中国研究生写英文文章最常范的200个错误总结

TheMostCommonHabitsfrommorethan200EnglishPaperswrittenby

GraduateChineseEngineeringStudents

ByFeliciaBrittman

ThispaperpresentssomeofthemostcommonChinese-Englishhabitsobserved

fromovertwohundredEnglishtechnicalpapersbyChinesewriters.Thehabitsare

explainedandinmostcases,exampletextfromanactualpaperisgivenalongwith

preferredtext.Anattemptismadetoexplainhowtocorrectandpreventsuchmistakes.

Insomecasesapossibleexplanationofwhythehabitoccursisalsogiven.Thispaper

canserveasanindividualguidetoeditingtechnicalpapersespeciallywhenanative

English-speakingeditorisunavailable.

Introduction

MostChineseuniversitiesrequiretheirdoctoralandmastercandidatesin

technicalandscientificfieldstopublishatleastoneEnglishpaperinaninternational

journalasadegreerequirement.However,manyfactorsmakethistaskdifficultto

accomplish.First,previousEnglishstudiesmaynothavefocusedenoughonwriting,let

alonetechnicalwriting.CurrentstudiesmaynotincludeEnglish,causingthewriters

Englishfluencyleveltodecline.Second,mostwritershaveneverlivedinanEnglish-

speakingcountry.Third,duetothespecialaspectsoftechnicalwriting,evennative

English-speakingengineeringstudentshaveatechnicalwritingcourseaspartoftheir

study.

Toooften,students’papersarereturnedunacceptedbecauseofpoorEnglish.If

available,studentsmayhavetheirpaperseditedbyanativeEnglishspeaker.However,

thiscangetexpensiveforadepartmentthathasmanystudentswitheachpapertypically

needingtobeeditedtwice.Hiringsomeonetoeditpapersisdifficult,costlyandonlyputs

apatchovertheproblem.AnativeEnglishspeakercandoagoodjobatgettingridof

mostofthegrammaticalmistakes.However,ifthispersondoesnothaveatechnical

background,particularlyintheareaofthepapersheisediting,heisunabletogetridof

allofthemistakesandmakesurethatthemeaningisclear.Hecannotrecognizethe

incorrecttranslationoftechnicaltermsforwhichthereisastandardword.Suchmistakes

willnotbepickedupbytheprocessor’sspellingandgrammarchecker.Inaddition,if

theyarenotfamiliarwiththetopicorfield,theymaynotgraspthemeaningoftheentire

articleandfailtomakecriticaledits.

Hiringapersonwithatechnicalbackgroundsimilartothatofthepapersbeing

editedisabetteroption.Nevertheless,whileapersonwithatechnicalbackgroundmay

beabletoeditthepapersufficiently,hemaynotbeabletoexplaintothewriterhowto

preventsuchmistakesinthefuture.Besides,itisdifficultformostChineseuniversities

tohiresuchstaffsimplyforediting.Universitiesmayconsiderinvitingavisitingscholar

whowilleditpapersinadditiontodoingresearchorteachingaspartofanexchange.

Althougheditingmaybethefastestwaytopublishpapers,itdoeslittleintheway

ofteachingthewritershowtopreventcommonmistakesandcolloquialhabitsthat

preventaclearunderstandingofthewriter’sideas.Writerswhohavealreadyobtainedan

1

impressingcommandoftheEnglishlanguagecanonlytrulybenefitiftheyaremade

awareoftheircommonmistakesandcolloquialhabitsandhowtopreventthem.

Purpose

ThepurposeofthisreportistointroducethemostcommonhabitsinChinese-

EnglishwritingasnotedfromtheovertwohundredpapersIhaveedited.Thehabits

includegrammarmistakes,colloquialisms,andformattingproblemsandinmostcases

preventaclearunderstandingofthewriter’sideas.Afewofthehabits,suchaswriting

extremelylongsentences,canbecorrectedwithcarefuluseoftheMSWord®grammar

andstylechecker.However,mosthabits,suchasmissingarticles,gounnoticedby

automaticgrammarcheckingdevices.Still,Chinese-Englishcolloquialhabitsarenot

recognizedbysuchsoftwaretools.

