The Most Common Habits from more than 200 English Papers written by Graduate Chinese Engineering Students
By Felicia Brittman
This paper presents some of the most common Chinese-English habits observed from over two hundred English technical papers by Chinese writers. The habits are explained and in most cases, example text from an actual paper is given along with preferred text. An attempt is made to explain how to correct and prevent such mistakes. In some cases a possible explanation of why the habit occurs is also given. This paper can serve as an individual guide to editing technical papers especially when a native English-speaking editor is unavailable.
Introduction
Most Chinese universities require their doctoral and master candidates in technical and scientific fields to publish at least one English paper in an international journal as a degree requirement. However, many factors make this task difficult to accomplish. First, previous English studies may not have focused enough on writing, let alone technical writing. Current studies may not include English, causing the writers English fluency level to decline. Second, most writers have never lived in an English-speaking country. Third, due to the special aspects of technical writing, even native English-speaking engineering students have a technical writing course as part of their study.
Too often, students’ papers are returned unaccepted because of poor English. If available, students may have their papers edited by a native English speaker. However, this can get expensive for a department that has many students with each paper typically needing to be edited twice. Hiring someone to edit papers is difficult, costly and only puts a patch over the problem. A native English speaker can do a good job at getting rid of most of the grammatical mistakes. However, if this person does not have a technical background, particularly in the area of the papers he is editing, he is unable to get rid of all of the mistakes and make sure that the meaning is clear. He cannot recognize the incorrect translation of technical terms for which there is a standard word. Such mistakes will not be picked up by the processor’s spelling and grammar checker. In addition, if they are not familiar with the topic or field, they may not grasp the meaning of the entire article and fail to make critical edits.
Hiring a person with a technical background similar to that of the papers being edited is a better option. Nevertheless, while a person with a technical background may be able to edit the paper sufficiently, he may not be able to explain to the writer how to prevent such mistakes in the future. Besides, it is difficult for most Chinese universities to hire such staff simply for editing. Universities may consider inviting a visiting scholar who will edit papers in addition to doing research or teaching as part of an exchange.
Although editing may be the fastest way to publish papers, it does little in the way of teaching the writers how to prevent common mistakes and colloquial habits that prevent a clear understanding of the writer’s ideas. Writers who have already obtained an


impressing command of the English language can only truly benefit if they are made aware of their common mistakes and colloquial habits and how to prevent them.
Purpose
The purpose of this report is to introduce the most common habits in Chinese-English writing as noted from the over two hundred papers I have edited. The habits include grammar mistakes, colloquialisms, and formatting problems and in most cases prevent a clear understanding of the writer’s ideas. A few of the habits, such as writing
extremely long sentences, can be corrected with careful use of the MS Word® grammar and style checker. However, most habits, such as missing articles, go unnoticed by automatic grammar checking devices. Still, Chinese-English colloquial habits are not recognized by such software tools.
Structure
The common habits are presented in two sections. The first section lists the habits that, in my opinion, need the most attention. These habits interrupt the flow of the paper making it difficult to understand and occur most frequently. In this section, the habits are explained, example sentences from actual papers are given to show the habits, and the sentences are rewritten to show the correct way to write them. In the case of missing articles, a flow chart is also given to aid in choosing the correct articles.
In the second section, an additional list of habits is given. In some cases, example sentences are given. In other cases, advice is given. The second section is very useful in becoming familiar with small nuances.
Not all of the common habits I observed are presented mainly because they can only be dealt with on an individual basis. For example, writers had difficulty titling their
papers and naming new technical ideas to express their contents and functions concisely.
This problem frequently occurred but it can only be addressed individually. Once writers are aware of their habits, they would be able to write better technical English articles.
Section 1
“a, an, the”
The single most common habit is the omission of articles a, an, and the. This occurs because Mandarin has no direct equivalent of articles and the rules for using them are somewhat complicated for a non-native speakers.
Articles signal that a noun will follow and that any modifiers between the article and the noun refer to that noun (a big blue bicycle / the first award). A and an are indefinite articles; the is a definite article. Every time a singular noncount noun, a common noun that names one countable item, is used the noun requires some kind of determiner.

