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1.1Advantages and disadvantages of English
English has become today's language of science through historical events, not through any inherent characteristics that make it better suited to the task. Fortunately, English does have many positive characteristics that make it suitable for scientific writing. However, some negative ones also make it less than ideal. The positive characteristics include a relatively straightforward grammar and an enormously rich vocabulary; the irregular pronunciation and the inconsistent spelling are two negative ones.
The straightforward grammar makes it relatively simple to construct sentences. The order of words is uncomplicated and there is no need to worry about the gender of nouns or about the appropriate ending of an adjective. Changes in the verb endings are also limited. Nevertheless, it is the verbs, with their large number of tenses, that do cause the most difficulty in applying English grammar.
English's richness of vocabulary gives writers a tremendous flexibility in the words they can choose. Where does this wonderful richness of vocabulary originate? One source lies in English's French, German and Scandinavian roots. As a consequence, English often has both a French- and a German-based word for the same thing or concept. The pairs of words “infancy” and “childhood”, “judicious” and “wise”, “malady” and “sickness” and “transmit” and “send” are just a few examples. A second source of variety in English is the habit of English-speaking people to absorb words from other languages. For instance, the word “robot” originates from the word in many Slav languages for work; in contrast, the words “alcohol” and “elixir” have an Arabic origin. The excellent website www.krysstal.com/borrow.html lists the hundreds of words that English has assimilated over the centuries. Schopenhauer was quite correct in describing English as a patchwork language.
In his book “Mother Tongue: The English Language”, Bill Bryson states that this richness ofvocabulary gives English an advantage over many other languages. He proposes that a language with a wider vocabulary has more ways to express the same thought. This may be true, but a wide vocabulary is not necessary to express one's ideas. The writer Ernest Hemingway was famous for using a limited range of words. Nevertheless, he was still able to articulate powerful emotions and describe profound thoughts.
The two negative characteristics of English mentioned above do, however, place it at a distinct disadvantage compared to other languages. The irregular and often seemingly perverse pronunciation means that even native English speakers will have no idea how to pronounce a word with which they are unfamiliar. How difficult is it then for non-native speakers to learn to pronounce English correctly? How can one explain that the important scientific words “mature” and “nature” are pronounced differently? How could a young person who had lived for a year in Hollywood as a teenager and who spoke English with an excellent American accent mispronounce the words “nitrogen” and “oxygen”? These two gases are not normally words that teenagers frequently use. Without having heard their pronunciation, it is hard to know that they rhyme with Ben and not with bean. This book is, however, only concerned with writing. A discussion on the vagaries of pronunciation can wait for another day.
Spelling is, in contrast, essential for accurate scientific writing. It is vital that students are aware of the problems. The most frequent ones are presented in box 1.1, with suggestions how a famous native German speaker might terminate them. Perhaps these changes will one day become reality. Until then, spelling will remain an item to be considered carefully in scientific manuscripts. One way of reducing the difficulties is to switch on a spellchecker and set it to correct when typing. Special words or abbreviations that are specific to a particular field can be constantly added to the main dictionary. In this way, the spellchecker can be trusted to correct spelling during typing. If it cannot correct a word, then that word will need attention. If you do not like your spellchecker to make decisions itself, turn off this option and manually check the words marked by the spellchecker. There is nothing wrong with this; you may even learn something. It is simply more time-consuming.
A spellchecker is, however, not perfect. At present, a spellchecker will fail to determine whether a word should be written in the singular or plural. Furthermore, it cannot deal with words that do exist in a language but that are used incorrectly. The thirteen sentences in box 1.2 provide twelve such words. See if you can find them. Remember to keep an eye open for such errors when you read your work.
The grammar checker of Word 2019 is also a useful tool. It detects repeated words, sentences that do not start with a capital letter and unnecessary spaces. Its range also extends to more complex difficulties such as highlighting incomplete sentences, marking a lack of agreement between the subject and verb (e. g. “the majority of scientists is conservative”, not “the majority of scientists are conservative”) and highlighting incorrect tense constructions.
Like spellcheckers, grammar checkers are not foolproof and are to be used with care. Nevertheless, even if they are inaccurate, you still have to work out why the grammar checker has queried your writing. Anything that makes you contemplate what you have written and consider other possibilities will positively contribute to the quality of your text.
Box 1.1Terminating difficulties in English spelling
This text lists most of the peculiarities of English spelling and offers some humorous suggestions to eliminate them. The text circulated by email at the time of ex-Governor Schwarzenegger's inauguration and can still be found in many internet forums. I am grateful to the anonymous author. Read it out aloud to hear how it sounds!