Structure

Thecommonhabitsarepresentedintwosections.Thefirstsectionliststhehabits

that,inmyopinion,needthemostattention.Thesehabitsinterrupttheflowofthepaper

makingitdifficulttounderstandandoccurmostfrequently.Inthissection,thehabitsare

explained,examplesentencesfromactualpapersaregiventoshowthehabits,andthe

sentencesarerewrittentoshowthecorrectwaytowritethem.Inthecaseofmissing

articles,aflowchartisalsogiventoaidinchoosingthecorrectarticles.

Inthesecondsection,anadditionallistofhabitsisgiven.Insomecases,example

sentencesaregiven.Inothercases,adviceisgiven.Thesecondsectionisveryusefulin

becomingfamiliarwithsmallnuances.

NotallofthecommonhabitsIobservedarepresentedmainlybecausetheycan

onlybedealtwithonanindividualbasis.Forexample,writershaddifficultytitlingtheir

papersandnamingnewtechnicalideastoexpresstheircontentsandfunctionsconcisely.

Thisproblemfrequentlyoccurredbutitcanonlybeaddressedindividually.Oncewriters

areawareoftheirhabits,theywouldbeabletowritebettertechnicalEnglisharticles.

Section1

“a,an,the”

Thesinglemostcommonhabitistheomissionofarticlesa,an,andthe.This

occursbecauseMandarinhasnodirectequivalentofarticlesandtherulesforusingthem

aresomewhatcomplicatedforanon-nativespeakers.

Articlessignalthatanounwillfollowandthatanymodifiersbetweenthearticle

andthenounrefertothatnoun(abigbluebicycle/thefirstaward).Aandanare

indefinitearticles;theisadefinitearticle.Everytimeasingularnoncountnoun,a

commonnounthatnamesonecountableitem,isusedthenounrequiressomekindof

determiner.

2

Mistake:The,a,andanare1)omittedwheretheyarerequired,2)usedwherethey

arenotneededorcontributetowordiness3)usedwronglyinplaceofthecorrectarticle.

Examplesofincorrectusages:

IncorrectFigure2showsthedistributionofrelativevelocityonsurfaceofmain

andsplitterblades.15

CorrectFigure2showsthedistributionofrelativevelocityonthesurfaceofthe

mainandsplitterblades.15

IncorrectThesoftwarePowerSHAPEischosentobea3Dmodelingtool;itis

goodatdealingwithfreesurfacesandcurves.4

CorrectThesoftwarePowerSHAPEischosentobethe3Dmodelingtool;itis

goodatdealingwithfreesurfacesandcurves.4

Therewasonlyone3Dmodelingtoolusedinthisstudy,therefore‘3Dmodeling

tool’isspecificandrequiresthearticlethe.

IncorrectAtheoreticalmethodforcalculatingtheinnerflow-fieldincentrifugal

impellerwithsplitterbladesandinvestigationoftheinteractions

betweenmainandsplitterbladesispresentedinthispaper.Thevortices

aredistributedonthemainandsplitterbladestosimulatetheeffectsof

flows.Systematicalstudyofnumberanddistributionofvorticesis

conducted.15

CorrectAtheoreticalmethodforcalculatingtheinnerflow-fieldinacentrifugal

impellerwithsplitterbladesandaninvestigationoftheinteractions

betweenmainandsplitterbladesispresentedinthispaper.Thevortices

aredistributedonthemainandsplitterbladestosimulatetheeffectsof

flows.Asystematicalstudyofthenumberanddistributionofvorticesis

conducted.15

IncorrectTheoretically,remanufacturingcouldfullytakeadvantageofresources

containedinEOFproducttherebyminimizingimpactonenvironmentto

thegreatestextentcomparedtolandfillorrecyclingofmaterials;

consequentlyitcontributesgreatlytoresourceconservation.16

CorrectTheoretically,remanufacturingcouldfullytakeadvantageofresources

containedinanEOFproducttherebyminimizingtheimpactonthe

environmenttothegreatestextentcomparedtolandfillorrecyclingof

materials;consequentlyitcontributesgreatlytoresourceconservation.16

Definitions:

ArticlesAlsocalleddeterminersornounmarkers,articlesarethewordsa,an,and

the.Aandanareindefinitearticles,andtheisadefinitearticle.Articlessignalthata

3

nounwillfollowandthatanymodifiersbetweenthearticleandthenounrefertothat

noun.(acold,metalchair/thelightning-fastcomputer).

