Proofreading Skills

UE – SECTION C – Proofreading

instructor: agnes chan

Introduction Proofreading, one of the six questions in Section C, is difficult for candidates who are weak in grammar and usage. They find it difficult because of the following reasons: (i) (i)

Unab Unable le to anal analyz yzee the the synt syntax ax of sen sentenc tences es;;

(ii) (ii)

Unab Unable le to loca locate te and and iden identi tify fy the the err error ors; s;

(iii) (iii)

Unable Unable to to apply apply their their logic logic to to help help them them under understa stand nd the the meanin meaning g of the the senten sentence, ce, and and

(iv) (iv)

Their Their ina inadeq dequa uate te kno knowl wled edge ge of of Engli English sh gra gramm mmar ar & usa usage ge..

The question items in proofreading can be categorized into the following 4 levels:

Four Levels of Questions 1. Elementary, e.g. on Saturday, in the morning; use of art icles 2. Intermediate, e.g. e.g. passiv passivee voice, voice, tenses tenses,, prepos prepositi itions ons,, phrasa phrasall verbs, verbs, part part of speech speech,, subject verb agreement, etc. 3. Advanced, e.g. participles, verb forms, relative clauses, participle clauses, verb forms in conditional sentences, subjunctive mood, causative, independent clause as the subject. 4. Ot Othe herr tric tricky ky que quest stio ions ns

SUMMARY OF SKILLS — Proofreading 1. Read th the whole sentence. structure of each 2. Analyze the syntactic structure each sent senten ence, ce, e.g. e.g. subj subject ect,, verb verb,, verb verb-to -to-b -be, e,

complement, participle clause / phrase, object, etc. 3. Locat Locatee & iden identif tify y the the error errors. s. cor rect those pseudo-errors , e.g. styles of writing: changing ‘a’ into ‘the’, 4. Do not correct

changing the singular noun into the plural form, changing another word which carries the same meaning. These are not dead errors that can make the sentence ungrammatical. 5. Look for big & dead errors , e.g. verb form, tense, subject verb agreement, finite & nonfinite (gerund, infinitive & participle), complement, independent clause as the subject, etc.

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UE Proofreading Proofreading - 1 -



Frequent Grammar Items in UE Proofreading Verbs:

1. verb forms, e.g. pp form after ‘have / has / had’, ing form after verb-to-be, etc. 2. Transitive & Intransitive verbs 3. passive & active voice (main verb not in p.p. form, missing of auxiliary verb ‘be’, missing of preposition ‘by’ ‘ by’ – agent) 4. missing of verb-to-be before the subject complement 5. participles , participle clause 6. Subordinate clause without finite verbs (e.g. When entering the room, before entering…) 7. conditional sentence verb forms (e.g. use of modal verbs, verb forms)

8. Phra Phrasa sall Ver Verbs bs 9. preposition + verb (gerund) , e.g. 97UE No. 79 Nouns:

1. Plural noun referring to something general 2. Number in a noun , e.g. one of the resource(s), either (singular noun) or (sing. Noun) 3. Noun functioning as an adjective (hotel safe: 1997UE No. 94) Sentence Structures:

1. Sentence structures (subject, ct, verb, verb, clauses clauses,, direct direct object object & indirec indirectt object object)) paralle parallell structures (subje structure (consistency of verb forms / tense) 2. Phrases & Clauses (Prepositional Phrase, Noun Clause, Relative Clause, Subordinate Clause, etc.) Part of Speech:

1. Part of speech, e.g. noun  adjective; wrong word, e.g. destruct (correct one: destroy), comparative & superlative adjectives Prepositions:

1. Preposition (either missing / wrong use) Pronouns:

1. Pronouns (relative pronoun, reflexive pronoun, possessive pronoun, etc.) Special Expressions

e.g. used to, be used to





Quick Revision of Grammar Items Item 1 — Sentence Structures Basic Sentence Structures 1. Subj Subject ect + Verb (tran (transitiv sitive) e) + Objec Objectt [SVO] [SVO] e.g. He has drunk a bottle of wine. (Active voice)

Remarks * SVO can be written in passive voice e.g. A bottle bottle of wine has been drunk by him. (Passive voice) * Passive Voice verb form: BE + verb (past participle) 2. Sub Subjec jectt + Verb Verb (intr (intran ansit sitive ive)) [SV] e.g. He swam alone. (Subject + v.i. + adverb)

