A

Symbol	Meaning	Example	Advice
agr	agreement	Between you and I, each one of us needs their own job.
cs	comma splice	I had a question, I asked the professor.
dm	dangling modifier	After talking to him, the information was clear.
frag	fragment	If you were a scientist.
id	idioms / set expressions	He was involved on the engineering projects.
mixed	mixed constructions	He decided to go to school is because he felt better.
p	punctuation	Though odd this story is true.
red	redundancy	This class seems easy, so I'm going to take this class.
ref	unclear pronoun reference	My essay is in my car and my keys are under the seat. Will you please bring it?
ro	run-on	No one knows the answer it is hard to solve each problem.
sp	spelling	Acheiving dreams is importent.
s-v	subject-verb agreement	Everybody have traditions.
t	tense	I will be in class yesterday.
vb	verb form	He is enroll in French, and he is try to added another class. He will has to spend more time study.
wf	word form	We will become independence thinkers and writers.
ww	wrong word	He was very tired that he left.
^	insert	She will be enrolled just time.
	delete	He fell off of his bicycle.
¶	paragraph	Researchers have found evidence of insecticides in our ocean. One of the first studies was completed two years ago.
-//	parallelism	Winning and lose is part of playing the game.
#	add a space	It's infront of the building.
	move here	The boy revised his work who was sitting next to me.
	transpose	She's on time usually.
	rephrase	He hasn't got a clue.
??	Not understandable	It's like which that you need.

ab Abbreviation: Either the abbreviation is not appropriate, or the abbreviation is wrong.

agr Agreement: An error in agreement of subject and verb or of pronoun and antecedent (the word to which the pronoun refers) has occurred.

cap Capital Letters: Either a capital was omitted or used when it was not needed.

cont Contractions: Either the contraction is not appropriate, or it is incorrect.

cs Comma Splice: A comma has been used to join two complete sentences. This is a more specific type of run-on sentence. See “Common Errors” for help.

rep Repetition: A word, a phrase, an idea, something written in a preceding sentence has been unnecessarily repeated.

rs or ro Run-on Sentence: Two sentences have been run together without proper punctuation.

F) Correction Symbols & Abbreviations

Acc = Accuracy! Your quotation is inaccurate in some detail, perhaps by omitting an initial capital letter at the start of a line. If your quotation is run into your own text (as opposed to being indented and typed line for line), indicate line breaks by using a slash.

Agr = Agreement: the subject and verb are not in agreement as to number. Plural subjects take plural verbs. The mere presence of a plural noun in between the subject and verb does not justify changing the verb to the plural if the grammatical subject is singular. Watch out for constructions like "Shakespeare's use of imagery and connotation adds to the powerful effect of his characters' speeches." The grammatical subject there is "use"; the fact that two other nouns intervene doesn't change this; the verb must be singular.

CF = Comma fault: you are using a comma here to separate independent clauses or sentences. Substitute either a semicolon, if the items are closely related, or a period.

Dict = use your dictionary: look up the word and figure out what's wrong with the way you used it.

Frg = Fragment: this is not a sentence, because it lacks a subject and/or a predicate. (Look these terms up in your dictionary if they seem obscure.) However, if you've earned your reader's confidence, an occasional fragment used for rhetorical effect will be acceptable.

Huh? = An expression of your reader's befuddlement or incredulity. See "Obsc" below.

Obsc = A more polite equivalent of "Huh?" Your meaning is unintelligible. (The fact that your instructor may be perfectly well able to guess at what you meant to say doesn't matter here. It's your job to actually say what you mean.

Poss = a more long-winded way of drawing your attention to misuse (or absence) of the apostrophe in a word in the posessive case

S or SP = spelling error (often involving the misuse of the apostrophe). Favorite horrible examples result from confusion between "its" and it's" and between "to" and "too." Errors like this are generally taken by educated readers as signs of semi-literacy. That sounds harsh, but it's true.

# = the "space" mark (called the pound mark on the telephone keypad) as used by proofreaders. Leave a space where this mark is inserted. You'll find it if you write "for awhile" instead of "for a while" or "eventhough" instead of "even though".

¶ = the "paragraph" mark. Probably means "Begin a new paragraph here" but may also mean "You call this a paragraph?"

