Dr. John Miller Jones
Anglistik III / Amerikanistik
Universität Mannheim
mjones@rumms.uni-mannheim.de
Correction Key: Comments on Common German-English Interference
Mistakes
A. Verb form errors
(1): Misuse of perfect aspect: the present perfect cannot be used when the definite time of occurrence of an
action/state is or has been explicitly or implicitly identified (see remark A2b below). In such cases, the
simple past must be used. Do not use the present perfect when the subject is no longer capable of acting: ‘She
has released some great recordings’ (she might release some more) but ‘She released some great recordings’
(she won’t or can’t release any more).
(2) Failure to use perfect aspect: consult a good grammar book for a more detailed explanation of the use
of perfect aspect:
(a) Use the present perfect to relate a past event to the present when the actual time of occurrence of
the event/state is not made explicit and left indefinite because of its unimportance concerning the matter at
hand (example: “It has become clear that the world’s climate is indeed getting warmer”).
(b) The present perfect is also used to describe actions/states that have taken place/existed over a
span of time lasting up to the present (example: “I have been teaching essay writing course for far too many
years/since 1986”). If the focus is put on the time of occurrence/existence in the past, the simple past must of
course be used (example: “Memphis was founded in 1819/not very long ago”). See remark A1.
(c) The above remarks also apply to the use of the past or future perfect given a shift of tenses
backward or forward, respectively.
(3) Misuse of progressive (also called continuous) aspect: see a good grammar book for a more detailed
explanation of the use of the progressive aspect:
(a) The progressive aspect indicates an action/state viewed as having only limited duration or as
being in progress; it does not designate habitual actions or states viewed as being more or less permanent or
unchangeable. Processes of change are very often expressed with the progressive: “The birthrate is
increasing.” One exception to the rule: habits that are perceived as annoying are sometimes described with
the progressive: “My mother is constantly telling me what I should do.”
(b) Note the several categories of verbs that are seldom or never used in the progressive aspect,
including: verbs of mental activity (e.g. know, realize, remember), verbs of expressing emotion (e.g. love,
like, admire), verbs of the senses (when used for involuntary actions), verbs of possession (e.g. own, belong,
possess), and verbs expressing states e.g. contain). Consult a good grammar book for a more complete list of
such verbs.
(4) Failure to use progressive aspect: use progressive aspect for actions viewed as being in progress or as
having limited duration. Simple-tensed verbs indicate either habitual actions or states understood as being
permanent or unchangeable (see remark A3 above).
Progressive forms are often used in combinations with adverbials that designate a process of change
(e.g. more and more, gradually, etc.).
(5) Verbs in conditional sentences: future and conditional verb forms with “will” and “would” are not
formally used in most conditional clauses, although conversational English increasingly does sometimes
include them. An exception to the rule is the modal use of “will” and “would” to make polite requests or
offers (examples: “If you will please follow me, I'll show you the way”/“If you would like some coffee, I'd
be glad to make some”). Another exception is when “would” means “was/were willing”: “If he would just
sign the contract, we would be in business.”
The basic standard patterns for conditional sentences (conditional clause/main clause) are: I. simple
present/“will” future, II. Simple past (subjunctive)/would + infinitive, III. Past perfect (subjunctive)/would +
have + past participle. Note that the forms in hypothetical type II and type IIIs are subjunctives
grammatically; in most cases, the subjunctive in modern English is identical to the simple past in form (but
“if I were” is still used though “if I was” is as well).
Commas in conditional sentences: when the “if” clause begins a sentence, a comma separates it from
the main clause (example: “If he comes, I’ll call you”). In reverse order, no comma is used (example: “I’ll
call you if he comes”).
(6) Future forms: “will” vs. “going to” vs. present progressive plus time expression: Primarily, the
“will” future is used for spontaneous decisions (“I’ll answer the phone” [after it rings]) and predictions about
the (usually) distant future (“Scientists will someday find a cure for cancer.”). It may also occur in certain
conditional clauses that are polite requests or suggestions (“If you will please follow me….”). See comment
A5.
