20/02/2014
Typical English mistakes
Giorgio Buttazzo
g.buttazzo@sssup.it
http://retis.sssup.it/~giorgio/h2d.html
Do not literally translate from Italian
Many phrases need to be completely restructured:
It:
Per quanto riguarda
i
d il software,
f
…
En‐wrong: For what concerns the software, …
En‐right:
As far as software is concerned, …
It:
Indichiamo con N il numero di task.
task
En‐wrong: We indicate with N the number of tasks.
En‐right:
The number of tasks is denoted by N.
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20/02/2014
Do not literally translate from Italian
It:
En‐wrong:
En‐right:
l’algoritmo verifica se la condizione è vera
the algorithm verifies if the condition is true
the algorithm verifies whether the condition is true
It:
En‐wrong:
En‐right:
In questo lavoro è stato ottenuto un nuovo risultato
In this work it has been obtained a new result
A new result has been obtained in this work
It:
En‐wrong:
En‐right:
l’algoritmo evita che il task subisca bloccaggio
the algorithm avoids that the task suffers blocking
the algorithm prevents the task from being blocked
3
Do not literally translate from Italian
It:
En‐wrong:
En‐right:
i h
una volta acquisiti i valori, calcoliamo il massimo
once acquired the values, we compute the maximum
once the
th values
l
h
have
b
been
acquired,
i d we compute
t
the maximum
It:
En‐wrong:
En‐right:
Più alto è il carico, più è lungo il ritardo
The higher is the load, the longer is the delay
The higher the load, the longer the delay
It:
En‐wrong:
En‐right:
per sfruttare l’eventuale tempo disponibile
to explot the eventual time available
to exploit the possible time available
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20/02/2014
Do not literally translate from Italian
It:
En‐wrong:
En‐right:
i h
il tempo di attivazione può essere anticipato
the time of activation can be anticipated
th activation
the
ti ti time
ti
can be
b advanced
d
d
It:
En‐wrong:
En‐right:
il software verrà testato per vedere dov'è l'errore
the software will be tested to see where is the error
software will be tested to discover where the error is
5
Do not write as you talk
Avoid using slang or contractions:
contracted
full
don’t
do not
I’m
I am
we’ll
we will
aren’t
are not
can’t
cannot
It won’t be
It will not be
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20/02/2014
Do not write using the first person
Direct:
Indirect:
In this paper, we will show a new theory on …
A new theory on…
on will be shown in this paper
This paper presents a new theory on …
Direct:
Indirect:
In the following, we use Δ to denote a delay
In the following, a delay is denoted by Δ
Direct:
Indirect:
As we mentioned in the previous section
As mentioned in the previous section
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Chose the correct words
Eventually means “at the end”
It:
En‐right:
l’algoritmo alla fine termina con un valore positivo
the algorithm eventually ends with a positive value
It:
En‐wrong:
En‐right:
Il task eventualmente si blocca sulla risorsa R
Th task
The
t k eventually
t ll blocks
bl k on resource R
The task possibly blocks on resource R
The task may block on resource R
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20/02/2014
Do not use long sentences
Bad:
Although many authors worked on distributed systems, by showing
several interesting solutions, many issues remain still to be addressed,
such as determining the optimal task allocation, estimating the end-to-end
delays, finding the longest response time, guaranteeing real-time
constraints in the presence of shared resources, and setting other timing
parameters of the application that can be optimized to improve the overall
system performance while minimizing energy consumption.
Better:
Although
Altho
gh many
man authors
a thors worked
orked on distributed
distrib ted systems,
s stems by
b showing
sho ing
several interesting solutions, many issues remain still to be addressed.
These include determining the optimal task allocation, estimating the endto-end delays, finding the longest response time, guaranteeing real-time
constraints in the presence of shared resources. Another open issue
concerns the optimization of application timing parameters to improve the
overall system performance while minimizing energy consumption.
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Chose the correct words
indipendentemente da
independently of
in base ai risultati ottenuti
based on the achieved results
a seconda che
depending on
in presenza/assenza di
in the presence/absence of
uno alla volta
one at a time
tale valore
such a value
nel caso in cui
in the case in which
in funzione del tempo
as a function of time
nella media
on the average
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20/02/2014
Careful with some verbs
To allow: Ciò permette di scoprire
En-wrong: It allows to discover
En-right: It allows discovering
It allows us to discover
To aim:
Tale metodo ha lo scopo di minimizzare il valore
En-wrong: Such a method aims to minimize the value
En-right: Such a method aims at minimizing the value
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Careful with some verbs
En-wrong: a way to deal with
En-right:
a way of dealing with
En-wrong: a possibility to have
En-right:
a possibility of having
En-wrong: it is worth to note/observe
En-right:
it is worth noting/observing
En-wrong: A is better than to use B
En-right:
A is better than using B
En-wrong: A prevents B to execute
En-right:
A prevents B from executing
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20/02/2014
Careful with some plurals
It:
Queste informazioni vengono trasmesse al nodo
E
En-wrong:
Th
These
i f
informations
ti
are sentt to
t the
th node
d
En-right: This information is sent to the node
These data are sent to the node
It:
Le prestazioni del sistema sono misurate con
En-wrong: System performances are measured by
En-right: System performance is measured by
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i.e. and e.g.
i.e. means that is
Example: These parameters (i.e., deadline and period)
Note the comma
e.g. means for example
Example:
a p e Sa
Safety
ety ccritical
t ca app
applications
cat o s (e
(e.g.,
g,a
avionics)
o cs)
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20/02/2014
That or Which?