DeterminersAwordorwordgroup,traditionallyidentifiedasanadjective,thatlimitsa

nounbytellinghowmuchorhowmanyaboutit.(expressionofquantity,limiting

adjective,marker)Theytellwhetheranounisgeneral(atree)orspecific(thetree).The

isadefinitearticle.Beforeanoun,theconveysthattheknownreferstoaspecificitem

(theplan).Aandanareindefinitearticles.Theyconveythatanounreferstoanitemina

nonspecificorgeneralway(aplan).

CommonnounsAnounthatnamesageneralgroup,place,person,orthing:dog,

house.

CountnounAnounthatnamesanitemoritemsthatcanbecounted:radio,

streets,idea,fingernails.

NoncountnounsAnounthatnamesathingthatcannotbecounted:water,time.

SpecificnounAnoununderstoodtobeexactlyandspecificallyreferredto;uses

thedefinitearticlethe.

NonspecificnounAnounthatreferstoanyofanumberofidenticalitems;ittakes

theindefinitearticlesa,an.

Verylongsentences

VerylongsentencesareespeciallycommoninChinese-Englishwritingbecause

thewritersoftentranslatedirectlyfromChinesetoEnglish.Although,inChinesewriting

itisacceptabletoputseveralsupportingideasinonsentencetoshowtheirrelationship,

inEnglish,themainideaandeachsupportingideaistypicallywritteninseparate

sentences.

Onecanusuallyrecognizeaverylongsentencebyitslength–sixtywordsor

more.However,sentencesofsmallerlengthscanalsobetoolongiftheycontain

multiplestatementsthatconfusethemainidea.Longsentencescanbeavoidedby

limitingeachsentencetooneortwotopics.Semicolonsshouldbeusedwherethewriter

reallywantstoemphasizetherelationshipbetweenideas.

ToolongAccordingtothecharacteristicoffan-coilair-conditioningsystems,thispaper

derivesthecoolingformulaoffan-coilunitsbasedontheheattransfertheoriesand

putsforwardanewmethodtogaugecoolingnamedCoolingMeteringontheAir-

side,whichcanmonitortheindividualair-conditioningcoolingconsumption

duringaperiodoftimebydetectingtheparametersofinletaircondition–

temperatureandhumidity–ofthefan-coilair-conditioningsystemaswellasthe

parametersofinletcoolingwaterprovidedbythechiller.

4

CorrectThispaperderivesthecoolingformulaoffan-coilunitsbasedonthecharacteristics

offan-coilair-conditioningsystemsandheattransfertheories,andputsforwarda

newmethodtogaugecoolingcalledCoolingMeteringontheAir-side.Thenew

methodcanmonitorindividualair-conditioningcoolingconsumptionduringa

periodoftimebydetectingtheconditionofinletair–temperatureandhumidity–

ofthefan-coilair-conditioningsystemaswellastheparametersoftheinletcooling

waterprovidedbythechiller.

ToolongThegeartransmissionisgradeseven,thegeargapis0.00012radians,thegear

gaphasdifferentoutputvaluescorrespondingtoanygiveninputvalue,non-

linearityofthegeargapmodelcanbedescribedbyusingthephasefunction

method,theexistingbacklashblockinthenon-linearlibraryofthe

Matlab/zdimulinktoolboxcanbeused,theinitialvalueofgeargapinthe

backlashblockissettozero.9

CorrectThegeartransmissionisgradeseven.Thegeargap,whichis0.00012radians,

hasdifferentoutputvaluescorrespondingtoanygiveninputvalue.Thenon-

linearityofthegeargapmodelcanbedescribedbyusingthephasefunction

method.Theexistingbacklashblockinthenon-linearlibraryofthe

Matlab/zdimulinktoolboxcanbeused;theinitialvalueofgeargapinthe

backlashblockissettozero.