The “going to” future is used for premeditated decisions or intentions (“She’s going to visit China
one day.”) and for predictions in the near future for which there is normally some perceptual evidence
(“Look at those clouds—it’s going to rain!”).
The present progressive can be used to refer to the future along with a time expression referring to the
future. Very similar to the “going to” future, it connotes premeditated future plans, often with the suggestion
that arrangements have already been made (“We’re visiting Madagascar next summer.”).
The future perfect form (“will” + “have” + past participle) is used to state that one event will precede
another (“By tomorrow we will have solved the problem.”).
(7) Translation of sollte: if the German sollte refers to something that should be done in the future, it can be
translated with “should.” If it means something that happens at a later point than something else in the past, it
is often translated with “was to/were to” (e.g. Es sollte anders kommen/ “It was to be otherwise.” Note also
the following examples: Er soll Bestechungsgeld genommen haben [“He is said to have taken a bribe”]. Or:
Es sollte Menschen bei der Arbeitssuche geholfen werden [“People were to be helped in finding work”].
(8) Failure to use inversion: the subject and verb of a sentence are inverted when it begins with negative
expressions, adverbs of frequency (e.g. hardly, scarcely, rarely) and, in many cases, “only” (examples:
“Never had he seen such beauty”/ “Rarely have I witnessed such idiocy”/ “Only if you work hard can you
expect to earn money”). Inversion is also sometimes used after initial prepositional phrases: “Under the tree
stood a small boy.”
(9) Misuse of future forms in time clauses: in subordinate clauses beginning with adverbials of time (e.g.
before, after, when, as soon as, etc.) use the simple present or present perfect to express a future meaning
(example: “When you finish your work, you may leave”).
(10) English does not have a special tense for reported speech as does German; if the reporting verb is
in the past tense, the verbs of the reported speech are back-shifted (except for the past perfect,
subjunctives, some modals, and the verbs of proverb-like statements). With present tense reporting verbs,
the original tenses are left unchanged. Note that English reported speech is not necessarily recognizable
from the verb form alone (as it is in German), so that more reporting verbs are generally required.
(11) Dangling participles: participial clauses modify the subject of the main clause of a sentence. A
dangling participle occurs when the main subject cannot logically have performed the action indicated by the
participle (example: “Walking down the street, the car crashed right in front of me”). One exception to the
rule is a participial with “judging” (example: “Judging from the circumstances, the situation is hopeless”).
(12) Gerunds/infinitives used with inflected verbs: there are no rules for predicting which non-finite verb
form should be used in combination with the main verb of a sentence; these collocations must simply be
learned by heart. See a good grammar book for lists of verbs that take the gerund, the infinitive, or both
(sometimes with a difference in meaning).
(13) Subject-verb agreement with linking verbs: with linking verbs, note that the noun/pronoun mentioned
first determines whether the verb is singular or plural (examples: “It is the students who are responsible for
making those arrangements”/“The professors are the most powerful force in university politics”). The
German es sind is always “it is.”
(14) Narrative present: use present tense to relate actions or events in a fictional character’s life; the present
perfect can then be used to indicate that something has happened previous to another event (example: “In
Shakespeare’s play the character Hamlet is Prince of Denmark and his father has been killed”). The present
tense is also generally used to discuss a writer’s opinions (example: “Plato argues that there is a difference
between knowledge and opinion”).
Occasionally, the narrative present is also used to report real, historical events as a literary device to
create the impression of vividness; however, German prose style seems to resort to this means more than
English does.
(15) Passive and active voice: the active voice is more vivid than the passive and is usually preferred. The
passive voice is appropriate when the agent of the action is unknown or unimportant (examples: “He was
shot last night about midnight”/ “When he returned, the room had been cleaned”). The passive is also useful
in order to avoid using the masculine pronoun generically (example: “Everyone should turn his paper in on
time” [write instead: “Papers should be turned in on time”]).