Mistake:
The, a, and
an are 1) omitted where they are required, 2) used where they
are not needed or contribute to wordiness 3) used wrongly in place of the correct article.

Examples of incorrect usages:
Incorrect Figure 2 shows the distribution of relative velocity on surface of main and splitter blades.15
Correct
Figure 2 shows the distribution of relative velocity on
the surface of
the main and splitter blades.15
Incorrect The software PowerSHAPE is chosen to be a 3D modeling tool; it is
good at dealing with free surfaces and curves.4
Correct
The software PowerSHAPE is chosen to be the 3D modeling tool; it is
good at dealing with free surfaces and curves.4
There was only one 3D modeling tool used in this study, therefore ‘3D modeling tool’ is specific and requires the article the.
Incorrect A theoretical method for calculating the inner flow-field in centrifugal impeller with splitter blades and investigation of the interactions between main and splitter blades is presented in this paper. The vortices are distributed on the main and splitter blades to simulate the effects of flows. Systematical study of number and distribution of vortices is conducted.15
Correct
A theoretical method for calculating the inner flow-field in
a centrifugal impeller with splitter blades and an investigation of the interactions between main and splitter blades is presented in this paper. The vortices are distributed on the main and splitter blades to simulate the effects of flows.
A systematical study of
the number and distribution of vortices is conducted.15
Incorrect Theoretically, remanufacturing could fully take advantage of resources contained in EOF product thereby minimizing impact on environment to the greatest extent compared to landfill or recycling of materials; consequently it contributes greatly to resource conservation.16
Correct
Theoretically, remanufacturing could fully take advantage of resources contained in an EOF product thereby minimizing the impact on the environment to the greatest extent compared to landfill or recycling of materials; consequently it contributes greatly to resource conservation.16
Definitions:
Articles
Also called
determiners or noun markers, articles are the words
a, an, and
the. A and an are indefinite articles, and the is a definite article. Articles signal that a


noun will follow and that any modifiers between the article and the noun refer to that noun. ( a cold , metal chair/ the lightning-fast computer).
Determiners A word or word group, traditionally identified as an adjective, that limits a noun by telling how much or how many about it. (expression of quantity, limiting adjective, marker) They tell whether a noun is general
(a tree) or specific
(the tree).
The is a definite article. Before a noun, the conveys that the known refers to a specific item (the plan).
A and
an are indefinite articles. They convey that a noun refers to an item in a nonspecific or general way (a plan).

Common nouns Count noun Noncount nouns Specific noun

A noun that names a general group, place, person, or thing:
dog, house.
A noun that names an item or items that can be counted: radio, streets, idea, fingernails.
A noun that names a thing that cannot be counted: water, time.
A noun understood to be exactly and specifically referred to; uses the definite article the.

Nonspecific noun

A noun that refers to any of a number of identical items; it takes the indefinite articles a , an.


Very long sentences
Very long sentences are especially common in Chinese-English writing because the writers often translate directly from Chinese to English. Although, in Chinese writing it is acceptable to put several supporting ideas in on sentence to show their relationship, in English, the main idea and each supporting idea is typically written in separate sentences.
One can usually recognize a very long sentence by its length – sixty words or more. However, sentences of smaller lengths can also be too long if they contain multiple statements that confuse the main idea. Long sentences can be avoided by limiting each sentence to one or two topics. Semicolons should be used where the writer really wants to emphasize the relationship between ideas.
Too long According to the characteristic of fan-coil air-conditioning systems, this paper derives the cooling formula of fan-coil units based on the heat transfer theories and puts forward a new method to gauge cooling named Cooling Metering on the Air-side, which can monitor the individual air-conditioning cooling consumption during a period of time by detecting the parameters of inlet air condition – temperature and humidity – of the fan-coil air-conditioning system as well as the parameters of inlet cooling water provided by the chiller.

