英语写作常见错误与分析
一。不一致(Disagreements)
所谓不一致不光指主谓不一致,它还包括了数的不一致、时态不一致及代词不一致等。
病句:When one have money, he can do what he want to.
人一旦有了钱,他就能想干什么就干什么。)
剖析:one是单数第三人称,因而本句的have应改为has;同理,want应改为wants。本句是典型的主谓不一致。
改为:Once one has money, he can do what he wants (to do).
二。句子不完整(Sentence Fragments)
在口语中,交际双方可借助手势、语气、上下文等理解不完整的句子。可是书面语就不同了,句子结构不完整会令意思表达不清,这种情况常常发生在主句写完以后,笔者又想加些补充说明时发生。
病句:There are many ways to know the society. For example, by TV, radio, newspaper and so on.
剖析:本句后半部分“For example, by TV, radio, newspaper and so on.”不是一个完整的句子,仅为一些词语,不能成句。
改为:There are many ways to know society, for example, by TV, radio, and newspaper.
三。悬垂修饰语(Dangling Modifiers)
所谓悬垂修饰语是指句首的短语与后面句子的逻辑关系混乱不清。
病句1:At the age of ten, my grandfather died.
剖析:这句中“at the age of ten”只点出“十岁时”,但没有说明“谁”十岁时。按一般推理不可能是my grandfather,如果我们把这个悬垂修饰语改明确一点,全句就不那么令人费解了。
改为:When I was ten, my grandfather died.
病句2:To do well in college, good grades are essential.
剖析:句中不定式短语“to do well in college”的逻辑主语不清楚。
改为:To do well in college, a student needs good grades.
四。词性误用(Misuse of Parts of Speech)
“词性误用”常表现为:介词当动词用;形容词当副词用;名词当动词用等。
病句:None can negative the importance of money.
剖析:negative是形容词,误作动词。
改为:None can deny the importance of money.
五。指代不清(Ambiguous Reference of Pronouns)
指代不清主要讲的是代词与被指代的人或物关系不清,或者先后所用的代词不一致。
病句1:Mary was friendly to my sister because she wanted her to be her bridesmaid.
(玛丽和我姐姐很要好,因为她要她做她的伴娘。)
剖析:读完上面这一句话,读者无法明确地判断两位姑娘中谁将结婚,谁将当伴娘。如果我们把易于引起误解的代词的所指对象加以明确,意思就一目了然了。
改为:Mary was friendly to my sister because she wanted my sister to be her bridesmaid.
病句2:And we can also know the society by serving it yourself.
剖析:句中人称代词we 和反身代词yourself指代不一致。
改为:We can also know society by serving it ourselves.
六。不间断句子(Run-on Sentences)
什么叫run-on sentence?请看下面的例句:
There are many ways we get to know the outside world.
剖析:这个句子包含了两层完整的意思:“There are many ways.”以及“We get to know the outside world.”。简单地把它们连在一起就不妥当了。
改为:
There are many ways for us to learn about the outside world.
或:
There are many ways through which we can become acquainted with the outside world
七。措词毛病(Troubles in Diction)
Diction 是指在特定句子中如何适当地选用词语的问题,囿于教学时间紧迫,教师平时在这方面花的时间往往极其有限,影响了学生在写作中没有养成良好的推敲、斟酌的习惯。他们往往随心所欲,拿来就用。所以作文中用词不当的错误比比皆是。
病句:The increasing use of chemical obstacles in agriculture also makes pollution.
(农业方面化学物质使用的不断增加也造成了污染。)
剖析:显然,考生把obstacles“障碍、障碍物”误作substance“物质”了。另外“the increasing use(使用的不断增加)”应改为“abusive use(滥用)”。
改为:The abusive use of chemical substances in agriculture also causes/leads to pollution.
八。累赘(Redundancy)
言以简洁为贵。写句子没有一个多余的词;写段落没有一个无必要的句子。能用单词的不用词组;能用词组的不用从句或句子。
病句1:In spite of the fact that he is lazy, I like him.
剖析:本句的“the fact that he is lazy”系同谓语从句,我们按照上述“能用词组的不用从句”。
改为:In spite of his laziness, I like him.
病句2:For the people who are diligent and kind, money is just the thing to be used to buy the thing they need.
