Common Grammatical Errors in Academic Text

To write an academic paper, one needs to critically analyze the things which are to be focused. It needs a closer view on the representation of the text. For this, an intense knowledge of the usage of grammar is must.

Let’s consider some of the grammatical errors:

• Some non-count nouns e.g. information, beef, software, courage, evidence are not pluralized usually. So it is required to pluralize nouns only if the essence of the sentence demands.
• Whenever a modification of a verb, an adjective or another adverb is required, one needs to use an adverb to perform this.Usually, adverbs end in – ly; do not try to erase this ending when required.

For example, one should write “a really good show,” instead of “a real good show”;”the cost increased quickly,” instead of “the cost increased quickly.”

• Less and Fewer

These two words have similar meaning if they are unchecked. Use of these two in place of each other is frequent but these do not provide the same meaning grammatically. The rule says that the word ‘less’ should be used always only for those items which cannot be counted whereas the word ‘fewer’ should be used when the things can be counted. For example, “There is less milk in the bottle”. Here milk cannot be counted. So it is represented in terms of volume, while “There are fewer students in my class” represents the number of students present in the class.

• They’re, Their and There

The pronunciation of these three words is almost the same. But they have really very different meanings. “They’re” means -They are. “Their” is a word which is used for possession of a thing. “There” refers to either a place or a direction. For example, “They’re good men”, “Their names are Jeet and Jyotsana”,and “There is a place in America where both lives happily”.

·         Bad and Badly

Very often, the words ‘bad’ and ‘badly’ are used for the same sense of meanings. But it is to be considered that “badly” refers to a mechanism. If someone says-”I feel badly about my examination results.”, this sentence is just same as saying “I feel bad about the incident.” If one feels ‘bad’, he/she cannot feel ‘badly’.

• It is suggested to use Parts of Speech whenever required at appropriate places. For example, write “sociocapitalist” in place of “social capitalism”.
• The words used in the writing should represent clear definitions. Always use the words which can be exactly fitted in the text.
• Factor, Aspect, Situation and Concepts

These words have justifiable uses. It is not advised to used these words for many purposes. For example, “Jeet should defy concepts he is not responsible for.”, “Another objection to beauty pageants is the beauty aspect.”These sentences have not very clear meanings at all.

• Whenever it is required to simplify a passage, one should do it, For example, “John prefers coffee, particularly those which have included different flavors of chocolates in them.”This sentence can be shortened to “John prefers coffee, particularly with chocolate flavors.”
• Use of synonyms simply to reflect a variety in the text should be avoided. It may destroy the essence of the sentence. Also note that synonyms often have different shades e.g., ignorant/uneducated, skinny/slim.
• Do not use self-invented words which do not show the meanings which a text requires exactly. Be sure that those invented words exist. For example,   the use of “unsimilar” is wrong.
• Don’t use unnecessary words many times to say same thing .For example, each and every; ideas, beliefs and convictions.
• Carefully use the nouns together. Threading nouns together can lead to clumsiness or dimness. For example, “A large vehicle operator mileage reduction” could mean “a reduction in the mileage allowed to operators of large fleets of vehicles” or “a large reduction in the mileage allowed to operators of vehicle fleets.”
• Use of metaphors could contribute to have a grip on writing but weird or conflicting metaphors could make writing nonsensical. For example, “There aren’t enough flies in the ointment to justify throwing out the baby with the bathwater.”
• It is not justified to use childish words in a text. Do not use these types of wordings like bunnies and puppies.
• Words like ticked off, out to lunch, screwed up should be avoided. It often does not have exact meanings.
• Do not use lines or expressions which have become out of date due to overuse.Fir example, pretty as a picture, hard as nails, a rolling stone gather.
• Unchecked repetition can be harmful for the text. For example, “If I increase my daily. I’m sure my running speed in the ground will increase. Therefore my overall performance in the sports will increase.”
• Use of ideas in the text through a single sentence is not so impressive. It may sometimes lead to confusion. Consider this sentence, “Television is a bad influence on children because of violence, role modeling, and commercials.”It is a little bit difficult to guess where the writer is going with the sentence.

A number of good and meaningful words can be used in a text besides the discussed above. To write a good academic text, one should have a deep knowledge about what he/she is going to write in the content. Focus on the surface of things would not help to make an impressive text. One should always choose text which is comfortable to write for him/her so that he/she could justify with the text. A systematic presentation of the academic text is must.

References:-

Common Errors in Student Research Papers, available at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html

Corson, D. (1985). The lexical bar. Oxford: Pergamon.

Corson, D. (1997). The learning and use of academic English words. Language Learning 47(4), 671-718.

Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly 34(2), 213-238.

Cobb, T. Web Vocabprofile [accessed 10 October 2008 from http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/], an adaptation of Heatley & Nation’s (1994) Range.

Most Common English Grammar Mistakes at Tutor.com, available at http://www.tutor.com/articles/articles.aspx?Id=69