Proofreading and Editing Worksheets - Free Printable

Let’s look at the story and find all the mistakes that need proofreading.

The task says: “How many mistakes can you find?” — meaning we’re looking for errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, or word choice.

Here’s the passage with possible mistakes marked:

> It happened on a bad week. On Monday, Mr. Miller had gotten to the bus stop in time to catch the 7:00 a.m. but he was late because of traffic. By Tuesday, Mr. Miller’s clock didn’t go off and he was late for work again. He was so annoyed by the time he got to work and found his boss waiting for him at home, and he had to take a long break during a meeting with some very important clients, getting it working with his supervisor. On Thursday, he forgot about an office deadline and worked two hours past due. Finally, there is Friday! That a parking spot in the office garage, then he park on the street, and left his car being towed. Poor Mr. Miller! What else could go wrong?

Now let’s go sentence by sentence and count clear mistakes:

1. “gotten to the bus stop in time to catch the 7:00 a.m.” → Missing “bus” after “a.m.”? Or maybe “catch the 7:00 a.m. bus”? But actually, this might be acceptable as shorthand. Let’s skip unless obvious.

Wait — better approach: Look for actual grammatical or logical errors.

Actually, let’s read carefully again — here are real mistakes:

- “Mr. Miller had gotten to the bus stop in time to catch the 7:00 a.m.” → Should probably say “the 7:00 a.m. bus” — missing noun. That’s one mistake.

- “By Tuesday, Mr. Miller’s clock didn’t go off and he was late for work again.” → This is okay.

- “He was so annoyed by the time he got to work and found his boss waiting for him at home” → Wait — if he got to *work*, why would his boss be waiting for him *at home*? That doesn’t make sense. Probably should be “waiting for him at work”. So that’s a logic error — mistake #2.

- “and he had to take a long break during a meeting with some very important clients, getting it working with his supervisor.” → “getting it working” is nonsense. Maybe meant “getting caught up with his supervisor”? Definitely a mistake. #3.

- “On Thursday, he forgot about an office deadline and worked two hours past due.” → “worked two hours past due” — awkward. Should be “worked two hours past the deadline” or similar. Mistake #4.

- “Finally, there is Friday!” → Tense shift! The rest of the story is in past tense (“had gotten”, “was late”, etc.), but now suddenly “there is Friday” — should be “there was Friday”. Mistake #5.

- “That a parking spot in the office garage” → Missing verb! Should be “He found a parking spot...” or “There was a parking spot...”. As written, it’s incomplete. Mistake #6.

- “then he park on the street” → Should be “parked” (past tense). Mistake #7.

- “and left his car being towed” → Awkward phrasing. Better: “and left his car only to have it towed” or “and his car was towed”. But technically, “left his car being towed” implies he intentionally left it while being towed — which is odd. Could be considered a mistake. Let’s count it as #8.

Also, check punctuation:

- After “clients,” comma before “getting it working...” — that’s a run-on. Might be another issue, but maybe part of #3.

Another thing: “Poor Mr. Miller! What else could go wrong?” — ends with question mark, which is fine.

So total clear mistakes:

1. Missing “bus” after “7:00 a.m.”
2. Boss waiting at home instead of work
3. “getting it working with his supervisor” — nonsense phrase
4. “worked two hours past due” — unclear/awkward
5. “there is Friday” — wrong tense
6. “That a parking spot...” — missing verb
7. “he park” — wrong verb form
8. “left his car being towed” — illogical phrasing

That’s 8 mistakes.

But wait — let’s double-check if any of these are too nitpicky.

Maybe the worksheet expects only obvious ones.

Alternative counting from common proofreading exercises:

Often they look for:

- Capitalization
- Punctuation
- Spelling
- Grammar
- Word usage

Let’s try again more simply:

Sentence 1: “catch the 7:00 a.m.” → should be “7:00 a.m. bus” → 1

Sentence 2: OK

Sentence 3: “found his boss waiting for him at home” → should be “at work” → 2

Sentence 4: “getting it working with his supervisor” → should be something like “catching up with his supervisor” → 3

Sentence 5: “worked two hours past due” → should be “past the deadline” → 4

Sentence 6: “there is Friday” → should be “there was Friday” → 5

Sentence 7: “That a parking spot” → missing verb → 6

Sentence 8: “he park” → should be “parked” → 7

Sentence 9: “left his car being towed” → should be “only to have it towed” or “and his car was towed” → 8

Still 8.

But perhaps some teachers might not count the last one as a full mistake since it’s understandable.

Alternatively, maybe the intended answer is lower.

Wait — let’s look at the original text again as printed:

In the image, the text is:

“It happened on a bad week. On Monday, Mr. Miller had gotten to the bus stop in time to catch the 7:00 a.m. but he was late because of traffic. By Tuesday, Mr. Miller’s clock didn’t go off and he was late for work again. He was so annoyed by the time he got to work and found his boss waiting for him at home, and he had to take a long break during a meeting with some very important clients, getting it working with his supervisor. On Thursday, he forgot about an office deadline and worked two hours past due. Finally, there is Friday! That a parking spot in the office garage, then he park on the street, and left his car being towed. Poor Mr. Miller! What else could go wrong?”

Actually, I think I missed one earlier:

After “clients,” it says “getting it working with his supervisor” — that’s definitely wrong. And also, the whole clause “and he had to take a long break during a meeting with some very important clients, getting it working with his supervisor” — the “getting it working” seems attached incorrectly. It might be meant to be separate.

But still counts as one big mistake.

Another possibility: “Mr. Miller had gotten” — some style guides prefer “got” over “had gotten” for simple past, but that’s not really a mistake.

I think 8 is reasonable.

But let me see if there’s a standard way.

Perhaps the worksheet has a specific number in mind.

Looking at typical such worksheets, they often have around 5–10 mistakes.

Another idea: maybe “bad week” should be “really bad week” or something — no.

Or “traffic” — no.

Wait — “by the time he got to work and found his boss waiting for him at home” — the “and” connects two things: “got to work” and “found his boss...” — but finding boss at home contradicts getting to work. So that’s a logic error — definitely a mistake.

Similarly, “That a parking spot” — clearly missing verb.

“he park” — verb tense.

“being towed” — passive voice misuse.

I think 8 is correct.

But to be safe, let’s list them explicitly:

Mistake 1: “catch the 7:00 a.m.” → should include “bus”

Mistake 2: “boss waiting for him at home” → should be “at work”

Mistake 3: “getting it working with his supervisor” → nonsensical; needs correction

Mistake 4: “worked two hours past due” → should specify “deadline”

Mistake 5: “there is Friday” → should be “there was Friday”

Mistake 6: “That a parking spot” → missing verb (e.g., “He found”)

Mistake 7: “he park” → should be “parked”

Mistake 8: “left his car being towed” → should be “and his car was towed” or similar

Yes, 8 distinct issues.

Final Answer: 8