7 Common Mistakes International Students Make in Essay Writing
Thanks to open boundaries between countries, it became possible to study in almost any country you wish. The USA eagerly hosts international students from all around the globe. However, the process of adaptation doesn’t always run smooth. For example, problems with language and writing essays are a serious issue for many youngsters. They make certain mistakes that spoil the quality of their papers.
A professional team of ENL writers from academic essay writing service has analyzed this matter and has figured out 10 common mistakes made by international students. Let’s review them.
1. Choosing the Wrong Tense
One of the most typical mistakes is the wrong choice of the tense. It’s remarkable that native speakers are also frequently confused by this matter. For example, many folks write “He has been born in 1893.” The correct variant is “He was born in 1893”. International students fail because they refer the event to something that took place in a specific period of time in the past. It’s necessary to use the Past Simple and not the Present Perfect.
2. Using the Wrong Preposition
The most confusing prepositions for the foreigners are with, to and on. These three words don’t actually have clear rules of use. Accordingly, students have to simply memorize when they should be used. One may also use such tools like Grammarly. It corrects such small mistakes and one can memorize such cases through continuous repetition.
3. Omitting or Misusing Articles
The issue of articles is another great trouble for ESL students (English as the second language). Firstly, ESL students simply omit the articles. “She bought (a) new purse”.
Secondly, students forget the differences between “a”, “an” and “the”. “A” and “an” are used only in with singular subjects and objects. “The” is used only in plural cases. Moreover, students may misuse a and an. They may not even know that “a” is used before the words that begin with a consonant and “an” is written before the words that begin with vowels.
4. Misusing Adverbs and Adjectives
Misuse of such parts of speech like adverbs and adjectives is another typical issue. Though it doesn’t seem that serious, it does actually spoil the quality of an essay if the mistakes are frequently repeated. The most typical mistake is to write “He speaks English very good.” The word “good” should be replaced with “well”.
5. Subject-Verb Agreement
Another eternal error of many international students is to write the wrong agreement between a subject and a verb. “I were shocked by the news”. This sentence is actually a shock for every professor. Remember that if a subject is used in the singular case, the verb should be used in singularity too. The same goes for plural.
6. Incorrect Comparatives
Many folks cannot make the correct comparison. For example, many international students write ‘more good’ or ‘the goodest’ instead of better and the best. Another example is to write ‘more bad’ or ‘badder’ and ‘the baddest’ instead of worse and the worst.
7. Confusing Some Pairs of Words
Another common error is to misuse words that are translated and used in sentences for the same purpose. For example, these are this and it or which and that.
Besides, international students confuse words that are pronounced the same way but which are written differently. For example, these are “write” and “right” or “father” and “farther”. As people misuse such words, they turn the entire meaning of a sentence into nonsense.
Save writing mistakes, international students make some other mistakes. For example, they don’t communicate with the locals, aren’t involved in campus activities, are too shy or afraid, etc. You should be aware of those non-academic errors too.
You can also find out more helpful resources. Review them all to define the most suitable ones to improve your writing skills.
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