3. Subj Subject ect + VerbVerb-to-b to-bee + Complemen Complementt [SVC] [SVC] e.g. Agnes Chan is a tutor. (Noun)

e.g. Agnes Chan is an English tutor. (Noun group)

* SV cannot be written in passive voice * The verb in SV is not a verbto-be, e.g. is, am, are, etc. *Complement: Noun / Noun group, Adjective, or Prepositional Phrase

e.g. Agnes Chan is diligent. (Adjective) e.g. Agnes Chan is in her room. (Prepositional Phrase)

Sentence Types 1. Simple Sentence (Subject + 1 finite verb) e.g. Agnes Chan (Subj.) is (finite verb)an English tutor.

Conjunctions / Connectives? NIL

e.g. Agnes Chan (Subj.) studies (v.i.) at City University of HK. e.g. Agnes Chan (Subj.) majors (v.t.) English (object). 2. Compou Compound nd Sen Sente tence nce (SV (SV + SV) e.g. Agnes Chan is an English tutor (1 st clause) and

(conjunction) she studies English at City University of

And, or, nor, for, but, so, yet  joining individual words, phrases or clauses.

HK. (2nd clause) 3. Complex Complex Sent Sentence ence (Sub (Subordin ordinate ate Clause Clause + Main Clause) e.g. Agnes Chan has been teaching students English (1 st

clause) since she was a Sixth Former. (2 nd clause)

after, although, as, because, before, how, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until, when, where, whether, and while  showing the relationship between sentences.

Item 2 — Phrases & Clauses





Phrases & Functions Examples F(1): A university student majors the subject s/he likes. (Subj.) 1. Noun Ph Phrase Function (1): Subject, (2) F(2): He hit a university student. (Obj.) Object, (3) Direct Object, F(3): He gave a university student a campus map. (Direct Obj.) (4) Subject Complement, F(4): She is a university student. (Subj. Comp.) (5) Object Complement, F(5): I regard him a university student. (Obj. Comp.) (6) Adverbial

F(6): This semester will end next week. (Adverbial)

2. Prep Prepos osit itio iona nall Phra Phrase se F(1): I’ve read a book about cooking. (adj. After noun) Function (1) adjective F(2): You You will be happy with your new arrangement. (adv. After

after a noun, (2) adverb

noun)

after an adjective, (3)

F(3): The cockroach is hiding under the table. (adv. Of place)

adverb of place, (4)

F(4): I will have a meeting with Rodney in the morning. (adv. Of

adverb of time, (5)

time)

adverb of manner. manner.

F(5): In my opinion, we should hold more activities for students this year. (adv ( adv.. Of manner)

Clauses & Functions Examples 1. NonNon-fi fini nite te Cla Claus usee F(1): Thinking about how to teach students better is his usual F(1): subject of sentence practice. (gerund as the subj. of the sentence) F(2): show another action F(2): He helped me send a letter to Mr. Smith. (another action) F(3): direct object

F(3): I like dancing. (direct object)

F(4): show time

F(4): Punished by Mr. Lee, he felt very guilty. guilty. (role of subject)

F(5): show role of subj. 2. Th That at--cla clause use F(1): Subject

F(1): That he leaves Hong Kong is his final decision. (Subj.) F(2): I know that George wanted to copy Henry’s assignment to

F(2): Object

his. (Obj.)

*The ‘that’ here can help make the independent clause into a dependent clause / noun clause. 3. Wh-Clause Clauses start with wh-

F(1): Subject of a sentence: Why she made this decision was understandable.

word, e.g. what, who,

F(2): Object of a sentence:

when, whom, how, where A tourist asked me where Hong Kong Cultural Center was.

Clauses & Functions Examples 4. Relative Clause (who): The man who is sitting next to my friend is my uncle. Modify the preceded (whom): The man whom you are talking to is very nice.




noun (形容名詞)


(preposition + whom): The girl with whom you are discussing the issue is kind. (Original: (Or iginal: You You are discussing the issue with the girl )

Relative pronouns:

(which): The notes which Agnes typed to me are quite useful.

Who (subj.), whom

(in which): The theatre in which you performed in is very big.

(obj.), that (subj / obj.), Which, whose

(Original: You You performed in the theatre.) (whose): Mrs. Wu whose daughter daughte r has taken HKCEE is very poor. (Original: Mrs. Wu’s daughter has taken HKCEE.)

