Avoid Common Chinglish

This chapter is aimed at Chinese-speaking readers who write in English. The chapter describes common Chinglish words, collocations, and sentence structures that arise from the differences between Chinese and English. The purpose is to help you recognize the Chinglish patterns and eliminate them.

Unnecessary Words

Unnecessary Nouns

Unnecessary nouns refer to redundant nouns whose meanings are already included or implied elsewhere in the sentence.

In Chinglish, the most common type of unnecessary noun is category noun , which announces the category of a specific noun before or after it. This “noun + category noun” pattern mimics Chinese structures, such as “改进措施 (improvement measures)” and “操作方案 (operation solutions)”.

Common category nouns in our documents include work, process, operation, function, procedure and information. The solution is to remove the category nouns.

Example:

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Follow the instructions to finish preparation works.

Follow the instructions to finish preparations.

“Preparation” falls into the category of “works”.

It is used in baud rate detection process.

It is used in baud rate detection.

“Detection” falls into the category of “process”.

Unnecessary Verbs

Unnecessary verbs are vague and general verbs that do not express specific action; the action is typically expressed by the following noun. The “unnecessary verb + noun” pattern also mimics a Chinese structure, such as “采取措施 (take measures)” and “进行研究 (conduct research)”.

Common unnecessary verbs are make, have, realize, conduct, accomplish, carry out, and adopt. The solution is to replace “unnecessary verb + noun” with plain verbs.

Example:

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The Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) is one such standard that can realize a flexible full-duplex data exchange among different devices.

The Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) is one such standard that can flexibly exchange data among different devices in full-duplex mode.

Realize data exchange = exchange data.

The process of sending and receiving data can also be achieved by the CPU and the DMA.

Data can also be sent and received by the CPU and the DMA.

  1. Process is an unnecessary category noun.

  2. “Achieve sending and receiving data” can be replaced by “send and receive data”.

Unnecessary Modifiers

In Chinese, modifiers like adjectives and adverbs are used for emphasis or clarication, even if their meanings are already implied in the word they modify or elsewhere in the sentence. However, in English, such modifiers are redundant as the English language is less repetitive.

Common unnecessary modifiers are successfully, completely, totally, very, and many”. The solution is to remove the modifiers.

Example:

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The Receive FIFO is completely full.

The Receive FIFO is full.

The meaning of “completely” is implied in “full”. If the FIFO is not completely full, it is not full.

To receive each event 1 successfully, the interval between two consecutive event 1 must be greater than two peripheral A clock cycles.

To receive each event 1, the interval between two consecutive event 1 must be greater than two peripheral A clock cycles.

The meaning of “successfully” is implied in “receive”. If the event is received unsuccessfully, then it is not received.

Saying the Same Thing Twice

In English, sentences repeating the already stated information are considered a waste of reader’s time. Repetition of ideas appears in our technical documents frequently as mirror-image statements, i.e., the same idea presented first in positive form, then in negative . The solution is to express the idea from the more important point of view.

Example:

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If input signals remain unchanged for consecutive PCNT_FILTER_THRES_Un APB clock cycles, then they are valid. Otherwise, they are invalid.

Input signals are only valid if they remain unchanged for consecutive PCNT_FILTER_THRES_Un APB clock cycles.

“Otherwise they are invalid” does not carry new information. It is the negative form of the previous sentence.

This step is required for lengths smaller than 4096 bits, and not required for lengths equivalent to 4096 bits.

This step is only required for lengths smaller than 4096 bits.

“Not required for lengths equivalent to 4096 bits” presents the identical picture from the opposite point of view.

Repeated References to the Same Thing

The Chinese language prefers repeating references rather than using pronouns. For example, it sounds more natural to use “要清除这个中断” than “要清除它”. However, repeated references in English can create redundancy.

If the repeatedly mentioned idea is based on a verb, the second reference can be replaced with an expression like “do so”, “do the same”, “do likewise”, or “do this”.

If the idea is based on a noun, there are four ways of shortening repeated references:

  • Eliminating the modifiers

  • Replacing the expression with a summary noun

  • Replacing the expression with a pronoun

  • Replacing the expression with initials (in special cases)

Example:

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The timer must be disabled (i.e. TIMGn_Tx_EN is cleared) before modifying the 16-bit prescaler. Modifying the 16-bit prescaler whilst the timer is enabled may lead to unpredictable results.

The timer must be disabled (i.e. TIMGn_Tx_EN is cleared) before modifying the 16-bit prescaler. Otherwise, the result can be unpredictable.

To avoid repeating all the information, we use “otherwise” in the revised version.

The I²C bus has two lines, namely a serial data line (SDA) and a serial clock line (SCL). Both SDA and SCL lines are open-drain.

The I²C bus has two lines, namely a serial data line (SDA) and a serial clock line (SCL). Both lines are open-drain.

The repeatedly mentioned idea is based on a noun. In the second reference, the SDA line and the SCL line are replaced with a summary noun “lines.”

Please note that when you translate references from English into Chinese, you’d better not use an equivalent word like “它”, “这”, but to spell out what the reference stands for.

Chinglish Collocations

A collocation is two or more words that often go together. Some Chinese words collocate differently from their English counterparts. When you write a document in English, please do not translate Chinese expressions you have in mind word by word, but express your ideas using typical English collocations.

For typical English collocations, you can refer to freecollocation.com or search materials on your topic.

