英文Email 写作中常见的错误

上次我有篇博客提到Email 写作中的问题，  今天那个加拿大同事给我们统计了他认为我们的共同常见的问题。

 

Common errors:

·         Comma splice

o   Sticking two sentences together with a comma in the middle. For example: “It’s nearly half past five, we can’t reach town before dark.”. There is no explicit relationship between these two sentences, so either they should be separated by a period (“It’s nearly half past five. We can’t reach town before dark.”), or their relationship should be made explicit with a conjunction (“It’s nearly half past five, so we can’t reach town before dark.”). Common conjunctions are: and, but, or, yet, so. Other, less common conjunctions should be avoided because they mostly sound old-fashioned. More examples can be found at http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-splice.aspx

·         Beginning sentences with conjunctions

o   While it’s not a universal rule, if you need to start a sentence with a conjunction it usually means that you’ve put a period where a comma should be. Try to think of another way to say what you want to say. If you’re staying on the same subject, you don’t need to start your sentences with “so”- unless you change the subject, it’s assumed that a new sentence follows on from the last one.

·         Conjugating full sentences

o   Make sure that the whole sentence is using the same number (singular or plural), the same tense (past, present, future, conditional, etc) and the same voice (passive, active). Make sure that you understand who or what the subject and the object of your sentence are (i.e. which noun is acting on which other noun) and that all the adverbs, adjectives, and pronouns are correctly associated.

·         Long/Run-on sentences

o   Sentences that are too long, have too many commas, or contain too many independent clauses               are harder to read, harder to write, and harder to understand, which you can probably sympathize with after reading this sentence, which is much too long. Break your ideas down into simple sentences containing no more than one or two clauses, and make sure that every part of your sentences relates to every other part. The first sentence in this paragraph, for instance, needs a period after “understand”, since “which is much too long” has nothing to do with the beginning of the sentence. For more examples see http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm

·         Using “please”

o   Whenever you ask someone to do something for you, especially a superior, you should use “please”. It’s easy and makes the request much friendlier.

·         Forgetting articles

o   The, A, and An are important. Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia’s entry on articles:

A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be something that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be something uniquely specified. The definite article in English, for both singular and plural nouns, is the.

An indefinite article indicates that its noun is not a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be something that the speaker is mentioning for the first time, or its precise identity may be irrelevant or hypothetical, or the speaker may be making a general statement about any such thing. English uses a/an for singular nouns, and some for plural nouns. 

Many examples can be found at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/540/01/

 

·         Last line

o   Try to avoid Chinese sentences like “What are your thoughts?” or “How is your feeling?”. Instead, use “What do you think” or “How does that sound?”.

·         Correct use of the imperative

o   Using the infinitive form of a verb (think, want, make) without a subject (I, you, we) makes it into a command. “Would you like to eat lunch?” is a polite invitation. “Let’s eat lunch” is a familiar invitation. “Eat lunch” is an order. Unless you mean to give a command, you should remember a subject! For more on the imperative, see http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/imperative/menu.php

·         Contractions

o   Try to use “I’m” instead of “I am”, “don’t” instead of “do not”, etc. Contractions are used in most informal speech, so if you don’t use them, you sound like either a student writing an essay or a robot.

·         Misc.

o   When you are making suggestions, don’t forget “that”: I suggest that we eat. Similarly, I want to remind you to use the infinitive form of a verb after “want”, unless you want a specific thing (i.e. “I want to finish my tasks today, then I want some ice cream”)

 

放在这里只是想找个地方记录下来 以后多看看。  在此也感谢 同事 Alec。