maize

Maize sounds like maze (labyrinth) or amazing.

Here is an amazing maize maze!

eventually

In English, "eventually" means "in the end", "after a long wait" or "finally".

Example:

 

I argued with my colleague for over a week, but eventually I had to admit that she was right.

You can run from your problems but eventually they will catch up with you.

Origin of the confusion:

In German, "eventuell" means "possibly" or "potentially".

Commas in English

Commas are complicated! Here are a few rules. One general piece of advice: if you have a lot of commas in a sentence, consider dividing it into two (or more) sentences or changing the word order.

Commas as brackets

Commas can be used in place of brackets. Make sure that the sentence isn't too long and that it is clear which part of the sentence is in comma brackets. 

My friend Li, who comes from China, doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

Tip: If the sentence is long with a lot of commas, consider using real brackets, e.g. 

My friend Li (who comes from China) doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

Commas to separate introductions

Commas should be used to separate the introductory element from the rest of the sentence.

In 2014, elections for the European Parliament took place.

In general, you should go to the airport one hour before your flight.

However, ...

For example, ...

This is also true if the words come in the middle of the sentence:

You can, of course, go to the airport two hours before your flight.

I would recommend, however, that you only go one hour before.

Tip: If the sentence is long with a lot of commas, consider putting this information at the end of the sentence, e.g. 

Elections for the European Parliament took place in 2014.

Commas when adverbial or subordinate clauses come first

I call these "flipped sentences". In this kind of sentence, the "because", "as", "due to", "owing to", "although", "if", etc. comes first.

Because animals were not allowed in the student dorms, I had to give away my hamster to a friend.

Although I learnt to play the piano when I was younger, I don't think I would be able to read music now.

Tip: If the sentence is long with a lot of commas, consider flipping the sentence and removing the commas e.g. 

I had to give away my hamster to a friend because animals were not allowed in the student dorms."

Examples of sentences with a lot of commas:

Owing to the one-child policy, my friend Li, who comes from China, doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

Here it would be better to remove one set of commas:

My friend Li, who comes from China, doesn't have any brothers or sisters owing to the one-child policy.

Owing to the one-child policy, my Chinese friend Li doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

Extra advice for native German speakers:

No comma before "that".

which or that

This one is quite difficult to explain. I don't know the rule, but this is how I do it:

If the information after the which/that is essential information, then use "that".

Example with "that"

Where is the chocolate?
What chocolate are you talking about?
The chocolate that I put on my desk this morning.




Note that there is no comma before "that".


 
If the information after the which/that is not essential information, then use "which". A good way to check this is whether you can put the information in brackets.

Example with "which"

I'm putting this chocolate, which I bought while I was on holiday, on the table so everyone can help themselves.
I'm putting this chocolate (which I bought while I was on holiday) on the table so everyone can help themselves.

Note that there is always a comma before "which" .


Incorrect
Some people think "which" just sounds better that "that" and there is no difference. They are wrong. It sound bad if you use which where you mean that.

sieve

Sieve is pronounced "siv". 

It rhymes with give.

Bonus point:
The one for pasta is called a colander.

 
 
Incorrect:
It's not pronounced "see-v", and the other one is not a noodle sieve.

what it looks like and how it looks

Correct phrases:

what it looks like
how it looks

You can replace "looks" with "sounds", "feels", etc.

Examples:

This isn't what it looks like!
That wasn't how it sounded to me.

Incorrect:
"How it looks like". In German, this would be, "wienach es aussieht".

therefore and therefor

This Denglish mistake is the most problematic and persistent mistake I have had to deal with during my time correcting German-English texts. "Therefore/therefore" is very frequently used incorrectly by German speakers, and it seems to be difficult to remember the correct words to use.

There is only one correct way to use "therefore".

Therefore:

"Therefore" is the best friend of "because" and should be used when the two clauses of a "because" sentence are flipped around.

Example: 

He was unable to play football because he was injured.

He was injured, therefore he was unable to play football.

Rule: If you can't flip it to make a "because" sentence, don't use "therefore".

Therefor:

This word is not used in modern English. Modern spell checkers will underline this as a mistake. Don't use it. 

Origin of the confusion:

For example, you want to say:  

Ziel des Projektes war, herauszufinden ob Coca Cola und Pepsi in Blindversuchen von einander unterschieden werden können. Dafür wurden 200 Versuchspersonen unbeschriftete Becher mit Coca Cola oder Pepsi gegeben.

