An Analysis on the Students' Common Errors in English

.第22卷第1期玉林师范学院学报(哲学社会科学)Vol.22 No. 12001年JOURNAL OF YULIN TEACHERSCOLLEGE (Philosophy & Social Science)An Analysis on the Students' Common Errors in English林敏(玉林师范学院英语系讲师,广西玉林537000)[摘要]本文概括了学生的常见错误, 分析其原因所在。通过学习,以尽量减少学生在学习上的错误。[关键词]错误;附加疑问句;属有格;分词;动名词及不定式[中图分类号] H319.3 [文献标识码] A [文章编号] 1004 - 4671(2001)01 - 0119- 04In the process of English teaching， we often1. Wrong:1 suppose you like to play too, isn'tfind students' errors occur in their learning. Theirit?errors have been selected and analysed now becauseRight: 1 suppose you like to play too, don'tthey are very common, and 1 hope the analysis canyou?help students avoid errors and support for remedial2. Wrong: They can't do this without the vetmeasures.eran workers' help, is it?The common errors in learning English are putRight: They can't do this with the veteranas follows:workers' help, can they?I .“TAG" QUESTIONS. Students often make3. Wrong: You won't tell anybody, won'tmistakes because they answer the questions in Chi-neses forms. Sometime they are in a mix way theRight: You won't tell anybody, will you?using are quite different between Chinese and Eng-I .ERRORS IN POSSESSIVES. Some of nounslish. What is TAP QUESTION? How to avoid the can be added apostrophes' in its ending, we nameerrors? Study the following :them Possessive Case.1.He is English, isn't he?A. Generally speaking, only nouns for animate2. She has five children, hasn' t she?things have possessive form. With singular nouns3.He's not French，is he?we add an apostrophe (') ad s. With plural nouns4. You haven't any books, have you?ending in s', we add only the apostrophe, e. g.you must pay attention to that: a statement can bethe boy' s footballthe girls' dressesturned into a question by repeating the auxiliary, inthe man's suitthe kings' sonsa negative form where the statement is affirmative, NOTE:There is no difference in pronunciationin an affirmative form where the statement is neg-between“The king's sons" and“Theative.kings' sons".When the statement has no auxiliary verb, theB.It is safer not to use the apostrophe“S” withBuxiliary‘do’is used in the question clause:e. g.inanimate things: instead use“ "of". e. g,You like coffee, don't you?1.I sat near the leg of the table.You often run technical training classes for2. The cover of the book was torn.young people, don't you?ERRORS:Some words such as: hardly, never， scarcely,w rong: The bathroom's width was about sixseldom etc， appear in the declarative statementsbould be in a negative form. e.g,Right:The width of the bathroom was aboutWe will never let them down, will we?中国煤化工She seldom speaks English, does she?YHCNMHGwas broken.The following errors are often made by stu-ture was broken.lents: .C. Sometime when a number singular in form is收稿日期:2000- 12-131192001年玉林师范学院学报第1期used as an adjective，do not use“of”after it. e.g. :Right: In such cold weather, no winter1. Wrong: a haundred of people were present.clothes will be taken off.Right:A hundred people were present.NOTE PARTICULARLY:2. Wrong: There were twenty of eggs in the1.1 must cut my hair. (Meaning: I, myself,basket.must cut my hair. )Right: There were twenty eggs in the basket.Right: I must have my hair cut. (Meaning :3. Wrong: Five thounsand of rioters attackedThe hairdresser must cut my hair. )the police headquarters.2. I must make a new suit. (I, myself, mustRight: Five thounsand rioters attacked themake the suit. )police headquarters .Right: I must have a new suit made.I .ThE CONFUSION OF THE ACTIVE tailor must make it. )VOICE WITH THE paSSIVE VOICE.When Subject is the doer of the action， the more interested in the action than in the person orpredicate form is named the Active Voice, e.g. He people who are doing the action. So it is often un-ate the cake. When Subject is the supporter of the necessary to put in the doer (“by me"," 'by Tom”action, that means the object is done something to etc.), in fact it often makes the sentence unnatu-by the subject， that is the Passive Voice， and we ral. Look at the following sentences. The words inoften put“by” in front of the doer of the action. brackets can be (and ought to be) left out:e.g. ,The cake was eaten by him.1. English is spoken all over the would (byWe can make Passive Verbs in any tense bypeople) .using different