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基于200篇文献的中式英语常见错误人工总结(学习总结和视频放送)

2018-01-29  本文已影响25人  生信宝典

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The Most Common Habitsfrom more than 200 English Papers written by Graduate Chinese Engineering Students

By Felicia Brittman

这篇文章通过示例，一对一的指出原文写法错误是什么，应该怎么写，为什么会出现这个错误，并给出一些修改建议。可以作为自己写作前指导或写作后检查指导。

错误或不合适的写法用删除线删掉以示区分，修改的位置高亮显示 Incorrect

最常见错误用法

a, an, the 冠词的漏用、错用

这个articles看着头疼，在这儿它的含义是 冠词。

The single most common habit is the omission of articles a, an, and the. This occurs because Mandarin has no direct equivalent of articles and the rules for using them are somewhat complicated for a non-native speakers.

Articles signal that a noun will follow and that any modifiers between the article and the noun refer to that noun (a big blue bicycle / the first award). A and an are indefinite articles; the is a definite article. Every time a singular noncount noun, a common noun that names one countable item, is used the noun requires some kind of determiner.

Mistake: The, a, and an are 1) omitted where they are required, 2) used where they are not needed or contribute to wordiness 3) used wrongly in place of the correct article.

Examples of incorrect usages:

Note: There was only one 3D modeling tool used in this study, therefore ‘3D modeling tool’ is specific and requires the article the.

Definitions:

Articles: Also called determiners or noun markers, articles are the words a, an, and the. A and an are indefinite articles, and the is a definite article. Articles signal that a noun will follow and that any modifiers between the article and the noun refer to that noun. ( a cold , metal chair/ the lightning-fast computer).

Determiners： A word or word group, traditionally identified as an adjective, that limits a noun by telling how much or how many about it. (expression of quantity, limiting adjective, marker) They tell whether a noun is general (a tree) or specific (the tree). The is a definite article. Before a noun, the conveys that the known refers to a specific item (the plan). A and an are indefinite articles. They convey that a noun refers to an item in a nonspecific or general way (a plan).

Common nouns： A noun that names a general group, place, person, or thing: dog, house.

Count noun： A noun that names an item or items that can be counted: radio, streets, idea, fingernails.

Noncount nouns： A noun that names a thing that cannot be counted: water, time.

Specific noun： A noun understood to be exactly and specifically referred to; uses the definite article the.

Nonspecific noun： A noun that refers to any of a number of identical items; it takes the indefinite articles a , an.

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Very long sentences句子太长

Very long sentences are especially common in Chinese-English writing because the writers often translate directly from Chinese to English. Although, in Chinese writing it is acceptable to put several supporting ideas in on sentence to show their relationship, in English, <mark>the main idea and each supporting idea is typically written in separate sentences</mark>.

One can usually recognize a very long sentence by its length – sixty words or more. However, sentences of smaller lengths can also be too long if they contain multiple statements that confuse the main idea. Long sentences can be avoided by limiting each sentence to one or two topics. Semicolons should be used where the writer really wants to emphasize the relationship between ideas.

(这个不是太长，而是一逗到底，常见到多个句子用逗号连接的情况，造成一句话很多谓语)

Another type of super-long sentence that frequently occurs in technical papers is that of a list. The writer wants to give a large amount of data, usually parameter values, and puts this information into one long, paragraph-sized sentence. However, the best way to give such type and quantity of information is to tabulate it (put it in a bulleted list).

The clear height of the case is 6.15 meters; the thickness of the roof is 0.85 meters; the thickness of the bottom is 0.90 meters, the overall width is 26.6 meters, the overall length of the axial cord is 304.5 meters, the length of the jacking section is about 148.8 meters; the weight of the case is about 24127 tons.

Right way

• Case clearance height 6.15 meters

• Roof thickness 0.85 meters

• Bottom thickness 0.90 meters

• Overall width 26.6 meters

• Overall length of the axial cord 304.5 meters

• Length of the jacking section 148.8 meters (approx.)

• Weight of the case 24127 tons (approx.)

