Help before I submit next review reporting errors

Some grammar rules (and embarrassing mistakes!) transcend the uniqueness of different regions and style guides. This new International Grammar section by OnlineBookClub.org ultimately identifies those rules thus providing a simple, flexible rule-set, respecting the differences between regions and style guides. You can feel free to ask general questions about spelling and grammar. You can also provide example sentences for other members to proofread and inform you of any grammar mistakes.

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Kristin Paolantonio
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Icon Help before I submit next review reporting errors

Post by Kristin Paolantonio »

Hi,
I don’t want to make mistakes on reporting errors in the book I am reading. Are there more examples on the forum somewhere? Can someone give more clarification? Also if I think it may be a subjective issue, do I bring it to this post to ask about it? Typos are the most obvious error. Word omission in a sentence counts?

I have a very interesting one that came up as I am reading a book. The author quoted a Bible verse with the wrong reference (John 3:11 should be Matthew 3:11). I can hardly believe I caught that! So do I mention that in my review? Do I report it as an error in the section listing errors when submitting my review?

Are the errors we are scored on in our reviews the same as errors we read and report in the books? (Sorry, I cannot seem to make this sentence clear.)

I also have a sentence in the book I am reading: “I think there are two reasons this story is the Bible.” It should be “in the Bible”. Again, do I report it on the error count, and do I state that in my review? I read in someone’s comments that it can be stated that the book had a few errors without saying what they were. That sounds simpler!

I appreciate any and all help!
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Shirley Ann Riddern Labzentis
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Post by Shirley Ann Riddern Labzentis »

First of all, when stating the errors in the book that you are reviewing, you don't state them in the review. You will be asked questions for the PRQ (Post Review Questions), such as errors, profanity, and religion. You must list the page or location number plus the errors that you found with the full sentence and what the error was. Typos, word ommissions, and objective commas. In the review itself, you can mention that you found some errors, but you do not have to. Yes, "is the Bible" is an error and should be counted. Also, John 3:11 is an error and should be counted. For the profanity part, you need to list the page number and the profane word. You do not have to list the full sentence if you do not want to. I hope that helps a little.
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Kristin Paolantonio
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Post by Kristin Paolantonio »

Yes, that helps a lot! You explained that well! Are you available and willing to answer more questions as they arise? I can write them here if that is most convenient.

I am learning so much on this site. I also ordered a grammar book. I am surprised at how rusty I have gotten on grammar. I need to remember to use "who" instead of "that" in many of my sentences. The Grammarly and Scribens extensions are teaching me common errors I make. I am so glad it was suggested!
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Shirley Ann Riddern Labzentis
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Post by Shirley Ann Riddern Labzentis »

Yes, I can help you as much as I can. It is quite confusing when you first start out.
"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know which one you are going to get!"
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Kristin Paolantonio
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Post by Kristin Paolantonio »

Thank you. I saw on the suggestions sites some pending changes to be made. That will be so nice! Hopefully, it resolves many issues.

I also have had questions maneuvering around the site. Yesterday I received the notice to write my review on Amazon. I was sure I saw somewhere to write a separate review from the one on here. I searched everywhere and could not find the information. Finally, I copied and pasted my OBC review to Amazon but deleted half that did not seem necessary for Amazon. I then went to status update, and that is where it said not to copy your review but to leave a simple review. So now I don't know if once Amazon approves my review I should edit it down to 2-3 sentences. Do you have a suggestion? I just want to do things correctly. There is so much information on this site everywhere. I hope it gets simplified and streamlined in that sense.
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Alys Sterk
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Post by Alys Sterk »

Hi,
You can't have the same review on Amazon. You can write a different one or you can post a link so that others can read it on the OBC site. When Amazon approves it, please do it right away. I would make it a lot shorter and add a link.
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Kristin Paolantonio
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Post by Kristin Paolantonio »

Help please!
My 1st scorer told me to insert a comma:
1. comma after Only,
The book, By Invitation Only by Nicholas L. Maze, encourages, teaches, and inspires.

My 2nd scorer now informed me it is an error to have the comma.

Does a comma go after the title in my sentence?

Grammar checkers also gave differing answers.

Also I was penalized for giving a 5 star rating while stating something minor I would change. I also wrote it was exceptionally well edited, and there was nothing I disliked so I did not deduct any stars. The 1st scorer said nothing about this. The 2nd scorer did. Who do I listen to?