Art	Article	I ate apple for lunch.
Frag	Sentence Fragment	Because I was so tired.
Prep	Preposition error	I live on Buxton Hall.
Quant	Quantifier error	I have only met a few of Americans.
RO	Run-on sentence (too long)	When we arrived in Portland, the weather was beautiful, it was sunny but not too hot it seemed like there wasn't very much pollution in the air.
S/P	Singular/Plural error	Last night I read fifteen page.
S/V	Subject/Verb error	All of my classes is interesting.
Sp	Spelling error	What time does the movey start?
VF	Verb Form error	I was arrived here on Sept. 10th.
VT	Verb Tense error	If I have any money, I would loan you some.
WF	Word Form error	What's worng? You look sadness.
WM	Word Missing	What are you going write about?
WO	Word Order error	I play basketball at Dixon every night Thursday.
WW	Wrong Word	You should wear an umbrella if you go out.
??	Difficult to understand	It makes that I believes kind.

focus		Paragraph or section lacks a clear focus
¶		Problems with paragraphing
org		Organization problems
coh		These sentences are not well connected. These ideas do not seem to be related.
trans or tr		A transition is needed here. Transitions include the following: nevertheless, in addition, in fact, then, furthermore, as a result, consequently.
weak		Sentence is vague or general or states the obvious.
		Something has been left out here.
?		Point is unclear.
or +		Excellent beginning, ending, use of detail, word choice

frag		The sentence is not complete. This group of words is a fragment.
NS		Not a sentence. Words are left out; syntax is ungrammatical.
RO		Two sentences are punctuated as one. This is a run-on sentence.
AWK or K		This sentence does not sound right; it lacks smoothness.
//		Similar ideas or elements are not expressed in identical grammatical constructions. Sentence contains an error in parallelism. (e.g., The report revealed a growth in sales but that sales had dropped.)
comb		These sentences should be combined.
coord/sub		Coordination/Subordination problem - Connect ideas by using connectives which express the ideas exactly. (e.g., My grandfather took a long vacation, and his health did not improve.)
Ref		A pronoun must refer clearly to the right antecedent. Sentence contains an example of ambiguous reference, general reference, or weak reference. (AMBIGUOUS: The partnership between Bob and Dave ended when he drew the firm's money from the bank and flew to Brazil. GENERAL: Macbeth's mind was constantly imagining horrible things and that frightened him. WEAK: When we boarded the plane for Texas, we learned it would take four hours.)
T		Verb tense is incorrect or has shifted.
DM		Modifier is dangling (e.g., Carrying a heavy pile of books, her foot caught on the steps.).
MM		Modifier is misplaced (e.g., I bought a computer for the staff, which gave us trouble.).
Chop Wordy		Sentences are too short and choppy. Sentence contains unnecessary repetition or superfluous words.
( )		Specific words to be removed.
Shift		Shift in person. (e.g., If a person studies hard in high school, you will have no trouble in college.)
Awk passive or pass		Awkward use of passive voice. Use passive voice when the actor is unknown (e.g., The door had been closed before we arrived.) or when it is not desirable to disclose the actor (e.g., A mistake was made in this order.) Awkward: The game was won when a goal was kicked by Jim.

Agree or ag		Sentence contains errors in agreement between noun/pronoun, (e.g., The city has their own parade.); noun/verb (There's three choices for lunch.); pronoun/pronoun (e.g., Each of the students brought their own skates.); pronoun/verb (e.g., Neither of your answers were correct.)
V		Verb is incorrect (e.g., The puppy is laying down.).
T		Verb is incorrect in tense (e.g.,Suddenly she remembered she promised to meet him at eight.).
Mood		Verb form is incorrect, mood (e.g., I wish I was a farmer.).
Case		Case of pronoun is incorrect. (e.g., Come skiing with Becky and I.)
Mod		Modifier is incorrect. (e.g., Which of the ten photos is more attractive?) (e.g., I feel badly about the broken glass.)

Ch or WW		Word chosen is not the best in this context.
Red		Redundant (e.g., descend down the stairs).
Dic or D		Inappropriate word choice; shift from one level of diction to another. (e.g., formal English to informal or to slang.)
Trite/cliche		The expression is overused. (e.g., His hands are as cold as ice. They should bury the hatchet.)

B)

Content, Organization and Logic:

Sentence Structure:

Usage:

Diction (Word Choice):

Mechanics:

F) Correction Symbols & Abbreviations

cap		Capitalization error.
P		Punctuation omitted.
P		Punctuation incorrect
P		Punctuation unnecessary.
sp		Spelling error