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PSLE English Editing: Do's & Don'ts
13 Sept 2025·4 min read·The Tutor's Table
Editing is the most predictable section on Paper 2 — the same error types come up every year. Treat it like a checklist, not a guessing game, and it becomes almost-automatic marks.
Do's
- DO read the whole passage once before correcting anything. Context changes what looks like an error.
- DO check for the big six: tense, subject-verb agreement, plurals, articles (a/an/the), prepositions, and word-form errors.
- DO circle every underlined word, read the sentence aloud in your head, and check it 'sounds right' grammatically.
- DO watch for contextual spelling errors: 'their/there/they're', 'its/it's', 'affect/effect', 'than/then'.
- DO write the correction clearly above the error in block letters so the marker can read it.
- DO budget 5 minutes maximum — it's a quick-points section, don't let it eat into comprehension time.
Don'ts
- DON'T invent errors where there are none. If a line says 'no error' on your mental scan, leave it — but re-check once.
- DON'T just change tense endings without checking consistency across the paragraph.
- DON'T over-correct — changing 'walked' to 'walking' just to have an answer is worse than leaving it.
- DON'T ignore capitalisation and punctuation inside editing items. Sometimes THAT is the error.
- DON'T use correction fluid / multiple crossings. One clear crossed-out word with the correction above.
- DON'T rush the last 2–3 items. The final items are usually the trickiest.
Editing rewards calm systematic reading. Slow hands here, fast hands in composition.
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