## [revision: grammar and mechanics](/writing-tips-plus/revision-grammar-and-mechanics) ## Avertissement Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement. Because of deletions and recasting of phrases and sentences, pay particular attention to punctuation, capitalization and grammar. For instance, sentences may lack a verb, an initial capital letter, a co-ordinating conjunction, or an essential punctuation mark. Redundancy may also have been introduced. The following types of error are commonplace. - Misspelling - Misprints - Punctuation errors, including the overuse of quotation marks - Incorrect capitalization - Erroneous compounding or word division - Failure to ensure that, when first used, an abbreviation follows the full name of the entity it represents, unless the abbreviation is well known - Incorrect form of an abbreviation - Inconsistency in presenting numbers (as numerals or words) - Erroneous or inconsistent use of decimal point - Inconsistency in presenting SI/metric symbols, including spacing between symbols and figures - Inaccurate transcription of numbers from one draft to the next - Arabic in place of Roman numerals, and vice versa - Non-agreement of subject and verb and use of singular noun where plural is required: The customer service *thrust* of this and other departments *have* been poorly communicated to the general public. The Tab and Caps Lock *key* is found on the left-hand side of the keyboard. - No finite verb: not What to do about it? but What should we do about it? - Comma splice: Cod stocks were dropping at an alarming rate, swift action had to be taken. (co-ordinating conjunction *and* required after *rate*) - Dangling participle: *Omitting* the overture, *the music* began. *Arising* out of a conflict of personalities, *the Director General, Finance and Administration*, felt compelled to resign and move on. - Faulty or imprecise antecedents for pronouns: Ross Rebagliati snowboarded down the ski slope, *which* is now a recognized event in winter olympics competition. Sam visited his brother every day while *he* was unemployed. - Faulty parallelism: The new sales program was stimulating and *a challenge*. ( … *challenging*.) The solution lies not in prohibition or censorship but in *developing* self-control. ( … *the development of* …) This type of product has three advantages: - It is strong. - It is inexpensive. - Long life. (*It has a long life.* **or** *It is durable*.) - Misuse of restrictive and non-restrictive constructions (see [commas with non-restrictive elements](commas-with-non-restrictive-elements)) - Incomplete constructions (faulty ellipsis): Aircraft *land* and take off *from* Winnipeg airport at very short intervals. ( … *land at* …) The building is as *old, if not older than*, the Library of Parliament. ( … *as old as* …) ## Avis de droit d’auteur pour l’outil Writing Tips Plus © Sa Majesté le Roi du chef du Canada, représenté par le ou la ministre des Services publics et de l’Approvisionnement Un outil créé et mis en ligne par le Bureau de la traduction, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada ## Rechercher par thèmes connexes Vous voulez en apprendre davantage sur un thème abordé dans cette page? Cliquez sur un lien ci-dessous pour voir toutes les pages du Portail linguistique du Canada portant sur le thème choisi. Les résultats de recherche s’afficheront dans le [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator). - [Abbreviations, acronyms and symbols](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A447#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Abbreviations](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A447&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A448#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Symbols](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A447&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A451#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Units of measurement](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A447&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A452#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Grammar and syntax](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A476#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Compounds](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A476&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A479#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Grammar errors](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A476&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A481#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Punctuation](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A491#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Punctuation marks](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A491&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A494#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Spelling](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A496#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Hyphenation](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A496&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A498#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Writing conventions](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A512#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Capitalization](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A512&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A513#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Numerical expressions](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A512&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A515#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) ## Liens connexes - [Writing Tips Plus](/fr/writing-tips-plus/index-fra) (page d’accueil) - [Outils d’aide à la rédaction](/fr/outils-tools/index-fra) - [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator) (permet de trouver rapidement des conseils linguistiques) - [TERMIUM Plus®](http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-fra.html?lang=fra)