5. Su Subo bord rdin inat atee Clau Clause se (time): When you came back home, you had to finish all the tasks. Function: provide more (place): Staying in New York, York, she didn’t feel fee l secured.

information about the

(condition): If you have got a cold, you can’t go to the party

time, place, condition,

tonight.

purpose, manner that

(purpose): To To get good results in the test, he revised all the

things happen.

chapters of the textbook last night. (manner): Karen gave a blind eye to George, as if he had done something wrong to her. (manner---showing attitude, how something is like.)

Item 3 — Parts of Speech Parts of Speech 1. Noun [名詞] 1.1 Concrete Noun [實質名詞] 1.2 Abstract Abstract Noun [抽象名詞] --- ideas 1.3 Count Noun [可數名詞] ---singular &

Examples Computer, printer, printer, bottle, water, wa ter, disks, teddy bear, cassette tapes, mouse, keyboards, etc. Feminism, Racism, pollution, dignity, humiliation, immigration, exploitation, etc. Computer, printer, printer, bottle, disks, teddy bear, cassette tapes, mouse, keyboards, words, books, pens, etc.

plural form [可單可雙] 1.4 Uncounta Uncountable ble Noun Noun Water, sand, salt, sugar, light, air, information, research, etc. [不可數名詞] --singular only!

Parts of Speech Examples 1. Noun [名詞] (continued) 1.5 Singular Singular Noun Computer, mouse, monitor, monitor, a disk, a bottle, a pen, a ruler, person, alumnus, phenomenon, etc. [單數名詞] 1.6 Plural Plural Noun Noun Computers, mouse, monitors, disks, bottles, pen, ruler, people,





alumni, phenomena, etc.

[眾數名詞]

2. Verb [動詞] 2.1 Finite Finite Verb Verb She does not want to go to school. The first verb element in She wants to go shopping with her husband.

a verb group, showing

She was having her lunch at 3:30 p.m.

the tense & no. of

She had submitted the loan for her tuition fees.

agreement. 2.2 Non-finit Non-finitee Verb (gerund, infinitive,

(Gerund): Hiking is my favorite hobby. (To-infinitive): (To-infinitive): She wants to go shopping with her husband.

participle)

(bare infinitive): She suggested me write a letter to my teacher to make the application of this scholarship. (present participle): She was having her lunch at 3:30 p.m. (past participle): My brother has broken the vase. (perfect participle): Having been to the UK for more than 3 months, I have got used to the life there.

2.2.1 Gerund verb + ing => Verbal

easy. (subj.) Being a successful English tutor is not easy. I don’t like talking on the phone. (obj.)

Noun [ 動名詞] 2.2.2 Infinitive (to-infinitive) I want to be an excellent language teacher in Hong i) To-infinitive Kong. (bare infinitive) Please let me know your difficulties. i i) B a re infinitive 2.2.3 Participles i) Present Participle i i)

Past Participle

iii)

i) I have been swimming in this pool for 2 hours. (Present Participle) ii) I have swum in this pool for 2 hours. (Past Participle) iii) Having swum for 3 hours, I felt very exhausted. (Perfect Participle)

P e r f e ct

Participle 2.3 Modals 2.4 Auxiliary Auxiliar y Verbs

Can, could, may, might, shall, should, ought to, need, care, must, have to, will, would, may, might, etc. Do, does, did, done; be, is, am, are, was, were, being, been; have, has, had

2.5 16 Verb Forms

1) 2)

Present Simple — write Present Continuous — is / am / are writing

3)

Present Perfect — has / have written

4)

Present Perfect Continuous — has / have been

writing





5)

Past Simple — wrote

6)

Past Continuous — was / were writing

7)

Past Perfect — had written

8)

Past Perfect Continuous — had been writing

9)

Future Simple — will write

10)

Future Continuous — will be writing

11)

Future Perfect — will have written

12)

Future Pe Perfe rfect Co Continuous — wi will hav havee be been wr writing

13)

Past Fu Future Simple — would write

14)

Past Fu Future Co Continuous — would be be wr writing

15)

Past Fu Future Perfect — would have written

16)

