Typical English mistakes The system consist of three main component. - - PDF document

24/01/2020 1

Typical English mistakes

Giorgio Buttazzo

g.buttazzo@sssup.it

http://retis.sssup.it/~giorgio/h2d.html

Most frequent mistakes

The system consist of three main component.

2

don't forget the s in third persons don't forget the s in third persons don't forget the s in plurals don't forget the s in plurals

The set of nodes are fully connected.

verb must agree with the subject verb must agree with the subject

Do not literally translate from Italian

Many phrases need to be completely restructured:

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It: Indichiamo con N il numero di task. En‐wrong: We indicate with N the number of tasks. En‐right: The number of tasks is denoted by N. It: Per quanto riguarda il software, … En‐wrong: For what concerns the software, … En‐right: As far as software is concerned, …

Do not literally translate from Italian

4

It: l’algoritmo verifica se la condizione è vera En‐wrong: the algorithm verifies if the condition is true En‐right: the algorithm verifies whether the condition is true It: In questo lavoro è stato ottenuto un nuovo risultato En‐wrong: In this work it has been obtained a new result En‐right: A new result has been obtained in this work It: l’algoritmo evita che il task subisca bloccaggio En‐wrong: the algorithm avoids that the task suffers blocking En‐right: the algorithm prevents the task from being blocked

Do not literally translate from Italian

5

It: una volta acquisiti i valori, calcoliamo il massimo En‐wrong:

• nce acquired the values, we compute the maximum

En‐right:

• nce the values have been acquired, we compute

the maximum It: Più alto è il carico, più è lungo il ritardo En‐wrong: The higher is the load, the longer is the delay En‐right: The higher the load, the longer the delay It: per sfruttare l’eventuale tempo disponibile En‐wrong: to exploit the eventual time available En‐right: to exploit the possible time available

Do not literally translate from Italian

6

It: il tempo di attivazione può essere anticipato En‐wrong: the time of activation can be anticipated En‐right: the activation time can be advanced It: il software verrà testato per vedere dov'è l'errore En‐wrong: the software will be tested to see where is the error En‐right: software will be tested to discover where the error is

24/01/2020 2 Do not write as you talk

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Avoid using slang or contractions: don’t do not I’m I am we’ll we will aren’t are not can’t cannot It won’t be It will not be

contracted full

Do not write using the first person

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Direct: In this paper, we will show a new theory on … Indirect: A new theory on… will be shown in this paper This paper presents a new theory on … Direct: In the following, we use  to denote a delay Indirect: In the following, a delay is denoted by  In the following,  is used to denote a delay. Direct: As we mentioned in the previous section Indirect: As mentioned in the previous section

Chose the correct words

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It: l’algoritmo alla fine termina con un valore positivo En‐right: the algorithm eventually ends with a positive value

Eventually means “at the end”

It: Il task eventualmente si blocca sulla risorsa R En‐wrong: The task eventually blocks on resource R En‐right: The task possibly blocks on resource R The task may block on resource R

Do not use long sentences

10

Bad:

Although many authors worked on distributed systems, by showing several interesting solutions, many issues remain still to be addressed, such as determining the optimal task allocation, estimating the end-to-end delays, finding the longest response time, guaranteeing real-time constraints in the presence of shared resources, and setting other timing parameters of the application that can be optimized to improve the overall system performance while minimizing energy consumption.

Better:

Although many authors worked on distributed systems, by showing several interesting solutions, many issues remain still to be addressed. These include determining the optimal task allocation, estimating the end- to-end delays, finding the longest response time, guaranteeing real-time constraints in the presence of shared resources. Another open issue concerns the optimization of application timing parameters to improve the

• verall system performance while minimizing energy consumption.

Use appropriate "connectors"

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indipendentemente da in base ai risultati ottenuti a seconda che in presenza/assenza di uno alla volta tale valore (tali valori) nel caso in cui in funzione del tempo nella media independently of based on the achieved results depending on in the presence/absence of

• ne at a time

such a value (such values) in the case in which as a function of time

• n the average

Careful with some verbs

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To allow: Ciò permette di scoprire En-wrong: It allows to discover En-right: It allows discovering It allows us to discover To aim: Tale metodo ha lo scopo di minimizzare il valore En-wrong: Such a method aims to minimize the value En-right: Such a method aims at minimizing the value

24/01/2020 3

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En-wrong: a way to deal with En-right: a way of dealing with

Careful with some verbs

En-wrong: a possibility to have En-right: a possibility of having En-wrong: it is worth to note/observe En-right: it is worth noting/observing En-wrong: A is better than to use B En-right: A is better than using B En-wrong: A prevents B to execute En-right: A prevents B from executing

Careful with some plurals

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It: Queste informazioni vengono trasmesse al nodo En-wrong: These informations are sent to the node En-right: This information is sent to the node These data are sent to the node It: Le prestazioni del sistema sono misurate con En-wrong: System performances are measured by En-right: System performance is measured by

i.e. and e.g.

