Common Mistakes in Office English

1. The ‘4 X 10’ Relay of White Collars: 40 Golden Points for Enhancing Office English Workplace English Campaign Workshop 2010 by Prof. Danny C.H. Leung

3. Part A Ten COMMON ERRORSamong white collars

4. A1 • Point out the mistakes in the following sentences: • He is good in English. • She is poor in Mathematics.

5. Common error 1: Use of prepositions • He is good in English. •  He is good at English. • She is poor in Mathematics •  She is poor at Mathematics. • Poor in  having very little of something • E.g. Our company has been poor in money lately.

6. Phrases having the same meaning as ‘good at’: • Excel in • E.g. She excels in foreign languages. • Phrases having the same meaning as ‘poor at’: • Bad at • E.g. He is bad at Chinese. • Weak in • E.g. He is weak in Chinese.

7. A2 • What’s wrong with the following sentences: • Having just joined the company, she is junior than everybody. • The boss in team A is superior than the one in team B.

8. Common error 2: Prepositions used with adjectives • Having just joined the company, she is junior than everybody. •  Having just joined the company, she is junior to everybody. • The boss in team A is superior than the one in team B. •  The boss in team A is superior to the one in team B.

9. General pattern: Adjectives of comparison + to/than • Pattern 1: senior, junior, superior, inferior + to • E.g. Spain is superior to the Netherlands in World Cup 2010. • Pattern 2: better, worse + than • E.g. The performance of the Netherlands is worse than that of Spain in World Cup 2010.

10. famous for, active in, adaptable to, afraid of, anxious about, applicable to, appreciative of, appropriate for, aware of, available to, essential for, beneficial to, capable of, careful about, commensurate with, experienced in, different from, similar to, satisfied with, equal to, detrimental to, responsible for

11. A3 • Is there anything wrong in the following sentences? • Either the boy or his friends has taken the watch. • Neither the girl nor her classmates is using the badminton court.

12. Common error 3: Subject-verb agreement in either…or and neither…nor • The verb agrees with its nearest subject. • Either the boy or his friends has taken the watch. •  Either the boy or his friends have taken the watch. • Neither the girl nor her classmates is using the badminton court. •  Neither the girl nor her classmatesare using the badminton court. •  Neither the girl’s classmates nor the girl herself is using the badminton court.

13. Both the boy and the girl are tutored by the teacher.

14. A4 • Which of the following two sentences contain a mistake: • 1) Peter is intelligent but his younger brother stupid. • 2) Mary is a smart girl but her two younger sisters stupid.

15. Common error 4: Sharing verbs • (1) is correct because the first subject (Peter) and the second subject (his younger brother) are both singular noun, and therefore, CAN share the same singular verb ‘is’ (which can be omitted).  1) Peter is intelligent but his younger brother (is) stupid. • (2) is incorrect because the first subject (Mary) and the second subject (her two young sisters) are singular and plural nouns respectively, and therefore, CANNOT share the same verb.  2) Mary is a smart girl but her two younger sisters are stupid.

16. A5 • Can you figure out the mistake for each of the following sentences: • 1) I saw the koala climbed up the tree. • 2) I feel something crawls up my left arm. • 3) She heard a monster was scratching on the wall.

17. Common error 5: Verbs of perception • Verbs coming after verbs of perception (see, feel, hear, watch) can take either the infinitive form or the present participle form: • 1) I saw the koala climb/climbing up the tree. • 2) I feel something crawl/crawling up my left arm. • 3) She heard a monster scratch/scratching on the wall.

18. What’s the difference between using the infinitive form and the present participle form? • 1a) I saw the koala climb up the tree. (you saw the overall process of climbing) • 1b) I saw the koala climbing up the tree. (you saw only part of the climbing process)

19. A6 • Figure out the mistakes in the following two sentences: • His car suffered a lot of damages. • There have been a lot of developments in the city.

