Editing Exercises

In today’s globalized world, English has become a universal language, making it crucial for individuals to master its fundamental concepts and hone essential reading, speaking, and writing skills. Among these skills, content editing is a vital tool for effective communication. Whether you are a student, professional, or casual learner, having strong editing skills helps ensure your writing is clear, concise, and error-free.

In this blog, we’ll dive into editing exercises, offering you a worksheet with practical exercises, valuable tips for solving them, and even some fun videos to make the learning process enjoyable. If you want to improve your writing and editing skills, this post is for you! Please continue reading to explore all the helpful resources we’ve curated for you.

What are Editing Exercises?

Editing exercises are included in English workbooks in schools to build a good grammatical foundation in students, preparing them for formal communication by developing sentence structuring and editing skills. Editing exercises generally comprise a short passage which is divided into small sentences. Each of these sentences has a misfitting phrase or word which requires editing. Students are supposed to identify and rectify the error, following the process throughout the passage.

Editing exercises can help you:

• Build a habit of proofreading your written content efficiently and covering all aspects of errors.
• Improves writing skills by giving snippets of content with errors in them, thus ensuring minimal errors when you try writing yourself.
• Strengthen your grasp of English which can help in avoiding errors in both spoken and written communication skills.

A Guide for you to Master your English Language Skills: How to Speak Fluent English in 30 Days?

Tips for Effective Editing

Editing can transform a good piece of writing into an exceptional one. Start by reading the entire text to catch any glaring issues. Follow this by checking for consistency in tone and clarity. Ensure each sentence flows logically, and verify the accuracy of facts and spelling. Finally, reading aloud can help highlight awkward phrasing or overlooked errors. This comprehensive approach ensures that each revision enhances readability and engagement, making your writing impactful and polished.

Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid

Common grammar mistakes can disrupt the flow of your writing and affect its professionalism. Watch for errors like subject-verb disagreement, incorrect tense use, and misplaced modifiers. Additionally, be wary of overusing passive voice, as it can dilute the clarity and directness of your message. Staying attentive to these pitfalls can greatly enhance your writing’s coherence and precision, helping readers engage effortlessly with your ideas.

Easy Editing Exercises with Answers

To guide you beyond simple tips and tricks, here are some solved practice questions on editing. In the given passages, there are incorrect phrases and words which require correction. Identify the mistakes correctly and replace them with the best possible alternative:

Read the passage given below and identify the words that are incorrect and correct them.

Once upon a time, there lived a very poor girl who had very big dreams but didn’t work hard enough to achieve them. One day she had enough milk to sell in the market so she thought if she could sell the milk she should earn enough money and move into the city and start a new job there. So she poured the milk into a large can and carried it in her head to a nearby market. While going to the market she started to dream about how she would earn a lot of money and make all her dream come true and if someone asked her for money, she would scold them and send them back. Just while thinking so, she jerked her head so fast that the milk kept on her head fell and all the milk spilled on the ground.

Answer:-

Incorrect	Correct
Their	There
Has	Had
Too	to
It	Them
Sells	Sell
Though	Thought
Should	Could
An	a
Pour	Poured
Dreaming	Dream
Lots	Lot
Dream	Dreams
Ask	Asked
Sent	Send
Jerk	Jerked
Keep	Kept
Falls	Fell
Milks	Milk

Take a look at the following passage and the incorrect and correct words:

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Banana is an popular fruit and	an	a
An important part to our diet today.	to	of
It originally belonged in South Asia	in	to
Region where it using to grow wild	using	used
In the forests. In the years, proper selection	in	with
Yield the edible banana.	yield	yielded

For this editing exercise, go through the passage with each incorrect sentence:

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Facebook, with more then 1 Billion users	then	than
Is celebrated its 10th birthday this year.	celebrated	celebrating
The company was launching by Mark	launching	launched
Zuckerberg at 4th February 2004. The site was	at	on
Conceived in a Harvard dorm in a way	in	as
To connect student and let them build an	student	students
Identity for himself online	himself	themselves

Free Editing Exercises PDF

Editing Exercises for Practise

Select the word which should be edited from the following sentences to make them grammatically correct.

