Proofreading

Below is a correctly punctuated version of the previous paragraph, along with explanations of the corrections made. For further explanation, or for any other punctuation questions, drop us an e-mail or stop by the Writing Center.

Courts in New York treat a general advertisement as an invitation to all persons to enter into negotiations rather than an offer which, upon acceptance, may be turned into a contract. In Schenectady Stove Co., for example,1 the plaintiff delivered to defendant a catalogue of prices containing a statement of terms for sale, but the catalogue didn't2 state the amount of goods which plaintiff was willing to sell on those terms. Under these circumstances, the Court of Appeals held that no contract was ever made between the parties3 with respect to an order that defendant submitted because the plaintiff had not made an offer that was complete and definite in all material terms. Hence, it was not possible for the defendant to make a valid contract by mere acceptance of a "proposition."4 101 N.Y. at 48.5 Similarly, in Lovett, a department store advertised that it would sell, deliver,6 and install certain "wellknown standard makes of radio receivers at 25 per cent. to 50 per cent. reduction"7 from advertised list prices...The court held that a department store's8 advertisement was not an offer but an invitation to all persons that the advertiser was ready to receive offers for the goods upon stated terms. 207 N.Y.S. at 755-756.

1) The transitional phrase "for example" should be set off with two commas, not a comma and a semicolon.

2) An apostrophe is needed to correctly form the contraction "didn't."

3) There is no need for an apostrophe after the word "parties" in this sentence; it is not indicating possession.

4) The period at the end of this sentence should be inside the quotation marks.

5) There should be a period following this citation.

6) There should be a comma between the second and third verbs in this series ("deliver" and "install").

7) The punctuation at the end of this quote should be a double, not single, quotation mark.

8) There should be an apostrophe in "store's" to indicate possession.