tenses of“be”:2. All the questions on the examination paperSimple Present Tense: am, is, are.must be answered (by you). .Present Continuous Tense: am being, is be-3. The house was built in 1500 (by somebody ).4. Lesson 22 was specially written (by me) toSimple Past Tense: was, were.illustrate the Passive.Past Continuous Tense: was being， wereIV. CONFUSION BETWEEN PRESENT, PER-being.FECT AND PAST PARTICIPLE.Present Perfect Tense: have been, has been.Remember that the Present Participle is usedPast Perfect Tense : had been.for describing actions which take place at the sameERRORS:time as the action of the main verb, otherwise, inA. When the Passive is used in place of the using a participle phrase, a phrase with a participleActive.in it, take care that the particilpe is correctly r1. Wrong: My mother is fainted at the news.lated, it out to be related to the subject of the verbRight: My mother fainted at the news.in the sentece, e.g,2. Wrong: The clown was made fun of the1. He walked over the meadow, wihistling a .audience.hit song.Right: The clown made fun of the audi-2. She drinks her coffee, savouring each drop.ence.3. She will go to the cocktail party, wearing3. Wrong: I have been longed to visit yourher new costume .family.The perfect Particilpe， however， is used forRight: 1 have longed to visit your family. describing an action which happened before the ac-B. When the Active is wrongly used in placetion of the main verb: e.g.of the Passive. .1. Having heard the news，I feel excited.1. Wrong: Have you examined by the doctor2. Having finished the letter, I shall now postyet?it.Right: Have you been examined by the3. Having been promised a new match, shedoctor yet?worked extra hard .2. Wrong: I thing you will surprise at my中国煤化工;ed to make the perfectanswer .teRight: I thing you will be surprised at my_MYHCNMH Getter.answer.2. Pedro had studied English before he came to3. Wrong: In such cold weather, no winterEngland.clothes will take off.It is also used to form the Passive Voice, e. g,129方数据LIN MinAn Analysis on the Students' Common Errors in English1. The tree was blown down by the wind.excitement: e.g.,2. All the tickets for the concert have beenAs the ship left the dock，we felt excited.sold.N.B. Excited can only qualify a person or aNOTE: The Parfect Particilpe Passive and the Pastliving thing.Particilple Passive are practically the same in V. CONFUSION BETWEEN GERUND, PARTI-meaning.CILPE AND INFINITIVE.1. Having been injured in an accident, he1. Gerund and Participleclaimed damages.The Gerund looks exactly like the PresentInjured in an accident, he claimed damages.Particilpe，i.e it is formed from a verb and ends2. Having been expelled from school, I mustin- ing. The differentce is that the Present Parti-find a job.cilpe is a verbal adjective and the Gerund is a verbalExpelled from school, I must find a job.noun, the Gerund often qualifies a noun just as theParticilpe (both Present and Past) are partly verbs Patticiple does, note the difference in meaning be-and partly adjctives and are often used exactly liketween:adjectives，e.g.PARTICIPLEGERUNDAn exciting story :disappointing news;a dancing girl( =A dancing - teacher( = .He is a good - looking man.a girl who' s daninga teacher of dancing)Broken bottles; a well - cut suit; .or who dances)The workers were tired.a sleeping childa sleeping carriage( =ERRORS:(=a child who isa rail wy carriage fitted1. Wrong: Spending all his money, he hadsleeping)with bedsnothing to eat.N.B. After a Preposition, the only part of the verbRight: Having spent all his money, he had that can be used is Gerund, e. g,She is good at playing the piano.2. Wrong: Washing my hands, I ate myOur team is certain of wining.lunch.Notice the difference in pronunciation, when aRight: Having washing my hands, I ate my Participle qualifics a noun, both words are stressed,when a Gerund qualifies a noun, only the gerund is3. Wrong: My cousin is calling Mary .stresed, e.g.,Right: My cousin is called Mary.4. Wrong: At last the awaiting hour came.a sl'eeping ch 'ilda sl' eeping - carRight: At last the awaited hour came .a τ unig st reamr 'uning - shoes5. Wrong: Comrade LeiFeng's heroic deeds2. Infinitive and Gerundare really inspired.Infinitive cannot form a predicate by itself butRight: Comraed LeiFeng's herioc deeds are it plays an