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i.e. means that is Example: These parameters (i.e., deadline and period) e.g. means for example Example: Safety critical applications (e.g., avionics)

Note the comma Note the comma

That or Which?

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That introduces essential information Which introduces extra information

Examples

• 1. Frank sings “Fly me to the moon”, that/which many people like.

(which)

Note that the comma is used before which but not before that

• 2. Jack likes a Mexican restaurant that/which is on South Street.
• 3. Joe talked about EDF, that/which is better than Rate Monotonic.
• 4. The algorithm that/which is presented in this paper is optimal.

(that) (which) (that)

Between or Among?

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Between used for choices involving distinct items Among used for items that are NOT distinct

Examples

• 1. You have to select between/among black and white.
• 2. In a distributed system, the information is spread

between/among all the nodes.

• 3. This buffer is shared between/among periodic and

aperiodic tasks.

• 4. There is a significant difference between/among

hard, soft, and firm tasks. (between) (among) (between) (between)

a higher or an higher?

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General rule (it depends on the pronunciation of 'h') a is used when the initial 'h' is pronounced (e.g., a hammer, a hair, a hat, a hint) an is used when the initial 'h' is NOT pronounced (e.g., an hour, an honor) Examples

• Give me … hot topic to study

(a) (a) (an)

• He is … honest guy
• I’m using … heuristic search

(a)

• I have … huge garden

(a)

• I proposed … holistic approach

24/01/2020 4 a union or an union?

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General rule (it depends on the pronunciation of 'u') a is used when the initial 'u' has a long sound (e.g., a union, a use) an is used when the initial 'u' has a short sound (e.g., an underground, an unhappy) Examples

• Give me … umbrella

(an) (an) (a)

• The task set has … utilization of
• I found … upper bound

(a)

• Music is … universe of notes

Some time ‐ sometime ‐ sometimes

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Some time A period of time You must give some time to your students Sometime At an indefinite time in the future, sooner or later Please call me sometime. sometimes Occasionally, from time to time, not always Sometimes I don’t understand what he says.

Although ‐ Despite ‐ In spite of

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Although They are used before nouns or pronouns Despite In spite of It is used before a verb phrase We were able to play soccer today …............ the rain. ………… he studied very hard, he didn’t pass the exam. ………… he has a PhD, he could not find a job. in spite of .…...…… having a PhD, he could not find a job. Examples Although Although Despite

Punctuation

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An English professor asked his students to punctuate the following sentence to better understand its meaning: “A woman without her man is nothing” Male students wrote: “A woman, without her man, is nothing” Female students wrote: “A woman: without her, man is nothing”

Punctuation

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YES: The integrated approach proposed in this paper is able to minimize energy consumption, optimize performance, and save memory, so that it can also be used in small embedded systems. NO: The integrated approach proposed in this paper, is able to minimize energy consumption optimize performance and save memory so that it can also be used in small embedded systems. Can you identify the mistake(s)?

missing commas no comma

Punctuation

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• Do not use the comma to separate subject and verb:

wrong: The algorithm presented in this paper, has been implemented on a multicore platform.

• Unless there is another sentence in between:

right: The algorithm presented in this paper, which has a polynomial complexity, has been implemented on a multicore platform.

24/01/2020 5 Spacing

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• Leave a space after any punctuation mark or close

parenthesis

wrong: There are three possible (atomic)moves in this game:left, right, and front.Moving backward is forbidden.

• Do not leave a space before a punctuation mark or

close parenthesis

wrong: There are three possible ( atomic ) moves in this game : left , right, and front . Moving backward is forbidden.

Spacing

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• Leave a space between a number and its unit:

correct wrong 5 cm 5cm 45 ms 45ms 32 °C 32°C or 32° C 20 kN m 20 kNm or 20 k Nm 50 % 50%

Other things to know about units

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Find the correct abbreviations:

3000 bytes can be abbreviated as 1. 3 Kbyte 2. 3 Kbytes 3. 3 kbyte 4. 3 kbytes 5. 3 kb 6. 3 kbs 7. 3 kB 8. 3 KB wrong wrong correct wrong wrong wrong correct wrong The unit symbol for kilo is k, not K The unit symbol for kilo is k, not K The unit symbol for byte is B, not b The unit symbol for byte is B, not b Unit symbols do not have a plural form Unit symbols do not have a plural form

Other things to know about units

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• 1. This is a processor with 8-bits
• 2. This is a processor with 8 bits
• 3. This is a 8 bits processor
• 4. This is a 8-bits processor
• 5. This is a 8-bit processor
• 6. This is a 8-bit-processor

Find the correct sentence:

wrong correct wrong wrong correct wrong

Listing items

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When listing items, use the following rules:

• Put a colon (:) at the end of the initial sentence that

introduce the items (as in this example);

• Start each item with an upper case when sentences are

longer than a line (as in this example), otherwise start the sentence with a lower case;

• End each sentence with a semicolon (;) if they are short

(as in this example), and with a period (.) if they are longer or consist of multiple phrases; and

• Use the “and” conjunction at the end of the second last

item (as in this example).

