This blog is my attempt to make it easier to give feedback on my students' writing. Posts and links aim to help students understand my feedback and error-correction codes, and to respond to feedback appropriately. The ultimate aim is to make all of my students better at editing their own work, and at writing academic assignments in the future.

Tuesday, 7 August 2012

Word Class and Word Form


I make a distinction between WORD CLASS and WORD FORM which might seem small at first, but has an important effect on how you might correct the error. Take the following example:

It is so highly concentrated that the liquidity of the HKD market is relative slower.

"Relative" is a problem of WORD CLASS.  The writer has used an adjective, but they need an adverb.  "Slower" is an adjective, and the writer needs an adjective, but it's not quite right for their purpose. The problem is WORD FORM.  The adjective they need is "slow", not the comparative form "slower".  This is like the difference between "bored" and "boring", both forms of the word are adjectives, but carry a different meaning. You're probably bored now, because this blog is boring.

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