important part in many sentences, whenreally inspiring.we speak of a verb we generally use this form( withDO NOT CONFUSE: Interesting and Interested.to), e.g,“the verb to be,""the verb to go”etc.Interesting is an adjective meaning holdingThe infinitive is also used after know( and oneinterest for someone: e. g,or two verbg) together with an interrogative wordShe is an interesting girl.like how, where, what, e.g.This is an interesting book.I don't know how to do this work.Interested is an adjective meaning having anI don't know what to say .interest in e. g.One of the difficulties in learning English isHe is interested in football.that after some verb， you must use the Gerund,I am an interested spactator.after others you must use the infinitive, and afterN. B. Interested can only qualify a person or a .some you can use either .Verbs Followed By the Gerund: avoid, dislike,DO NOT CONFUSE: Exciting and Excited.enjoy,中国煤化工Exciting means having the power to excite:mistakes.e.g.HY片CN. M H G' but distikesA bullfight is most exciting.answering them .We have an exciting adventure.Do you mind opening the door?Excited means being under the influence ofVerbs Followed By the infinitive: .122001年玉林师范学院学报第1期(a) All the“special" verbs，(b) the verbs:garden yesterday.expect，hope, mean， promise, want and certainIn the example just given, it doesn't make mu-others, e.g-ch differece in meaning whether the Gerund or the(Special Verbs) You ought to try harder.Infinitive is used, but with the verbs, stop, forget,You must do this work .remember etc, there is a difference. Thus:I shall see him tomorrow .STOP(Other Verbs) They expect to arrive here on“He worked for three hours and then stoppedSundayfor half an hour to eat his lunch" means that hI want to learn English and Ipaused work in order to eat. BUT:promise to work hard.“He stopped eating while he spoke to me'ERRORS:means that he paused in his eating while he spoke .1. Wrong: You had better to come before two.FORGETRight: You had better come before two.The verb FORGET with the Infinitive meansNote: had better, cannot but, had best, would“fail to remember”, with the Gerund it means"loserather etc. after them, the infinitive is used with- the memony of", e.g.out to this form is the“bare”infinitive.I am aftaid that he will forget to write .2. Wrong: He reminds me of going to that1 shall never forget seeing the Swiss Alps forfactory tomorrow morning .the first time.Right:He reminds me to go to that factoryREMEMBERtomorrow morning.The Infinitive used with REMEMBER refers3. Wrong: A soon as the new students got off to a future action, the Gerund used with RE-the car, we hurried over, carringMEMBER refers to past action, e. g,the luggage for them.Please remember to post this letter before fourRight:As soon as the new student got offo' clock .the car, we hurried over to carryI remember seeing you at the Christmas partylast year .4. Wrong:She saw him to take the money.In a word, our aid is to help students to correctRight:She saw him take the money.their errors themselves by using the correct learningNote: the Bare Infinitive is also used after aways.number of other verbs: feel， hear, see， watch,let, make, have etc. e. g,BIBLIOGRAPHY1.Let us discuss the proposal in three groups.1. COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH, 1972, LING KEE2. That made me laugh.PUBLISHING CO.3. The boys wanted to watch the train go out.2. A PRACTICAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR , 1995 ,ZHANGVerbs Followed by the Infinitive or theDAU ZHEN ,FOREING LANGUAGE TEACHINGGerund: begin， hate， learn, like, prefer， stop,AND RESEARCHING PRESS.3. OXFORD PROGRESSIVE ENGLISH COURSE, 1972,forget, remember, hear, see, e. g,John hates working (or to work) atA.S. HORNBY, LONDON OXFORD UNIVERSITYPRESS.grammar.4. ESSENTIAL ENGLISH, 1974, LONGMAN GROUP. I heard him coming ( or come) in late .LIMITED.last night.I saw him work ( working) in theAn Analysis on the Students' Common Errors in EnglishLIN Min(Lecturer, English Department, Yulin Teachers中国煤化工i 537000)Abstract: This essay tries to summarize the students':MYH. CN MHGyses the reasons. Forthose sutdying, we hope that they can help students make less mistakes as possible in the future.Key Words: errors; “tag . question; possessives; participle; gerund; infninitive[责任编辑谢明俊]12