• End the last item with a period (.).

Listing items

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This example consists of the following longer items:

• The first item is a long paragraph that contains two

sentences separated by a period. Therefore the second sentence must end with a period.

• The second item contains a shorter sentence, but it will

also end with a period for consistency.

• The third item contains two sentences. The second one

conclude the list. This example consists of only three short items:

• first item;
• second item; and
• third item.

24/01/2020 6 Citations

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NO: In [2] the authors proposed a new method for … YES: Sha and Mok [2] proposed a new method for … NO: As shown in [1], the problem is NP‐hard … YES: As shown by Baker [1] the problem is NP‐hard … NO: the system is prone to priority inversion, described in [3] … YES: the system is prone to priority inversion [3] …

real time or real‐time?

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• No dash when the word is used as a noun

The task is executed in real time.

• Use dash when the word is used as an adjective

This is a real-time task. New features will be included in next-generation cars. Exceptions

• off-line
• online
• ongoing

And

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• When joining two sentences with “and” do not repeat “to”

before the verbs or “of”, “by”, etc. before nouns: The purpose of this system is to improve efficiency and to reduce energy consumption. The benefit of using operating systems is to take advantage of concurrency and of resource management. This concept has been introduced by A and by B.

The: when to use it?

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avoid “the” when you mean all or any of that thing. avoid “the” when you mean all or any of that thing.

Examples: I need help! I don't eat cheese. Do you like music?

use “the” when you refer to a specific thing. use “the” when you refer to a specific thing.

Examples: Thanks for the help you gave me yesterday. I didn't eat the cheese. It was green! Did you like the music they played at the dance?

Acronyms

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Do not capitalize the words composing an acronym, unless they are proper names. Do not capitalize the words composing an acronym, unless they are proper names.

It exploits Digital Scanning (DS) technology It exploits digital scanning (DS) technology Incorrect Correct handled under Fixed Priority (FP) scheduling handled under fixed priority (FP) scheduling under Earliest Deadline First (EDF) scheduling under earliest deadline first (EDF) scheduling Incorrect Correct Correct Incorrect The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is a method The fast Fourier transform (FFT) is a method Incorrect Correct

Acronyms

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• Don’t use acronyms without explaining them

NO: A WSN is used for ... YES: A wireless sensor network (WSN) is used for ...

• Choose the article according to the way you pronounce

the acronym: Wrong: I bought a RFID tag. Right: I bought an RFID tag.

24/01/2020 7 Acronyms ‐ plural

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• Add an s for plurals and ’s for possession:

I bought two CDs (NOT CD’s) The CD’s surface is scratched.

• Exceptions for single letters:

All x’s variables must be set to zero

• Add es for plurals of acronyms ending with S:

RTOSes should be used for time critical applications

US vs. UK

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color colour behavior behaviour gray grey toward towards to analyze to analyse draft draught while whilst

• n

upon dialog dialogue check cheque program programme canceled cancelled modeling modelling traveling travelling

US UK

Typical Pronunciation mistakes ‐ 1

39

paramìter paràmeter charàcter kàracter resurs risors hider heder pèrformans perfòrmans sàspens suspèns laboràtory làboratòry

• pen surs
• pen sors
• parameter
• character
• resource
• header
• performance
• suspense
• laboratory
• open source

Word Wrong Correct

Typical Pronunciation mistakes ‐ 2

40

shenario senario determàin detèrmin aitereshon itereshon ainersha inersha isoleshon aisoleshon

• shillashon
• ssilashon

allou allau maltipol moltipol

• scenario
• determine
• iteration
• inertia
• isolation
• oscillation
• allow
• multiple

Word Wrong Correct

Typical Pronunciation mistakes ‐ 3

41

tolk tok result risàlt ballet bullet/bollet rèport ripòrt

• talk
• result
• bullet
• report

Word Wrong Correct

Some words can have 2 pronunciations

42

sheduling skeduling dairecshon direcshon molti-cor moltai-cor iutilaizeshon iutilizeshon

• scheduling
• direction
• multi-core
• utilization

Word Correct (UK) Correct (USA) dictionary.cambridge.org For hearing correct UK and US pronunciations, visit