rough draft

Meaning

A 'rough draft' is the first, unpolished version of a piece of writing. It contains all the main ideas but likely has spelling, grammar, or formatting mistakes that will be corrected later. This term is highly common in academic environments where revision is expected.

Examples

• Don't worry about perfect spelling in your rough draft; just get your ideas down.

  Don't worry about perfect spelling in your rough draft; just get your ideas down.

• I submitted my rough draft to the peer review workshop yesterday.

  I submitted my rough draft to the peer review workshop yesterday.

• My rough draft is five pages long, but I need to cut it down to three.

  My rough draft is five pages long, but I need to cut it down to three.

• She read through my rough draft and gave me some excellent suggestions.

  She read through my rough draft and gave me some excellent suggestions.

• We have to turn in a rough draft of our history paper this Friday.

  We have to turn in a rough draft of our history paper this Friday.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I am writing my rude draft of the essay.

  ✓ I am writing my rough draft of the essay.

  'Rude' means impolite. The correct adjective for an unfinished, unpolished writing is 'rough.'

• ✗ The teacher asked for a draft rough.

  ✓ The teacher asked for a rough draft.

  Adjectives in English must go before the noun they describe, not after.

Related Expressions

Practice

• My teacher said my ___ was good but needed more evidence.

  💡 The first, uncorrected version of a piece of writing.

  Show answer

  rough draft

• It took me three hours to finish the ___ of my application letter.

  💡 An early, unpolished version of a text.

  Show answer

  rough draft