COMMON WRITING ERRORS A REVIEW COMMON ERRORS CONTEXT

COMMON WRITING ERRORS – A REVIEW

COMMON ERRORS – CONTEXT AND PRACTICE (THINGS TO REMEMBER) • (1) Formal Academic Writing • (2) Follow Instructions • (2) Simplicity / Precision / Accuracy

REMEMBER …. • If your goal is to raise your grade from a C+ to a B+, or if you feel stuck and unable to somehow improve your grades in English class, then pay close attention to these errors. • I guarantee that if you properly proof-read your own writing, you can improve by half or full letter grade (B to B+ or C+ to B+) by the end of this semester.

LINKS / HANDOUT • Now let’s review some of the common writing errors I have collected from Korea University students like yourself. • Further explanations, links, or reviews of these “rules” are available on the class blog, or textbook (if one is required). • Here we go….

PUNCTUATION RULES . = period / full stop : = colon ; = semi-colon ! = exclamation point ? = question mark - = hyphen “……” = (open and closed) quotation marks

COMMA RULES How many errors can you find in this sentence? While she was at the store she bought milk eggs and beer. (3 errors)

…. CORRECTED SENTENCE – COMMA ERRORS • While she was at the store, she bought milk, eggs, and beer. (3 errors)

…COMMA RULES , = comma • → Use a comma to separate a list of three or more things. • I like books, music, and dogs. • • → A comma separates two sentences when there is a coordinating conjunction. (and, but, or, so, for, nor, yet) • • I eat chicken, and I often eat rice. •

… • → A comma is used to separate an introductory word or phrase. • In conclusion, doctors are advising people to take more vitamins. • • → A comma is used to separate an appositive (a word which renames a noun) from the rest of the sentence. • Washington, the first president of the United States, was a clever military leader. • •

… • → A comma is sometimes used with adjective clauses and the information in the sentence is unnecessary/extra (nonrestrictive clause. ) • The student, who is at the top of her middle school class, is an accomplished tennis player.

CAPITALIZATION • How many errors can you find in this sentence? • we went to the han river park with mr. lee last tuesday.

…. ANSWER • we went to the han river park with mr. lee last tuesday. • Seven Errors!

…ANSWER • We went to the Han River Park with Mr. Lee last Tuesday.

CAPITALIZATION RULES • Capitalize…. • Months / days (Monday, March…) • Proper Nouns (names of people, places, geographic locations) • Formal title (Mr. / Mrs. / Ms / Dr. …) • First word in a sentence • Titles (“The War of the Worlds”) • The subject pronoun “I”

SPELLING (SP) • How many errors can you find in this sentence? • I cooked spagetti in the kichun.

…ANSWER • (X) I cooked spagetti in the kichun. • I cooked spaghetti in the kitchen.

PLURAL / SINGULAR FORM (REGULAR / IRREGULAR) • What’s wrong with these sentences? • (X) I have two delicious apple. • (X) I live in a house with two other persons. • (X) Three childs are playing outside.

… PLURAL / SINGULAR FORM • (X) I have two delicious apples • (regular plural form s / ies) • (X) I live in a house with two other persons. I live in a house with two other people. • (irregular plural form) • (X) Three childs are playing outside. Three children are playing outside. • (irregular plural form)

WORD ORDER (WO) • (Question form error) – There is food? • (Statement form error) – Chicken I really like.

…ANSWER • (Question form corrected) – Is there food? • (Statement form corrected) – I really like chicken.

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS (SF) • • What is the error in this sentence? (X)The library far from here.

…ANSWER • The library is far from here. • A sentence fragment is a sentence missing a subject or a verb.

WORD CHOICE (WC) = KONGLISH • What errors can you find in this sentence? • (X) When driving, make sure to keep your hands on the handle and frequently check your back and side mirrors.

…. ANSWER • When driving, make sure to keep your hands on the handle and frequently check your back and side mirrors. • Corrected Sentence • When driving, make sure to keep your hands on the steering wheel and frequently check your rear-view and side-view mirrors.

