Published on
August 11, 2015
by
Sarah Vinz.
Revised on
May 16, 2022.
Students tend to make the same language mistakes over and over again in academic writing. Taking a careful look at these lists of mistakes that we often encounter may help you to break these habits. Avoiding them will set your writing apart and give it a more polished feel.
Although spellcheck features catch many spelling mistakes, they cannot be relied on entirely. These words are still frequently misspelled in many theses.
Although the two cases aresimilar, they are not identical.
Politic
Political
Both economic and political factors were considered.
So called…, factor based…
So-called…, factor-based…
The so-called experts only conducted factor-based analyses.
Specially
Especially
The authors were especially interested in inflation pressures.
Capitalization
Incorrect
Correct
Example
Results Of The Interviews
Results of the interviews or Results of the Interviews
Additional information is presented in Table 9 (Results of the interviews).
Conjunctions and linking terms
Incorrect
Correct
Example
First of all, firstly
First
First, all participants were given a survey.
However …
However, …
However, most theorists disagree.
Like
Such as
Northern cities such as Oslo and Helsinki have long, dark winters.
Nouns/noun phrases
Incorrect
Correct
Example
Insights in
Insights into
The results offer valuable insights into the problem.
MNC’s, PC’s
MNCs, PCs
Most MNCs purchase thousands of PCs annually.
One criteria
One criterion
Although many criteria were considered, one criterion stood out
Research conclusion
Research conclusions
Chapter 6 contains the researchconclusions.
Taxi’s, umbrella’s
Taxis, umbrellas
Taxis are often full of forgotten umbrellas.
The childs behavior, the parents attitude
The child’s behavior, the parents’ attitude
Although the child’s behavior was aggressive, her parents’ attitude was very relaxed.
Two analysis
Two analyses
Several analyses were conducted, but one analysis was most fruitful.
Two hypothesis
Two hypotheses
This dissertation proposes many hypotheses.
Prepositions/prepositional phrases
Incorrect
Correct
Example
Besides, Next to
In addition to
In addition to building dams, the government also invested in roads.
From…till…
From…to…
The ages ranged from 18 to 24.
In the light of
In light of
The test was cancelled in light of the wind.
Per
By
The participants were grouped by height.
To what extend
To what extent
It is not known to what extent the subjects were being truthful.
Pronouns
Incorrect
Correct
Example
A person… his…
People… their…
A person… his or her…
Researchers should cite their sources. A researcher should cite his or her sources.
You…
One…
If one reads the study, one may indeed be convinced.
Punctuating numbers
Incorrect
Correct
Example
10.000,00
10,000.00
The price was exactly $10,000.00.
1960’s
1960s
Many styles of music emerged in the 1960s.
Quantifiers
Incorrect
Correct
Example
A couple of
A few, two/three, a handful of
A few controversial questions were also included.
A lot of
Many, much, several, a great deal of
Much time was spent on the test.
Terms used in citations
Incorrect
Correct
Example
Et al, Et all.
Et al.
The mutation is thought to be widespread (Han et al., 1999)
Et al. has
Et al. have
Omar et al. have asserted that the effect is temporary.
Verbs/phrasal verbs
Incorrect
Correct
Example
Choose yesterday
Chose yesterday
The project manager chose her team before planning began.
Divide in
Divide into
This dissertation is dividedinto seven sections.
Lead yesterday
Led yesterday
Although the Liberals currently lead in the polls, the Conservatives led last week.
Make a photo
Take a photo
The time was set to take photos at 20-second intervals.
Send yesterday
Sent yesterday
The email was sent to all employees.
Words that are commonly confused
Which one to use?
Correct
What’s usually the difference?
Effect/affect
The effect was strong; the drug affected all members of the experimental group.
Effect = noun
Affect = verb
Personnel/personal
The company’s personnel do not like to discuss their personal problems.
Personnel = noun
Personal = adjective
Principal/principle
The principal author outlined the theories and principles that arose from the study.
Principal = adjective
Principle = noun
Were/where
Where were you?
Were = verb
Where = adjective
Following these tips will help you to improve your written academic English in general. The next step is to fine-tune your writing depending on whether you are using American, British, or Australian English! A grammar checker can also help you automatically fix mistakes you may have missed after proofreading.
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Sarah's academic background includes a Master of Arts in English, a Master of International Affairs degree, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She loves the challenge of finding the perfect formulation or wording and derives much satisfaction from helping students take their academic writing up a notch.