Anothertypeofsuper-longsentencethatfrequentlyoccursintechnicalpapersis

thatofalist.Thewriterwantstogivealargeamountofdata,usuallyparametervalues,

andputsthisinformationintoonelong,paragraph-sizedsentence.However,thebest

waytogivesuchtypeandquantityofinformationistotabulateit(putitinabulletedlist).

Toolong…wheremisthemassoftheheavydiskmountedatthemid-spanofa

masslesselasticshaft,eistheeccentricityofthemasscenterfromthe

geometriccenterofthedisk,φistheanglebetweentheorientationofthe

eccentricityandtheξaxis,kξandkηarethestiffnesscoefficientsintwo

principaldirectionsofshaftrespectively,cistheviscousdampingcoefficient

oftheshaftandthedisk,ciistheinnerdampingcoefficientofshaft,ωisthe

rotatingspeed,ξsandηsarethecomponentsofinitialbendindirectionsof

1

ξ,ηaxesrespectively:ξs=rbcosθ,ηs=rbsinθ.

CorrectWhere

misthemassoftheheavydiskmountedatthemid-spanofamassless

elasticshaft,

eistheeccentricityofthemasscenterfromthegeometriccenterof

thedisk,

φistheanglebetweentheorientationoftheeccentricityandtheξ

axis,

kξandkηarethestiffnesscoefficientsinthetwoprincipaldirections

ofthe

shaft,

5

cistheviscousdampingcoefficientoftheshaftandthedisk,

ciistheinnerdampingcoefficientoftheshaft,

ωistherotatingspeed,

ξsandηsarethecomponentsofinitialbendindirectionsofξ,η

axes,respectively:ξs=rbcosθ,ηs=rbsinθ.

ToolongTheclearheightofthecaseis6.15meters;thethicknessoftheroofis0.85

meters;thethicknessofthebottomis0.90meters,theoverallwidthis26.6

meters,theoveralllengthoftheaxialcordis304.5meters,thelengthofthe

jackingsectionisabout148.8meters;theweightofthecaseisabout24127

tons.3

Clear•Caseclearanceheight6.15meters

•Roofthickness0.85meters

•Bottomthickness0.90meters

•Overallwidth26.6meters

•Overalllengthoftheaxialcord304.5meters

•Lengthofthejackingsection148.8meters(approx.)

•Weightofthecase24127tons(approx.)

Prefacingthemainideaofasentencebystatingthepurpose,

locationorreasonfirst

Chinesewritersoftenprefacethemaintopicofasentencebyfirststatingthe

purpose,location,reason,examplesandconditionsasintroductoryelements.However,

thishastheeffectofdemotingtheimportanceofthemainideaandmakingthereader

thinktheauthorisindirect.Bringthemainideatothebeginningofthesentencestating

anylocations,reasons,etc.,afterwards.

IncorrectFortheapplicationinautomobileinteriors,thispaperstudiesthenesting

optimizationprobleminleathermanufacturing.5

CorrectThispaperstudiesthenestingoptimizationprobleminleathermanufacturing

forapplicationinautomobileinteriors.

IncorrectEspeciallywhennumericalcontrol(NC)techniques[4]arewidelyusedin

industryandrapidprototypemethods[5][6]bringahugeeconomicalbenefits,the

advantageofconstructing3Dmodel[7][8][9]becomesextremelyobvious.2

CorrectTheadvantageofconstructinga3Dmodel[7][8][9]becomesextremelyobvious

especiallywhennumericalcontrol(NC)techniques[4]arewidelyusedin

industryandrapidprototypemethods[5][6]bringahugeeconomicalbenefits.

IncorrectInsidethetestbox,thespacewasfilledwithasbestos.15

CorrectThespaceinsidethetestboxwasfilledwithasbestos.

6

IncorrectInpractice,weemployedthisapproachtodisposeofawheelhousesubassemblyof

onekindofauto-body,andtheresultsshowthatthismethodisfeasible.16

CorrectWeemployedthisapproachtodisposeofawheelhousesubassemblyofonekindof

auto-body,andtheresultsshowthatthismethodisfeasible.

IncorrectToensuresheetmetalqualityaswellasassemblyquality,CMMsarewidelyused

inautomotiveindustryproduction.16

CorrectCMMsarewidelyusedinautomotiveindustryproductiontoensuresheetmetal

qualityaswellasassemblyquality.

