Common English Mistakes in Flash Fictions by Arabic Speakers

This page focuses on errors typically made by native Arabic speakers from United Arab Emirates when writing a Flash Fiction in English.

Mistake Example #1

Overuse of passive voice

In the quiet desert, a mysterious light was seen by the villagers. They did not understand the source of the glowwas not understood, butthey told many storieswere told. It wasSome believedby some that a treasure was hidden beneath the sands, waiting to be discovered by the brave.

Text corrected by:
Jennifer, Detroit, Michigan USA

"Very good! I just changed some (not all) of the passive voice constructions to the active voice to improve the flow of your story."

In the quiet desert, a mysterious light was seen by the villagers. They did not understand the source of the glow, but they told many stories. Some believed that a treasure was hidden beneath the sands, waiting to be discovered by the brave.

In the quiet desert, a mysterious light was seen by the villagers. The source of the glow was not understood, but many stories were told. It was believed by some that a treasure was hidden beneath the sands, waiting to be discovered by the brave.

Mistake Example #2

Misuse of articles ('I have car' instead of 'I have a car')

Inthe quiet desert of theUAE, there isa boy named Ahmed who dreams of adventure. One day, he finds anold map hidden inthe attic of his grandfather's house. MThe map shows thepath toa treasure buried deep inthe sands, and Ahmed decides to follow it. With thehelp of his loyal camel, he sets out on thejourney, hoping to discover thesecrets ofthe ancient world.

Text corrected by:
Gregg, Los Angeles, CA

"This needed some tweaking for missing or incorrect articles."

In the quiet desert of the UAE, there is a boy named Ahmed who dreams of adventure. One day, he finds an old map hidden in the attic of his grandfather's house. The map shows the path to a treasure buried deep in the sands, and Ahmed decides to follow it. With the help of his loyal camel, he sets out on the journey, hoping to discover the secrets of the ancient world.

In quiet desert of UAE, there is boy named Ahmed who dreams of adventure. One day, he finds old map hidden in attic of his grandfather's house. Map shows path to treasure buried deep in sands, and Ahmed decides to follow it. With help of his loyal camel, he sets out on journey, hoping to discover secrets of ancient world.