Spelling
Copyeditors use this to determine what version of a word should be used in text
What is the first variant in Merriam-Webster
Ending a sentence is difficult without this category of punctuation marks
What is terminal punctuation marks
Techincal and non-technical texts use these general prinicpals to know when to spell out or set numbers in numerals
What is spelling out words 1-100 and spelling out words 1-9
This part of speech replaces proper nouns in a sentence
What are pronouns
To signal to the printer that text should be treated in a specific way, copyeditors perform this basic task to assign codes to sections of text
What is markup
This is the difference between program and programme, grey and gray, and center and centre
What is UK vs US spelling
This mark is used with a conjunction to join two independent clauses
What is a comma
This basic rule is broken in the following sentence: "10,500 pages of depositions were submitted by the plaintiff."
What is starting a sentence with a numeral
Moving the subject to far away from a descriptor can lead to this common copyediting error
What are dangling or misplaced modifiers
Issues with this concept can at best confuse readers and at worst offend or alienate entire groups of readers
What is bias-free language
Authors may confuse these words that look different but sound the same
What are homophones
This phrase should be offset from a sentence with commas on either side
What is a non-restrictive clause
Non-technical texts can get away with not using numerals for numbers over 100 because of this rule
What is that copyeditors should spell out round numbers
The following sentences are examples of this grammar faux-pas:
The man who hunts ducks out on weekends.
The cotton clothing is usually made of grows in Mississippi.
What is leading the reader down the garden path or garden-path sentences
A large proportion of; trained professional, few in number, are all examples of this principal
What is deadwood
Here! Here!. Shoe-in, Free reign, and Phased by are all examples of what spelling faux-pas?
What are eggcorns
An easier way to describe two words that work together to create a new word
Double jeopardy: What punctuation mark is used to join two words before the word it modifies?
What is a compound word
What is a hyphen
First, Second, and Third base are examples of this numbering principal
What are ordinal numbers
This pronoun pair requires a copyeditor to understand if the noun being replaced is operating as the subject or the object in a sentence
What is who and whom
While some students are taught to avoid these entirely, the following sentence is an example of what legitimate sentence structure: "Temperature and humidity readings were made at 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m."
What is passive voice
The difference between forming a possesive and a plural
What is adding an 's vs adding s or es to the end of a word
These three marks look very similar, but serve very different purposes. Copyeditors may have to quint to figure out the right mark.
The two times of day that are never set in numerals
What are Noon and Midnight
This grammatical principal ensures that corresponding elements in a text maintain the same structure
What is parallelism or parallel structure
Government documents use what general practice to ensure that communications are clear for readers at all grade and English levels
What is plain language compliance or plain language