Editing: The Problem
The biggest problem students face, as mentioned in the previous blog is that students do not read for meaning. They do not connect the sentences together to read how individuals, events and ideas develop, connect and interact.
Common Error Two. Parts of Speech
Different words have different functions. For example, a noun is a naming word and a verb is an action word. Errors are based on confusion between the functions.
(a) Wrong Word Class
- “August 9th is when we celebrate our independent (independence) from Malaysia.” – 2013 ‘O’ Levels (adjective used instead of noun)
- “The airport is 12 miles from the city centre, but onward travel is easily (easy) by taxi, bus or MRT.” – 2016 ‘O’ Levels (adverb used instead of adjective)
Note: The Adverb / Adjective mistake is the most common form of error.
(b) Wrong Word Form
- “He is regarded as the foundation (founder) of Singapore.” – 2014 ‘O’ Levels (wrong choice of noun)
- “From the minute they arrive at Changi Airport, many visitors are amazed at its size and impressed (impressive) facilities” – 2016 ‘O’ Levels (wrong choice of adjective)
How to spot word form errors?
Unfortunately there is no simple method to spot these errors. You may use the following tips to help you.
Some of these tips can be used in unison. When used together, they are incredibly powerful.
We hope that you are now aware how to spot word form errors in Editing. If you had missed the previous edition, you can go here. If you are interested in our OPS series, you can go here. The OPS download for the four most common editing errors is here.
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