English language tips for non-native English speakers

[UnDoubleUpUhUh]

Wanted to compile a quick list of tips for non-native English speakers out there who are translating dialogue to help create a more natural flow.

While I'll be focused more on American English language and cultural norms, suggestions by any linguistic cousins from across the pond, from the flip side of the Earth or from my neighbors the North are welcomed.

I'll try to keep this list updated for easy reference.

It's =it is/it has
Its = possessive form of 'it'
Mnemonic: "It's good to use an apostrophe except when it's lost its apostrophe" ("It IS good to use an apostrophe except when it HAS lost its apostrophe.")

I'm/He's/She's/They're/You're NEVER unmodified, standalone or at the end of a sentence.
If someone asked you, "Are you happy?", you can answer "I am." but never "I'm."
You can also say either "I am happy" or "I'm happy" (or other contracted pronouns with a modifier) without fear in any circumstances

"Going to" is better than "gonna"
"Gonna" is slang - most people use it a lot when they are young, and may use it in informal situations if they are speaking quickly, but outside of that, "gonna" shouldn't appear in anything remotely formal - boss to employee, adult to child, public speaking or written communications, and it definitely isn't the default. You'll almost never sound like a non-native speaker using "going to" versus "gonna"; the reverse is not true.

"Mr/Ms/Mrs [surname]" is always correct; "Mr/Ms/Mrs [first name}" very rarely, and only in certain circumstances
There are some regional dialects of American English (like the deep South) where "Mister Bob" or "Mrs. Jennifer" or "Miss Rebecca" might be used in certain regions, but overall in English it's more appropriate to use the last name in a formal gender title when addressing someone -- "Mister Smith" or "Mrs. Johnson" or "Miss Gredenko".

"Mom/Mommy/Mother" or "Dad/Daddy/Father" always acceptable to address the person at any age.
"My Mother/My Mom" or "My Father/My Dad" always ok in any description.
"My Mommy" "My Daddy" typically only used by children, rarely by adults.
"Stepmom/Stepmother" or "Stepdad/Stepfather" only when describing a relationship, never when addressing the person.
Calling your mother or father "Mom/Mommy/Mother" or "Dad/Daddy/Father" when speaking with them is typical, but a lot of people will call their Stepmother "Mom" or their Stepfather "Dad", especially if the blood relative version of that same relation is no longer alive or in the picture. But I've never met a single person who calls their Stepmother or Stepfather "Stepmother/Stepmom" or "Stepfather/Stepdad" as if that were either their name or title. It's typically only used when describing the person - "I went lingerie shopping with my Stepmother/Stepmom", but not "Hey, Stepmom/Stepmother-do you want me to help you with that garter belt in the dressing room?".

That's what I've got for now. Hope some of you find it helpful.

Feel free to add your own suggestions below.

 

[Goeffel]

"Going to" is better than "gonna"

Imma be real with you here ... appreciate the thought for this topic, but ain't not gonna be really useful, and way too much work for that.
see, having above sentence corrected, you'd need three more such posts for that alone.

I'm/He's/She's/They're/You're NEVER unmodified, standalone or at the end of a sentence.
If someone asked you, "Are you happy?", you can answer "I am." but never "I'm."
You can also say either "I am happy" or "I'm happy" (or other contracted pronouns with a modifier) without fear in any circumstances

what do you mean with "unmodified"?
I am not sure about the "without fear" resp. "in any circumstance". Maybe it's just me, but it bugs me a lot when folks use contraptions while they want to also put stress (think italics).

example "But I am happy!" . Use "I'm" there and to me you lose your perfect score.
---------
actually I just wanted to answer with sth. sth. Imma :-D

 

[peterppp]

