Common English Mistakes in Lab Reports by Cantonese Speakers

This page focuses on errors typically made by native Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong when writing a Lab Report in English.

Mistake Example #1

Overuse of direct translations from Cantonese

In this experiment, we are using thea new chemical to see its reaction with water. The result is not swhame ast we expected because the temperature is too high. We should haveadded more water to make it balanced, but we forgot to do so.

Text corrected by:
Vince, United States

"Just a few minor tweaks to polish the text :) Nice work!"

In this experiment, we are using a new chemical to see its reaction with water. The result is not what we expected because the temperature is too high. We should have added more water to make it balanced, but we forgot to do so.

In this experiment, we are using the new chemical to see its reaction with water. The result is not same as we expected because the temperature is too high. We should add more water to make it balance, but we forgot to do so.

Mistake Example #2

Confusion with countable vs. uncountable nouns ('She has much friends')

During the experiment, we observed that a varietherey was muchof equipmentwas used to measure the temperature changes. The data collected showed that there weas a large amaounyt of water in the container, which affected the results. It is important to ensure that all apparatus ais properly calibrated correctlyto avoid musignifichant errors in future experiments.

Text corrected by:
Gregg, Los Angeles, CA

"This needed some corrections to fix countable/uncountable noun problems."

During the experiment, we observed that a variety of equipment was used to measure temperature changes. The data collected showed that there was a large amount of water in the container, which affected the results. It is important to ensure that all apparatus is properly calibrated to avoid significant errors in future experiments.

During the experiment, we observed that there was much equipment used to measure the temperature changes. The data collected showed that there were many water in the container, which affected the results. It is important to ensure that all apparatus are calibrated correctly to avoid much errors in future experiments.

Mistake Example #3

Overuse of 'very' to emphasize adjectives

The experiment wasvery successful, and the results were veryclear. The reaction time wasvery fast, and the temperature change was verysignificant. It isvery important to note that the solution wasvery concentrated, which made the observations very interesting.

Text corrected by:
Jennifer, Detroit, Michigan USA

"Hello, there! I took out every "very" except the last one."

The experiment was successful, and the results were clear. The reaction time was fast, and the temperature change was significant. It is important to note that the solution was concentrated, which made the observations very interesting.

The experiment was very successful, and the results were very clear. The reaction time was very fast, and the temperature change was very significant. It is very important to note that the solution was very concentrated, which made the observations very interesting.