A New Language For California
The new Californian Governor has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the state, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the Terminator's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as “Austro-English” (or, perhaps even better, “Austrionics”). In the first year, “s” will replace the soft “c”. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard “c” will be dropped in favour of the “k”. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced with the “f”. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter. In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent “e” in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away. By the 4th yer peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” with “z” and “w” with “v”. During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining “ou” and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru. If zis mad yu smil, pleas pas it on to oza pepl.
Box 1.2Fooling a spellchecker
Word 2010's spellchecker considers the spelling of all the words below as being correct. Nevertheless, each sentence except one possesses a word that is spelled wrongly because it is used in an incorrect context. Find these twelve misspelled words and identify the one correct sentence without a spelling mistake. The solutions are given in section 1.6.1.
1. You must proof that two plus two equals four!
2. A prove that two plus two equals four is given on the first page.
3. Vaccines safe lives.
4. Spellcheckers chance the way we read our texts.
5. The theory of global warming remains to be proven.
6. Spellcheckers effect our ability to spell.
7. How do tortoises remain a life when hibernating?
8. Only a few scientists have received two Nobel Prices.
9. The affect of technology on the environment is substantial.
10. We loose the loose screw.
11. We judge how we live our lives form our own perspective.
12. The ability to write concisely and accurately is not heredity.
13. The price of the prize was a surprize.
1.1.1British or American?
Students have many questions at the beginning of a new course. The above question concerning the English to choose for their spellchecker is the most common. A frequent variant, often posed by post-graduate students and post-docs, is whether American English must be used to write a manuscript that will be submitted to an American journal. The answer to both questions is that it is not important which variant of English you choose. It is far more important that your English is clear, comprehensible and concise. An editor of a journal will not reject a manuscript because the spelling, vocabulary and punctuation are from an English-speaking person situated on another continent. Setting commas in the American way or writing “sulphate” instead of “sulfate” will not affect the fate of your manuscript. Once a journal accepts a scientific manuscript for publication, the production department will use its own spellchecker and software to put the manuscript into the style of the journal.
If you are just beginning to write scientific manuscripts, consider using American English. Two characteristics make it easier to learn and to use. First, spelling in American English is simpler and less perverse than in British English. Second, American English is younger than British English. The grammar of American English has, as predicted by Schopenhauer, become less perfect than British English. One example of this greater simplicity is the absence from American English of certain prepositions that British English absolutely requires. Thus, the British journal “Nature” might write “On Monday, the students protested against the removal of scientific writing from their curriculum.” In contrast, the American journal “Science” would structure the sentence with two fewer prepositions: “Monday, the students protested the removal of scientific writing from their curriculum.” The use of prepositions in any language is usually tricky. Anything which eliminates two of them at a stroke must make a writer's life easier.
Further evidence to support the hypothesis that American English is simpler than British English comes from a comparison of the names of musical notes (box 1.3). The American system is straightforward and logical. The British system is complicated and not very informative. Three of the words say nothing about the property of the note. The word “semibreve” seems to indicate half of something, but it actually describes a full note. The word “breve”, meaning two notes, did exist, but it has become obsolete. There are many other examples of illogical words in British English. Non-native speakers may even have the feeling that the team of Monty Python's Flying Circus was involved in developing British English. The habitually bizarre and unpredictable nature of British English was perhaps one of the reasons why Monty Python's Flying Circus could only have originated in Great Britain.
In summary, do not waste time thinking about your choice of English. Concentrate instead on the guidelines and suggestions in this and the following chapter. They are much more likely to improve the quality of your manuscript than your choice of English. Readers will remember the quality of your manuscript and its advance in knowledge. They will not remember whether your manuscript contained American or British English.
Box 1.3Names of musical notes
| Musical note | American English | British English |
 | full note | semibreve |
| half note | minim | |
| quarter note | crotchet | |
| eighth note | quaver | |
| sixteenth note | semiquaver | |
| thirty-second note | demisemiquaver | |
| sixty-fourth note | hemidemisemiquaver | |
| hundred twenty-eighth note | semihemidemisemiquaver |
1.2Formal English, the language of science
Formal English is quite different from the English found in novels, newspapers, emails and social media accounts. In formal English, words are chosen to fit a certain style and are written out in full. In addition, all sentences are complete, linked together and properly punctuated. This section provides guidelines on writing this type of English.
