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23 Tips All ESL Writers Need To Know PDF
23 Tips All ESL Writers Need To Know PDF
Founder of ProofreadingServices.com,
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ESL writers
Contents
1 Capitalize proper nounsbut not common nouns 4
8 Avoid over-nominalization 11
9 Know SVOPT 12
20 Shorter is better 23
So what exactly is the difference between a proper noun and a common noun?
A proper noun names a specific, often one-of-a-kind item. Proper
nouns include the names of people, states, cities, streets, rivers,
oceans, countries, companies, and institutions.
Below are a few examples to help you understand the difference:
Proper Nouns Common Nouns
Charles Dickens writer
Texas state
Taco Bell restaurant
Brazil country
Google company
Best Buy store
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2 Learn
count and non-count nouns
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3 Beware
unclear pronoun references
Pronouns help to prevent repetition in writing, but they Watch Out for
have to be used carefully. When using pronouns in writing, These Pronouns
you should make sure each has a clear antecedent, which it
is just a fancy way of saying that it should be clear what they
the pronoun refers to.
them
this
You can ensure this clarity by always identifying a person that
or object before using a pronoun. Heres an example of these
what not to do:
those
His leg hurt because George fell down while running. which
The sentence is confusing because its not clear whether she
the leg belongs to George or to someone else! This would he
be much clearer if it were rewritten in one of the following her
ways:
Georges leg hurt because he fell down while running.
George fell down while running, so his leg hurt.
Generally, people will assume that a pronoun refers to the closest
noun or other pronoun, but this can still lead to confusion, particularly
if there are several nouns or pronouns in close proximity.
Heres another example of pronoun confusion:
Fred told his friend that his car was broken.
Whose car is broken, Freds or his friends? Fix the issue by rewriting
the sentence like so:
Fred told his friend, Your car is broken.
The above right table contains a list of pronouns that are commonly
problematic. Use this as a reference when evaluating your work.
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4 Identify
stative verbs
You need to master two main categories of verbs: stative and action.
Confusing the two types can lead to errors in your writing since action
verbs can be used in the continuous tenses, while stative verbs cannot.
CORRECT: The boy is walking the dog right now. [action verb: walk]
INCORRECT: She is believing in true love. [stative verb: believe]
CORRECT: She believes in true love.
So whats the difference?
Action verbs describe actions or things that occur, whereas stative verbs
describe a status, which is an objects appearance or someones state of being
There are four main categories for stative verbs:
Check out this grammar exercise you can use to master stative verbs.
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5 Maintain
a consistent verb tense
Many writers bounce back and forth between tenses, which is not only
incorrect but confusing.
So what tense should you choose? Scholarly work in MLA or APA style
usually requires the past tense, while business writing is usually in the
present tense, and the tense used in creative writing varies widely. In
short, verb tense is tough to keep track of.
If youre submitting your writing to a specific publication, check the
tense of their published articles. For a school assignment, you can
always confirm your professors preference.
Worried you might be jumping back and forth? Circle every verb in your
paper, and check each one. Most should follow the same format. For
example, each may have -ed written at the end, so if you run across
one that ends in -ing, read the sentence that contains the word. Be
aware that the verb still may be correct, though, since it may be part
of a dependent clause.
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6 Make sure each sentence
contains a complete, independent thought
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7 Modify
the right word
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8 Avoid
over-nominalization
Example of Nominalizations
transformation
clarity expectation
receptivity destabilization
evaluation investigation
understanding impression
arbitration regulation
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9 Know
SVOPT
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10 Tell us
whos doing what
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11 Learn
the four main sentence types
Declarative Sentence
This is the most common sentence type. It makes a statement and is
punctuated by a period.
Examples: Its a nice day out. I took the dog for a walk.
Interrogative Sentence
If a sentence poses a question, its an interrogative sentence. These
sentences are easy to spot since they always end in a question mark.
Examples: Do you want to drive? Is it raining?
Exclamatory Sentence
Not surprisingly, these types of sentences always end in an exclamation
point. They express excitement or heightened emotion.