Past Fu Future Perf erfect Continuous — would hav havee be been

writing 3. Adjective [形容詞] Beautiful, convenient, clear, loud, soft, strong, weak, bad, good 3.1 Positive Form 3.2 Comparative Form More beautiful, more convenient, clearer, louder, softer, stronger, weaker, worse, better The most beautiful, the most convenient, the clearest, the loudest, 3.3 Superlative Form the softest, the strongest, the weakest, the worst, the best 4. Adverb [副詞] 4.1 Adverb of Place In the building, at home, at school, in the jungle, in the office In the morning, at noon, at midnight, at 4:30 4.2 Adverb of Time 4.3 Adverb of Manner Beautifully, conveniently, clearly, loudly, fast, quickly, well Very much, so, quite, rather, pretty, less, more 4.4 Adverb of Degree 5. Preposition Preposition [介詞] In, on, at, from, against, about, concerning, beside, behind, under, with, beneath, between, into, onto, to, etc. 6. Article [冠詞] A F(1): a computer, a cup, a printer, a table, a desk, etc. F(1): any one of a particular thing F(2): I’ll be in the UK for a year. F(2): before singular count noun

F(3): words begin with consonant sounds

Please wait for a minute. I’ll come back to your question later. F(3): a university / parent family / F(1): an or phan /

/ , a one-



/



An F(1): words starting with a vowel sound

/, an



F(2): same as the Function (1 ~ 2) of ‘a’ The F(1): something unique

F(1): Beijing is the capital city of China. F(2): Charlene Choi is the youngest female singer

F(2): before a superlative adjective

holding her first concert in The Hong Kong

F(3): there is only one of a particular thing Coliseum. F(4): a thing / person that is modified by a F(3): the sun, the North Pole, the world, the relative clause (i.e. a particular thing)


international market, etc. UE Proofreading Proofreading - 7 -



F(5): with phrases beginning ‘of…’ / ‘The F(4): The teacher who teaches us English is very of…’

nice.

F(6): a thing / person mentioned in the 2 nd F(5): Do you know the meaning of these new time

words? F(6): I put a coin into a cup, and the coin sinks.

Zero F(1): uncountable and plural nouns

F(1): I always like hearing good news. (= good news in general) Lazy students like finding excuses for their laziness. (= excuses in general; lazy students in general)

7. Conjunction 7.1 Co-ordinating Conjunction 7.2 Subordinating Conjunction

8. Pronoun [代名詞] 8.1 Personal Pronoun 8.1.1 As subjects 8.1.2 As objects 8.1.2 As adjectives 8.2 Possessive Pronoun 8.3 Indefinite Pronoun

8.4 Reflexive Pronoun

Joining words, phrases or independent clauses — And, or, so, but, nor, for, yet Indicating the nature of the relationship among the independent clause(s) and the dependent clause(s) — after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until, when, where, whether, and while.

I, you, we, they, he, she, it Me, you, us, them, him, her, it My, your, our, their, his, her, its Mine, yours, ours, theirs, his, hers, its One, other (plural), the other (1 out of 2, singular), the others (the left people / things), others (other people / things) another (singular), someone (singular), everybody (singular), anybody (singular), neither (singular / plural), all, many, etc. Myself, yourself, yourselves, ourselves, themselves, himself, herself, itself. e.g. Although Although Sandy is an 8-year-old girl, she takes care of herself .




8.5 Demonstrative Demonstrative


This — referring to a specific thing / person (singular) That — referring a thing / person that is away from us. (singular) These — referring to specific things / people (plural)

8.6 Interrogative Pronoun

Those — referring to things / people away from us. (plural) Whom — Object of a sentence Who — Subject Which — a specific thing / person from a class What — a specific thing / person Whose — the agent who owns a thing / person When — time Where — place

8.7 Relative Pronoun

How — manner That — a person / thing, a subject / object; only used in defining clauses. Which — a particular thing Whose — a agent who owns a thing / person Whom — Object of the relative clause Who — Subject of the relative clause

Item 4 — Conditional Sentences Types 1. Real situation If + verb (Present Simple), will + verb

Examples If you listen (Present Simple) to this smooth jazz music, you will be (will + verb) more relaxed. If you press (Present Simple) this button, you will print (will +

verb) out the document. 2. Impossible thing If I were you, I would not react so violently. If + verb (Past Simple), + If you listened to him, you would not do such a silly thing. would + verb If I had finished typing the document, I would not have been 3. Hypothesis / something in the past worried about it. If + verb (Past Perfect), + If the teacher had been ill, I would not have attended his lecture. would have + verb (p.p.)

