[Hong Kong - May 8, 2017] Learning English as a second language (ESL) can be difficult. Being a student on top of that is harder still. Not only are you learning a new subject but you have to study and write in a foreign language as well. Everything is made twice as hard, you might not be able to fully grasp what it is you’re reading, you might be having a hard time understanding your lecturer, and that’s not even to mention how you have to write your essays in a language that’s not your first language. So first of all, on behalf of all of us here at EES, let me say well done to all ESL students for even doing what you’re doing.
Over the years our academic editors and proofreaders in Hong Kong have noticed a few common mistakes that ESL students make, and we’re here to help.
1.Tenses
During editing we come across many instances where the wrong tense has been used. We find that the author will be writing in the present tense, for example “we check the mixture and find that...”. In this example, the study or the experiment has been carried out, the author is now discussing his/her findings, as such the sentence should read “we checked the mixture and found that...”. As a rule academic work should not be written in the present tense as if it were a story. A good practice to follow is if it was done in the past (even only yesterday) then refer to it in the past tense. If you are planning to do further experimentation or study then refer to it in future tense.
2. Plurals
Another common mistake our editors have come across during editing and proofreading is incorrect plural nouns. The simple explanation for this is that not all nouns have a plural form. Nouns such as bread, furniture, or advice are always used in the singular form. Expressions such as the healthy, the rich, or the deaf are always plural and as such do not need an ‘s’ added to them. We also come across many examples of the subject and the verb not agreeing in number. It is vital to remember that these two things must match. If the subject is singular then its verb must also be singular. So too if the subject is plural then the verb must also be plural.
3. Missing articles
This is one of the most common errors we find during editing ESL students’ work in Hong Kong. As we explained in an earlier blog entry there are times when you do not use an article, such as when referring to something in general, for example “coffee is bitter”, or when talking about an idea, ‘university is difficult’. But by and large everything else requires either an indefinite or definite article. The indefinite articles are ‘a’ and ‘an’, and the definite article is ‘the’. The key point to remember is that indefinite articles are used to refer to a noun that is unknown, and the definite article is used in front of something with which the reader already knows about. For example, ‘a man walked in...’ is an example of the correct use of the indefinite article, the man is unknown. ‘The man walked in...’ is an example of the correct use of the definite article, the man is known. For a detailed run-down of the rules for indefinite and definite articles check out the earlier blog entry here.