Examples: The house is on fire! The party will be great!
Imperative Sentence
This is a command or request, and it can end in either a period or an
exclamation point. Imperative sentences often start with a verb and may
contain the word please.
Examples: Close the door! Please be quiet.
Its a good exercise to go through a piece of writing and identify each
sentence type. On just this page, all four of the sentence types are used.
Can you spot them all? Give it a try!
Note: It may seem like imperative sentences dont contain a subject, but they actually all
have the same one: you. This is called an understood subject. Even though the word you
doesnt appear in the sentence, the reader understands that he or she is being addressed, so
the sentence is complete.
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12 Learn
more advanced sentence types
Once youve mastered the four basic sentence types, take your writing a step
further by including more advanced sentence types. Lets look at how you can
combine these two simple sentences to form a more advanced sentence.
The girl wanted to eat ice cream. She had to finish her dinner first.
Compound Sentences
The following sentences combine the previous two sentences using
A coordinating conjunction, such as and, but, or, yet, or so
A semicolon and a conjunctive adverb, such as however or therefore
Or just a semicolon.
The girl wanted to eat ice cream, but she had to finish her dinner first.
The girl wanted to eat ice cream; however, she had to finish her dinner first.
The girl wanted to eat ice cream; she had to finish her dinner first.
Complex Sentences
These sentences use one dependent clause and one independent clause. Here
are a few punctuation patterns that can be used:
Dependent clause, independent clause
Independent clause, dependent clause
First part of an independent clause, nonessential dependent clause, second part
of the independent clause
First part of an independent clause, essential dependent clause, second part of
the independent clause
Although the girl wanted to eat ice cream, she had to finish her dinner first.
Compound-Complex Sentences
These sentences are a combination of compound and complex sentences. They
have two independent clauses as well as one or more dependent clauses, and
they must follow the rules of both sentence types.
Although the girl, who loved sweets, wanted to eat ice cream, she had to finish her dinner first.
Again, its a good exercise to identify these sentence types in your own and others
writing. Looking for more advice on how to move to more advanced levels of
English? Check out these tips.
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13 Dont start multiple
sentences with the same word or phrase
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14 Avoid
faulty parallelism
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15 Avoid
plagiarism by paraphrasing
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16 Avoid
plagiarism by quoting
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17 Get to know
idioms
Ask
Native speakers are the absolute best source for idioms, but you
wont learn if you dont take the time to ask. When someone uses
a phrase thats unfamiliar to you, ask him or her to explain it and
use it in another context. Write it down so you can refer to it later.
Here are two great resources for studying idioms:
Idiom Site
TheFreeDictionary.coms Idiom Dictionary
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18 Learn
commonly confused terms
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19 Read
your written words aloud
Good writing has a natural rhythm. Often, its easier to tell if your
writing flows well when you hear it out loud. If you find yourself
tripping over a sentence, its likely your readers will, too. Does a
paragraph seem to drag on forever? Find ways to cut it down.
Youll get a sense of how your writing works overall.
Reading aloud can also help you pinpoint problems you might
not notice on the page. You may read a paper a dozen times
and still fail to notice that youve left out a key term or made
a grammatical error. This is because your brain is too efficient,
reading what should be there instead of what is. Luckily, this kind
of autocorrecting doesnt happen as much when you read your
words aloud.
You can also improve your writing by reading others professional
work out loud. What does it sound like? How does it feel as you
read it? This will give you a better reference point for assessing
your own writing.
Check out these additional tips on how to read to improve your
writing.
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20 Shorter
is better
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21 Select
the right dictionary for your audience
Its even easier to change the language for a single document or even just a paragraph.
First, open the document, and then select the text youd like to check. Then look at the
very bottom bar. Next to the page and word count, youll see the language. Click on it,
and youll be given the option to select a language. Hit OK and youre good to go!
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22 Search
for examples on Google
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23 Expand
your writing horizons
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BONUS TIP
Double-check
your spelling and grammar checker
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You made it!
Congratulations! Youre on your way to better ESL writing
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