See also remark G7.
(16) Past perfect and simple past: Note that the past perfect is not always required (and is usually omitted)
when the order of events is made clear by adverbs of time such as ‘after,’ ‘before,’ or ‘as soon as’ (example:
“They left after he [had] finished”). The use of the past perfect in such cases is not incorrect but is less
idiomatic than the simple past.
(17) Emphatic “do”: the affirmative use of the emphatic form (e.g. ‘I do believe you’) implies a
reaffirmation or a denial (you doubted that I believed you or said that I didn’t). It is otherwise restricted to
use in negatives and interrogatives or when inversion occurs (see A8 and A18).
(18) “Not only” and “do”: While negative sentences with “not” always require “do” (except for negatives
with modal verbs), those with “not only” do not (“He not only gave us directions, but he also let us follow
him part of the way.”).
B. Errors with clauses/punctuation
(1) Defining relative clauses: a defining relative clause functions grammatically as an adjective and
distinguishes its antecedent from other such things of the same category. These clauses are not separated
from their antecedents with commas (a good rule of thumb here: relative clauses [and also noun clauses—see
comment B4] beginning with “that” are (almost never) separated by commas. In many cases (but not all), a
defining clause can be identified with the following test: if the sentence no longer makes much or any sense
if the clause is omitted, it is a defining clause: ‘This is the Paris that I remember.’
(2) Non-defining relative clauses: a non-defining relative clause functions grammatically as an adjective
(see also remark B1), but it does not distinguish its antecedent from other things of the same category. If
commas are not used with such clauses, however, then the suggestion is that the antecedent does require
further definition. A good rule-of-thumb: if a sentence still makes sense when the relative clause is left out,
then the clause is most likely non-defining and should be separated by commas.
(3) Correlative relative clauses: Another kind of non-defining clause is the connective relative clause: the
relative pronoun in these clauses (also called “correlative” clauses) does not refer to a noun but rather to the
entire preceding main clause (example: “He yelled at me, which made me angry”). In such sentences
“which” could be replaced with ‘and this.’ The relative pronoun ‘which’ is always used in connective relative
clauses (never ‘what’), and commas always separate the clause from the rest of the sentence.
(4) Noun clauses/phrases: these clauses function grammatically as a noun; they fill the place of a subject or
object (examples: ‘He told me what to do’/ ‘She told me how I should do it’/’They said that they would
come’). Commas never separate noun clauses from the rest of the sentence.
(5) Run-on sentences: in formal English, two complete sentences, each with its own subject and inflected
verb, should not be joined only by a comma. Use a semi-colon or a comma with a conjunction. In some
literary or informal contexts, however, this rule may sometimes be violated.
(6) Sentence fragments: a sentence fragment lacks an inflected verb or subject. Short fragments of a few
words or less can occasionally be used for special emphasis but in general avoid longer sentence fragments.
A comparison of English and German prose styles seems to show that German is much more welcoming of
the long sentence fragment than is English.
(7) The grammatical structure of extended pre-modification, often found in German (example: Ich
habe ihr die von mir geschriebene Erzählung vorgelesen.), is in general not possible in English. Use a
relative clause instead (“I read aloud the story that I wrote to her”). One exception is when the extended
modifying phrase includes an adverb of time (Der damals oft ziterte Schriftsteller ist heute vergessen;
“The then often cited writer is nowadays forgotten”).
(8) No commas with “in order to” clauses: Compare the German Er tat es, um mir zu helfen with the
English: “He did it in order to help me.” Note the absence of a comma before the phrase “in order to.”
C. Miscellaneous grammar and spelling errors
(1) Failure to use adverb form: modifiers that are related to verbs or adjectives or other adverbs rather than
nouns must be presented in adverbial (not adjectival) form. Most English adverbs have the –ly ending.
