Tuesday, January 27, 2009

See if you can find the style mistakes

Find the flubs in these sentences that were corrected by copy editors before they made their way into The Forum.

1. The 14-year-old wants to help other New Americans in the area.

2. The Chamber's board of directors made the decision late last week.

3. The student to computer ratio in Weset Fargo is 3:1.

4. When Palin takes the stage tonight, it will be a welcome site for Dueker.

5. Crews will fill the piles with six to nine feet of geofoam.

6. He argued the case should be dismissed because his client's Constitutional rights were violated.

7. More than 400 sixth- through twelfth-graders took their violins, violas and cellos.

8. She abruptly closed her daycare in north Fargo last month.

9. The transmission line will be between 9.5 to 11.5 miles long.

10. It will extend from the wind park to the existing Otter Tail Power Company transmission line southeast of Glyndon, Minn.

1. The 14-year-old wants to help other new Americans in the area.

2. The chamber's board of directors made the decision late last week.

3. The student to computer ratio in Weset Fargo is 3-to-1.
AP Stylebook says: ratios Use figures and hyphens: the ratio was 2-to-1, a ratio of 2-to-1, a 2-1 ratio. As illustrated, the word to should be omitted when the numbers precede the word ratio.

4. When Palin takes the stage tonight, it will be a welcome sight for Dueker.

5. Crews will fill the piles with 6 to 9 feet of geofoam.

6. He argued the case should be dismissed because his client's constitutional rights were violated.
AP Stylebook says: Lowercase constitutional in all uses.

7. More than 400 sixth- through 12th-graders took their violins, violas and cellos.

8. She abruptly closed her day care in north Fargo last month.

9. The transmission line will be between 9.5 and 11.5 milies long.

10. It will extend from the wind park to the existing Otter Tail Power Co. transmission line southeast of Glyndon, Minn.