Reading Notes of Chapter 9 and 10 of The Translator's Guide to Chinglish

无敌幸运星

I. Core Concepts and Key Takeaways​
(I) Chapter 9: Misuse of Clauses and Phrases​
Chapter 9 delves into the frequent misuse of clauses and phrases in Chinglish. Chinese and English have distinct structural rules for constructing clauses and phrases. In Chinese, sentence structures can be more flexible and elliptical, while English demands strict grammatical consistency and clarity in clause and phrase usage. For example, a common mistake is using a comma to connect two independent clauses without a proper conjunction, like “He studied hard, he got a high score” instead of “He studied hard, and he got a high score” or “Because he studied hard, he got a high score.” Another issue is the incorrect use of participial phrases. Translating “站在山顶，城市美景尽收眼底” as “Standing on the top of the mountain, the beautiful scenery of the city came into view” is wrong because the subject of the main clause “the beautiful scenery” cannot perform the action of “standing.” The correct version should be “Standing on the top of the mountain, we could see the beautiful scenery of the city,” ensuring the subject of the participial phrase and the main clause is consistent.​
(II) Chapter 10: Confusion of Equivalent and Near - Equivalent Words​
Chapter 10 focuses on the confusion between equivalent and near - equivalent words in Chinglish. Chinese and English may seem to have words with similar meanings, but in fact, there are subtle differences in their usage, connotations, and collocations. For instance, “effect” and “affect” are often mixed up. “Effect” is usually a noun, as in “The new policy has a positive effect on the economy,” while “affect” is a verb, like “The bad weather affected our travel plan.” Another example is the misuse of “ensure” and “insure.” “Ensure” means to make certain that something happens, such as “We must ensure the safety of the passengers,” while “insure” is mainly used in the context of insurance, for example, “He insured his car against theft.” These confusions stem from a lack of in - depth understanding of English vocabulary nuances.​
II. In - depth Problem Analysis with Ample Examples​
(I) Chapter 9: Detailed Analysis of Clause and Phrase Misuse​
Incorrect Coordination of Independent Clauses​
Chinglish often fails to properly connect independent clauses. Consider “She wants to go abroad, she needs to improve her English.” This is a run - on sentence in English. It can be corrected in several ways: adding a coordinating conjunction, “She wants to go abroad, so she needs to improve her English”; using a semicolon, “She wants to go abroad; she needs to improve her English”; or making one clause subordinate, “If she wants to go abroad, she needs to improve her English.” Another common error is using “because” and “so” simultaneously, like “Because he was ill, so he didn't come to school.” In English, we should use either “Because he was ill, he didn't come to school” or “He was ill, so he didn't come to school.”​
Improper Use of Participial and Infinitive Phrases​
Participial phrases are frequently misused. For example, “Seen from the space, people found the earth is blue.” Here, “seen” is a past participle, but the subject “people” cannot be “seen” from space. The correct expression is “Seen from the space, the earth looks blue.” As for infinitive phrases, a mistake like “He got up early, to catch the first bus” is incorrect in terms of punctuation. It should be “He got up early to catch the first bus” or “He got up early in order to catch the first bus.” Also, the wrong placement of infinitive phrases can cause confusion, such as “To improve your English, more practice is needed.” The subject of “to improve” should be “you,” so it should be “To improve your English, you need more practice.”​
(II) Chapter 10: Thorough Examination of Word Confusion​
Confusion in Noun - Verb Pairs​
Many noun - verb pairs with similar spellings are easily confused. Take “practice” and “practise” (in British English, “practise” is the verb and “practice” is the noun; in American English, “practice” can be both). A Chinglish error might be “We should practice to speak English every day,” which should be “We should practice speaking English every day” (using the verb form “practice” followed by a gerund). Another pair is “proceed” and “precede.” “Proceed” means to continue or go forward, like “Let's proceed with the project,” while “precede” means to come before, for example, “The introduction should precede the main content.” Mixing them up, such as “The event preceded as planned,” is incorrect; it should be “The event proceeded as planned.”​
Misuse of Synonyms and Near - Synonyms​
Synonyms and near - synonyms also pose challenges. For example, “big,” “large,” and “great” all mean “big” to some extent, but their usage varies. “Big” is more informal and often used for physical size, like “a big apple”; “large” is more formal and can be used for both physical and non - physical things, such as “a large company”; “great” has additional connotations of excellence or importance, as in “a great achievement.” Using them interchangeably, like “I had a large time at the party” instead of “I had a great time at the party,” is incorrect. Another case is “solve” and “resolve.” “Solve” is commonly used for problems that can be worked out by finding an answer, like “solve a math problem,” while “resolve” implies dealing with more complex issues, often involving emotions or conflicts, such as “resolve a dispute.”​
III. Personal Understanding and Improvement Approaches​
(I) Personal Reflections​
Studying these two chapters has made me aware that Chinglish errors in clause and phrase usage and word choice are not just about grammar and vocabulary knowledge gaps. They are deeply related to the differences in language structures and semantic nuances between Chinese and English. The flexible sentence structures in Chinese can mislead us into making incorrect structural choices in English, and the seemingly similar words in the two languages can cause misunderstandings due to different usage habits.​
(II) Improvement Strategies​
To correct the misuse of clauses and phrases, I will start by studying English grammar rules related to clause and phrase construction in depth, especially focusing on how to correctly connect clauses and use participial and infinitive phrases. I will practice analyzing and rewriting Chinglish sentences with these problems, and compare my rewritten versions with native English expressions. Regarding the confusion of equivalent and near - equivalent words, I plan to create a vocabulary notebook to record these easily - confused words, along with their meanings, usage examples, and collocations. I will also read more English - language materials, paying close attention to how native speakers use these words in context. Additionally, I will regularly do vocabulary exercises and seek feedback from English experts or native speakers to improve my accuracy in word choice.