…WC EXPLANATION • A word choice error (wc) occurs when a word, often new or unfamiliar to the user, is used incorrectly or in the incorrect context. • One common example in Korea, is Konglish. (Korean + English) • When writing for a formal academic context, it is necessary to avoid using informal vocabulary and to be familiar with the proper use of vocabulary. • A word choice error would lower your vocabulary or lexical score on an exam or standardized test.

ARTICLES (A/AN/THE)AND COUNT / NON-COUNT NOUNS • What errors can you find in this sentence? Can you explain why they are incorrect? • (X) I found a rice on my shirt after spilling my bowl on a table.

…ANSWER • I found a rice on my shirt after spilling my bowl on a table. • Corrected Sentence • I found a grain of rice on my shirt after spilling my bowl on the table.

SEVEN BASIC RULES OF ARTICLE USE • (1) Singular count nouns require an article. • My mother is a teacher. (teacher = count noun) • (2) When referring to a thing in general do not use THE with noncount nouns. • (X) I hate the salt. (salt = noncount noun) I hate salt. • (X) I hate the beer. (beer = non-count noun) I hate beer. • (X) I hate the money. (money = non-count noun) I hate money

…. RULES CONTINUED • (3) Do not use THE when you mean the thing in general while referring to a singular count noun. (X) The television(s) are in every home. Televisions are in every home. • (4) Use THE when you refer to something a second time. • Yesterday I saw “Iron Man 6” with my brother. The movie was really fun.

…RULES CONTINUED • • (5) THE used for something specific. (Specificity) • (X) Bank on the corner is open. The bank on the corner is open. • • (6)Use THE if there is only one of that thing. (Uniqueness) (X) Sun is millions of kilometers from our planet. The sun is millions of kilometers from our planet. •

…RULES CONTINUED • (7) Use THE for the superlative adjective form. • (X) I am best student in class. I am the best student in class. The superlative form of the adjective “good” is “the best”.

COUNT/NON-COUNT NOUNS AND QUANTIFIERS • Nouns that do not have a plural form (non-count nouns) require a quantifier (a word which tells us the amount). • For example, can you correct these sentences? • (X) (1) I had a rice today. (plural) • (X) (2) There is a piece of rice on your shirt. (singular) • (X) (3) I have a information about you. (singular) • (X) (4) There are many informations about you on this website. (plural)

…ANSWERS • (1) I had a bowl rice today. (plural) • (2) There is a grain of rice on your shirt. (singular) • (3) I have a piece of information about you. (singular) • (4) There is a lot of information about you on this website. (plural)

NUMBERS (FORMAL ACADEMIC WRITING) How would you rewrite these sentences for a formal academic context? (1)I am 23 years old. (age) (2)I weighty kilos. (measurement) (3)I have ten thousand won. (money) (4)It is three p. m. (time) (5)I have 6 cats. (quantity)

…ANSWERS For university writing (formal academic writing) these rules apply. It is not the same for other contexts like newspaper writing, fiction, informal emails, texting etc. (1)I am twenty-three years old. (age) (2)I weigh 80 kilos. (measurement) (3)I have W 10, 000. (money) (4)It is 3 p. m. (time) (5)I have six cats. (quantity)

NUMBERS – REVIEW • For academic writing, spell the numeral when writing about age and quantity. • For academic writing, use the numeral when writing about time, measurement and money.

ROMANIZATION – KOREAN TO ENGLISH • • Let’s review how you would spell Korean nouns (people, places, and food) ? • How would you Romanize this Korean name? • → My name is 김 영 미.

…ROMANIZED NAMES • My name is 김 영 미. • (1) My name is Yeong Mi Kim. • (2) My name is Kim Yeong Mi. • (3) My name is Kim Yeong mi. • (4) My name is Kim Yeong-mi.

…ANSWER • (4) My name is Kim Yeong-mi.

. . WHY? • Kim Yeong-mi • Guidelines • Do not reorder / Westernize name order (surname / family name). It’s confusing! • Capitalize family name (Kim) and first letter of given name (Yeong) • Use hyphen to separate two parts of given name (Yeong-mi) • Use lowercase letter (mi) for the second part of given name.

