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Common Grammar Mistakes: Subject/Verb Agreement and Using That/Which

Grammar is one of the more difficult aspects of English. Each language has its own structure for communicating information. Sentence structure includes the relationship between:

·	Nouns (words that name something, e.g., house, heart, X-ray);
·	Verbs (words that specify actions associated with the noun(s) in a sentence, e.g., walk, give, analyze);
·	Adjectives (words that describe characteristics of noun(s), e.g., gray rat, hard lump, thorough examination);
·	Adverbs (a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, other adverb, or a word group, expressing a relationship with place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc. (e.g., gently, quite, well).

English sentences are organized differently than typical sentences in Asian languages.

·	Subject (who or what the sentence is about);
·	Predicate (words that describe something about the subject);

This website contains a simple description of English sentence structures that can help non-native writers: http://esl.fis.edu/learners/advice/syntax.htm

Below we list some examples of common grammar mistakes we see in scientific research written by non-native speakers.

A. Subject/verb agreement (singular versus plural)

It is important that the verb agrees with the subject of the sentence. This is best described through the examples below, using a common mistake:

Example 1:

		This research on electrolytes show that…
		Here, the subject “research” is singular (the subject is not “electrolytes”). Because the verb tense is determined based on the subject, the sentence should instead say:
		This research on electrolytes shows that…

Example 2:

		These experiments enrolled 120 patients from each center and was approved by the Institutional Review Board of our hospital.
		Here, the subject “experiments” is plural (the subject is not “patients” or “center”). Because the verb tense is determined based on the subject, the sentence should instead say:
		These experiments enrolled 120 patients from each center and were approved by the Institutional Review Board of our hospital.

B. That and which

The distinction between “that” and “which” can be confusing. A quick rule of thumb to help you decide which to use is: if the words that follow are not necessary to understand the rest of the sentence, use “which”; if the words are needed to distinguish between phrases, use “that.” A comma is always required before “which,” whereas a comma is typically not needed before “that.”

Such usage varies between American and British English.

Example 1:

·	Nouns (words that name something, e.g., house, heart, X-ray);

The sentence is simply providing additional information that the signal is triangle-shaped. The sentence could be broken into two sentences without changing the meaning: “The signal was triangle-shaped. The signal was analyzed in Equation X.”

Compare the sentence above with the following example:

·	“The signal that was triangle-shaped was included in Equation X, whereas the signal that was square-shaped was included in Equation Y.”

In this sentence, “that” is used to distinguish the signals being discussed.

Example 2:

·	“The office, which has two lunchrooms, is located in Cincinnati.”
·	“The office that has two lunchrooms is located in Cincinnati; the other office is located in Scranton.”

In the first sentence, the office is in Cincinnati, and the number of lunchrooms is additional information. In the second sentence, one office is in Cincinnati, and the fact that it has two lunchrooms is used to distinguish it from another office location.

Grammar conventions like subject/verb agreement and appropriate use of that versus which are the foundations on which your scientific writing is built. Mastering these common mistakes can help strengthen your writing and improve your chances of being published in international journals.

Next :	eWorld formatting of papers for specific journals
Previous :	Clarity in science writing

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