Common Proofreading Symbols

Symbol Meaning Example

insert a comma

apostrophe or single
quotation mark

insert something

use double quotation marks

use a period here

delete

transpose elements

close up this space

a space needed here

begin new paragraph

no paragraph

Common Proofreading Abbreviations

(The abbreviation would appear in the margin,
probably with a line or arrow pointing to the offending element.)
Abbreviation Meaning Example
Ab a faulty abbreviation She had earned a Phd along with her M.D.
 agreement problem:
Agr The piano as well as the guitar need tuning.
See also P/A and S/V
subject/verb or The student lost their book.
pronoun/antecedent
awkward expression The storm had the effect of causing
Awk millions of dollars in damage.
or construction
Cap faulty capitalization We spent the Fall in Southern spain.

Raoul tried his best, this time that

CS comma splice wasn't good enough

Due to the fact that we were wondering

DICT faulty diction as to whether it would rain, we stayed home.

dangling Working harder than ever, this job

Dgl proved to be too much for him to handle.
construction
problem with
- ed Last summer he walk all the way to Birmingham.
final -ed
Depending on the amount of snow we get this
Frag fragment winter and whether the towns buy new trucks.

problem in parallel
|| My income is bigger than my wife.
form
pronoun/antecedent A student in accounting would be wise to see
P/A their advisor this month.
agreement
My aunt and my mother have wrecked her car
problem with The committee has lost their chance to change
Pron things.
pronoun
You'll have to do this on one's own time.

unnecessary
Rep The car was blue in color.
repetition
Raoul tried his best this time
R-O run-on sentence that wasn't good enough.

Sp spelling error This sentence is flaude with two mispellings.

problem with final -

-s He wonder what these teacher think of him.
s
The proofreader uses this Latin term to indicate that
proofreading marks calling for a change should be
STET Let it stand ignored and the text as originally written should be
"let stand."

subject/verb
S/V The problem with these cities are leadership.
agreement
 T verb tense problem He comes into the room, and he pulled his gun.

Seldom have we perused a document so verbose,

Wdy wordy so ostentatious in phrasing, so burdened with too
many words.

What affect did the movie have on Sheila?

WW wrong word She tried to hard to analyze its conclusion.

Dunkelberg's Proofreading Marks

Here are some of the most common proofreader's marks I find myself using in papers.
Since I try to save time grading by using abbreviations and standard symbols, I have
listed them by the abbreviation I use, then by the meaning of the abbreviation or
symbol. Finally, I have provided a brief explanation for each term. You should consult
a grammar handbook to find out how to correct these problems in your writing if you
are unsure what you need to do. The Little Brown Handbook is standard in MUW
composition classes, so hopefully you still have yours. Most of the symbols I use are
based on the ones listed in TLBH, though I have added a few abbreviations for
common problems students have with their arguments, as opposed to purely
grammatical problems.

Using this system saves me time when grading your papers and gives me the
opportunity to write substantive comments on the content of your argument. If you
have questions, please do not hesitate to ask me. If I have used an abbreviation not
found on this page, I will add it if I think it is common enough. Your other professors
may use similar proofreading marks when grading papers, though there are different
systems for naming and abbreviating, so don't be surprised if you see some variations.

Please note: I had to draw the first three symbols in a drawing program, so they
appear significantly bigger than the other symbols, and they won't look this big in
your papers. I had to leave them this size so they would be clearly visible in the table.

Symbol Meaning Explanation

delete Delete the word(s) or letter(s) indicated with a loop through them.

close up There is an extra space. Delete it. Sometimes I use this when you have spelled
a single word incorrectly as two words.
 indent An arrow pointing to a line at the beginning of a paragraph means you should
indent the first line of your paragraph. In front of a long quoted passage, it
means you should indent the entire passage. The vertical line indicates
approximately how far you should indent.

