1. ©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Sentence Skills: A Workbook for Writers, Form A John Langan Omitted Words and Letters

2. ©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Omitted Words and Letters Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E Omitted Words It is very easy to omit (or leave out) certain words or letters when you write. –I shuffled the cards, and then opened deck to the middle. the

3. ©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Omitted Words and Letters Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E It’s not easy to spot missing words! The most commonly dropped words--a, an, of, the, for instance--are very short. Noticing missing letters is just as difficult, if not harder. –To find missing words and letters, you will have to hone your proofreading skills. This can only be done with practice! Finding Omitted Words and Letters

4. ©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Omitted Words and Letters Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E The plural form of many nouns ends in -s. Often, people omit this -s when they are writing.The plural form of many nouns ends in -s. Often, people omit this -s when they are writing. I gave her three pairs of shoe and five golden ring, and she still won’t return my phone calls! (The -s is missing from shoes and rings.) The Omitted -s Ending

5. ©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Omitted Words and Letters Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E The Omitted -s Ending Often when we’re talking, we leave out letters such as the -s ending. When we do this in speech, we can still be understood. But in writing, omitted words and letters can confuse and frustrate the reader. At the very least, they make author seem sloppy. SO ALWAYS READ YOUR PAPERS OVER BEFORE HANDING THEM IN!!