Prefacing the main idea of a sentence by stating the purpose,location or reason first 重点突出的语句在前

Chinese writers often preface the main topic of a sentence by first stating the purpose, location, reason, examples and conditions as introductory elements. However, this has the effect of demoting the importance of the main idea and making the reader think the author is indirect. Bring the main idea to the beginning of the sentence stating any locations, reasons, etc., afterwards.

(<mark>这个即便在CNS里面，也会有这么写的。模仿CNS文章 (虽然外教总说CNS文章写的烂)，也有了每个section以目的句开头的习惯，还是多看看老外写的，找找规律，能不能矫正过来</mark>)

Tendency of placing phrases which indicate time at the beginning of a sentence

Place the most important subject at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis

which/that

The antecedent (noun or pronoun) to which which refers is not specific, causing confusion. (这个倒是常碰到指意不明)

Antecedent: The noun or pronoun to which a pronoun refers.

‘The Shijiazhuang south road underground bridge possesses the largest jacking force, which is built at 1978(10680t).’ [‘Shijiazhuang south road underground bridge possesses the largest jacking force which is built at 1978(10680t).’

Absolute truths in paleontology are often elusive, and even the filmmakers were surprised at the fierce arguments that split the scientists when an initial brainstorming session was else.

Respectively and respective

Respectively refers back to two or more persons or things only in the order they were previously designated or mentioned. If two lists are given, respectively pairs the list entries according to the order in which they are given. In this case the use of respectively is to allow the writer to give a lot of information without confusing the reader or writing several short sentences. Respectively is usually at the end of the sentence. In both cases, mentioning the order must be important to the meaning of the sentence otherwise it is not used.

For example: Bobby, Nicole and Daren wore red, green and blue coats, respectively.

Respective to two or more persons or things only in the order they were previously designated or mentioned.

The uses of these two words are usually incorrect or confusing as in the following examples.

1.Respectively is misplaced in the sentence; it is put before the nouns to which it refers.

2.Respectively is inserted to express that there is a certain order in which something was done. However, the order is already implied elsewhere in the sentence or does not need to be expressed because it does not add value to meaning of the sentence.

  1. In addition to 2, it is unclear to what ‘respectively’ refers.

In this paper, in this study

Two errors occur when these phrases are used. The first is overuse. In some papers written by Chinese, these phrases can occur as much as twice per page. In papers written by native English writers these phrases are reserved for primarily two uses

  1. In the introduction and conclusion to emphasize the content of the paper.
  2. In the body of the paper, after referring to work not done by the author such as in other journal articles or in standard.

Therefore, if either phrase occurs more than three times in a paper, its use is questionable. Actually, the reader is aware that the work presented is by the author (unless the author states otherwise) so there is no reason to repeat these phrases.

The second error is more subtle. The two phrases are interchanged.

The ‘study’ is the work the author/s did. The paper is the mode to present this work and is what the reader is holding/ reading. Keep in mind the writer can also use other phrases such as ‘in this research’, and ‘this paper present’.

Numbers and Equations

Two very common errors are those concerning the presentation of Arabic numerals, and equations. Chinese writers usually write Arabic numerals instead of spelling out the word. The use of Arabic numerals, itself, is not an error however; they should never be used at the beginning of sentences.

In addition, Arabic numerals are overused. Arabic numerals should be used to give data in technical papers, however they should not be used to give general information.

This probably stems from the fact that Mandarin is a symbolic language and not alphabetic. Thus, the writer will find it easier to write a symbol that expresses the idea instead of the word. This problem is even more serious when equations are used in place of words in a way that is not practiced by native English speakers. Consider the following examples.

Equations should be introduced as much as possible, not inserted in place of words. Most journals, like the International Journal of Production Research, discourage the use of even short expressions within the text.

Format

Paragraphs

A paragraph is a group of sentences that develop one topic or thought.

Paragraphs are separated to indicate the end of one idea or thought and the beginning of another. All English paragraphs start on a new line with an indent of about one inch or with an extra line between the two paragraphs. The latter is more typical for business writing.