Item 5 – Active Voice Vs. Passive Voice





Passive Voice – Verb Structure:

be + verb (past participle) particip le)

e.g. is + written (past participle of ‘write’)

Verb Forms Present Simple Present Continuous Present Perfect Present Pe Perfect Co Continuous Past Simple Past Continuous Past Perfect Past Perfect Continuous Future Simple Future Continuous Future Perfect Future Perfect Co Continuous Past Future Simple Past Future Continuous Past Future Perfect Past Future Perfect Continuous

Active Voice Write Is writing Has / have written Has / have be been wr writing Wrote Was / were writing Had written Had been writing Will write Will be writing Will have written Will have been writing Would write Would be writing Would have written Would ould hav havee been been wri writi ting ng

Passive Voice Is / are written Is / are being written Has / have been written Has / have be been be being wr written Was / were written Was / were being written Had been written Had been being written Will be written Will be being written Will have been written Will have be been being written Would be written Would be being written Would have been written Would ould hav havee been been bei being ng wri writte tten n

Item 6 — Participle Clause Types Present Participle Clause F(1): continuous action F(2): immediate action

Examples F(1): Swimming in the pool, she discovered that she had forgotten to bring the shampoo and conditioner. (= When she was swimming in the pool ) F(2): Seeing some blood on her clothes , she fainted. (= After

followed by the main

seeing some blood on her clothes )

clause

F(3): Being interested in reading books, she is smart and

F(3): describe a person’s person’s knowledgeable. (= Because she is interested in reading books) feelings / characteristics Past Participle Clause F(1): passive voice Perfect Participle Clause F(1): Action happened

F(1): Cheated by her classmates this morning , Jenny was very unhappy. (= Because Jenny was cheated by her classmates…) F(1): Having had our dinner, we went to the Arts Gallery Galler y. (= After we had had our dinner)

before that in main clause F(2): Having been scolded by his mum for 2 hours , Jack felt Perfect Participle very sorry. (= After Jack had been scolded by his mum for 2 hours) Clause in PASSIVE

F(1): Same as the active

Having been trained for 3 years , he became skilful in doing this

voice one

job. (= After he had been trained for 3 years)





Participle Clause after a The man employed in 1993 has been fired by Francis last Friday. Noun — to to modify the (= who was employed in 1993) noun My niece, drawing a colorful picture to me, is very diligent.

(= who is drawing a colorful picture to me) *** WARNING: The subject in the Participle Clause and main clause MUST BE the same person, and the subject in the main clause CANNOT be an inanimate subject. [ 死物] [在分詞句式和主句式裡面，主語必須為同一人，而且不可以物件作主語。]

Item 7 – Question Tags Types ‘+ve’ verb + Negative Tag — assuming other people agree with you. (TONE: falling tone in the question tag)

Examples You like playing ICQ, don’t you? (‘like’ + negative tag: don’t you) She has applied for her first job, hasn’t she? (‘has applied’ + negative tag: hasn’t she) George is teaching well today, isn’t he? (‘is teaching’ + negative tag: isn’t he)

‘-ve’ verb + Positive Tag You don’t like playing ICQ, do you? (don’t like + positive tag: do — showing you) suspicion / doubt / She hasn’t applied for her first job, has she? (‘hasn’t applied’ + uncertainty (TONE: positive tag: has she?) rising tong in the George isn’t teaching well today, is he? (isn’t teaching + positive question tag)

tag: is he)

7 Common Grammar Errors 1. RunRun-on on Se Sent nten ence ce


UE Proofreading - 11 -



Wrong: English grammar was the first thing that I encountered when I was in primary

school, I didn’t think that it did any harm to me, because I loved studying grammar, living with grammar, reading English books to improve my grammar.  Right: English grammar was the first thing that I encountered when I was in primary

school. I didn’t think that it did any harm to me, because I loved studying grammar, living with grammar, reading English books to improve my grammar.  Explanations — The first sentence is wrong because the sentences “English grammar…

primar primary y school school”” and “I didn’ didn’tt think… think…my my gramma grammar” r” are not linked together together by any conjunctions or connectives. The first sentence contains 1 main clause plus two other clauses: relative clause & subordinate clause. The second sentence contains 1 main clause plus a subordinate clause telling the reason that I loved studying grammar. If these 2 sentences do not have any relationship in meaning (e.g. cause & effect, concession, etc.), they should not be written in ONE sentence. If they are, they will be regarded as Run-on sentences.

