---
name: proofreading
description: "Review and improve text for grammar, spelling, clarity, tone, and style."
whenToUse: "User asks to review/proofread/polish text before sending"
---

# Skill: Proofreading & Polish

## Description
Review and improve text for grammar, spelling, clarity, tone, and style. Works for emails, documents, chat messages, and presentations in both English and Chinese.

## When to Use
- User asks to review/proofread/polish text before sending
- User says "帮我看看这个" or "check this before I send"
- User wants to improve the quality of a draft
- Before sending important emails or documents

## Workflow

### 1. Quick Scan (Automated Checks)
- Spelling errors
- Grammar mistakes (subject-verb agreement, tense, articles)
- Punctuation (missing periods, comma splices, semicolon misuse)
- Repeated words
- Inconsistent formatting (bullet styles, heading levels)

### 2. Clarity Pass
- Sentences > 30 words → suggest breaking up
- Passive voice → suggest active where appropriate
- Vague language ("some", "various", "things") → suggest specifics
- Jargon check → is the audience familiar with these terms?
- Remove filler: "basically", "actually", "in order to", "at this point in time"

### 3. Tone Check
| Audience | Tone Adjustments |
|----------|-----------------|
| Leadership/skip-level | More confident, less hedging, lead with impact |
| Peer PM | Conversational but professional |
| Engineering team | Technical, precise, action-oriented |
| External partner | Formal, diplomatic, clear |
| Team chat | Casual OK, but still clear |

### 4. Chinese-Specific Checks
- 的地得 usage (的=noun modifier, 地=adverb modifier, 得=complement)
- 了/着/过 tense markers
- Avoid 翻译腔 (translationese)
- Consistent use of 你/您 (formality)
- Punctuation: Chinese punctuation marks (，。！？) vs English

### 5. English-Specific Checks
- Article usage (a/an/the) — especially tricky for Chinese speakers
- Preposition choice (in/on/at, to/for/with)
- Countable vs uncountable nouns
- Verb tense consistency
- Oxford comma consistency

### 6. Output Format
```
## Proofread Result

### Changes Made
1. [Original] → [Corrected] — [Reason]
2. [Original] → [Corrected] — [Reason]

### Suggestions (Optional)
- Consider rephrasing: "[sentence]" → "[suggestion]" for [clarity/tone/conciseness]

### Polished Version
[Full corrected text]
```

### 7. Rules
- **Don't change the author's voice** — improve, don't rewrite
- **Preserve technical terms** exactly as written
- **Mark changes clearly** so user can accept/reject each one
- **Be opinionated on errors, gentle on style suggestions**
- **For sensitive content**: Follow confidentiality rules (no salary/review info leaking through corrections)