However, note that some common adjectives (friendly) also end in –ly and the adverbial form must be found
in a prepositional phrase (‘in a friendly way/manner’).
(2) All words referring to nationality or religion are capitalized in English—also the adjectival forms.
However, some words (e.g. ‘catholic’) also have a different meaning besides the religious aspect.
(3) Like/as: the former is a preposition and precedes a noun or pronoun; the latter is a conjunctive adverb
and may precede a phrase that has an inflected verb: ‘Do it like me’/’Do as I do.’ In conversational
(informal) English, ‘like’ often does substitute for ‘as’: ‘Countries like Germany have a strong economy’
(formally correct would be ‘such as’). ‘Like’ is also a well-known slang filler word originally from
Valley Girl-speak (‘It was, like, awesome, dude’ and its use in this way is generally perceived as evidence
of airheadedness).
(4) Abstract nouns without post-modification take no article (example: “Marxism has few adherents
today”).
(5) Postmodification and definite article: When uncountable nouns are used only with pre-modification
(example: “There is much to be said about twentieth-century literature”), the definite article is not used. But
with post-modification (example: “There is much to be said about the literature of the twentieth-century”),
the article must be used.
(6) Professions and indefinite articles: When referring to a person's profession, use the indefinite article
(example: “She is a brain surgeon”).
(7) Quantifiers: quantifiers for countable nouns (e.g house, book) are: many, fewer, number of. For
uncountable nouns (e.g. coffee, furniture), use: less, much, amount/a great deal of/plenty of. See comment
D5.
D. Errors with pronouns and classes of nouns
(1) Pronoun agreement: The pronoun does not agree in number with its antecedent.
(2) The pronoun is vague; either it has no clear antecedent or it could refer to more than one antecedent.
(3) Indefinite pronouns: Grammatically, anyone, someone, everyone (or with –body) are singular but
current usage very often pairs the plural they or their with them to avoid awkward “his or her”
expressions. See G7.
(4) References to body parts are generally personalized in English with a personal pronoun: ‘He broke
his arm’ (the definite or indefinite article is used only in certain exceptions, such as: ‘In the accident, he
lost an eye/ear’). Articles of clothing and other objects that can be seen as extensions of a person are
usually paired with possessive pronouns as well (e.g. dress, shirt, or umbrella).
(5) Demonstrative pronouns: this and that are used with singular nouns, these and those with plurals.
This and these refer to things near at hand (or metaphorically so); that and those refer to things considered
to be at some distance (in either space of time).
(6) Collective nouns: some English nouns that appear singular in form can take a plural verb if they
notionally refer to a group (examples: committee, government, number, flock, or herd). Example: “A number
of us are going to the concert.” In many cases the choice depends upon the writer's perspective (examples:
“The government [i.e. the officials of the administration considered singly] are formulating a new policy”/
“The government [thought of as a whole] has just made its decision”). Note, however, that “police” always
takes a plural verb. Some nouns that appear to be plurals are always treated as singular (e.g. news, United
States [along with other names of countries that appear to be plurals]). See F28.
(7) Uncountable nouns: note that the English equivalents of German nouns are sometimes uncountable
when the German words are not. The following are always uncountable: training, information, equipment,
advice, experience (in the sense of having work experience), and insurance. This means that they cannot be
used with the indefinite article (not with “a/an” but “some”).
Note that different quantifiers are used with countable nouns (e.g. many, fewer) than with
uncountable ones (e.g. much, less). See comment C7.
E. Miscellaneous errors with punctuation
(1) Numbers: in English, the use of commas and periods (full stops) is the reverse of the practice in German.
Examples: 1,000,000 (one million), 1.3 (one and three tenths). If a number begins a sentence, then it should
be spelled out. In general, spell out numbers below ten (and usually below twenty) unless they are being used
in comparisons to larger numbers given in numerals.
