Meaning & use
proof reading
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
The act of carefully reading text to find and correct small mistakes before it is published or printed.
Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural: 'Proof reading takes time.' Not 'a proof reading' unless you mean one single session.
Patterns
- do proof reading
- proof reading of something
She spent the afternoon doing proof reading on the report.
Good proof reading can catch typos that spell-check misses.
The proof reading of the manuscript took two days.
Common combinations
- careful proof reading
- Careful proof reading caught several missing commas.
- do proof reading
- I need to do proof reading before I send this email.
- proof reading skills
- Proof reading skills are important for any editor.
Synonyms and how they differ
- copyediting
- Copyediting also fixes grammar and style, not just small errors like typos.
- checking
- Checking is more general and can refer to looking at anything, not just text.
Word family
- proofread verb
- To read and correct text.
- proofreader noun
- A person whose job is to proofread.
Commonly confused: proof reading or proofreading?
proof reading vs proofreading
This is the same activity, but usually written as one word.
Practice
Before submitting your essay, you should do some ______ to catch any spelling mistakes.
Choose one answer.
'Proof reading' is the noun phrase that fits after 'do some'. 'Proof read' is a verb, 'proofreader' is a person, and 'proofreads' is a verb form, so none fit grammatically here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “proof reading”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.