Essential grammar

Week 5 – Common mistakes

By Peiling Hsia

Contents:

Common Errors in English writing

Dangling and misplaced modifiers Parallelism structural

Common Errors in English writing – 10 sources

1. using an incorrect or inappropriate word. Don’t forget to eat your medicine. The rescuers drive helicopters to search the mountain. Doing exercises extremely could cause muscle sour.

2. the error results from a conflict between Chinese and English grammar.

I very like English. Because the weather was nice today, so we decided to

go out. Although I was busy, but I helped him anyway. We are difficult to find a job these days.

I like English very much.

takefly

sore

“because” or “so”

“although” or “but”

It is difficult…

3. confusing common pairs of words. He went aboard to study English. The curriculum contains courses in computing.

4. using literal (word-for-word) translation of a phrase or concept that does not exist in English.

Wish you have a success on the job interview.

includes

broad

Healthy foods that contain vitamin B1 include: lentils, peas, brown rice, spinach

Good luck on your job interview !

5. Using grammatically correct expressions that do not exist in English - the expression sounds strange in English.

We hope you achieve a success with your new book.

6. Using mixed or incorrect levels of formality. (the tone of one’s message must be consistent with the

tone of the entire message as well as the purpose and the writer’s relationship to the reader)

Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me immediately.

We hope your new book does well.

if you have any questions, please call or write me.

7. Subject – Verb agreement Some of the houses was destroyed in the battle.

8. Informal writing or colloquial language

Off course, I think this area is so important for our current society. You can see from the table easily that….

were

critical, essential

As shown ..

9. Definite article – “the” The Mount Everest is the highest point of the world.

10. Confusion and unclarity – Dangling or misplaced modifiers / pronouns

Having arrived late for practice, a written excuse was needed.

A survey in 1996 revealed that the anti-science tag and antitheism has been attached to many other groups, but they did not exist after year of 2000.

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How to make an improvement?

The most effective way of overcoming these errors is by learning English in a natural way and not simply memorizing grammar rules and English words and phrase.

find materials suitable for your level, and read as much as possible. Reading is the best way to acquire new words, phrases, and expressions and review and reinforce the ones you already know. It also helps you learn new grammatical structures and sentence patterns.

try to apply what you learn. Copy words, expressions, and sentence patterns you like and use them in your emails to help to increase your fluency and accuracy.

Proofread carefully

1. Spelling

2. Verb forms

3. Punctuation

4. Pronoun agreement

5. Subject-verb agreement

6. Fragment

7. Parallel structure

8. Possessives

9. Shifts (voice – consistency with active or

passive)(tense – consistency with past,

present, future)

10. Misplaced modifiers11. Correct word usage12. Wordiness13. Outdated language or

informal language

Dangling and misplaced modifiers虛懸和錯置的修飾詞

　A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence.

A modifier describes, clarifies, or gives more detail about a concept.

– make confusion

Modifier Placement – Dangling modifier

1 . When using participial phrases as modifiers:

__ Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, the car seemed to run better.

__ Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, Fred found he could get  much better gas mileage.

2. Participial phrases cannot be combined with “it… “ or “there…”:

__ Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, there is an easy way to  keep your car running smoothly.

__ If we change the oil every 3,000 miles, we can keep our car  running smoothly.

3. Participial phrases cannot be combined with passive verbs either:

__ Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, the car was kept in  excellent condition.

__ Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, we kept the car in  excellent condition.

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4. Infinitives (to + verb) should clearly modify the doer:

__ To keep the young recruits interested in getting in shape, an exercise program was set up for the summer months.

__ To keep the young recruits interested in getting in shape, the coaching staff set up an exercise program for the summer months.

5. Squinting modifier: adverb can be placed nearly everywhere in a sentence, thus causing ambiguity:

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• Students who seek their instructors' advice often can improve their grades. • Student who often seek their instructors' advice can improve  their grades. • Students who seek their instructors' advice can often improve their grades.

Confusion: Its Sources and Remedies

1. Adverbial phrases modify the subject, not serve as one:

__ Although the season has not yet begun has caused the public to get over anxious for information about the team.

__ Although the season has not yet begun, the public is overly anxious for information about the team.

2. Prepositional phrases modify the subject, not serve as one:

__ In its attempt to spark sales of season tickets broke several rules about pre-season publicity.

__ In its attempt to spark sales of season tickets, the basketball program broke several rules about pre-season publicity.

__ The basketball program's attempt to spark sales of season tickets broke several rules about pre-season publicity.

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3. Two “subjects” in one sentence without subordination or modification:

__ The new system of student registration, we began to use it in the fall. __ We began to use the new system of student registration in the fall.

4. Adverbial phrases do not serve as the subject :__ By devising carefully worded forms ahead of time made the registrar's job

much easier. __ Devising carefully worded forms ahead of time made the Registrar's job

much easier.

5. Adverbial clauses do not serve as the subject :__ Even if students' records are lost in the shuffle of registration does not

mean they will have to start the process over. __ Even if students' records are lost in the shuffle of registration, they will not

necessarily have to start the process over. __ Students do not have to start the process over if their records are lost in

the registration shuffle.