Correct    This paper derives the cooling formula of fan-coil units based on the characteristics of fan-coil air-conditioning systems and heat transfer theories, and puts forward a new method to gauge cooling called Cooling Metering on the Air-side. The new method can monitor individual air-conditioning cooling consumption during a period of time by detecting the condition of inlet air – temperature and humidity – of the fan-coil air-conditioning system as well as the parameters of the inlet cooling water provided by the chiller.

Too long The gear transmission is grade seven, the gear gap is 0.00012 radians, the gear gap has different output values corresponding to any given input value, non-linearity of the gear gap model can be described by using the phase function method, the existing backlash block in the non-linear library of the Matlab/zdimulink toolbox can be used, the initial value of gear gap in the backlash block is set to zero.9
Correct    The gear transmission is grade seven. The gear gap, which is 0.00012 radians, has different output values corresponding to any given input value. The non-linearity of the gear gap model can be described by using the phase function method. The existing backlash block in the non-linear library of the Matlab/zdimulink toolbox can be used; the initial value of gear gap in the backlash block is set to zero.

Another type of super-long sentence that frequently occurs in technical papers is that of a list. The writer wants to give a large amount of data, usually parameter values, and puts this information into one long, paragraph-sized sentence. However, the best
way to give such type and quantity of information is to tabulate it (put it in a bulleted list).
Too long …where m is the mass of the heavy disk mounted at the mid-span of a massless elastic shaft, e is the eccentricity of the mass center from the geometric center of the disk, ö is the angle between the orientation of the
eccentricity and the î axis, kî and kç are the stiffness coefficients in two
principal directions of shaft respectively, c is the viscous damping coefficient of the shaft and the disk, ci is the inner damping coefficient of shaft, ù is the
rotating speed, îs and çs are the components of initial bend in directions of î ,ç axes respectively: î s = rb cosè ,ç s = rb sinè .1
Correct    Where
m is the mass of the heavy disk mounted at the mid-span of a massless elasticshaft,
e is the eccentricity of the mass center from the geometric center of the disk,
ö is the angle between the orientation of the eccentricity and the î axis,
kî and kç are the stiffness coefficients in the two principal directions
of the shaft,

c is the viscous damping coefficient of the shaft and the disk,
ci is the inner damping coefficient of the shaft,
ù is the rotating speed,
îs and çs are the components of initial bend in directions of î ,ç axes, respectively: î s = r b cosè ,ç s r=    . b sinè
Too long The clear height of the case is 6.15 meters; the thickness of the roof is 0.85 meters; the thickness of the bottom is 0.90 meters, the overall width is 26.6 meters, the overall length of the axial cord is 304.5 meters, the length of the jacking section is about 148.8 meters; the weight of the case is about 24127 tons.3

Clear    • Case clearance height
?    Roof thickness
?    Bottom thickness
?    Overall width
?    Overall length of the axial cord
?    Length of the jacking section
?    Weight of the case

6.15 meters 0.85 meters 0.90 meters 26.6 meters 3 04.5 meters
148.8 meters (approx.) 24127 tons (approx.)

Prefacing the main idea of a sentence by stating the purpose, location or reason first
Chinese writers often preface the main topic of a sentence by first stating the purpose, location, reason, examples and conditions as introductory elements. However, this has the effect of demoting the importance of the main idea and making the reader think the author is indirect. Bring the main idea to the beginning of the sentence stating any locations, reasons, etc., afterwards.

For the application in automobile interiors, this paper studies the nesting optimization problem in leather manufacturing. 5
This paper studies the nesting optimization problem in leather manufacturing for application in automobile interiors.
Especially when numerical control (NC) techniques[4] are widely used in industry and rapid prototype methods[5][6] bring a huge economical benefits, the advantage of constructing 3D model[7][8][9] becomes extremely obvious.2 The advantage of constructing a 3D model[7][8][9] becomes extremely obvious especially when numerical control (NC) techniques[4] are widely used in industry and rapid prototype methods[5][6] bring a huge economical benefits.
Inside the test box, the space was filled with asbestos.15 The space inside the test box was filled with asbestos.


