1 Common mistakes in English writing Dr. Montoneri May 29, 2012

2 The outline Most essays written by students have no outline, that is, no introduction, no main body, and no conclusion. Lack of objectivity, logic, and proportion. For example, if students discuss on death penalty and consider it is a good thing, they will only provide examples and information in favor of death penalty (no “pros and cons”). An outline should be balanced, logical, and clear.

3 Confusing nouns, verbs, and adjectives “She would marry a prince to strong the kingdom.” (to strengthen)  Strong ( 強烈 ); strength; to strengthen - 加強 “Virginia Woolf suicide in 1941.” (committed suicide)  A suicide; suicidal; to commit suicide 自殺 (to kill oneself) “Prince Hamlet revenge on his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet” (took revenge on)  Vengeance ( 復仇 ); revenge; revengeful ( 報復 ); to take revenge on; to avenge someone

4 Confusing nouns, verbs, and adjectives To lead, led, led. The "lead" that is pronounced "led" (a homophone of the verb led – i.e., with the same sound but different meaning) refers to a metal and is used as a noun (It is made of lead) or an adjective (We use lead pipes). Pyrex had a wisdom Queen  a wise They are very happiness  happy

5 Verbs Third person + -s He want  He wants; she go  she goes Tense shift “If I had a Time Machine, I would travel to the past.” Irregular verbs They drived to the beach  they drove Could, would, should + infinitive He could recognized  recognize

6 Verbs Choose a tense and respect your choice Delilah knew she has to saw a gigantic waterfall surrounded by mountains.  she had to see (she had to find would make more sense) There was a huge castle…Rumor has it the castle belongs to a princess.  There is a huge castle I was lost. Can you help me?  I am lost I didn’t know why I am here  I don’t What? He left? Do you know where he go?  went When he backed  he came back

7 “the” and “a” Leaving palace  Leaving the palace The Snow White  Snow White Snow White and prince  the prince Once upon a time, there was king  a king The content of book  the book He never cared the fame  cared about fame The Sophie  Sophie (no the before name)

8 Pronouns Don’t use “you” in an essay and don’t address the reader directly. “You love somebody, but you don’t know why”. Use “we” or “people” instead. Don’t mix different pronouns in the same sentence: “It also tells us not to be arrogant, when you look down on somebody.”  when we Don’t confuse “he” and “she” Pyrex, my lover, we must face our fault, only by doing so we can be a strong man  you must face your fault…you can be

9 Pay attention and concentrate Read your essay carefully before you submit it: Snow White and the price decided to marry  prince Delilah don’t know where to look for the golden bird  doesn’t know I only knows I am lost  know Time fries  flies They fell in love on a ball  at a ball

10 Poor English Avoid repetitions: He was cheated by two cheaters  by two tailors Vocabulary: They felt they did something wrong and sorry to Snow White  apologized to Confusing and poor syntax: They became palace guards with vary rich food for good  and ate various and rich food They have a happiness life forever  lived happily ever after

11 Common mistakes on verbs He looked like so happy  He looked so happy He will dead  He will die She was died  She died He born  He was born I like to listen music  listen to She laughed him  at him Verbs + that: Some studies showed the story  showed that the story