Proofreading & Editing Basic Proofreading 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence demonstrates correct parallel structure?
- She likes hiking, to swim, and riding bikes.
- She likes hiking, swimming, and riding bikes. (Correct answer)
- She likes to hike, swimming, and bike rides.
- She likes hike, swim, and to ride bikes.
Correct answer: She likes hiking, swimming, and riding bikes.
Parallel structure requires all items in a series to use the same grammatical form — here, gerunds.
Question 2: A proofreader notices 'effect' used in: 'The new policy will effect change.' Is this correct?
- No — 'effect' should be 'affect' here
- Yes — 'effect' is correct as a verb meaning to bring about (Correct answer)
- No — the sentence should use 'impact' instead
- Yes — 'effect' is always a verb when followed by a noun
Correct answer: Yes — 'effect' is correct as a verb meaning to bring about
'Effect' can be a verb meaning to bring about or cause, as in 'effect change' or 'effect a solution.'
Question 3: Which sentence correctly uses a colon?
- The ingredients are: flour, sugar, and eggs.
- She bought: flour, sugar, and eggs.
- We need three items: flour, sugar, and eggs. (Correct answer)
- Please bring: flour, sugar, and eggs to the meeting.
Correct answer: We need three items: flour, sugar, and eggs.
A colon should follow a complete independent clause before introducing a list.
Question 4: What error appears in: 'The number of complaints have increased'?
- Incorrect tense — should be 'had increased'
- Subject-verb disagreement — 'number' is singular and takes 'has' (Correct answer)
- Missing article before 'number'
- No error exists
Correct answer: Subject-verb disagreement — 'number' is singular and takes 'has'
'The number of' takes a singular verb; 'a number of' takes a plural verb.
Question 5: Which sentence avoids redundancy?
- The final conclusion of the report was unexpected.
- Please RSVP to confirm your attendance.
- The unexpected conclusion surprised everyone. (Correct answer)
- She made an unexpected surprise announcement.
Correct answer: The unexpected conclusion surprised everyone.
'Conclusion' is always final, so 'final conclusion' is redundant; option C avoids this by using 'conclusion' alone.
Question 6: Which correctly identifies the error in: 'The boss, along with her assistants, are attending'?
- Comma placement is incorrect
- The verb 'are' should be 'is' — the subject is 'boss,' singular (Correct answer)
- Present tense should be past tense
- No error exists
Correct answer: The verb 'are' should be 'is' — the subject is 'boss,' singular
Phrases like 'along with' or 'as well as' don't change the grammatical subject; 'boss' remains singular.
Question 7: In manuscript proofreading, three underlines beneath a letter means:
- Delete this character
- Make this character italic
- Make this character bold
- Capitalize this character (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Capitalize this character
Three underlines is the standard proofreading mark indicating a letter should be set in capitals.
Proofreading & Editing Basic Proofreading 5
Which sentence demonstrates correct parallel structure?