,
this sentence is ungrammatical because the subject here is NOT a noun / noun group. It’s
a clause instead. Therefore, to make this sentence grammatical, we have to change the
clause [He puts so much… questions] into a noun / noun group.
We can make the sentence in the above example in the following three ways:
1. Change clause [he puts…questions] into a noun group by adding That.
i.e. Change the independent clause into a nominal clause (noun clause)
2. Add The fact that to change the clause into a noun clause.
3. Split this long sentence into two. Use This to refer back to the WHOLE idea: [He
puts so much effort in answering our questions.]
Explanations — There is no passive voice when you use verbs: like, hate, love, dislike,
realized, admired, forget, in your sentences. You have to change the verbs if you want to
keep the subject (see right sentence 2). You can change it by changing ‘by me’ into the
subject ‘I’, and write the sentence in an active voice.
Case 2:
Wrong: They were go to the Gallery yesterday.
6. Existential Sentences
Wrong: There have (had) many cockroaches on my bed!
Explanations — The word [there] is in fact a dummy subject, i.e. it doesn’t have any
actual meaning. We use [there] because we want to show the existence of the later
‘subject’, e.g. ‘many cockroaches’ in this sentence. The use of verb [are] is dependent on
the ‘subject’ afterwards. Therefore, if the subject is ‘many cockroaches’, we have to use a
verb in plural form. If the subject is ‘a girl’, we have to use the singular verb, ‘is’,
instead.
7. Pseudo-tough movement
Wrong: I am difficult to learn English.
To correct this sentence, you can ask yourself, “What is difficult for me?” This ‘what
question’ leads us to find out ‘to learn English’ is the actual difficulty for us. Therefore,
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UE – SECTION C – Proofreading instructor: agnes chan
you can write something like, “It is difficult for me to learn English.”
Or, you can relocate the [to-infinitive clause] “to learn English” to be the subject of the
sentence. We come to another correct example, “To learn English is difficult for me.”