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6. “Reason” means “why” or “because”: Do not use phrases such as “the reason why is because” or “the reason is because”:

__ The reason they were so eager to sell tickets is because they're trying to refurbish the old house.

__ The reason they were so eager to sell tickets is that they're trying to refurbish the old house.

__ They were so eager to sell tickets because they're trying to refurbish the old house.

7. Ambiguity in using pronouns:

To encourage the recruits to blend in with veteran players, the coaches let them play in summer leagues.

The coaches let the recruits play in summer leagues so they'd be able to blend in with veteran players.

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8. Too many words between antecedent and relative pronouns:

__ The recruits seemed to blend in with the team's master strategies and make friends on the team who played during the summer months.

__ The recruits who played during the summer months seemed to blend in with the team's master strategies and make friends on the team.

9. Adjective clauses should clearly point to the antecedent:

__ The new coach seemed to know nothing about his team's recent history, which reporters seem to pick up on quickly.

__ Reporters quickly picked up on the fact that the new coach knew nothing about his team's recent history.

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10. “It” must have a clear point of reference:

__ Coach Johnson made several recruiting trips around the country, but it came to no avail.

__ Coach Johnson made several recruiting trips around the country, but his efforts were not successful.

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Practice – eliminate confusion by repositioning misplaced phrases or clauses next to the words they modify.

1. Concerned about the grain market, a call was made to the broker.

2. Although writing for several years, no articles have been published.

3. I received instructions for operating the 10-ton crane by mail.

4. Smiling courteously, her offer was accepted.

Concerned about the grain market, the investor called his broker.

Although writing for several years, she has never published any articles.

I received by mail instructions for operating the 10-ton crane.

Smiling courteously, Mary accepted her offer.

Which one is correct ?

1. Having finished the assignment, Jill turned on the TV.

2. Having finished the assignment, the TV was turned on.

"Having finished" states an action but does not name the doer of that action. In English sentences, the doer must be the subject of the main clause that follows.

"Having finished" is a participle expressing action, but the doer is not the TV set (the subject of the main clause): TV sets don't finish assignments.

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Confused meaning

Helen is the last student.

She came into the classroom.

Helen is the last student that came into the classroom. (Helen是進到教室的最後一位學生 )

Helen who/that came into the classroom is the last student . ( 進到教室的 Helen是最後一位學生 )

  錯置的修飾詞會弄擰文句的意思      移動 participle (動詞作為形容詞，修飾名詞 ) _____ Bacteria are found in lakes and rivers producing methane.    _____ Bacteria producing methane are found in lakes and rivers .         

改變 participle 成為別的修飾詞 _____ While purifying colonies in sample 3, five isolates died. _____ During purification of colonies in sample 3, five isolates died.         When colonies in sample 3 were purified, five isolates died. _____ Without knowing his name, it was difficult to introduce him. _____ Because Maria did not know his name, it was difficult to introduce him.

  

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   改變主詞（ subject ）_____ Testing 128 isolates, five biotypes were identified._____ Testing 128 isolates, Erikson et al. identified five biotypes._____ Having arrived late for practice, a written excuse was needed. _____ Having arrived late for practice, the team captain needed a written excuse.

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Practice – rewrite it

1. After reading the original study, the article remains unconvincing.

2. Relieved of your responsibilities at your job, your home should be a place to relax.

3. The experiment was a failure, not having studied the lab manual carefully.

After reading the original study, I find the article unconvincing.

Relieved of your responsibilities at your job, you should be able to relax at home.

The team failed the experiment, not having studied the lab manual carefully.

Parallelism structural 平行結構或對稱結構

Parallel structure means using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. This can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level.

Parallelism structural

The usual way to join parallel structures is with the use of coordinating conjunctions such as "and" or "or."

With the -ing form (gerund) of words: Ex: Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling.

With infinitive phrases: Ex: Mary likes to hike, to swim, and to ride a bicycle. Mary likes to hike, swim, and ride a bicycle.

(Note: You can use "to" before all the verbs in a sentence or only before the first one.)

當兩個或兩個以上的同等分  (主詞 ,動詞 ,受詞 ,敘語 , 形容詞 ,

副詞 , 受詞補語等 ) 對等平行時 , 要求他們的詞性或結構相同 ,

即 名詞對名詞  , 形容詞對形容詞 , 副詞對副詞  , 不定詞對不定詞 , 介詞片語對介詞片語 等等 .

You may either stand up or sit down.

Sam neither has long hair, nor wears jeans.

There is always a gap between what we say and what we do.

That car was a real lemon; it was fixed more often than it was driven.

Do not mix forms

__ Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bicycle.

__ Mary likes hiking, swimming, and riding a bicycle.

__ The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner.

__ The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and thoroughly.

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__ The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and his motivation was low.

The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, ____________________. and lacked motivation

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Parallelism - ClausesA parallel structure that begins with clauses must keep on with clauses. Changing to another pattern or changing the voice of the verb (from active to passive or vice versa) will break the parallelism.

____The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the game.

____The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.

____ The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, not

eat too much, and do some warm-up exercises before the game.

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____The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to find word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and looking up irregular verbs.

____The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to find word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and irregular verbs.

“Be sure to keep all the elements in a list in the same form after a colon”

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Web links:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ (普渡大學寫作中心 ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3J_IByMenM&feature=related

(adverb clause) http://www.chineseowl.idv.tw/html/c_new.htm

(The Chinese online writing lab – 柯泰德  Ted Knoy) http://blog.udn.com/trjason

(廖柏森 英語與翻譯教學  )