That
introduces essential information
Which
introduces extra information
Examples
1. Frank sings “Fly me to the moon”, that/which many people like.
(which)
2. Jack likes a Mexican restaurant that/which is on South Street.
(that)
3. Joe talked about EDF, that/which is better than Rate Monotonic. (which)
4. The algorithm that/which is presented in this paper is optimal.
(that)
Note that the comma is used
before which but not before that
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Between or Among?
Between used for choices involving distinct items
Among
g
used for items that are NOT distinct
Examples
1. You have to select between/among black and white.
(between)
2. In a distributed system, the information is spread
between/among all the nodes.
(among)
3. This buffer is shared between/among periodic and
aperiodic tasks.
(between)
4. There is a significant difference between/among
hard, soft, and firm tasks.
(between)
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20/02/2014
Some time ‐ sometime ‐ sometimes
S
Some
ti
time
Sometime
sometimes
A period of time
You must give some time to your students
At an indefinite time in the future, sooner or later
Please call me sometime.
Occasionally, from time to time, not always
Sometimes I don’t understand what he says.
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Punctuation
¾ Pay lot of attention to punctuation.
no comma
NO: The integrated approach proposed in this paper,
paper is able to
minimize energy consumption optimize performance and
save memory so that it can also be used in small embedded
systems.
missing commas
Can you identify the mistake(s)?
YES: The integrated approach proposed in this paper is able to
minimize energy consumption, optimize performance, and
save memory, so that it can also be used in small embedded
systems.
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20/02/2014
Punctuation
• Do not use the comma to separate subject and verb:
wrong:
The algorithm presented in this paper,
paper has
been implemented on a multicore platform.
• Unless there is another sentence in between:
right:
The algorithm presented in this paper, which
as a po
polynomial
y o a co
complexity,
p e ty, has
as bee
been
has
implemented on a multicore platform.
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Listing items
When listing items
• put the colon (:) at the end of the initial sentence only if use “as
follows:” or “as
follows:
as the following:
following:”;;
• start an item with upper case if the previous items ends with a colon
(:) or a period (.);
• start an item with lower case if the previous items ends with a
semicolon (;) or a comma (,); and
• use the “and” conjunction at the end of the second last item.
A second example is the following:
• First item;
• second item; and
• third item.
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Listing items
Another example is the following:
• The first item is a long paragraph and goes like bla bla … bla bla
bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla … bla bla
bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla.
• The second item is a long paragraph and goes like bla bla bla bla
… bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla
bla … bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla … bla bla.
• The third item is a long paragraph and goes like bla bla … bla bla
bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla … bla bla … bla bla
bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla … bla bla bla.
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Citations
NO:
YES:
As shown in [1], the problem is NP‐hard …
As shown by Baker [1] the problem is NP
NP‐hard
hard …
NO:
YES:
In [2] the authors proposed a new method for …
Sha and Mok [2] proposed a new method for …
NO:
YES:
the system is prone to priority inversion, described in [3] …
the system is prone to priority inversion [3] …
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20/02/2014
State of the art
¾ When pointing out limitations/drawbacks of other
papers, don
don’tt be too harsh or categorical.
Be smooth and fair, authors can be also reviewers!
NO: Lee et al. [13] proposed a method for saving energy in
wireless networks, but their approach is very inefficient and
cannot be used in practical systems with many nodes.
YES: Lee et al. [13] proposed a method for saving energy in
wireless networks, however their approach is only effective
for relatively small networks.
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real time or real‐time?
• No dash when the word is used as a noun
The task is executed in real time.
• Use dash when the word is used as an adjective
This is a real-time task.
New features will be included in next-generation cars.
Exceptions
• off-line
• online
• ongoing
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20/02/2014
And
• When joining two sentences with “and” do not repeat “to”
before the verbs or “of”, “by”, etc. before nouns:
The purpose of this system is to improve efficiency and
to reduce energy consumption.
The benefit of using operating systems is to take
advantage of concurrency and of resource management.
This concept has been introduced by A and by B.
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Acronyms
¾ Don’t use acronyms without explaining them
NO:
YES:
A WSN is used for ...
A wireless sensor network (WSN) is used for ...
¾ Choose the article according to the way you pronounce
the acronym:
Wrong: I bought a RFID tag.
Right:
I bought an RFID tag.
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20/02/2014
Acronyms ‐ plural
• Add an s for plurals and ’s for possession:
I bought two CDs
(NOT CD
CD’s)
s)
The CD’s surface is scratched.
• Add es for plurals of acronyms ending with S:
RTOSes should be used for time critical applications
• Exceptions for single letters:
All x’s variables must be set to zero
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US vs. UK
US
color
b h i
behavior
gray
toward
to analyze
draft
while
on
dialog
check
program
UK
colour
b h i
behaviour
grey
towards
to analyse
draught
whilst
upon
dialogue
cheque
programme
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20/02/2014
Typical Pronunciation mistakes
Word
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
parameter
character
resource
header
performance
suspense
laboratory
open source
Wrong
Correct
paramìter
charàcter
resurs
hider
pèrformans
sàspens
laboràtory
open surs
paràmeter
kàracter
risors
heder
perfòrmans
suspèns
làboratòry
open sors
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