The 2nd scorer also wrote comma- coma twice. Is there another way to spell comma ? (I could not resist saying that.)
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Shirley Ann Riddern Labzentis
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Post by Shirley Ann Riddern Labzentis »

In my opinion, there should not be a comma after By Invitation Only. The comma is always spelled "comma"; otherwise, it's coma. A coma is when you are unconscious. I would also not deduct anything for the 5-star rating. You usually only deduct a star if it is something major that you would change and it affected the enjoyment of the book.
"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know which one you are going to get!"
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Kristin Paolantonio
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Post by Kristin Paolantonio »

Hi, before I submit my review I am concerned with the reporting errors part- the guideline says to write the whole sentence showing his error. This author writes very long sentences. Does it have to be the whole complete sentence?

There are a few instances “Pharoah” is not capitalized so I am thinking I mark each of those times?
He is speaking of a specific pharoah.

Is this sentence a grammatical error to report? “I include this story to illustrate the results of sin, and as we shall see throughout the history the Jews, there were lots of sin and many types of Christ whom God sent to redeem or rescue His people.” (were lots of sin - sounds funny to me like it should be a lot of sin or was a lot of sin or sins?) I don’t know how it should be written.

I am pretty sure promised land should be capitalized, do I mark it on the error report? “….before they entered the promised land.” Do I have to put the whole sentence or just the phrase is sufficient?


Also I thought king should be King: “However, the king of Assyria demanded tribute…” because it is talking about a specific king. I am unsure…


This sentence sounds funny “to water of nutrients” what is your opinion and do I count it as a grammatical error? “Like seeds that fall on different types of soil and are eaten by the birds, on rocky ground where it springs up quickly but has to water of nutrients, in thorny patches where the plant is choked out and yields no crop, and some fall on good soil and grow and yield a good crop, so is the gospel.”

“….going to the cross to die for yours and my sin.” Should it be your not yours? Does that count as an error to report?

Also, “You will be happy, have inner peace.” and “You seem happy, content.” Is this okay? Is it just another style of writing that he uses a comma not the word - and?

I also hated reading this book because of the way the author wrote. I felt it was painfully wordy and did not flow from paragraph to paragraph at times. I almost returned it. It has taken much longer to read than usual because I dreaded it. How many stars do you deduct for that? Someone else on the site gave this book a great review. She also did not find errors. I wondered if we read the same book?!
I realize everyone will have differing opinions.

I want to do my review submission correctly. Please help!
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Kristin Paolantonio
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Post by Kristin Paolantonio »

Help! Would you record each of the instances he did not capitalize pharaoh as an error? Even the Bible itself has it capitalized as a proper noun. In that case, my error reporting would be over 10 errors, and I could stop keeping track? (all the pharaohs should be capitalized except for "the current pharaoh."

"Moses reluctantly obeyed God and returned to Egypt to talk pharaoh into letting the Hebrews go. Forty years had passed, so the current pharaoh did not know of Moses's earlier history in Egypt. Moses asked pharaoh to let the Hebrews go about three days journey away to pray and make sacrifices to their God, Yahweh. God used Moses to bring ten different plagues or disasters upon the Egyptian people to force pharaoh to let the Hebrews go to worship their God. But each time the plague was removed, pharaoh changed his mind and would not let the Hebrews go. After the ninth plague, pharaoh told Moses that if he came back to see him again, Moses would be executed. When the new day revealed all the deaths of Egypt's sons, pharaoh said the Hebrews could go. Soon after pharaoh released the Hebrews to go on their journey, he regretted it and sent his soldiers after them to bring them back. The Egyptian army made the mistake of following the Hebrews between the walls of water, and when the Hebrews exited the passage into the Sinai, God released the waters, and the entire army of pharaoh perished. "
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Post by Diana Lowery »

It looks like the capitalization of the word pharaoh is subjective. I would not list it as a counted error.
https://sblhs2.com/2017/08/26/kings-que ... -emperors/
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Kristin Paolantonio
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Post by Kristin Paolantonio »

Thank you for that link! I wish somethings were more cut and dry! All of the grammar checkers said in the instances to capitalize it. I believe they need to be but, I don't want it brought back to me after submitting the errors that it is subjective if it is considered subjective.
Casey Luckado
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Post by Casey Luckado »

I just completed my first review. I thought it was great, but I only received 18/100 in points! There were three errors listed, all to add commas that I believe are unnecessary. Is there a specific grammar tool that anyone uses?
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Kristin Paolantonio
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Post by Kristin Paolantonio »

Hi! It can be shocking when you think your review is good and the score comes back low. After a few reviews mine finally improved. I read posts on the forum to get tips. Others recommend QuillBot, Grammerly, and Scribens. It was also suggested to use the site, Natural Reader to hear your review read to you. I bookmarked the posts that have been helpful to me. I wonder if there is a way to share those to you.
Casey Luckado
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Post by Casey Luckado »

Thank you! I will check those sites out. It was quite a shock. I felt like a straight A student getting her first B. 😂
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