1. I have been living in Ireland there for two years.

1. Have been
2. Living
3. There
4. For

2. She did not want to do work today.

1. Did not
2. Want
3. Do
4. Today

3. Harry lent his book to me on yesterday.

1. Lent
2. On
3. To
4. Yesterday

4. Sherry, my friend, who is a writer.

1. My
2. Who
3. Is
4. A

5. I wanted to stay out away of this.

1. Away
2. To
3. Of
4. Out

6. I have wrote this song yesterday.

1. This
2. Have
3. Yesterday
4. None of the above

7. I would like that you deliver this letter for me.

1. That
2. This
3. For
4. Me

8. The office where I work at is very small.

1. The
2. Where
3. At
4. Very

9. She wrote to me this letter.

1. To
2. Me
3. This
4. None of the Above

10. I asked to him if he wants to go out.

1. To
2. If
3. Out
4. None of the Above

Other Editing Exercises

Q2: Solve the following passage by highlighting the incorrect phrase and mentioning the correct phrase in the next column.

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Paper were first made by the Egyptians	_______	________
From the plant names papyrus. For	_______	________
the long time, papyrus was used extensively	_______	________
as writing material before a Chinese	_______	________
perfected the processes. Demand of paper	_______	________
growing with the advent of books worldwide.	_______	________

Q3: Find the incorrect phrases in this paragraph and put them in the columns:

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Children are fond to mango. It is a	_______	________
juicy or citrous fruit, available in	_______	________
much varieties. Mangoes grow on a	_______	________
tree over tropical and temperate climate.	_______	________
One of the best place to have good mangoes	_______	________
was Andhra Pradesh, India	_______	________

Q4: Locate the incorrect words in the following paragraph and add them to the columns with correct words.

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Ones there was a King who	_______	________
Thought only to himself.	_______	________
He only talked about her own charms	_______	________
and conquests in a court all day.	_______	________
He wants people to believe his tales	_______	________
and talk about his great to everyone.	_______	________

While practising these editing exercises, don’t forget to check out Omission Exercises!

Q5: Solve the incorrect words in the following passage.

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
I had to went out despite the	_______	________
Heavy rain outside to got some medicine.	_______	________
Although the symptoms was not as	_______	________
Pronounced as they were at the morning,	_______	________
the doctor had instructs me to	_______	________
be regular with mine dosage.	_______	________

Q6: Find the incorrect words and their corrections and add them to the corresponding columns.

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Commonwealth golds medalist Heena Kumari	_______	________
used to watch her uncle repairs all kinds	_______	________
Of guns in her neighbourhood and development	_______	________
a fancy for it. When she picks up shooting	_______	________
In 2006, her family did not thinks that she could	_______	________
Represent the country or win the medal, but she	_______	________
proven everyone wrong with her skills.	_______	________

Q7: Find the incorrect words in the passage and correct them

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
It is true that a natural disaster was a natural process	_________	_________
and we cannot stop it, but through making certain preparations,	_________	_________
we can reduce the magnitude of the loss to life or property.	_________	_________
First of all, we would reduce global warming which is the	_________	_________
root cause from all the problems. We should	_________	_________
also have insurance policies such that we have	_________	_________
sufficient money to rebuilt our lives after any such disaster.	_________	_________

Q8: Solve the incorrect words in the following passage.

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Although Martin Luther is considered to being an icon	_________	_________
for racial equal, his work exceeds far beyond that.	_________	_________
As a pastor, he worked to human betterment, irrespective	_________	_________
of colour or creed. He believed in a word of the lord	_________	_________
and implemented his virtues like kindness on his daily activities.	_________	_________

Q9: Find the wrong words in the passage and correct them.

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Electricity is express by the amount of charge	_________	_________
flowing through the particular area in unit time. Electricity	_________	_________
is a necessity to modern civilization. It have invaded our	_________	_________
lives or has become vital to many aspects of our society.	_________	_________
It is a medium for the transmission to signals in computers,	_________	_________
cell phones etc. In industries, manufacturing rely on electricity	_________	_________
for drive virtually all moving parts.	_________	_________

Q10: Identify mistakes in the passage and correct them.