Incorrect Correct
Incorrect Correct    In practice, we employed this approach to dispose of a wheelhouse subassembly of one kind of auto-body, and the results show that this method is feasible.16
We employed this approach to dispose of a wheelhouse subassembly of one kind of auto-body, and the results show that this method is feasible.
To ensure sheet metal quality as well as assembly quality, CMMs are widely used in automotive industry production.16
CMMs are widely used in automotive industry production to ensure sheet metal quality as well as assembly quality.

Tendency of placing phrases which indicate time at the beginning of a sentence
Incorrect When U is taken as the control parameter, the BDs for ' =0.0, 0.001, 0.005 are shown in Fig. 8.
Correct    Figure 8 shows the BDs for ' =0.0, 0.001, and 0.005 when U is taken as the control parameter.
Place the most important subject at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis
Incorrect Based on the triangulation structure built from unorganized points or a CAD model, the extended STL format is described in this section.4
Correct    The extended STL format is described in this section based on the triangulation structure built from unorganized points or a CAD model.
Incorrect The 3D dentition defect and restoration element models are designed precisely with complicated surfaces.4
Correct    The 3D dentition defect and restoration element models with complicated surfaces are designed precisely.
“which/ that”
The antecedent (noun or pronoun) to which which refers is not specific, causing confusion.
Antecedent The noun or pronoun to which a pronoun refers.
‘The Shijiazhuang south road underground bridge possesses the largest jacking force, which is built at 1978(10680t).’ [‘Shijiazhuang south road underground bridge possesses the largest jacking force which is built at 1978(10680t).’
Absolute truths in paleontology are often elusive, and even the filmmakers were surprised at the fierce arguments that split the scientists when an initial brainstorming session was else.

‘Respectively’ and ‘respective’
Respectively refers back to two or more persons or things only in the order they were previously designated or mentioned. If two lists are given, respectively pairs the list entries according to the order in which they are given. In this case the use of respectively is to allow the writer to give a lot of information without confusing the reader or writing several short sentences. Respectively is usually at the end of the sentence. In both cases, mentioning the order must be important to the meaning of the sentence otherwise it is not used.
For example: Bobby, Nicole and Daren wore red, green and blue coats, respectively.
List 1    List 2
Bobby wore a red coat.
Nicole wore a green coat.
Daren wore a blue coat.
Respective to two or more persons or things only in the order they were previously designated or mentioned.
The uses of these two words are usually incorrect or confusing as in the following examples.
1.    Respectively is misplaced in the sentence; it is put before the nouns to which it refers.
Incorrect Equations 26 can be respectively linearized as:……(equations given)…13 Correct    Equations 26 can be linearized as:……(equations given)…, respectively.
Incorrect The weights of the two experts are respectively 0.600 and 0.400.19 Correct    The weights of the two experts are 0.600 and 0.400, respectively.
2.    Respectively is inserted to express that there is a certain order in which something was done. However, the order is already implied elsewhere in the sentence or does not need to be expressed because it does not add value to meaning of the sentence.
Incorrect If both the core technology score and core quality score of a bottleneck process are, respectively, below certain scores, then we refer to strategy 1, otherwise, if either is, respectively, above a certain score, then we refer to strategy 2. Similarly, if the core technology and core quality are, respectively, above a certain score, then we refer to strategy 3, otherwise, if either is, respectively, below a certain score, then we refer to strategy 4.19
Correct    If both the core technology score and core quality score of a bottleneck process are below certain scores, then we refer to strategy 1, otherwise, if either is above a certain score, then we refer to strategy 2. Similarly, if the core technology and core quality are above a certain score, then we refer to strategy

3, otherwise, if either is below a certain score, then we refer to strategy 4.
Incorrect
Correct    Then, the rows of vortex due to both of the long and short blades are transformed into two singularities on the æ -plane and integrate the induced velocity along the blades respectively.20
Then, the rows of vortex due to both of the long and short blades are transformed into two singularities on the æ -plane and integrate the induced velocity along the blades.

