| Abbreviation | Term (click on term for brief explanation) | Web Page for detailed handout |
|---|---|---|
| th | Thesis sentence | RPI
St. Cloud College |
| trans | Transitions | Purdue St. Cloud State Transition Cues University of Victoria transitions between paragraphs |
| top, topic | topic sentence |
U. of Ottowa |
| coh | Coherence |
U. of Ottowa Purdue |
| Abbreviation | Term (click on term for brief explanation) | Web Page (for a detailed handout) |
|---|---|---|
| frag | Sentence fragment | Purdue |
| cs | Comma splice | Purdue |
| fs | Fused sentence (run-on) | Purdue |
| su | Sentence Unity (mixed construction or awkward sentence) | Georgia Perimeter College Capital Community College U. of Victoria awkward sentences |
| vb | Verb form | U.
Ottowa (verb root and endings; irregular verbs) Purdue (irregular verbs) |
| t | Verb tense | Purdue Purdue (sequence of tenses) |
| emp | Voice | Purdue Purdue (active/passive verbs, with exercises) |
| sv agr | Subject-verb agreement | Purdue |
| sing | Need a singular form | Purdue |
| pl | Need a plural form | Purdue |
| ca | Pronoun case | Purdue |
| ref | Pronoun reference | Purdue |
| pro agr | Pronoun-noun agreement | Purdue
(section 1 agree in number) |
| ad | Adjectives/adverbs | Purdue |
| ns | Needless shift in person | Purdue
(section 2 Agree in person) |
| dm | Dangling modifiers | Purdue |
| mm | Misplaced modifier |
U. of Illinois Champaign-Urbana |
| red | Redundant word or phrase | |
| inc, comp | Incomplete sentence or comparison | |
| // | Parallel structure | Purdue |
| sub | Coordination/subordination | GPC |
| e | exact word |
U. Madison Wisc. |
| w | Wordiness (see also the Prose Style table below) | University
of Wisconsin Purdue |
| ap | Apostrophe | Purdue |
| sp | Spelling | |
| spv | Misspelling or use of wrong word, caused by spellcheck | |
| sp | Spelling of sound-alikes | Purdue
|
| id | unidiomatic construction | U. of Victoria ESL Idiom Page by Dennis Oliver |
| art | article | RPI |
| ^ | Omission of a word or phrase | |
| ww | Wrong word | U. of Victoria |
| rep | Repetition | U. of Victoria |
| p, pct | punctuation (any of the errors below) | |
| , | Comma | Purdue |
| ; | Semicolon | Purdue |
| wo | Word order | |
| 2 | Two words | |
| 1 | One word |
| Category | Web Site |
|---|---|
| Revising | Revising Prose Style from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Writing Center |
| Revising (includes mechanics and grammar) | Basic Prose Style and Mechanics by Craig Waddell |
| Revising | Some Common Weaknesses in Prose Style; and How To Strengthen Them from the Citadel |
| Writing for the Web | Layout and Prose Style when Writing for the Web adapted by Christy Desmet from Ed Tittel and Steve James, HTML for Dummies |
| Writing for the Web | Online Style Excerpts from the book Web Style Guide |
| Audience | Writer-Based Prose by Brian Jukes. Explains how to use details to write with the reader in mind |
| Audience; argumentation | Meeting the Opposition by Brian Jukes. Provides strategies for taking the opposite side into account in an argument |
| Levels of formality | Prose Style by Brian Jukes; divides style into low, middle, and high |
| Resources on the Web | A selection of websites related to various aspects of academic writing from Cambridge Language Consultants. Includes sections on style and usage; technical, literary, and academic writing; citation; and grammar. |