ROMANIZE - FOOD • Guidelines • Romanize the name of Korean food or dishes unless there is another pre-existing noun. Some examples What is the English noun for 김치찌개? What are the English nouns for 초밥 and 회 ?

…ROMANIZATION - KOREAN FOOD What is the English noun for 김치찌개? Answer - kimchi-jjigae What are the English nouns for 초밥 and 회 ? • Answer - sushi and sashimi

ROMANIZATION - PLACES What’s wrong with this sentence? My parents are from Cheon-an.

ROMANIZATION - PLACES…ANSWER • (X) My parents are from Cheon-an. • Answer - My parents are from Cheonan. • Guidelines • Do not use a hypen (-) to separate parts of the place names. • (X) Jo-chi-won Jochiwon

ROMANIZATION - PLACES • Do not use a hyphen (-) to separate parts of the place names. • (X) Jo-chi-won Jochiwon • (X) Su-won Suwon

QUESTION - ROMANIZATION REVIEW • How do you spell your name in English? • What is the name of your (Korean) hometown? • What is your favorite Korean dish?

PREPOSITIONS • What’s wrong with these sentences? • I am at class. • I am at Sejong Campus. • I am on Jochiwon.

…ANSWER • (X) I am at class. I am at Sejong Campus. I am on Jochiwon. • I am in class. I am on Sejong Campus. I am in Jochwon.

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT (SVA) • What’s wrong with this sentence? • (X) She have no reason to miss class next week.

…ANSWER • (X) She have no reason to miss class next week. • Corrected Sentence • She has no reason to miss class next week. • Pay attention to the proper conjugation!

VERB TENSES (REGULAR / IRREGULAR) • For this class, it is necessary to be familiar with the question and statement form of these verb tenses.

…VERB TENSES • (1) Simple Present • (2) Simple Past (regular & irregular) • (3) Present Continuous / Present Progressive • (4) Future(will / be going to) • (5) Present Perfect • (6) Past Perfect • (7) Future Perfect

VERB TENSE – SAMPLE QUESTION / ANSWER FORMS • (1) Simple Present • (Question) What do you do? • (Answer) I am a Korea University student. • (2) Simple Past (regular & irregular) • (Question) What did you eat for lunch? • (Answer) I ate kimchi-jjigae for lunch.

. . . QUESTION / ANSWER FORMS • (3) Present Continuous / Present Progressive (now) • (Question) What are you doing? • (Answer) I am listening to my professor. • (4) Future (will / be going to) • (Question) What will you do tonight? • (Answer) I will eat dinner with my family tonight.

. . . QUESTION / ANSWER FORMS (5) Present Perfect (experiences / past participle verbs) • (Question) Have you ever been to Germany? • (Answer) No, I haven’t been to Germany yet. • (6) Past Perfect (action interrupted in past) • (Question)What were you doing when he called? • (Answer) I was arguing with my sister when he called.

. . . QUESTION / ANSWER FORMS • (7) Future Perfect • (Question) Will you have eaten dinner by the time I get home? • (Answer)No, I will not have eaten by the time you get home.

…. AND FINALLY • The Top Four Word Choice Errors

…EXAMPLES • Here are four sentences. What’s wrong with them? How would you fix or improve them? • (1) I like to trip on summer vacation. • (2) My summer vacation was very funny. • (3) I like to play with friends on weekends. • (4) Basketball is a famous sport with kids. •

…ANSWERS • (1)(X) I like to trip on summer vacation. • (trip vs. travel) • I like to travel on summer vacation. • (2) (X) My summer vacation was very funny. • (fun vs. funny) • My summer vacation was very fun. •

…ANSWERS • (3) (X) I like to play with friends on weekends. (play vs hangout/meet…) • I like to hangout / spend time with / meet friends. • (4) Basketball is a famous sport with kids. • (popular vs. famous) • Basketball is a popular sport with kids.

…THE END? ? • Of course this is not the end! • However, that is enough to digest. • Now, take a look at your first writing assignments. (proof-read)

HOMEWORK • I will ask you to show me at least three of the common errors in your writing reviewed here. • What errors did you make when completing the homework from Week 1?

…. THE END