3.    In addition to 2, it is unclear to what ‘respectively’ refers.
Incorrect The dynamic characteristics of a rotor with asymmetric stiffness or with initial warp have been studied before respectively [1-4]
Correct    The dynamic characteristics of a rotor with asymmetric stiffness or with initial warp have been studied before [1-4].
Incorrect The inlet and outlet temperature of the air cooler were measured using two thermocouples respectively.17
Correct    The inlet and outlet temperature of the air cooler were measured by using two thermocouples.
‘In this paper’, ‘in this study’
Two errors occur when these phrases are used. The first is overuse. In some papers written by Chinese, these phrases can occur as much as twice per page. In papers written by native English writers these phrases are reserved for primarily two uses
1.    In the introduction and conclusion to emphasize the content of the paper.
2.    In the body of the paper, after referring to work not done by the author such as in
other journal articles or in standard.
Therefore, if either phrase occurs more than three times in a paper, its use is questionable. Actually, the reader is aware that the work presented is by the author (unless the author states otherwise) so there is no reason to repeat these phrases.
The second error is more subtle. The two phrases are interchanged.
Awkward In this paper, IDEAS was used to …. Correct    In this study, IDEAS was used to….
Awkward
Correct    In the paper, a SZG403 1 towing tractor is used as the sample vehicle, it components equivalent physical parameters are obtained by UG design and testing.9
In this study, a SZG403 1 towing tractor is used as the sample vehicle, it components equivalent physical parameters are obtained by UG design and testing.

The ‘study’ is the work the author/s did. The paper is the mode to present this work and is what the reader is holding/ reading. Keep in mind the writer can also use other phrases such as ‘in this research’, and ‘this paper present’.
Numbers and Equations
Two very common errors are those concerning the presentation of Arabic numerals, and equations. Chinese writers usually write Arabic numerals instead of spelling out the word. The use of Arabic numerals, itself, is not an error however; they should never be used at the beginning of sentences.
Incorrect 12 parameters were selected for the experiment. Correct    Twelve parameters were selected for the experiment.
In addition, Arabic numerals are overused. Arabic numerals should be used to give data in technical papers, however they should not be used to give general information.
Incorrect All 3 studies concluded that the mean temperature should be 30°C. Correct    All three studies concluded that the mean temperature should be 30°C.
This probably stems from the fact that Mandarin is a symbolic language and not alphabetic. Thus, the writer will find it easier to write a symbol that expresses the idea instead of the word. This problem is even more serious when equations are used in place of words in a way that is not practiced by native English speakers. Consider the following examples.
Equations should be introduced as much as possible, not inserted in place of words. Most journals, like the International Journal of Production Research, discourage the use of even short expressions within the text.
Incorrect If the power battery SOC > SOClo and the driving torque belongs to the middle load,…
Correct    If the power battery SOC is greater than SOClo and the driving torque belongs to the middle load,…
Incorrect All 3 studies concluded that the mean temperature should be 30°C. Correct    All three studies concluded that the mean temperature should be 30°C.
Format
Paragraphs
A paragraph is a group of sentences that develop one topic or thought. Paragraphs are separated to indicate the end of one idea or thought and the beginning of another. All English paragraphs start on a new line with an indent of about one inch or

