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Proofreading Checklist with Explanations

Sentence Boundaries
Are all your sentences complete (i.e., not fragments)? Do you have any run-ons, comma splices, or fused sentences?

Subject-Verb Agreement
Can you identify the subject of each clause in your sentence? Can you identify the verb that goes with it? Make sure that you are using the appropriate form of the verb that "agrees" in number with the subject, depending on whether the subject is singular or plural.

Pronoun Reference
Look for the pronouns in your paper. Is the antecedent for each pronoun clear? Have you used pronouns consistently in each sentence, so that they ?

Possessive Pronouns and Nouns
Have you used the correct spelling of pronouns that show possession (especially your, yours, its, their, theirs)? Have you used apostrophes correctly to show possession in nouns?

Verb Tense

Punctuation:

• See Rules for Commas and Punctuation Patterns for Several Sentence Types from the University of Delaware's Writing Center
• See Using Apostrophes Correctly, also from the University of Delaware
  

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