20. Common error 6: Countable and uncountable nouns with different meanings • Damage (uncountable)  harm done to something • Damages (countable, plural)  money paid or claimed as compensation for damage •  His car suffered a lot of damage. •  The insurance company paid one million damages to the man for his injuries.

21. Development (uncountable)  growth • Developments (countable, plural)  a new event that changes a situation •  There has been a lot of development in thy city. •  We will keep you informed of developments.

22. Work (uncountable)  job • Works (countable)  creations of writers, musicians, artists • Paper (uncountable)  a thin sheet used for writing • Papers (countable)  newspapers, documents, examination papers

23. A7 • One of the following two sentences is correct. Which one is it? • 1) I wish I can go to the party. • 2) I hope I can go to the party.

24. Common error 7: Wish vs. hope • To wish means to want something that is unlikely to take place, so it should be used with a modal that shows unlikelihood. • Wish  Subjunctive mood past tense  unreal • I wish I could go to the party. • To hope means to want something that is possible to take place. • Hope possible situation present tense  real • I hope I can go to the party.

25. Wish (present/future) simple past • I wish I could go to the party. • Wish (past) past perfect • I wish I had gone to the party.

26. A8 • Fill in the following blanks with a suitable word: • Sometime, some time , sometimes • 1) Let’s have dinner together sometime next week. • 2) I am afraid it will take some time to repair your car. • 3) I sometimes went skiing when I lived in Germany.

27. Common error 8: Easily-confused words • Sometime (adverb)  an indefinite time • E.g. We will take a vacation sometime in September. • Some time (two separate words)  a considerable amount of time, a period of time • E.g. She has lived in Italy for some time. • Sometimes (adverb of frequency)  on some occasions, more than once • E.g. I sometimes have to work late.

28. A9 • The underlined adjectives are used wrongly in the following sentences: • 1) The price of the house is cheap. • 2) The examination fee is expensive.

29. Common error 9: Wrong use of adjectives due to Chinese • In English: • Payments (price, fee, cost, charge, fare, toll, pay, salary, penalty, etc.) high/low • The price of the house is low. • The examination fee is high. • Things (houses, cars, bags, jewellery, pens, etc.) expensive/cheap • The house is cheap. • The examination is expensive.

30. A10 • Are (a) and (b) in each sentence pair different or similar in meaning? • 1a) I started working in this company 10 years ago. • 1b) I started to work in this company 10 years ago. • 2a) I remember mailing the parcel to the client. • 2b) I remember to mail the parcel to the client.

31. Common error 10: Gerunds and to-infinitives with different meanings • Remember + ing  refers back to the past – to things that one did • I remember mailing the parcel to the client. • Same as ‘forget’ • E.g. I’ll never forget meeting the Queen. • Remember + to-inf  refers forward in time – to things one still has to do •  I remember to mail the parcel to the client. • Same as ‘forget’ • E.g. I forgot to buy the soap.

32. Go on + ing  continue with the ongoing activity • E.g. He went on talking about his own hobbies until we all fell asleep. • Same as ‘stop + ing’  stop the ongoing activity • E.g. He stopped talking about his own hobbies when we all fell asleep. • Go on + to-inf  change of activity • E.g. He went on to talk about his romance. • Same as ‘stop + to-inf’  stop the current activity and do something else • E.g. He stopped to talk about his romance.

33. Part B Ten TACTICS to improve written communication

34. B-1: 情緒發洩 型 Original sentence: Diana has just been promoted to assistant executive. Expression 充滿驚訝 Tactic to my surprise (adverbial phrase) Transformed sentence: To my surprise, Diana has just been promoted to assistant executive.

35. 1) You were not selected to sit on the marketing committee. (令人難過的) To my sadness, you were not selected to sit on the marketing committee. 2) I don’t even know who will take over Peter’s post. (講真的) To tell you the truth, I don’t even know who will take over Peter’s post. 3) I have to leave this firm and find another job. (情非得已) Against my will, I have to leave this firm and find another job.