1.2.1Complete sentences
What is a complete sentence? A complete sentence relates a finished thought or action. An incomplete sentence leaves the reader searching for the full meaning or with the impression that something vital has been omitted. The exercises 3.6.2, 5.2.1 and 5.3.1 provide examples of incomplete or poorly constructed sentences for you to identify and improve.
Scientific manuscripts may, however, contain incomplete sentences as part of their title. Titles such as “Measurement of the speed of the expansion of the Universe” or “Discovery of a new gene linked to Alzheimer's disease” are quite common. Similarly, the titles of the figures showing the data are often incomplete sentences. There are two reasons why titles are sometimes written in this way. The first is that they sound punchier, in the same way that newspaper headlines are often not complete sentences. The second is to reduce the number of characters required. Many journals often have quite strict limitations on the number of characters in the title.
1.2.2Punctuation marks
Punctuation marks are essential information signs for the reader. They include: full stops (.), commas (,), semi-colons (;), colons (:), question marks (?), exclamation marks (!), quotation marks (“”) and brackets (). Full stops, signifying the end of a sentence, are relatively straightforward to use. In contrast, the other punctuation marks are often a source of uncertainty. This section contains some suggestions that should ensure that most of your punctuation marks are correct. Do not worry about the remainder. A journal will not return your manuscript just because some commas are in the wrong place.
1.2.2.1The comma
Commas are perhaps the greatest source of difficulty. Life can, however, be simplified by the realisation that there are basically only three situations in scientific English in which commas are necessary. There is also one situation in which a comma is not necessary. These four situations are outlined below.
Use commas when making a list such as “u, v, x, y and z”. British English does not require a comma before “and” whereas American English does. The presence or absence of a comma before the “and” will not affect the success of your manuscript. In the related list “p, q, r as well as t”, neither British nor American English requires a comma before “as well”.
Use commas as weaker brackets to show material that is not central to the sentence. You might want to write the following sentence.
“Our latest results, obtained using a recently developed technique, also support our overall hypothesis.”
The information between the commas provides extra information which is not essential to understand the meaning of the sentence.
Use a comma after a linking word (that is words such as “however”, “furthermore”, “additionally”) at the start of a sentence, or after a phrase that qualifies or introduces the main part of the sentence. This will tell the reader where to look for the main part of the sentence. For instance, look closely at the following sentence.
“As expected, levels of bacterial growth increased during the course of the illness.”
Try reading the sentence without the comma and you will notice how the meaning changes. Here are further examples of this comma in scientific writing:
“To investigate this idea, we performed the experiment in Figure 1.”
“Although these guidelines do not show every possible use of the comma, they are very useful.”
“Provided that you are careful in its use, a spellchecker is a valuable tool.
Do not use a comma before “that” in a sentence such as “We showed that this hypothesis is false.” Unlike some other languages, this is one situation in which a comma in English is not needed.
1.2.2.2The semi-colon
The semi-colon should be used to divide a sentence into two halves when the second half expands upon or qualifies the first. When should you use a semi-colon and when a full-stop? A semi-colon is necessary when the two halves of the sentence are part of the same thought. If they are not, the two halves of the sentence are bona fide complete sentences and a full-stop is necessary. Never use more than one semi-colon per sentence.
1.2.2.3The colon
Use the colon only in the following two circumstances. The first is to introduce a list, as the next sentence illustrates.
“We measured the following physiological parameters of competitive skiers: pulse rate, blood pressure, oxygen consumption and lactate concentration.”
The second circumstance in which a colon can be used is to divide the title of a manuscript into two halves. The first half of the sentence introduces the global subject area. The second half states the part of this area under investigation. This strategy eliminates the verb and saves characters. Examples might be “Global warming: the contribution of deforestation” or “Biodiversity: the impact of abolishing lawn mowing”. These titles are further examples of incomplete sentences that are allowed in scientific writing.
1.2.2.4The question mark
Question marks are used frequently in scientific manuscripts because asking questions is a fundamental scientific activity. The “introduction” section to a manuscript may pose a specific question that the experiments in the results are designed to answer. The “results” section may use questions to introduce why specific avenues of investigation were taken. Posing questions in the “discussion” section is a lively way of bringing in a new interpretation or moving to a related topic.
1.2.2.5The exclamation mark
Exclamation marks, expressing surprise or an order, are almost completely absent from scientific writing. You may need them in your emails, blogs and text messages, but you can forget about them in your thesis and your manuscripts.