剖析:整个句子可以大大简化。
改为:Diligent, caring people use money only to buy what they need.
九。不连贯(Incoherence)
不连贯是指一个句子前言不对后语,或是结构上不畅通。这也是考生常犯的毛病。
病句:The fresh water, it is the most important things of the earth.
剖析:The fresh water 与逗号后的it 不连贯。It 与things 在数方面不一致。
改为:Fresh water is the most important thing in the world.
十。综合性语言错误(Comprehensive Misusage)
所谓“综合性语言错误”,是指除了上述错误以外,还有诸如时态、语态、标点符号、大小写等方面的错误。
病句:Today, Money to everybody is very importance, our's eat, cloth, live, go etc.
可改为:Today money is very important for everybody to live in the world
英文段落中的各个语句在长度上应该有一定变换,即所谓的长短句之说。短句给人以精炼强调之感,长句则给人以严谨深刻之感。一般说来,长句有两种情况,一种是由于结构复杂而形成的长句,多见于书面语;还有一种是由简单句扩展而成以使语句表达得更加生动和清楚,主要出现在口语的表达中。
例如,有人曾请两个人用英文表达同一内容:“今有一物,不知其数,三三数之余二;五五数之余三;七七数之余二。问物几何?”
第一个人的英文表达:We have a number of things which, counted by threes, leave two; by fives, leave three; and by sevens, leave two. Find the number.
第二个人的英文表达:We have things of which we do not know the number. If we count them by threes, they leave a remainder of two. If we count them by fives, they leave a remainder of two. If we count them by sevens, they leave a remainder of two. How many things are there?
英文写作不能一味地使用短句。段落中的短句过多,不仅使得段落显得单调,而且使得段落非常零散、内容浅薄。如果一旦发现段落中尽是写短句的话,这时就需要将某些简短的语句扩展成比较长的句子。
语句的扩展主要是在语句的主干上增添修饰成分(如定语、状语等)。
有些语句适宜用增添修饰成分的方法进行扩展,但增添修饰成分不应有斧凿之痕,应该使原句更加感觉有血有肉。
1 )You should stop smoking now.
你现在应该戒烟了。
如要扩展此句,可以这样进行:“You should give up smoking now, for the sake of your own health, for the sake of the health of others, for the sake of your family, and for the sake of the entire world.”
为了你自己的健康,为了他人的健康,为了你的家庭,也为了整个世界,你现在应该戒烟了。
2) Doctors think that an active person should have a restful hobby, while a person who sits at a desk should have a lively hobby.
医生认为爱好活动的人应该有安静型的业余爱好,而伏案工作的人应该有着活动型的业余爱好。
如要扩展此句,可以这样来进行:“Doctors think that an active person, such as a baseball player or a swimmer, should have a restful hobby such as reading, collections of stamps, dolls, buttons or shells, etc. , while a person who sits at a desk all day, such as a teacher or a doctor should have a lively hobby such as tennis, golf, swimming or skating.”
医生认为,像棒球选手或游泳运动员这类爱好活动的人应该有安静型的业余爱好,比如阅读、收藏邮票、收藏布娃娃、收藏钮扣、收藏贝壳等,而整日伏案工作的人如教师或医生,就应该有打网球、打高尔夫球、游泳或者滑冰这类活动型的业余爱好。
3 )A child with a problem will probably go to his friends for sympathy.
一个碰到问题的孩子有可能到朋友那里寻求同情。
如要扩展此句,可以这样来进行:“A child with a problem, when he feels what he will probably get from his parents is incomprehension or criticism, will go to his friends for sympathy and advice, leaving the parents totally unaware of the problem he has.”
一个碰到问题的孩子,当他觉得从父母那里得到的有可能是不理解或者批评的时候,就会去找他的朋友们寻求同情和建议,而其父母对其问题却全然不知。
4) We can be informed of a lot by reading books.
通过阅读书籍我们可以了解很多东西。
如要扩展此句,可以这样来进行:“By reading scientific books, we can be informed of many facts; by reading geography, we know the earth' s surface, forms, physical features, ect.; by reading history, we are told of the growth of the nations.”
通过阅读科技书籍,我们可以了解许多事实;通过阅读地理,我们知道了地球的表面、结构和地貌特征等;通过阅读历史,我们了解到世界的发展过程