36. B-2: 有早知冇乞衣 型  Original sentence: I should not resign as the job market is still gloomy. Expression 早知到係咁就唔辭職 (regret) Tactic should + have + past participle Transformed sentence: I should not have resigned as the job market is still gloomy.

37. Our boss should take more practical, precautionary measures to solve the financial problem. (實在早就應該) Our boss should have taken more practical, precautionary measures to solve the financial problem.

38. B-3: 簡潔合體 型 Original sentence: Stella gave Tom a ball pen. She also gave Peter a stapler. Expression 簡潔, 一句過 Tactic use of conjunction, simplification Transformed sentence: Stella gave Tom a ball pen and Peter a stapler.

39. 1) Our company made 100 million dollars last year, but it made only 70 million dollars this year. (simplification) Our company made 100 million dollars last year but only 70 million dollars this year. 2) John went to Paris for his graduation trip. I went to London for my graduation trip. (simplification) John went to Paris for his graduation trip while I went to London for mine.

40. B-4: 前因後果 型 Original sentence: My boss wanted to congratulate me on my promotion. He treated me to lunch. Expression 想表達前句是後句的誘因, 兩個動作有着緊密的關係 Tactic Cause (participle phrase) Transformed sentence: Wanting to congratulate me on my promotion, my boss treated me to lunch.

41. 1) Allen felt good about his accomplishment. He was motivated to go on with his research. (participle phrase) Feeling good about his accomplishment, Allen was motivated to go on with his research. 2) Mary was shocked by the complaint of the client. She went to seek help from her senior. (participle phrase) Shocked by the complaint of the client, Mary went to seek help from her senior.

42. B-5: 禮貌大使 型 Original sentence: You will take less than a minute to read this document. Expression 用一個比較有禮貌及婉轉的方法表達 Tactic Use ‘it’ as subject Transformed sentence: It will take you less than a minute to read this document.

43. 1) Three months have passed since you joined this company. It has been three months since you joined this company. 2) Your business will pick up before long. It will not be long before your business picks up. 3) You won’t know how wonderful it is to stay in shape until you gain weight. It is not until you gain weight that you know how wonderful it is to stay in shape.

44. B-6: 事先張揚 型 Original sentences: He is happy to receive so many birthday gifts. She is easy to lose confidence in oral English. (ill-formed) Expression 事先張揚及突出形容詞 Tactic Use ‘it’ as subject Transformed sentences: It is happy of him to receive so many birthday gifts. It is easy for her to lose confidence in oral English.

45. 1) We have to drink 8 glasses of water every day. (begin the sentence with ‘it’ and use ‘important’) It is important for us to drink 8 glasses of water every day. 2) The man killed his wife and hung himself to death. (begin with the sentence with ‘it’ and use ‘insane’) It was insane of the man to kill his wife and hang himself to death.

46. B-7: 語氣加強 型 Original sentence: Very few of us know how to get this photocopier fixed. Expression 強調很少, 即使有, 好恐怕是少之又少 Tactic insert a suitable phrase corresponding to the emphasis Transformed sentence: Very few, if any (即使有), of us know how to get this photocopier fixed.

47. 1) A majority of the audience left before the seminar came to a close. (強調好多, 即使不是所有人) A majority of the audience, if not all, left before the seminar came to a close. 2) The suspect was found guilty. (強調正如大家所料) The suspect, as everyone had thought, was found guilty.

48. B-8: 客觀抽身型 Original sentence People often say that Hong Kong is a huge melting pot. Expression 避免主觀性人物化主語 Tactic Use ‘it’ as subject and use passive Transformed sentence: It is said that Hong Kong is a huge melting pot.

49. 1) I read from a newspaper that scientists have recently discovered a new planet. It is reported that scientists have recently discovered a new planet. 2) Everyone knows that human beings are descendants of monkeys. It is widely known that human beings are descendants of monkeys.

50. More tips on this pattern: it is believed that; it is suggested that; it is claimed that; it is argued that; it is proved that; it is evident that