Writing in English can be a daunting task if it’s not your mother tongue, especially in professional and academic settings where clear, error-free communication is crucial. If English is your second or even third language but you frequently have to write in it, it helps to know what to look out for so that you can avoid the most common mistakes.
The right mindset
Before getting into the nitty gritty details of grammar and sentence construction, let’s look at how the right mindset can help you start your English writing task on the right foot. If you are conscious of the following two themes, the writing process will likely be less frustrating and the outcome more successful:
- Keep in mind that your culture may differ from that of your readers
Cultural and religious traditions often seep into language, with phrases and expressions specific to the daily lives and realities of the people who speak the language. The same applies to writing conventions – salutations and closings in business correspondence are often not always the same across language and countries. Take the time to find out how your language conventions may be different to that of your target audience so that you can make the necessary adjustments and not alienate them unintentionally.
- Don’t be scared of making mistakes
Fear of making grammatical errors or using inappropriate or confusing language can inhibit your confidence in your writing abilities. As a result, you may hesitate to express your ideas the way you would have in your home language, ultimately compromising the quality and credibility of your content. You can always ask an expert content editor to check your final draft – rather focus on doing your research, thoughts and ideas justice by including the necessary details and context.
Five common traps when writing in English
Now that you know how to approach your writing in a positive and proactive way, let’s delve into common mistakes that non-native speakers tend to make.
- Word order
The typical word order in an English sentence is subject-verb-object, which means that the subject usually comes first, followed by the verb and then the object, for example “She read the book”. Depending on the context, intended emphasis and extra information or nuances that are included, can however require changes to this order. For example, while the verb is usually in the middle of a sentence in English, a question will start with a verb: “Did she read the book?”. If your home language has a different approach to sentence structure, pay attention to word order so that you don’t write sentences that sound awkward or confusing.
- Vocabulary
If you have a limited English vocabulary, you run the risk of using repetitive or ambiguous wording. To avoid this, use a dictionary and thesaurus to enrich your language. Make sure that you consider the context by looking at the example sentences provided in most online dictionaries.
- Articles
Not all languages have definite articles such as “a”, “an” and “the”. If your mother tongue is one of these, make sure you don’t omit articles where they are needed or use them incorrectly. For example, “He is lawyer” should be “He is a lawyer”. It’s also important to understand when to “a” and when to use “an”:
- Use “a” for words that start on a letter that’s pronounced as a consonant in the context of the specific word, even if it’s a vowel. For example, in “a useful tool”, the vowel u is pronounced as a consonant, i.e. “yuseful”.
- Us “an” for words that start on a letter that’s pronounced as a vowel, irrespective of whether it is a consonant or a vowel. For example, in “an honest conversation”, the h is pronounced as a vowel, i.e. “onest”.
- Subject-verb agreement
In some languages, such as Chinese and Japanese, verbs generally remain the same regardless of the subject’s person or number. In the case of languages with grammatical gender, such as German or Russian, the verb form may involve considering gender in addition to number. In English (similar to French and Spanish) the verb form mainly changes depending on the subject’s person and number, for example, “The examiner is very strict” (singular) but “The examiners are very strict” (plural). Keep in mind that some plural nouns in English may take a singular verb if they are treated as a singular collective noun, for example “The team (singular subject) is playing (singular verb) well.”
- Verb tenses
The number and complexity of verb tenses vary among languages. In some languages temporal relationships are expressed differently by considering factors such as mood and evidentiality. English has a relatively large number of tenses: three main tenses (past, present and future) which are further categorised into four forms, adding up to 12 tenses. Make sure you understand when to use which and don’t mix different tenses in one sentence. Correct tense usage is especially important in academic writing – see this helpful source.
Awareness of these potential pitfalls is the first step to improving your English writing skills. Reading English as often as you can and getting feedback from English language professionals like the Refine team are other practical steps that you can take to improve the quality of your writing.