Example:

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Learn knowledge

Gain knowledge

Expensive price

High price

Passkey interaction

Passkey exchange

Chinglish Sentence Structure

Noun Plague

Unlike Chinese, a language based on vague and abstract nouns, plain English is based on concise and vigorous verbs. Too many nouns in English are like a plague, and they only make the meaning less clear.

To deal with a noun that carries necessary meaning, the usual solution is to transform it into a different part of speech: verb, gerund, adjective, adverb, etc. When the noun construction is so vague that changing part of speech does not work, you may have to add more words to clarify the meaning.

Example:

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When this bit is set, the Rx DMA does not flush any frames because of the unavailability of receive descriptors or buffers.

When this bit is set, the Rx DMA does not flush any frames because receive descriptors or buffers are not available.

Replace the noun with an adjective: “unavailability” is replaced with its adjective form.

When this bit is reset, the MAC receive state machine is disabled after the completion of the reception of the current frame.

When this bit is reset, the MAC receive state machine is disabled after the current frame has been received.

  1. Replace the noun with a verb: “reception” is replaced with “receive”.

  2. The meaning of “completion” is expressed by the present perfect tense.

A special form of the noun plague is using a single noun as an adjective. It is legitimate to use a noun as adjective in English, e.g., input signal, and pulse width. However, you should not feel free to use any given noun to modify any other, because the sentence flows more naturally the other way around. The general rule is: no more than two nouns combined into an adjective.

Example:

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GAP callback parameters union

Union of GAP callback parameters

Adding prepositions “of” can explicitly indicate relationships, and thus improve clarity.

Placement of Phrases and Dependent Clauses

A dependent clause is a half sentence with a subject and a verb, yet cannot stand alone. For example, in the sentence “because I was late, I missed the bus”, the former part is a dependent clause.

In English, the placement of phrases and dependent clauses within sentences shows readers which idea the writer regards as most important. When the elements of a sentence are presented in the right order for the desired emphasis, the readers’ attention is directed to the core idea at the end of the sentence . With this impression, readers can smoothly follow the writer’s line of thought.

When writing a technical document in English, please check the following:

  • Short phrases and information should precede long phrases and information.

  • Things known to readers should precede things unfamiliar to readers.

  • Important information should come at the end of the sentence.

Please note that when organizing your ideas using the above principles, do not break the logical connections between your ideas.

Example:

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Removing the second level of menu from the Document sidebar on www.espressif.com is better.

It is better to remove the second level of menu from the Document sidebar on www.espressif.com.

The gerund phrase “removing the second level of menu from the Document sidebar on www.espressif.com…” is far longer than “better,” so this phrase should be put at the end after grammatical adjustment.

The timer must be disabled (i.e. TIMGn_Tx_EN is cleared) before modifying the 16-bit prescaler.

Before you/software/hardware modify the 16-bit prescaler, the timer must be disabled (i.e. TIMGn_Tx_EN is cleared).

The main clause “the timer must be disabled” carries more important information and should come last.

Dangling Modifiers

A dangling modifier occurs when the implied subject of the modifier is inconsistent with the subject of the main clause. While the Chinese language is more flexible in this respect, English demands more precision in matching the modifier’s subject to the main clause’s subject.

Example:

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The timer must be disabled (i.e. TIMGn_Tx_EN is cleared) before modifying the 16-bit prescaler.

Before you/software/hardware modify the 16-bit prescaler, the timer must be disabled.

Spell out the implied subject. In this case, the prescaler can be modified by “you” (users), software, or hardware. You should check the upper and lower context to confirm the agent of modification. The more explicit you are about the subject, the more reader-friendly this sentence would be.

When updating the low-speed timer, the change of settings should be explicitly triggered by software.

When you update the low-speed timer, the change of settings should be explicitly triggered by software.

When the implied subject is not clear, an alternative way is to use passive voice (less recommended).

It is noteworthy that dangling modifiers are so common that they become more acceptable. Nevertheless, you should be careful to use them for the sake of your readers.

FANBOYS Conjunctions

In English, words, phrases, and independent clauses are connected using FANBOYS conjunctions, namely for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. In Chinese, however, it is not necessary to add a conjunction after a comma, so Chinese speakers easily confuse conjunctions with adverbs.

The rule is: whenever you combine two words, phrases and independent clauses with close logical connections, use a comma plus a FANBOYS conjunction or simply a period in-between.

Example:

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ESP-IDF has all the code required to produce SystemView-compatible traces, users can configure necessary project options.

ESP-IDF has all the code required to produce SystemView-compatible traces, so users can configure necessary project options.

Another approach is to simply put a period in between: “ESP-IDF has all the code required to produce SystemView-compatible traces. Users can configure necessary project options.”

That said, FANBOYS conjunctions should not be overused to form super long sentences, since such sentences are harder to understand.

Example:

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However, PeriBus1 features speculative read, which means it cannot guarantee that each read is valid, therefore, the CPU has to use PeriBus2 to access some special registers, for example, FIFO registers.

However, PeriBus1 features speculative read, which means it cannot guarantee that each read is valid. Therefore, the CPU has to use PeriBus2 to access some special registers, for example, FIFO registers.

“Therefore” is an adverb, not a conjunction, so there should be a period or a comma plus a conjunction before “Therefore.” Note that the first sentence is already long, so we use a period instead of adding a conjunction in the revised version.

The default baud rate of ESP8266 is 74880, therefore, UART tools that can support the default baud rate are recommended.

The default baud rate of ESP8266 is 74880, so UART tools that can support the default baud rate are recommended.

Replace adverb “therefore” with conjunction “so.”

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