The correct English translation is:

The aim of this project was to find out if Coca Cola and Pepsi could be correctly identified in blind trials. To do this, 200 test subjects were given unlabelled cups containing either Coca Cola or Pepsi.

Other correct options: 

...identified in blind trials. To this aim, 200 test subjects...

...identified in blind trials. To investigate this, 200 test subjects...

...identified in blind trials. This was done by giving 200 test subjects...

...identified in blind trials. In this study, 200 test subjects...

...and many more. 

Or nothing:

...identified in blind trials. Two hundred test subjects were...

This abstract is a good example of the correct use of "therefore" and "to do this". http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v267/n5608/abs/267281a0.html

Still not convinced?
Many people simply don't believe me. Look up "to do this" (with quotation marks " ") on Google Scholar and note how often it is used in this context by American/Canadian/British/Irish/Australian authors. You will not find a paper by a native English speaker that uses "therefore/therefor" to mean "dafür", only papers by other non-native speakers. 

But google told me...
If you google "therefor" and "dafür" you will get some google hits. In Shakespeare's works you can find "therefor" used for this purpose, but it is not used like this in modern English. Unless you are writing in Shakespearean English, do not use it.

Incorrect:
"thus" is also wrong and very old fashioned.

protocol

A protocol is a kind of set of rules. 

In science, a protocol is another word for a set of instructions for an experiment, like a standard operating procedure (SOP).

In polite society, protocol means etiquette, like eating with a knife and fork in the correct hands, holding the door open for someone, etc.

In politics, protocol means a book of agreed guidelines, like the Kyoto Protocol.

Not a protocol:

The thing you write after a meeting is called "minutes".

For example:

"Who's taking down the minutes of this meeting? Please e-mail a copy of the minutes to everyone."

Origin of the confusion: 

In German, the minutes of a meeting are called "das Protokoll". The word "protocol" was used in the past in English to mean minutes, but the modern term is "minutes".

Acronyms and abbreviations

An acronym is a series of letters that stand for words. For example, PCR is an acronym that stands for polymerase chain reaction.

The most important thing is: always define an acronym before you use it. If you define it in the abstract of a scientific text, you need to define it again in the introduction.

Acronyms are a complex subject!

My advice: use acronyms made of capital letters without dots in between, like DNA, DVD, BBC, etc.

When you define an acronym from normal words, do not use capital letters at the start of the full words. 

For example:

The process of anaerobic digestion (AD) is used to make biogas.

When you define an acronym from a proper noun (name, etc), use capital letters. 

For example:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends vaccinating children against polio.

Don't use small letters or dots in between.

Some exceptions:

One exception is certain biological words like mRNA. Another exception is acronyms that are not made of the just the first letter of a word (Interpol, International Criminal Police Organization).

Plurals:

When you use a plural, use a small "s" without an apostrophe.

For example:

Two CDs

Three DVDs

For unusual acronyms, specific styles, and other information, see the ridiculously long Wikipedia article on this topic.

History:

British English used to be very logical. If it was the 'British Broadcasting Company' it was abbreviated as 'B.B.C.' and if it was 'missing in action' it was 'm.i.a.'.  Big letter acronyms for big letter words, small letter acronyms for small letter words, and dots in between to make it clear it was an acronym.

Then the Americans decided that it would be easier to write these acronyms without all those annoying dots, making BBC and mia. But "mia" doesn't look like an acronym, it looks like a word, so they changed small-letter acronyms to big-letter acronyms to clearly show that they were acronyms. The British gradually agreed that this was more convenient and they started doing it too. That's why MIA is the acronym for 'missing in action', even though the original words have small letters.

Tips for writing scientific texts

Questions to ask yourself before starting:

In these cases, both options are fine, but it must be consistent throughout the text.

- will I use US or British English?

- will I capitalise the titles or not?

- what kind of units will I use?

- will I use a dash or "to" to separate numbers (e.g. "27–35 °C" or 27 to 35 °C")?

- will I use hyphens for prefixes or not (e.g. "micro-organisms" or "microorganisms", "pre-treatment" or "pretreatment")?

- which reference format will I use?

- are there guidelines for this journal, homework, etc., and have I followed them all?

