Proofreading & Editing Basic Proofreading 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence has incorrect subject-verb agreement?
- The team is ready to play.
- Neither the manager nor the employees was informed. (Correct answer)
- Each of the reports is complete.
- The committee has reached a decision.
Correct answer: Neither the manager nor the employees was informed.
With 'neither...nor,' the verb agrees with the closer subject — 'employees' is plural, so 'were' is correct.
Question 2: A document reads: 'The report was completed by John, Mary, and myself.' What error exists?
- Missing Oxford comma
- Incorrect use of reflexive pronoun — should be 'me' (Correct answer)
- Passive voice must be changed to active
- No error exists
Correct answer: Incorrect use of reflexive pronoun — should be 'me'
'Myself' should only be used reflexively or for emphasis; 'me' is the correct object pronoun here.
Question 3: Which sentence correctly uses a hyphen?
- She gave a well-known speech. (Correct answer)
- The speech was well-known.
- The well known professor spoke.
- She is a high-school teacher at the high school.
Correct answer: She gave a well-known speech.
Compound modifiers before a noun are hyphenated; predicative compound adjectives after the verb generally are not.
Question 4: Which of the following is an example of a run-on sentence?
- She loves proofreading; it sharpens her attention to detail.
- She loves proofreading, and it sharpens her attention to detail.
- She loves proofreading it sharpens her attention to detail. (Correct answer)
- Proofreading, which she loves, sharpens her attention to detail.
Correct answer: She loves proofreading it sharpens her attention to detail.
Two independent clauses joined without punctuation or a conjunction form a run-on sentence.
Question 5: What does the proofreading symbol ¶ indicate?
- Delete this word
- Begin a new paragraph here (Correct answer)
- Insert a period
- Capitalize this letter
Correct answer: Begin a new paragraph here
The pilcrow (¶) is the standard symbol instructing a typesetter to begin a new paragraph.
Question 6: Which word pair is a homophone error in: 'The principle reason for the delay was weather'?
- principle / principal (Correct answer)
- reason / season
- delay / relay
- weather / whether
Correct answer: principle / principal
'Principal' means primary or main; 'principle' means a rule or belief.
Question 7: A proofreader should flag 'alot' because:
- It is an archaic spelling now replaced by 'allot'
- 'A lot' is always two separate words (Correct answer)
- It should be hyphenated as 'a-lot'
- The word requires a capital A
Correct answer: 'A lot' is always two separate words
'A lot' is always written as two words; 'alot' is a nonstandard misspelling.
Proofreading & Editing Basic Proofreading 3
Which sentence has incorrect subject-verb agreement?