Mentor marks

These are comment marks that Hunter uses to tell a client the type of problem in the text, i.e. what needs repairing.

action verb Rather than a copula verb, use an action verb for impact/clarity.
agr mistake with subject-verb agreement
awk A phrase or sentence is awkward (awkward = not smooth)
cas This language is casual, not formal.
comb Combine sentences.
conj This is a conjunction (don’t start a sentence with it).
FAE This is not Formal Academic English
gr grammar mistake
link this logic link is wrong, or at least not the best choice
non-std this phrasing is not standard
not true This sentence/phrase, as written, is untrue.

e.g. In this paper, 36 randomly selected subjects were interviewed.
par imperfect parallel structure

e.g. Some New Zealanders have been forced to live in cars, garages and under bridges.
red redundant (some information has been repeated,

e.g. The temperature was also recorded as well.)
ref pronoun reference/article reference problem

(i.e. What does this pronoun/article refer to?)
rep repetitive
rephr Rephrase this.
run-on This is a run-on sentence; it’s too long to be readable.
sp spelling mistake
S-V The subject and verb in a sentence do not agree in some way.
tense You have used the wrong verb tense (past/present/future)

e.g. Yesterday I am going to Tokushima.
topic-stress The first part of a sentence (or paragraph) should contain TOPIC (background, or back-linking); the last part should contain STRESS (what you want to reveal or emphasize)
usage This combination of words is not standard/not central.

e.g. The country was fragmented into many domains.
vag This phrasing is vague or ambiguous.

e.g. The dispute weakened the position of the government.
voice Change from the passive voice to active voice, or vice versa.

e.g. The ball was hit by the batter. (Here ‘voice’ means change to “The batter hit the ball.”)
windy This writing is run-on, it could and should be much shorter.
word Find a better word for your meaning.
insert triangle Add something here (often an article).