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Discipline is a structural and fundamental unit	_________	_________
of a success person. It is essential for us at home,	_________	_________
for soldiers on the battlefield, for students at school, for	_________	_________
players in the playground. A team of experience players	_________	_________
can also lose a match because to indiscipline in the team.	_________	_________
Every tough battle can be win by a disciplined army.	_________	_________

Q11: Locate errors in the passage and rectify them.

Passage	Incorrect	Correct
Books help us knew more about our civilization.	_________	_________
Through books, we come in contact to great scholars,	_________	_________
poets and philosophers. Book never misguide us.	_________	_________
They help us in building their character. By reading	_________	_________
books, our knowledge is elevated. If us are	_________	_________
on a long journey, books gave us good company.	_________	_________
Everyone, therefore, should develop the habit to reading books.	_________	_________

Answers to Editing Exercises

Q1.

I. 3
II. 3
III. 2
IV. 1
V. 1
VI. 2
VII. 1
VIII. 3
IX. 1
X. 1

Q2. 

Incorrect	Correct
Were	Was
Names	Named
The	A
A	The
processes	Process
Growing	Grew

Q3

Incorrect	Correct
To	Of
Or	And
The	A
Much	Many
Over	In
Place	Places
Was	Is

Q4

Incorrect	Correct
Ones	Once
To	About
Her	His
A	The
Wants	Wanted
Great	Greatness

Q5

Incorrect	Correct
Went	Go
Got	Get
Was	Were
At	In
Instructs	Instructed
Mine	My

Q6

Incorrect	Correct
Golds	Gold
Repairs	Repair
Development	Developed
Picks	Picked
Thinks	Think
The	A
Proven	Proved

Also Explore 10 Ways to Be a Good Orator Along with Some Well-Known Orators

Q7

Incorrect	Correct
was	is
through	by
or	and
would	should
from	of
such	so
rebuilt	rebuild

Q8

Incorrect	Correct
being	be
equal	equality
to	for
a	the
on	in

Q9

Incorrect	Correct
express	expressed
the	a
have	has
or	and
to	of
rely	relies
For	to

Q10

Incorrect	Correct
A	The
success	successful
at	in
experience	experienced
because	due
win	won

Q11

Incorrect	Correct
knew	know
to	with
book	books
their	our
us	we
gave	give
to	of

Tricks Solve Editing Exercises

Solving editing exercises requires basic lingual skills, as well as an awareness of sentence structuring and articulation. However, there are a few tips that can help you answer editing questions quickly while checking all the boxes for grammar. Here are some of them:

• Subject-verb agreement is paramount in editing exercises. If the verb and subject do not indicate similarity as singular/plural, there is an error.
• Focus on sentence punctuation more as it would help you in determining the correct use of proverbs and conjunctions, also keeping in check the coordinating conjunctions. The apostrophe is one of the most crucial punctuation in editing.
• Make sure that the tenses are in line throughout the passage. In case there is a discrepancy, make sure you edit the singular anomaly instead of correcting tenses in every sentence, as it has a very high chance of being wrong.
• Try reading the passage backwards, too. Sometimes, it is hard to anticipate mistakes when editing while reading from top to bottom. Reading it in reverse makes the text unpredictable and helps the brain isolate every sentence, bringing out minor mistakes.
• Errors in articles are frequent in editing exercises and are easy to comprehend. Just remember the vowel and special subject rule.
• Check the noun and pronoun agreement throughout the text. There may be different number errors between the two, or the pronoun used may be completely incorrect.

Related Posts

Idioms	Synonyms	Antonyms
Idioms to Express Sadness	Synonyms of Ephemeral	Antonyms of Brave
Idioms to Express Surprise	Synonyms of Welcome	Antonyms of Selfish
Idioms to Express Friendship	Synonyms of Cry	Antonyms of Victim
Idioms to Express Excitement	Synonyms of Huge	Antonyms of Misogyny
No Pain No Gain Meaning	Synonyms of Jovial	Antonyms of Lazy

FAQs

Hence, this article encapsulates the basic knowledge related to Editing exercises and how to solve them. Editing exercises are not only included in the school curriculum but can also help you prepare for English proficiency tests like IELTS and TOEFL. If you are aiming to appear for IELTS or TOEFL, sign up for our Leverage Live online classes and avail dedicated doubt-clearing sessions, best-in-class study materials, and tips and tricks to achieve your dream score!