(2) When commas or full stops (periods) are used in conjunction with quotation marks (inverted
commas), the commas or full stops are inside the quotation marks (in American style). British style (as
well as that of other varieties) may place them outside if they obviously cannot be considered part of the
quotation (when only two of three words are quoted, for example).
(3) Possessive case in English (genitive) requires the apostrophe. Omitting it is a serious error, as the
noun then appears to be a plural. Note the difference between the singular ‘It was the boy’s dog’ and the
plural ‘It was the boys’ dog.’
(4) Hyphens and dashes are two different marks of punctuation and should differ in visual presentation.
A hyphen (Bindestrich) connects two words (or is used for word division at the end of a line of text),
whereas a dash (Gedankenstrich) connects two phrases or sentences. There are never spaces before or
after a hyphen. If your keyboard does not have a dash, use a double hyphen (example: English-speaking
people—not the French—are sometimes thought of as lacking a flair for romance).
(5) Never separate a subject and its verb with a single comma.
F. Common errors with vocabulary
(1) Distinguish between the verb “lose” (verlieren) and the adjective/verb “loose” (frei/befreien).
(2) The English word possibility is not as frequently used in everyday English as its counterpart
Möglichkeit is in German. Use chance or opportunity instead in most cases. Possibility often has a neutral
if not negative ring to it.
(3) Actual, aktuell: the English word is a synonym for “real”; the German word has several possible
translations including “current” or “up-to-date.”
(4) Bachelor of Arts, a bachelor’s degree: use capital letters in naming the degree (‘He earned a Bachelor
of Arts degree’) but not in a generic phrase referring to that type of a degree—but note the use of the
apostrophe in English in such expressions. The same applies to ‘Master of Arts’ of ‘a master’s degree.’
(5) “However” versus “although”: “However” can be an adverb of degree (example: “However hard you
work, you're not likely to succeed”), in which case it is never followed by a comma. If “however” is a
conjunctive adverb, it is always followed by a comma (example: “However, I do think we should proceed
carefully here”). “Although” (or the short form ‘though’) is a concessive adverb that introduces a subordinate
clause and is never followed by a comma.
(6) “Own”: the possessive adjective “own” is always combined with a personal possessive pronoun such as
“her” or “his,” never with the indefinite article (except in football/soccer, where there can be “an own” goal).
(7) Besonders and “in particular”: when besonders means vor allem or ausdrücklich it is best translated
with “in particular” (often following the noun it refers to).
(8) In den letzten/ in the last few: note that English idiom usually prefers to add the word “few” in
expressions such as “the last few days/weeks/months,” etc.
(9) “Proof” versus “prove”: the latter is the usual translation of the German verb beweisen; the former is a
noun. In its primary meaning “proof” is uncountable in English. The verb “prove” has two past participles:
“proven” and “proved.”
(10) “Remember,” “remind,” “to be reminiscent of”: the verb “remember” is not used with reflexive
pronouns in English (compare to German sich erinnern). The verb “remind” is always followed by an
indirect object pronoun (example: “This town reminds me of a place I visited years ago”). The German “das
erinnert an ...” is often best rendered with: “that is reminiscent of ....”
(11) “Scientific” versus “scholarly”: “scientific” is usually only applied to the natural or social sciences
(Naturwissenschaften, Sozialwissenschaften). Academic work in the humanities (Geisteswissenschaften) is
termed “scholarly.”
(12) “Impressive”: normally translates beeindrückend. The progressive form of the verb “impress” has a
legitimate use, but never as an adjective.
(13) “Experience”: experiences are “had” not “made” (except perhaps by the deity). In the sense of
berufliche Erfahrung this noun is always uncountable. See comment D7.
(14) “Extend/extent”: The former is the verb, the latter the noun.
(15) “Economic/economical”: the former means ‘having to do with the economy (wirtschaftlich)’ while the
latter can usually be translated with sparsam.
(16) “Historic/historical”: the former is used to refer to a particularly significant event or decision, say,
while the latter refers to anything having to do with the past.
