实用英文写作CommonErrorsInEnglishWriting

1、Common Errors In English Writing 1. Sentence fragment Wrong: The Senator voted for the health care bill to the delight of the opposition. Although he had to admit that there were certain provisions with which he disagreed. Corrected version: The Senator voted for the health care bill to the delight

2、of the opposition although he had to admit there were certain provisions with which he disagreed.2. Run-on sentence Refers to the error of combining more than one independent sentence into one long sentence. Wrong: Some people say they care for the environment they litter cigarette butts or fruit sk

3、ins just about anywhere they happen to be. Revised version: Some people say they care for environment, yet they litter cigarette butts or fruits skins just about anywhere they happen to be.3. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers Place modifiers near the words they describe; be sure the modified words ac

4、tually appear in the sentence. Wrong: Entering the bakery, the smell of fresh pastries and coffee overwhelmed her. Revised version: Entering the bakery, she was overwhelmed by the smell of fresh pastires and coffee4. Faulty Parallelism Wrong: The candidates goals include winning the election, a heal

5、th program, and education. Revised version: The candidates goals include winning the election, enacting a national health program, and improving the educational system.5. Pronoun Reference and Agreement Incorrect: Einstein was a brilliant mathematician. This is how he was able to explain the working

6、s of the universe. Revised: Einstein, who was a brilliant mathematician, used his quantitative ability to explain the workings of universe. Do not combine singular and plural forms of words in the same sentence. Wrong: Each subject rated their own mood on the questionnaire. Right: Each subject rated

7、 his or her own mood on the questionnaire. Right: All subjects rated their own moods on the questionnaire. Avoid using sexist wording, such as he or his when you are trying to refer to both boys and girls or to both women and men. Wrong: When the subject reported being finished, the experimenter ask

8、ed him to complete a second questionnaire. Right: When the subject reported being finished, the experimenter administered a second questionnaire. Wrong: A variety of issues were presented at the meeting. Right: A variety of issues was presented at the meeting. Miscellaneous 1. Use a hyphen when usin

9、g two words to act as one adjective (unless the first word ends in -ly). Wrong: The college student sample was smarter than the high school sample. Right: The college-student sample was smarter than the high-school sample. 2. Avoid unnecessary commas Wrong: The facts were selected, and organized wit

10、h care. Right: The facts were selected and organized with care. Wrong: The Air Force debunked 揭露，暴露 UFO sightings, but, millions of Americans didnt listen. Right: The Air Force debunked UFO sightings, but millions of Americans didnt listen. 3. 可数名词不能单独使用 Employee can get more benefits from telecommu

11、ting（远程上班）than employer. employee 和 employer 两个单词存在错误。 可数名词永远不能单独使用。什么叫单独使用呢？英语里面任何一个可数名词，必须在前面加上限定词，比如the/an/a/this/that/my your这些词，否则后面就必须加复数。 正确形式：employee 和 employer 后面加上s。 4. 动词例1：Work at home using modern technology can greatly enhance (增进，提高)our efficiency. work 存在错误。英文里动词不能作主语。 正确形式：work 改为动

12、名词working。 例2. Children who are raise in impoverished(贫穷的) families can generally deal with problems more effectively in their adult years. raise(抚养) 应该用被动形式。正确形式：raise改为raised. 动词的时态 In present-day society, cultures were becoming very similar. 时态前后矛盾。 议论文里极少会用过去时。 正确形式：were 改成are。 There are a great

13、 many children think the main purpose of education should be to afford them pleasure and enjoyment. there be 句型后面的名词再加动词时不要用原形。 正确形式：把think后面加上-ing。 5. 副词还是形容词 Intelligent students should not be treated different by their teachers. different修饰动词，应该用副词形式。 6. 固定搭配 Countries should pay attention on the

14、 disadvantages globalisation may create. pay attention 介词搭配 to。 另外，请牢记下面的两个介词搭配：reason for., solution to. 7. 人称和数的一致 Collective nouns Collective nouns like family and audience may be either singular or plural, depending on the meaning in which they are used. If you think of family, government, etc.

15、as one whole, a singular verb is needed. If you think of family, government, etc. as made up of a number of people, a plural verb is needed. Examples His whole family is/are here with him. The majority of the students taking this exam is/are girls. These cattle belong/belongs to that ranch. There is

16、/are an enormous audience in the hall. The audience was/were shocked by the scenes of violence in the film.More examplesThere is/are a lot of important news in todays newspaper.Mathematics is/are extremely interesting to him.All the people in the room is/are enjoying his funny stories.The police has

17、/have begun making inquiries about the case.The number of PhD degree holders among the teaching staff of the school is/are very small.A number of PhD degree holders are/is teaching at this university. Some words, like news and names of branches of learning, are uncountable, and therefore are always

18、singular; some words, like people and police, are always plural. There is/are an old worker and three young men doing the job today. Either you or I are/am to take up the work. When two subects refer to different persons or are different in number, the verb should agree with the subject close to it. John, together with two assistant, is/are repairing the machine. Besides Smith, William is/are going to speak at the meeting. Words after together with, in addition to, besides, etc., are objects of prepositions; they do not affect the number of the subject. ExercisesCorr