Tendencyofplacingphraseswhichindicatetimeatthebeginningof

asentence

IncorrectWhenUistakenasthecontrolparameter,theBDsfor∆=0.0,0.001,0.005

areshowninFig.8.

CorrectFigure8showstheBDsfor∆=0.0,0.001,and0.005whenUistakenasthe

controlparameter.

Placethemostimportantsubjectatthebeginningofthesentencefor

emphasis

IncorrectBasedonthetriangulationstructurebuiltfromunorganizedpointsoraCAD

model,theextendedSTLformatisdescribedinthissection.4

CorrectTheextendedSTLformatisdescribedinthissectionbasedonthetriangulation

structurebuiltfromunorganizedpointsoraCADmodel.

IncorrectThe3Ddentitiondefectandrestorationelementmodelsaredesignedprecisely

withcomplicatedsurfaces.4

CorrectThe3Ddentitiondefectandrestorationelementmodelswithcomplicated

surfacesaredesignedprecisely.

“which/that”

Theantecedent(nounorpronoun)towhichwhichrefersisnotspecific,causing

confusion.

AntecedentThenounorpronountowhichapronounrefers.

‘TheShijiazhuangsouthroadundergroundbridgepossessesthelargestjackingforce,whichis

builtat1978(10680t).’[‘Shijiazhuangsouthroadundergroundbridgepossessesthelargest

jackingforcewhichisbuiltat1978(10680t).’

Absolutetruthsinpaleontologyareoftenelusive,andeventhefilmmakersweresurprisedatthe

fierceargumentsthatsplitthescientistswhenaninitialbrainstormingsessionwaselse.

7

‘Respectively’and‘respective’

Respectivelyrefersbacktotwoormorepersonsorthingsonlyintheordertheywere

previouslydesignatedormentioned.Iftwolistsaregiven,respectivelypairsthelist

entriesaccordingtotheorderinwhichtheyaregiven.Inthiscasetheuseofrespectively

istoallowthewritertogivealotofinformationwithoutconfusingthereaderorwriting

severalshortsentences.Respectivelyisusuallyattheendofthesentence.Inbothcases,

mentioningtheordermustbeimportanttothemeaningofthesentenceotherwiseitisnot

used.

Forexample:Bobby,NicoleandDarenworered,greenandbluecoats,respectively.

List1List2

Bobbyworearedcoat.

Nicoleworeagreencoat.

Darenworeabluecoat.

Respectivetotwoormorepersonsorthingsonlyintheordertheywerepreviously

designatedormentioned.

Theusesofthesetwowordsareusuallyincorrectorconfusingasinthefollowing

examples.

1.Respectivelyismisplacedinthesentence;itisputbeforethenounstowhichitrefers.

IncorrectEquations2～6canberespectivelylinearizedas:……(equationsgiven)…13

CorrectEquations2～6canbelinearizedas:……(equationsgiven)…,respectively.

IncorrectTheweightsofthetwoexpertsarerespectively0.600and0.400.19

CorrectTheweightsofthetwoexpertsare0.600and0.400,respectively.

2.Respectivelyisinsertedtoexpressthatthereisacertainorderinwhichsomethingwas

done.However,theorderisalreadyimpliedelsewhereinthesentenceordoesnotneed

tobeexpressedbecauseitdoesnotaddvaluetomeaningofthesentence.

IncorrectIfboththecoretechnologyscoreandcorequalityscoreofabottleneckprocess

are,respectively,belowcertainscores,thenwerefertostrategy1,otherwise,if

eitheris,respectively,aboveacertainscore,thenwerefertostrategy2.

Similarly,ifthecoretechnologyandcorequalityare,respectively,abovea

certainscore,thenwerefertostrategy3,otherwise,ifeitheris,respectively,

belowacertainscore,thenwerefertostrategy4.19

CorrectIfboththecoretechnologyscoreandcorequalityscoreofabottleneckprocess

arebelowcertainscores,thenwerefertostrategy1,otherwise,ifeitheris

aboveacertainscore,thenwerefertostrategy2.Similarly,ifthecore

technologyandcorequalityareaboveacertainscore,thenwerefertostrategy

8

3,otherwise,ifeitherisbelowacertainscore,thenwerefertostrategy4.

