Common Mistakes On

COMMON MISTAKES ON SUBMISSIONS AT TRINITY

Below are correctives to the most common grammar and style mistakes I find in Trinity submissions. The circled numbers that I have placed in the margin of your paper correlate with the numbered items below. Please review the examples I have provided or review the cited portions in Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations in order to avoid these mistakes in future lessons.

Problems with Commas and Semicolons

1. Use a comma with the next-to-the-last item in a series of three or more items: Turabian 3.68.

2. Place commas and periods within quotation marks, but place other punctuation marks outside of quotation marks: Turabian 5.17.

3. Use the semicolon for (a) separating independent clauses within a compound sentence that does not have a coordinating conjunction or (b) separating lengthy items in a series where commas are used already within the items themselves: Turabian 3.84-3.87.

4. In a compound sentence with two independent clauses, separate the independent clauses by either a semicolon or a comma + “and.” In a compound sentence with more than two independent clauses, separate all the clauses by a semicolon except for the last one, which should be separated by a comma + “and.” For example:

INCORRECT: My mother went to Washington and a tour guide took her through the Smithsonian Institute. [Here there are two independent clauses; that is, each part of the sentence could stand alone as a separate sentence.]

CORRECT: My mother went to Washington, and a tour guide took her through the Smithsonian Institute.

INCORRECT: My mother went to Washington, she visited the Smithsonian Institute and she saw the President.

CORRECT: My mother went to Washington; she visited the Smithsonian Institute, and she saw the President.

5. Use a colon (:) to introduce clarifying clauses, phrases, or lists: Turabian 3.88-3.90.

INCORRECT: James decided to spend his day doing these chores; washing his car, paying his bills, and washing his clothes.

CORRECT: James decided to spend his day doing these chores: washing his car, paying his bills, and washing his clothes.

1 Problems with Pronouns

6. Make sure pronouns and their antecedents match in number, gender, and person. For example:

INCORRECT: Anxiety will not be overcome if a counselee refuses to apply Matthew 6:25-34 to their life. [Here the pronoun “their” does not match its antecedent “counselee” in number.]

CORRECT: Anxiety will not be overcome if counselees refuse to apply Matthew 6:25- 34 to their lives.

7. To avoid “gender-biased language,” wherever appropriate, use collective nouns (“humanity,” or “people”) and/or plural pronouns (“they,” “them,” “their,” etc.). Avoid use of “he/she” or “s/he.” Also avoid exclusive use of either “he” or “she.”

8. Use personal pronouns consistently within a sentence or paragraph. For example:

INCORRECT: Biblical counselors must be careful to use passages of Scripture appropriately. You must “rightly divide” the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15). [Here the first sentence is written in the third person, and the second sentence is written in the second person.]

CORRECT: Biblical counselors must be careful to use passages of Scripture appropriately. They must “rightly divide” the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

Problems with Quotations

9. Use block quotations for quotes that will be over 4 lines of text. (NOTE: This differs from Turabian’s suggestion.)

10. Do not use quotation marks to open or close block quotations. Single-space block quotations: Turabian 5.30-5.34.

11. Use single quotation marks only within double quotation marks (signifying a quote within a quote): Turabian 5.11. Students trained in the British system of punctuation and spelling must use that system consistently.

Problems with Formatting

12. Reserve the use of Latin phrases (“e.g.,” “etc.,” “i.e.,” and so on) for parenthetical comments or footnotes (or endnotes): Turabian 2.23; 2.26.

13. Use a double space between lines within the body of the paper and between separate bibliographic entries. Use a single space between lines within footnotes and within bibliographic entries: Turabian 14.36; 14.39.

14. In bibliographies indent the second and subsequent lines 5 spaces: Turabian 14.39.

15. Format headings and subheadings consistently throughout the paper: Turabian 1.37.

2 16. Use two double-spaces between previous text and a new heading or subheading and one double-space between a heading or subheading and subsequent text.

17. Do not allow subheadings to “hang” at the bottom of a page without at least two lines of supporting text underneath them.

18. Format citations and bibliographies consistently throughout the paper: Turabian 11.1-11.68.

19. Biblical book titles should be spelled out.

20. Use parallel construction of items in lists or series. For example:1

INCORRECT: The participants were told to make themselves comfortable, to read the instructions, and that they should ask about anything they did not understand. [Here the first two items in the series are infinitive phrases and the last one is a dependent clause introduced by a relative pronoun.]

CORRECT: The participants were told to make themselves comfortable, to read the instructions, and to ask about anything they did not understand.

21. Capitalize “Scripture” and “Bible.” Do not capitalize “biblical,” “scriptural,” “pastor” (unless it’s used with a particular name, e.g., “Pastor Mark” or “Pastor Smith”), “biblical counseling,” or “biblical counselor.”

22. When you delete a portion of quoted material (a word, phrase, or sentence), you show that with an ellipsis, which is created by spacing three periods in place of the deleted material (period- space-period-space-period). An ellipsis does not replace the period of the sentence before it (so you would type period-space-period-space-period-space-period). See Turabian 5.18-5.28.

1 This particular example comes from Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed (Washington, D. C.: American Psychological Association, 2001), 60.