(17) “Education”: the English noun usually refers to institutional schooling, not parental “child-rearing” or
“upbringing” (as the German noun Erziehung would be translated—or perhaps with the phrase ‘early
education’ in some contexts).
(18) “Fantasy/imagination”: The former is either a genre of fiction (e.g. Lord of the Rings) or a wild idea
unlikely to be realized; the latter is the human power to envision things (Einbildungskraft).
(19) “Control/kontrollieren”: the German verb most often means ‘check’ (e.g. ‘They were checked at the
border’). The English word means to command (an army, a country), to operate (She controls the biggest
machine), or regulate (to control your emotions). In this last sense, the meanings of the German and English
words overlap (außer Kontrolle, ‘out of control’).
(20) “Eventual, eventuell”: The English word means ‘in the end’ (the eventual outcome was…); the
German word is translated: ‘maybe, ‘perhaps,’ or ‘possibly.’ The same applies to the adverb form
‘eventually.’
(21) “Comfortable, convenient, easy, bequem”: the German word can mean all three of these: ein
bequemes Bett, eine bequeme Ausrede, Er wollte es nur bequem haben. ‘Comfort’ usually implies physical
ease ‘convenient’ means ‘easily accessed.’
(22) “So” vs. “that” to mean “very”: Colloquially, one might say “He’s not that smart” (meaning “not
very”); more formally, “so” should be used if the actual level or variety of “smartness” is not explicit.
(23) Misuse of “for” with some common adjectives and nouns: With a number of commonly used
expressions, English uses the preposition “of” where German uses für (“This is an example of…” or “That is
typical/characteristic/distinctive of”).
(24) “Uncountable” and “innumerable”: “Uncountable” means that something cannot be counted (see
comment D7 on uncountable nouns) and is not a synonym for “very many” or “innumerable.”
(25) “To what extent” and inwiefern: Use “to what extent” or “the extent to which” as the translation for
the German expression (“in how far” does not exist).
(26) “Despite” and “in spite of”: The two expressions are equivalent; never use “of” with the first of them.
(27) “Adequate” and adequät: one of the many pairs of “false friends.” The English word is a synonym
for “enough” while the German one is usually translated with “appropriate.”
(28) “News”: this word is treated as a singular noun in English (“The news is bad.”).
(29) “Manager”: This English word has been Germanized, but it is used there in a slightly different sense
and tends to connote a high-level or executive position. In English, the term is often combined with another
(“investment manager,” “product manager,” etc.) to more specifically identify the job in question. Used by
itself, a “manager” is simply one who manages—anything from a bank to a kiosk.
(30) “Adapt” and “adopt”: the first of these means either “change” (or with the preposition “to”) “to
blend in” (sich anpassen). “Adopt” means “to take on” (übernehmen) as with laws, ideas, or children.
(31) “Conscience” and “conscious”: the first of these is a noun, the translation for Gewissen, and the
second is an adjective which means either “awake” (not asleep or in a coma) or “aware of” (“He’s
conscious of the fact that he must do better.”).
(32) Nächste, nearest, next: the German term can conceivably be translated with both English words, but
with “next” it must be the case that one is traveling in only one direction, as in a car on the highway (“Let’s
stop at the next gas station.”). But if it is possible to go in all directions, “nearest” would be used (“Can you
tell me where the nearest pub is?”).
(33) “Sensitive,””sensible” and sensibel: The German word can be translated with “sensitive”; the English
“sensible” is a synonym for “reasonable” (vernünftig).
(34) “Provocative” and “provoking”: Use the first of these to translate anregend or provozierend. The
second used in the progressive forms of the verb (and in the compound phrase “thought-provoking”).
(35) Überzeugen and “convince”: these are not really “false friends” but they are used differently
grammatically: the active English verb requires an object (or objects), Thus: Das Gerät hat im Test
überzeugt could be translated: “The device convinced us in the test (of its quality).” Alternatively, use the
passive form: “The device was convincing in the test.”