# add space You need extra space, usually between two words that have been run
together.

= capitalize Three lines under a letter or word means it should be capitalized

^ insert A caret mark between two words means you should add the word or phrase
I've suggested at that point

/ slash A slash with letters or punctuation marks indicates you should add the
character or characters indicated

// parallel Two slanted lines indicates that you have used an unparallel construction for a
list or in another situation where the meaning of your sentence would be
clearer if the parts were stated in the same manner.

paragraph This symbol indicates you should start a new paragraph. Often when this is
marked, the resulting paragraphs need to be developed. You have switched
topics in mid-paragraph and haven't fully explored them.

ag agency This is when the subject of your sentence isn't the real actor. For instance, you
might write: 'The story thought humans were created out of clay.' Since
stories don't think, this sentence doesn't make sense.

agree agreement Most commonly, this is marked when the subject and verb do not agree in
numberyou have a plural noun with a singular verb, for instance. Sometimes
it is the pronoun and its referent which do not agree in number or person.

awk awkward The underlined phrase is grammatically correct, but there is a clearer, more
concise way to phrase it.

cs comma splice Two independent sentences have been joined by a comma, with no
conjunction or other means to correctly join them.

dm dangling This is when the implied subject of the dependent clause is not the subject of
modifier the sentence that follows. Revise this by adding the correct subject to the
clause.
exp expand Tell more about the topic you just raised. Usually there is evidence from the
text that you should use to back up an assertion you have made or the issue is
more complicated than you have indicated from your discussion of it.

expl explain As with 'expand,' you need to discuss this topic more in your paper, explaining
why you hold the view you do or where you see evidence of it in the text.

ev evidence You need to show where you found evidence in the text to support the point
you are trying to make.

font font size The size font appears bigger than 12 pt or you have chosen a font that sets
significantly bigger than Times or Helvetica. Please use 12 pt Times or an
equivalent legible font for your essays. 10 pt is acceptible, especially if you
don't have Times or Helvetica and need to use Courier or another font that
looks big on the page.

frag fragment This is when a sentence lacks a subject and a verb or when it is a dependent
clause and therefore can not stand alone as a sentence. Often you can revise
this error by linking the fragment to the sentence before or after it, though
sometimes it is better to add the subject.

fused fused Two independent sentences have been run together as if they are one, with
no conjunction or other means to correctly join them.

inc incomplete Similar to a fragment, this is when a word is missing from your sentence. I
often mark an 'x' in the sentence where I think you need the word

iq introduce the Whenever you quote from a text, you should integrate the quoted passage
quote into your essay by providing a phrase or sentence that sets up the context of
the quote, introduces who is speaking, and begins an interpretation. After a
quotation, you should also explain the significance of the quoted passage.

mixed mixed This is when the grammar of your sentence switches in mid sentence.
construction

mm misplaced This is when word or phrase (usually underlined) is ambigous or unclear due
modifier to where it is placed in the sentence.

no it no italics The underlined text should not be in italics, but should be in plain text style.
no b no bold The underlined text (or a long passage in bold) should not be in bold type, but
should be in plain text style. Generally, you should not use bold in your
papers.

red redundant The word or sentence you've used repeats an idea that doesn't need to be
repeated.

ref referent The noun to which the pronoun refers is not clear. Often this happens when
you use the noun in the possessive. Then a pronoun can't refer to it. For
example: In Lorca's poem, "Somnambule Ballade," he writes...this is
incorrect, since he can not refer to Lorca's only to Lorca. Revise this to read: In
his poem... Lorca writes...

sp spelling This indicates a misspelled word. This may be a word that is correctly spelled
but is not the word you mean. For instance, there, their, and they're are often
misused, resulting in a misspelled word.

si split infinitive Generally, you don't put any word between the two parts of an infinitive verb
form (to + verb). 'To boldly go' is a common example of a split infinitive that is
so familiar from Star Trek as to become accepted. In an essay, it would be
better to say, 'to go boldly' or 'boldly to go' depending on the context.

tense tense shift Keep the tense of your essay consistent. If you talk about the action of the
story in either present or past tense it is fine as long as you don't switch back
and forth (except to indicate a change in the time frame of the story).

tr transpose Switch the parts of the sentence that I have marked with a line above and
below.

trans transition Provide a clear transition between two points. When marked between two
paragraphs, you will likely need a sentence or two that shows the relationship
between the topic of the first paragraph and the topic of the second. When
marked between two sentences, you likely need a phrase or introductory
word (yet, but, however, similarly, etc.) that makes the connection between
your ideas clearer.

uncl unclear The meaning of the underlined phrase is unclear.

v vague The meaning of the passage is not precise or specific enough.

wc word choice The word you have used does not fit the context you use it in. You may be
confused about its definition

word wording The underlined word or phrase is non-standard or unclear. Find a clearer way
to rephrase what you want to say.

http://www2.muw.edu/~kdunk/proof.html