IncorrectThen,therowsofvortexduetobothofthelongandshortbladesare

transformedintotwosingularitiesontheζ-planeandintegratetheinduced

velocityalongthebladesrespectively.20

CorrectThen,therowsofvortexduetobothofthelongandshortbladesare

transformedintotwosingularitiesontheζ-planeandintegratetheinduced

velocityalongtheblades.

3.Inadditionto2,itisuncleartowhat‘respectively’refers.

IncorrectThedynamiccharacteristicsofarotorwithasymmetricstiffnessorwithinitial

warphavebeenstudiedbeforerespectively[1-4]

CorrectThedynamiccharacteristicsofarotorwithasymmetricstiffnessorwithinitial

warphavebeenstudiedbefore[1-4].

IncorrectTheinletandoutlettemperatureoftheaircoolerweremeasuredusingtwo

thermocouplesrespectively.17

CorrectTheinletandoutlettemperatureoftheaircoolerweremeasuredbyusingtwo

thermocouples.

‘Inthispaper’,‘inthisstudy’

Twoerrorsoccurwhenthesephrasesareused.Thefirstisoveruse.Insome

paperswrittenbyChinese,thesephrasescanoccurasmuchastwiceperpage.Inpapers

writtenbynativeEnglishwritersthesephrasesarereservedforprimarilytwouses

1.Intheintroductionandconclusiontoemphasizethecontentofthepaper.

2.Inthebodyofthepaper,afterreferringtoworknotdonebytheauthorsuchasin

otherjournalarticlesorinstandard.

Therefore,ifeitherphraseoccursmorethanthreetimesinapaper,itsuseisquestionable.

Actually,thereaderisawarethattheworkpresentedisbytheauthor(unlesstheauthor

statesotherwise)sothereisnoreasontorepeatthesephrases.

Theseconderrorismoresubtle.Thetwophrasesareinterchanged.

AwkwardInthispaper,IDEASwasusedto….

CorrectInthisstudy,IDEASwasusedto….

AwkwardInthepaper,aSZG4031towingtractorisusedasthesamplevehicle,it

componentsequivalentphysicalparametersareobtainedbyUGdesignand

testing.9

CorrectInthisstudy,aSZG4031towingtractorisusedasthesamplevehicle,it

componentsequivalentphysicalparametersareobtainedbyUGdesignand

testing.

9

The‘study’istheworktheauthor/sdid.Thepaperisthemodetopresentthisworkand

iswhatthereaderisholding/reading.Keepinmindthewritercanalsouseotherphrases

suchas‘inthisresearch’,and‘thispaperpresent’.

NumbersandEquations

TwoverycommonerrorsarethoseconcerningthepresentationofArabicnumerals,and

equations.ChinesewritersusuallywriteArabicnumeralsinsteadofspellingouttheword.

TheuseofArabicnumerals,itself,isnotanerrorhowever;theyshouldneverbeusedat

thebeginningofsentences.

Incorrect12parameterswereselectedfortheexperiment.

CorrectTwelveparameterswereselectedfortheexperiment.

Inaddition,Arabicnumeralsareoverused.Arabicnumeralsshouldbeusedtogivedata

intechnicalpapers,howevertheyshouldnotbeusedtogivegeneralinformation.

IncorrectAll3studiesconcludedthatthemeantemperatureshouldbe30°C.

CorrectAllthreestudiesconcludedthatthemeantemperatureshouldbe30°C.

ThisprobablystemsfromthefactthatMandarinisasymboliclanguageandnot

alphabetic.Thus,thewriterwillfinditeasiertowriteasymbolthatexpressestheidea

insteadoftheword.Thisproblemisevenmoreseriouswhenequationsareusedinplace

ofwordsinawaythatisnotpracticedbynativeEnglishspeakers.Considerthefollowing

examples.

Equationsshouldbeintroducedasmuchaspossible,notinsertedinplaceofwords.Most

journals,liketheInternationalJournalofProductionResearch,discouragetheuseof

evenshortexpressionswithinthetext.

IncorrectIfthepowerbatterySOC>SOCloandthedrivingtorquebelongstothe