(36) “Rather” and “rather than”: By itself “rather” means “somewhat” (“It’s rather damp in here.”). As a
synonym for “instead of,” note that the two words “rather than” are usually not separated (“Let’s go out
rather than stay in.”). The exception, however, is with “would” (“I would rather stay in than go out.”).
G. Errors of form/style
(1) Paragraph style: there are two possible styles. (A) Paragraphs are indented; that is, the first line of a
paragraph begins five spaces (use the tab key) to the right of the left-margin of the page. Sometimes the first
paragraph of an essay is not indented since nothing comes before it. (B) In the block style, indentation is not
used, but a full empty line is left between paragraphs.
Fill out to the right-hand margin all lines within a paragraph in both styles.
(2) Register: in general, academic writings uses standard, formal English. Avoid slang, and colloquial
expressions (e.g. the use of the indefinite pronoun “you” for “one” or the word “kids” for “children”).
Traditionalists also frown upon the use of contractions (e.g. can’t, won’t) and beginning sentences with
“and,” “so” or “but” (use ‘In addition,’ ‘Thus,’ and ‘However’).
On the other hand, the choice of style and register always depends somewhat on the intended
audience and the topic; reflective and humorous essays, for instance, may appropriately use a wider range
of registers.
What is considered good style is of course fluid over the course of time: what might have once
seemed appropriate—say the use of the passive to avoid using the ‘I’ pronoun (‘In this paper it will be
argued…’)—now seems wooden and perfunctory (except perhaps in scientific articles and papers).
(3) In short essays, “signposting” (sentences such as: “In this essay I will first discuss bla-bla-bla, and
then I will move on to la-di-da.”) is mostly unnecessary and is also a rather “wooden” or perfunctory
style. Don’t say what you’re going to do, just do it. Perhaps you have learned otherwise, but nobody in
the real world ever writes essays that way; this is only the advice from some essay-writing teachers who
likely never write essays themselves.
(4) Definitions in introductions: Defining a word or a concept can be an effective way to introduce a
topic, but do not define a term that is generally well understood unless you plan to question the general
understanding of the word. Providing a definition of a word that your readers will undoubtedly know the
meaning of makes a very, sometimes irritating, perfunctory impression.
Use the technique, in general, only for what is truly rather obscure or to argue, for instance, that
there is a second meaning to a concept that is often ignored.
(5) Italics are used for special emphasis, foreign words, or to present the titles of books, films, and other
longer (substantial) works. Do not as a rule use italics for quoted material or for proper names.
(6) Titles and capitalization: In general, capitalize all major words (not articles and prepositions) and the
first word of all English titles and subtitles (of books, songs, paintings, etc.). Concerning presentation, a
good rule of thumb is to use italics for major, lengthier works (novels, films, symphonies, etc.) and
enclose shorter works (poems, songs, newspaper or magazine articles) in quotation marks.
With capitalization, some academic disciplines (many in the natural and social sciences) use a
more international style of capitalizing only the initial word of a title. This is also generally the practice of
newspapers with headlines and some popular magazines as well.
(7) Gender of English nouns and generic “he”: normally, English nouns have no gender and are all
referred to with “it/its.” Exceptions: ships/boats (and sometimes cars and other personal means of transport)
are usually considered feminine, nations and rivers are sometimes thought of as masculine or feminine, and
“nature” as an agent (“Mother Nature”) is often considered feminine.
The masculine pronoun “he” has traditionally been used generically to refer to both sexes (e.g. “A
student should turn in his work on time”); most writers today try to avoid this usage with plural forms (e.g.
“Students should turn in their work on time”) or other means (e.g. the passive voice) of recasting the sentence
so as to use gender-inclusive language. For this reason, the term “man” or “mankind” is often avoided (use
“humanity”). Although the indefinite pronouns (e.g. someone, anyone, everyone, etc.) are grammatically
considered singular, they can be paired with “their” rather than a singular third-person pronoun. See D3.
