Tips and Reminders Editing marks for common errors on

Editing marks for common errors on essays
Symbol
g / gen
#
per
T
art
w
sp
v
?
q
prep
b/c
imp
Abbrev. for
gender
number
person
tense
article missing
word choice
spelling error
verb missing
unclear
"que" needed
preposition
"because of"
impersonal se
Valerie Freeman, Spanish 103
Description / Example
noun has wrong gender / adj doesn't agree w/ noun
should be opposite (sing/plural); adj/verb doesn't agree w/ noun
verb conjugated to the wrong person (yo, tu, ellos, etc)
verb in wrong tense
usually needs definite article (el, la, los, las)
vocab confusion: ex: "w : ser" = use ser instead
always needed after pensar or creer: pienso que…/ creo que...
missing / incorrect preposition
use: a causa de ; debido a (due to); or por eso (because of this)
instead of "tu puedes", use se puede (one can)
"my brother's personality" = la personalidad de mi hermano
's
possessive
NOT mi hermanos personalidad
Note: my "g" might look like an 8 or an "s" and my "q" might look like a 9.
Tips and Reminders
a good online dictionary: WordReference.com
-- includes definitions to help you choose the correct translation
For typing: In Word: Tools > Language > Set Language… Turn on the spell- and
sp, w
grammar-check: they will catch many spelling and accent errors.
Making accents as you type: see EN p.5.
In Word: hold control+apostrophe, release and then type the vowel.
nouns almost always need articles (a, the, some)
art
the adjectives we've learned are not nouns! ex: trabajador = hardworking
professions don't need them: ex: Soy maestra = I'm a teacher (no "una" needed)
adding "s" doesn’t make a possessive! It's always "the thing of a person"
's
misc remember almost all adjectives go after nouns, not before
check that adjectives agree in number and gender w/ their nouns
words ending in -idad or -ción are feminine
gen, #
the noun "genetics" is always singluar: la genética
"genetic" as an adjective agrees w/ the noun: genético/a(s)
use ser for personality traits: ex: soy trabajadora y ella es luchadora
use tener años (not ser ) for age: ex: mi hermano tiene 13 años
nos = to us // nosotros = we
w
mejor = better // mayor = older // mayoría = majority
mucho/a = much / a lot // muchos/as = many // muy = very
padres = parents // parientes = relatives (e.g. extended family)
"someone to talk to" = alguien con quien hablar (NOT alguien hablar con )