- I promise that I will define all acronyms before using them

Some little reminders for German native speakers:

- I will not use capital letters unless there's a really good reason

- I will not confuse my dots and commas (10,000 and 0.45), even in diagrams/tables

- I will think about the correct use of hyphens in English (-)

- I will think about the correct use of commas in English

- I will try not to use extremely long sentences

- I will try to avoid putting the verb at the end
- I will try to use verbs instead of verb nouns where possible

- I will be careful where I put the word "also"
- I will be careful how I use the word "therefore"

- I will be very careful with the word "respectively"

- I will avoid the words "shall", "thereby" and "hereby"

- I won't talk about self-made things

- I will think about the correct use of present simple and present continuous

thereby/hereby

My advice: don't use the words "thereby" or "hereby".

The word "hereby" means "here in this document", and is typically only used in legal statements in the phrase "I hereby declare..."

For example:

I hereby declare that I, John Smith, agree to to terms of this contract.
I hereby declare that Bob Jones worked in my company from January to October 2010.


The world "thereby" means "doing that made something happen".

For example:

She dropped her cup on the floor, thereby causing a disruption to the classroom.

http://simple.wiktionary.org/wiki/thereby


Origin of the confusion:

In German there are two words, "hierdurch"/"hierbei" and "dadurch"/"dabei" that are very similar to "hereby" and "thereby". One big difference is that "hereby" is not used outside of legal documents. The other big difference is that "thereby" can not be used at the start of a sentence, and that you need a comma before and an -ing verb after "thereby" (see examples above).

Here is the correct way to translate "hierbei"/"hierdurch"/"dadurch"/"dabei"

Prozess X ist blabla und ist ein wichtiger Teil von Y. Hierbei wird ABC gebildet und bla bla.
This would be translated as :
Process X is blah blah and is an important part of Y. During this process, ABC is formed and blah blah...  or
Process X is blah blah and is an important part of Y. ABC is formed during this process and blah blah...

Prozess X ist blabla und steigert den Y-Wert. Dadurch wird weniger ABC gebildet...
This would be translated as:
Process X is blah blah and increased the y value. This means that less ABC is formed...

Units

Two metres per second can be written as:

2 m/s

2 m·s^-1

The most important thing is: choose one type and stick to it throughout your text.

There is always a space between the number and the units, except for percentage.

5%

Here is a list for how to write units according to international standards.

Further information can be found on the Wikipedia entry on this topic. 

Choose whether you will write "1 to 2 m·s^-1" or "1–2 m·s^-1", and stick to it throughout your text.

Bonus point: so that your units don't run onto the next line, e.g. 

the liquid was heated to 37

°C and held for one hour.

you can use something called a "non-breaking space" or "hard space". This means that even if you make changes to the text, this space will never break onto a second line and the number and units will always remain together on the same line.

On Word in Windows you can get this using ctrl-shift-space and in Mac you can get this using alt(option)-space. Click here for German keyboard instructions.

Another bonus point:

The symbol connecting numbers in a range like 1–2 m·s^-1 is called an "en dash". This symbol cannot be found on your keyboard and is not the same as a hyphen in a word (like co-operation). More information can be found here.

Capital letters

You don't need to use capital letters as often as you think!

It's very complicated, but a good rule of thumb is to capitalise at the start of sentences, names and places... and nothing else.

For example:

I like to go hiking in the Alps.

I live in Vienna.

My name is Bob.

There are some additional things that should be capitalised, like nationalities and religions:

For example: 

All Christians adhere to Christianity and follow the teachings of Jesus. 

The French president is called François Hollande.

So while you would say:

I am Italian.

you would also say:

I am a biologist.

There are some grey areas. The subject you study at university if often the title of your degree (so capitalised) but also a general subject (so not capitalised).

For example:

Both are correct:

I study law at the University of Vienna

I study Law at the University of Vienna

Should I use capital letters in titles?

Both are fine!
My advice: use small letters.

Many years ago students were taught to use capital letters in titles. For example:

The Effect of Changing Sleep Patterns on Brain Function

But this is changing, at it is now perfectly OK to use small letters in titles. For example:

An economic assessment of syrup production in Brazil

One reason for this change is that certain things in science are always with big or small letters, like mRNA or E. coli, and this makes using capital letters in titles complicated.

Whichever you choose (capitalised or uncapitalised titles), use only one style and use it throughout your text.

Good:

Materials and methods

Results and discussion

Also good:

Materials and Methods

Results and Discussion

Bad:

Materials and methods

Results and Discussion