with an extra line between the two paragraphs. The latter is more typical for business writing.
Chinese students are often puzzled by separating paragraphs; the may perform one of two error. One error occurs when the writer fails to distinguish between two paragraphs. Although the new paragraph starts on a new line, there is no indentation, therefore, the reader in is not aware of the change in paragraphs or ideas. The second error occurs when a paragraph is preceded by a single sentence on a single line. The single line is indented along with the succeeding paragraph as in example #. This commonly occurs in Chinese texts but is never done in English.
‘Figure’ and ‘Table’
The abbreviations for figure and table are Fig. and Tbl, respectively. However,
the abbreviation of table is rarely seen in text. One can also write fig. for figure. However, one should choose one convention and use it throughout the paper. You should not switch between, Figure, figure, Fig, or fig. In addition, abbreviations are not used at the beginning of sentences and a space belongs between the word/ abbreviation and the number.
Incorrect Figure.6, Figure6, Fig.6, Tbl10 Correct    Figure 6, Fig. 6, Tbl. 10
Variables
Variables, especially those of the English alphabet, should be italicized in technical papers to distinguish them from English words. Of course, this depends on the style required by the journal.
Capitals
Be careful that capitals are not in the middle of the sentence.
Incorrect In table 1, The mark… Correct    In table 1, the mark…
‘such as’ and ‘etc.’
Such as and etc. are commonly misused by Chinese-English writers. Such as means ‘for example’ and implies that an incomplete list will follow; etc. means ‘and so on’ and is used at the end of a list to show it is not complete. Therefore, using such as and etc. together is redundant.
Incorrect Studies of methodology and process of implementing remanufacturing mainly
focus on durable products such as automobile motors, printers, and etc.11 Correct    Studies of methodology and process of implementing remanufacturing mainly
focus on durable products such as automobile motors, and printers.
Such as means that an incomplete list will be given and should not be used when a complete list is given.

Incorrect Compared to traditional industry, Micro-electronic fabrication has three
characteristics such as high complexity, high precision and high automation. Correct    Compared to traditional industry, Micro-electronic fabrication has three
characteristics: high complexity, high precision and high automation.
Section 2
1) Some words have identical singular and plural forms and do not need an s added on to make them plural. These words include:
?    literature (when referring to research)
?    equipment,
?    staf (referring to a group of people)
?    faculty
2)    Avoid redundancy in the following types of phrases frequently used by Chinese English writers
Instead of    Say    Or say
Research work    Research    Work
Limit condition    Limit    condition
Knowledge memory    Knowledge    Memory
Sketch map    Sketch    map
Layout scheme    Layout    scheme
Arrangement plan    Arrangement    plan
Output performance    Output    performance
Simulation results    results    simulation
Knowledge information    Knowledge    information
Calculation results    results    calculation
Application results    Results    Application

3)    Certain words demand that the noun they modify is plural. These include diferent, various, and number words.
Don’t write    Instead write
Different node    Different nodes
Various method    Various methods
Two advantage    Two advantages
Fifteen thermocouple    Fifteen thermocouples

4)    Never begin an English sentence with abbreviations and Arabic numerals such as Fig. and 8. Instead write Figure and Eight.
5)    Do not write ‘by this way’. Instead write ‘by doing this’, or ‘using this method’.
6)    Never write ‘How to…’ at the beginning of a sentence. (Don’t say it ither.)

No    How to find the optimal parameter is the main objective.
Yes    Determining how to find the optimal parameter is the main objective.
7)    Do write ‘the results are shown in Figure 2’. Do not write ‘the results are showed as Figure 2’.
8)    Italicize variables appearing in the text to differentiate them from words. This is especially important when the variables are English alphabets. Write ‘The graph shows t, a, and C as a function of time’. Do not write ‘The graph shows t, a, and C as a function of time’.
9)    Refrain from using the word obviously in a technical paper in the following way
No    Obviously, detecting regimes by means of PMH maps is a novel method.8
Yes    Detecting regimes by means of PMH maps is a novel method.8
10)    International papers should not use location dependant terms such as ‘at home’, ‘abroad’, ‘here’, ‘our country’ because the reader most likely is not Chinese and not in China. Instead, write ‘in China’.
11)    Avoid overusing the phrases ‘that is to say’ and ‘namely’. Instead, try to convey your meaning in one sentence.
12)    Do not use ‘too’ at the end of a written sentence, especially