Chinese students are often puzzled by separating paragraphs; the may perform one of two error. One error occurs when the writer fails to distinguish between two paragraphs. Although the new paragraph starts on a new line, there is no indentation, therefore, the reader in is not aware of the change in paragraphs or ideas. The second error occurs when a paragraph is preceded by a single sentence on a single line. The single line is indented along with the succeeding paragraph as in example #. This commonly occurs in Chinese texts but is never done in English.

Figure and Table

(这个一般不会犯错，找篇杂志的文章，人家怎么写，就跟着怎么写。缩写加点是习惯用法，包括杂志名字也是。具体见参考文献中杂志名字格式混乱问题一次解决)

The abbreviations for figure and table are Fig. and Tbl., respectively. However, the abbreviation of table is rarely seen in text. One can also write fig. for figure. However, one should choose one convention and use it throughout the paper. You should not switch between, Figure, figure, Fig, or fig. In addition, abbreviations are not used at the beginning of sentences and a space belongs between the word/ abbreviation and the number.

Variables: Variables, especially those of the English alphabet, should be italicized in technical papers to distinguish them from English words. Of course, this depends on the style required by the journal.

Capitals: Be careful that capitals are not in the middle of the sentence. (打开拼写检查就好了)

such as and etc.

Such as and etc. are commonly misused by Chinese-English writers. Such as means ‘for example’ and implies that an incomplete list will follow; etc. means ‘and so on’ and is used at the end of a list to show it is not complete. Therefore, using such as and etc. together is redundant. (类似汉语的比如说..等等)

Such as means that an incomplete list will be given and should not be used when a complete list is given.

系统类错误

  1. Some words have identical singular and plural forms and do not need an s added on to make them plural. These words include: (复数无需加s)
  1. 写作冗余

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  1. 自带复数含义

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  1. Never begin an English sentence with abbreviations and Arabic numerals such as Fig. and 8. Instead write Figure and Eight.

  2. Do not write ‘by this way’. Instead write by doing this, or using this method.

  3. Never write ‘How to…’ at the beginning of a sentence. (Don’t say it either.)

  1. Do write the results are shown in Figure 2. Do not write ‘the results are showed as Figure 2’.

  2. Italicize variables appearing in the text to differentiate them from words. This is especially important when the variables are English alphabets. Write ‘The graph shows t, a, and C as a function of time’. Do not write ‘The graph shows t, a, and C as a function of time’.

  3. Refrain from using the word obviously in a technical paper in the following way

  1. International papers should not use location dependant terms such as ‘at home’, ‘abroad’, ‘here’, ‘our country’ because the reader most likely is not Chinese and not in China. Instead, write ‘in China’. (这句话写的好像就我们中国人写不好英语似的)

  2. Avoid overusing the phrases that is to say and namely. Instead, try to convey your meaning in one sentence.

  3. Do not use too at the end of a written sentence, especially in a technical paper.

References

  1. 原文 http://www.cjig.cn/UploadFile/The%20Most%20Common%20Habits%20from%20more%20than%20200%20English%20Papers%20written.pdf

科学写作视频课

这些内容在斯坦福2013年开设的写作课程都有提及，讲师是生物背景，更适合我们做生物科研的人学习。茶余饭后听一听，既可以提高听力，更能提高写作。

http://online.stanford.edu/course/writing-in-the-sciences

现在应该还是可以在线注册听讲。如果不想注册的，也可以<mark>转发此文章到朋友圈</mark>，支持下我们的写作，截图发送至邮箱<train@ehbio.com>, 我们会给您下载好的视频链接, 只供学习使用。

怎么组织文章

前面是语法，这篇是结构。可以参考怎么组织文章。另外一个是仿照同领域高水平文章，在模仿中进步。

http://thegrantlab.org/news/2016/09/18/structuring-your-scientific-paper/

文章图表规范

唠叨

写作最重要的是多读，读的多才能写的好。不然只是干写，较难进步。在阅读中，体会那些自己想写却写不出来的句子，有醍醐灌顶的感觉。潜移默化的，就进步了。

学习程序也一样：了解了语法，就是多读别人的代码。看到一个有一个精巧的解决问题的方式，学到了，可以灵活运用了，就能提高了。附送两篇文章

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