"Mom/Mommy/Mother" or "Dad/Daddy/Father" always acceptable to address the person at any age.
"My Mother/My Mom" or "My Father/My Dad" always ok in any description.
"My Mommy" "My Daddy" typically only used by children, rarely by adults.
"Stepmom/Stepmother" or "Stepdad/Stepfather" only when describing a relationship, never when addressing the person.
Calling your mother or father "Mom/Mommy/Mother" or "Dad/Daddy/Father" when speaking with them is typical, but a lot of people will call their Stepmother "Mom" or their Stepfather "Dad", especially if the blood relative version of that same relation is no longer alive or in the picture. But I've never met a single person who calls their Stepmother or Stepfather "Stepmother/Stepmom" or "Stepfather/Stepdad" as if that were either their name or title. It's typically only used when describing the person - "I went lingerie shopping with my Stepmother/Stepmom", but not "Hey, Stepmom/Stepmother-do you want me to help you with that garter belt in the dressing room?".

words for family members should only be capitalized when used to replace their name. so "Hi, Dad" is correct, but "My Dad" is incorrect - it should be "My dad". it's not a big deal, but you often see this error in adult games

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[UnDoubleUpUhUh]

Imma be real with you here ... appreciate the thought for this topic, but ain't not gonna be really useful, and way too much work for that.
see, having above sentence corrected, you'd need three more such posts for that alone.


what do you mean with "unmodified"?
I am not sure about the "without fear" resp. "in any circumstance". Maybe it's just me, but it bugs me a lot when folks use contraptions while they want to also put stress (think italics).

example "But I am happy!" . Use "I'm" there and to me you lose your perfect score.
---------
actually I just wanted to answer with sth. sth. Imma :-D

I'm just trying to help non-native English speakers write more goodly.

But you didn't learn about modifiers in grade school? Alright.

"I'm" isn't ever standalone - in the contraction "I'm", the (contracted) word "am" (the 'm) is modified by an adjective or a verb or an adverb, every time.

Q "Are you happy?"
A "Yes, I'm."
This doesn't work.
You need to include the modifying adjective - "I am happy"

Q "Who's running?"
A "I'm."
This doesn't work.
You need to include the modifying verb - "I am running"


Q "Who's next?"
A "I'm."
This doesn't work.
You need to include the modifying adverb - "I am next"

Or, in all 3 cases, you can leave off the modifier, but you need to remove the 'm and answer "I am.".
Same situation with "he's", "she's", "they're", "it's", "you're", "we're", or "one's" (as a pronoun for a generic human).

No native English speaker ever deliberately or conversationally ends a sentence with a contracted pronoun like the ones above, outside of answering a question like "How do you contract the words 'I' and 'am'?".

Understand now?

 

[Hagatagar]

You could drop the "non-native" because a bunch of native English speakers could use those kind of tips too.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Or, in all 3 cases, you can leave off the modifier, but you need to remove the 'm and answer "I am.".

Let's be clear here. With your, "but you didn't learn about modifiers in grade school? Alright.", you implied that he's dumb. Then you said exactly the same thing than him, in a way that, contrarily to his own explanation, your targeted audience (none native speakers) will not understand.

Yeah, why not...

 

[anne O'nymous]

[sorry for the double post]

You could drop the "non-native" because a bunch of native English speakers could use those kind of tips too.

I would go further, it's parts of the errors that betray a native speaker way more often than it point to a none native one.

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

"Going to" is better than "gonna"
"Gonna" is slang - most people use it a lot when they are young, and may use it in informal situations if they are speaking quickly, but outside of that, "gonna" shouldn't appear in anything remotely formal - boss to employee, adult to child, public speaking or written communications, and it definitely isn't the default. You'll almost never sound like a non-native speaker using "going to" versus "gonna"; the reverse is not true.

I take issue with this specifically. You mention that this is to help with dialogue, which is the only place slang like gonna should appear. It's used all the time when speaking to others, and I've even heard it in many public speeches. Slang is difficult for a non-native speaker of any language, but it's the way native speakers naturally speak, so they're very much worth learning. Having characters only using "perfect" language for dialogue is an easy way to make them sound robotic. This is, admittedly, a difficult thing to learn if you're still learning a language, but I don't think discouraging slang usage is a good idea.

Edit because I don't feel I got my point across properly: Slang is important in dialogue, in order for it to sound natural. If you avoid using it entirely, it's much hard to learn how it's supposed to be used. So I prefer if they use it incorrectly, are then corrected, so then they know how it's supposed to be used in the future.