G0472
Week 6 :
“English Punctuation & Spelling
Learning Outcomes
The students are expected to be
able to use editing system to find
and correct the mistakes in
English punctuation & spelling.
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Punctuation & Spelling
The students are expected to understand that:
The most common mistake people tend to make
while writing is in the use of Punctuation.
Wrong punctuation can damage the flow of
ideas and change meaning, but properly used
punctuation not only helps readers understand
your meaning but also makes them engrossed in
your writing.
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Punctuation
Use of apostrophe:
Use an apostrophe to show possession, but never put
apostrophe in case of possessive pronouns. Always
remember that when the word "it's" is used, it is actually
for the contraction for the two words: "it has" or "it is".
On the other hand, "its" is a possessive pronoun, and
the word being already possessive should not contain
an apostrophe in it. Example:
It's the same thing happening over and over again.
(Contraction of It and is: It is the same thing happening
over and over again).
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Use of Comma - Use commas to separate three or
more items in a list. Though journalists most of the
times omit the final comma before the word "and", but
retaining the final comma avoids confusion.
Example:
– Poor: In this website, you can read articles about how
to do business online, the woman who daily eats 45
eggs and Tom Cruise.
– Better: In this website, you can read articles about
how to do business online, the woman who daily eats
45 eggs, and Tom Cruise.
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Use of Quotation Marks
– Use quotation marks to indicate direct
quotation. Example:
"That guy knows me," Mr. Wong said, "very
well."
– Note: Never use it for indirect quotation (a
restatement of someone’s words).
– According to Mr. Wong, that guy knows him
very well.
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There are many other frequently used
punctuation errors, but the above-discussed
ones are those I have mostly encountered in
several writings. Before putting punctuation
marks in your sentences, always ask yourself
what meaning you want to convey to the
readers. Accordingly, put the marks. In case
the sentence becomes difficult to punctuate,
consider rewriting it, because when a
sentence is well written, it almost punctuates
itself.
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Spelling
At its best, English spelling can be
perplexing, especially for non-native
speakers and writers. The following rules and
suggestions are offered as aids. You will
always be able to find exceptions to these
rules, but most writers find them helpful.
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 i before e, except after c . . . .
achieve, believe, bier, brief, hygiene, grief, thief,
friend, grieve, chief, fiend, patience, pierce, priest
ceiling, conceive, deceive, perceive, receipt,
receive, deceit, conceit
 and in words that rhyme with hay. . .
neighbor, freight, beige, sleigh, weight, vein, and
weigh
. . . and some other exceptions. . . .
either, neither, feint, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure,
weird, seize
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Spelling
When adding an ending to a word that ends in
a consonant, we double that consonant when
the ending begins with a vowel and the last
syllable of the word is accented and that
syllable ends in a single vowel followed by a
single consonant. Example:
ADMIT + -ed = ADMITTED
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Spelling
Becoming a better speller is a matter of personal
commitment and finding your own method to
add this important skill to your writing arsenal.
Refer to the “Better Writing through Editing for
recommendations on working on spelling. Also,
take the spelling exercise there.
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Spelling
There are many other frequently used spelling
rules, but the above-discussed ones are those
I have mostly encountered in several writings.
Before editing spelling errors in your
sentences, always remember the spelling
rules.
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