2. Fragm Fragmen entt Se Sente ntenc ncee Wrong: Although I am hungry.  Right: Although I am hungry, I don’t want to eat anything.  Explanations — The first ‘sentence’ is wrong because it is NOT a complete sentence. It

is called Fragment sentence. This kind of sentences sentences are usually usually dependent clauses, i.e. Although + clause; Because + clause; Since + clause, etc. Here are more examples of fragment sentences: e.g. Because he is still young. e.g. Since he lived in this flat. e.g. Before he went out to have a walk. To identify this kind of errors, you can ask yourself after you have written these clauses, for example, “Because he is still young” (so?); “Since he lived in this flat” (what happened then?); “Before he went out to have a walk” (what had he done?). If there is no answer after these sentences, you can be sure that the clauses are fragment sentences.

3. Indepen Independen dentt Clause Clause as the Subjec Subjectt of a sentence sentence i n answering our questions impresses most of us.  Wrong: He puts so much effort in





Right: That he puts so much effort in answering our questions impresses most of us.  Right: The fact that he puts so much effort….impresses most of us.  Right: He puts so much effort… questions . This impresses most of us.  Explanations — The main clause of the first sentence should be [Subject + impresses

most of us]. The subject is [he puts so much effort in answering our questions]. However, this sentence is ungrammatical because the subject here is NOT a noun / noun group. It’s a clause instead. Therefore, to make this sentence grammatical, we have to change the clause [He puts so much… questions] into a noun / noun group. We can make the sentence in the above example in the following three ways: 1. Change Change clause clause [he puts…qu puts…questio estions] ns] into into a noun noun group group by by adding adding That. i.e. Change the independent clause into a nominal clause (noun clause) 2. Add The fact that to change the clause into a noun clause. 3. Spli Splitt this long long sent senten ence ce into into two. two. Use This to refer back to the WHOLE idea: [He puts so much effort in answering our questions.]

4. Singular Singular Countab Countable le Noun Noun Without Without an Article Article Wrong: Computer is widely used in the world.  Right: Computers are widely used in the world.  Right: A computer is widely used in the world.  Explanations — The first sentence is ungrammatical because [computer] is referred to

something general. When the noun is a singular countable noun and when we want to use that noun to say something general, we should either use the singular form with an article or use the plural form. See the right examples.

5. Active Active & Passiv Passivee Voic Voicee Case 1: Wrong: This picture is not liked by me.  Right: I don’t like this picture.  Right: This picture doesn’t please me.  Explanations — There is no passive voice when you use verbs: like, hate, love, dislike,

realized, admired, forget, f orget, in your sentences. You You have to change the verbs if you want to keep the subject (see ( see right sentence 2). You You can change it by changing ‘by me’ into the





subject  ‘I’, and write the sentence in an active voice.

Case 2: Wrong: They were go to the Gallery yesterday.  Right: They went to the Gallery Galle ry yesterday.  Explanations — [go] is a finite showing tense, number of agreement as well as showing

actions actions,, i.e. i.e. what what you did yester yesterday day.. Therefo Therefore, re, adding adding ‘were’ ‘were’ (auxilia (auxiliary ry verb) verb) is unnecessary and redundant.

6. Exis Existen tentia tiall Senten Sentence cess Wrong: There have (had) many cockroaches on my bed!  Right: There are (were) many cockroaches on my bed!  Explanations — The word [there] is in fact a dummy subject, i.e. it doesn’t have any

actual meaning. We use [there] because we want to show the existence of the later ‘subject’, e.g. ‘many cockroaches’ in this sentence. The use of verb [are] is dependent on the ‘subject’ afterwards. Therefore, if the subject is ‘many cockroaches’, we have to use a verb in plural form. If the subject is ‘a girl’, we have to use the singular verb, ‘is’, instead.

7. Pseud Pseudo-t o-toug ough h movem movemen entt Wrong: I am difficult to learn English.  Right: It is difficult for me to learn English.  Right: To learn English is difficult for me.  Explanations — The first sentence is ungrammatical because the complement [difficult]

is mistakenly used to modify the subject ‘I’. But in fact, we want to say, “learning English is difficult for me”, but not “I am difficult…”.





To correct this sentence, you can ask yourself, “What is difficult for me?” This ‘what question’ leads us to find out ‘to learn English’ is the actual difficulty for us. Therefore, you can write something like, “It is difficult for me to learn English.” Or, you can relocate the [to-infinitive clause] “to learn English” to be the subject of the sentence. We We come to another a nother correct example, “To “To learn English is difficult for me.”

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