First Reading Spacing errors MODULE 3 PROOFREADING PREPARED

First Reading: Spacing errors MODULE 3: PROOFREADING PREPARED BY: ANNA VINOGRADOVA

Spacing Errors: Frequently Occur: Between words and numbers With punctuation

General Rules: There is one space after: A comma (, ) A period (. ) A semicolon (; ) A colon within a sentence (: ) A question mark (? ) An exclamation point (! ) A closing bracket within a sentence ) An apostrophe that ends a word within a sentence (employees’ files) A closing quotation mark that ends a sentence (She said, “I will forward this invoice to the payables department. ” )

General Rules: There is no space before a: Period (. ) Comma (, ) Semicolon (; ) Colon (: ) Closing quotation mark (”) Closing bracket or parenthesis )

General Rules (continued): There is no space after: Opening bracket or parenthesis (you’ll be amazed) Opening quotation mark “We will not sign the contract. ” A closing bracket or parenthesis when followed by another punctuation mark. Example: I would like you to look at their sales terms (you’ll be amazed). Period, exclamation point, or question mark when followed by another punctuation mark. Example: Mr. Lee, the vice-principal, in his letter to the council stated, “We will not the contract until this issue is resolved. ” sign

General Rules (continued): There is no space before or after: An apostrophe within a word (Today’s) A decimal point within a number ($39. 99) A dash ( ) A hyphen (-) A colon expressing time or ratio (4: 15 a. m. ) A diagonal (She was hired for the position of a secretary/proofreader) A comma within a number (1, 200) A period within an abbreviation (f. o. b. ) At sign (@) Exception: one space before and after the dash (–) in the Subject Line

General Rules (continued): There is one space before: An opening bracket within a sentence ( An opening quotation mark within a sentence “ a. m. and p. m.

Reference: Pitman’s Office Handbook: pages 102– 105 PDF

Proofreading symbols: Add space: Delete space: Leave one space: