Editing Symbols and Abbreviations
Abbreviation or Symbol
Meaning
sp
spelling error
c
capital letter error - you might need to change to an uppercase or a lowercase
letter instead
p
punctuation error – you might need to add, delete, or change the existing
punctuation mark
sing.
singular - change the word to its singular form
pl.
plural - change the word to its plural form
poss.
possessive – change the word to a possessive form
s-v
subject-verb agreement error
v, vt
verb form or verb tense error
art.
article error – you might need to add/change an indefinite article or pronoun of
some type (a, an, some) , add a definite article (the), add a demonstrative
pronoun (this, that, these, those) , or remove an article
adj., adv.
adjective error; adverb error
pro ref
pronoun reference error – check to make sure that the pronoun form agrees
with the noun it refers to in number (singular/plural) and person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) or
that the pronoun is clearly referring to a previously specified noun
ww, wc, wf
wrong word, word choice is weak ( it might be slang or informal language or
awkward for the context), or word form is wrong (for example, using an
adjective when you need an adverb)
X
remove the letter or word
^
add a word
/
separate letters or words
()
move letters or words together
abb.
don’t use an abbreviation – write out the complete word or words
frag.
fragment – the sentence is incomplete because it is missing a subject, verb, or
other grammatically or logically necessary part
RO or //
run-on – the sentence has a comma splice or fused clauses and needs to be
separated into two different sentences with a period and capital letter, or the
clauses need to be joined correctly by adding a conjunction and appropriate
punctuation.