(8) Wordiness: As George Orwell wrote, “if you can cut a word out (of something that you’ve written),
always cut it out.” Avoid redundant expressions and always ask yourself if you can say the same thing with
fewer words.
(9) Repetitiveness: avoid monotonous and awkward-sounding repetition of words or phrases. Search for a
suitable synonym or reformulation or use an appropriate pronoun to rename and refer back to the noun.
(10) Jumbled paragraph: Paragraphs should generally address a single, limited topic within the overall
theme of the essay. Abrupt shifts of topic within a paragraph lead to lack of cohesiveness of the
argument/discussion.
H. Errors beyond the pale
(1) Doh? (not even Bart Simpson would be likely to make this mistake).
(2) Is your favourite poem “Jabberwacky”?
(3) As you know, the term “essay” comes from the French essayer (to try or attempt); you may have to try,
try, and try again.
(4) I will not permit any more such outrages against the English language to be perpetrated in this class!
Correction Key: Quick Check List
A.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
Verb form errors
Misuse of present perfect
Failure to use present perfect
Misuse of progressive
Failure to use progressive
Verbs in conditional sentences
Future forms
Translation of sollte
Failure to use inversion
Misuse of future forms in time clauses
Reported speech
Dangling participles
Gerunds and infinitives
Subject-verb agreement and linking verbs
Narrative present
Passive and active voice
Past perfect and simple past
Emphatic ‘do’
‘not only’ and ‘do’
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
Errors with clauses/punctuation
Defining relative clauses
Non-defining relative clauses
Correlative relative clauses
Noun clauses/phrases
Run-on sentences
Sentence fragments
Extended pre-modification
No commas with ‘in order to’ clauses
B.
C.
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
Miscellaneous grammar and spelling
errors
Adverb/adjective form
Words of nationality/religion and
capitalization
Like/as
Abstract nouns no def. article
Postmodification and def. article
Professions and indef. article
Definite and indefinite articles
Quantifiers
Capitalization and titles
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
Errors with pronouns and nouns
Pronoun agreement
Vague pronoun
Indefinite pronouns
References to body parts
Demonstrative pronouns
Collective nouns
Uncountable nouns
(1)
(2)
D.
E.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Miscellaneous errors with punctuation
Numbers and punctuation
Commas in conjunction with quotation
marks
Apostrophe
Hyphens and dashes
(5)
Subject-verb, no single comma
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
(20)
(21)
(22)
(23)
(24)
(25)
(26)
(27)
(28)
(29)
(30)
(31)
(32)
(33)
(34)
(35)
(36)
Common errors with vocabulary
Lose/loose
Possibility/Möglichkeit
Actual/aktuell
Bachelor of Arts/bachelor’s degree
However/although
Own
In particular/besonders
In the last few/in den letzten
Proof/prove
Remember/remind/be reminiscent of
Scientific/scholarly
Impressive
Experience
Extend/extent
Economic/economical
Historic/historical
Education/Erziehung
Fantasy/imagination
Control/kontrollieren
Eventural/eventuell
Comfortable/convenient/easy/bequem
So vs. that to mean very
Misuse of ‘for’
‘Uncountable’ and ‘innumerable’
‘To what extent’ and inwiefern
‘Despite’ and ‘in spite of’
Adequät and ‘adequate’
News, singular noun
Manager, English and German
Adapt and adopt
Conscience and conscious
Nächste, nearest and next
Sensitive and sensibel
Provocative and provoking
Convince and überzeugen
Rather and rather than
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
Errors of form/style
Paragraph style
Register
Signposting
Definitions in introductions
Use of italics
Titles and capitalization
Gender of nouns and generic ‘he’
Wordiness
Repetitiveness
Jumbled paragraph
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Errors beyond the pale
Doh?
Jabberwacky
Try, try again
Outrage!
F.
G.
H.