The comma splice — and why it is a Chinese problem specifically
In Chinese, a comma (逗号) can legitimately join two complete clauses. That is a normal, correct feature of written Chinese.
In English it is an error, and it is the most common punctuation mistake in IELTS essays. Chinese writers produce it at a much higher rate than other learners, for a completely rational reason: they are applying a rule that is correct in their own language.
- Pollution is a serious problem, it affects everyone. ✗
- Many students work part-time, they need the money. ✗
The fix is not a full stop. Short simple sentences are accurate and show no range, which caps you around 6 from the other direction. Add the word that names the relationship:
| Fix | Result |
|---|---|
| Full stop | Pollution is a serious problem. It affects everyone. — correct, no range. |
| Subordinator | Because it affects everyone, pollution is a serious problem. — complex sentence. |
| Relative clause | Pollution, which affects everyone, is a serious problem. — complex sentence. |
Read your essay for commas, not for meaning. Cover everything before each comma: is what remains a complete sentence? If yes, it is a splice.
Because…so, and although…but
Chinese requires both halves of these pairs. 因为…所以… and 虽然…但是…. English allows only one, and using both is a clear, immediate error.
| Wrong (Chinese pattern) | Right (choose one) |
|---|---|
| Because it rained, so we stayed home. | Because it rained, we stayed home. / It rained, so we stayed home. |
| Although he is rich, but he is unhappy. | Although he is rich, he is unhappy. / He is rich, but he is unhappy. |
This is one of the cleanest rules on this page: one connector per relationship. It takes five minutes to learn and it appears in almost every essay.
The endings Chinese does not have
Chinese verbs do not inflect. Tense is carried by time words (昨天 yesterday, 了) rather than by changing the verb, and nouns do not mark plural. So English's endings feel redundant — the sentence already says yesterday, so why change the verb too?
English requires both, and dropping the ending is expensive: it deletes grammar the examiner is listening for, and it costs you on grammar and pronunciation together.
- Yesterday I go to the shop. → Yesterday I went to the shop.
- She work here. → She works here.
- Many student come. → Many students come.
- He has live here for ten years. → He has lived here for ten years.
Say them out loud. Chinese phonology does not use final consonant clusters, so /kt/ in walked and /ks/ in works are physically unfamiliar — and if you cannot produce them, you will not write them either.
The missing 'be'
In Chinese, an adjective can act as the predicate on its own — 她很漂亮 needs no verb. English always needs one.
- She very beautiful. → She is very beautiful.
- The weather very cold today. → The weather is very cold.
- This problem very serious. → This problem is very serious.
And the mirror image: 很 is required in Chinese but very is not required in English, so very gets overused. She is beautiful is a complete, natural sentence. If you want the intensifier, use a precise one — strikingly, genuinely — or a stronger adjective.
'There have' and other 有 problems
有 covers both there is and have, so the two collapse together in English.
- There have many people. → There are many people.
- In my city have a big park. → There is a big park in my city.
- Our country have a long history. → Our country has a long history.
The rule: there is / there are for existence. have / has for possession. They are never interchangeable in English.
Topic-prominent sentences
Chinese is a topic-prominent language: you announce the topic, then comment on it. English is subject-prominent, and the transfer produces sentences that are comprehensible but visibly non-native.
- This problem, we must solve it. → We must solve this problem.
- Learning English, it is very important. → Learning English is very important.
- My hometown, the weather is very good. → The weather in my hometown is very good.
Find the subject, put it first, and give it a verb. This also tightens your writing, which helps the word count you were worried about.
Smaller errors worth fixing
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| I very like it. | I like it very much. / I really like it. |
| informations, advices, equipments | information, advice, equipment — all uncountable |
| According to my opinion | In my opinion / I think |
| With the development of society… | Delete it. It is a memorised opener and it says nothing. |
| More and more people pay attention to… | Overused to the point of being a cliché. Say who and why. |
| Open the light | Turn on the light |
| I will go to home. | I will go home. (no preposition) |
| Everyone have their own opinion. | Everyone has… (everyone is singular) |
Articles — last, on purpose
Chinese has no articles, so a and the are genuinely hard and will take years. They are not what is capping your band.
Learn one distinction now, because it recurs in every essay and it changes your meaning: general statements take no article (Children need exercise), specific ones take the (The children in my class need exercise). Everything else comes with exposure.
Spend the time you were going to spend on articles on comma splices instead. That one is fixable in a week and it is worth far more.
Frequently asked questions
Why do Chinese speakers write comma splices in English?
Because a comma can legitimately join two complete clauses in Chinese — it is a correct feature of written Chinese, transferred into a language where it is an error. That is why Chinese writers produce run-ons at a higher rate than other learners. It costs twice: punctuation sits inside the grammar criterion, and a comma states no relationship between the ideas, which damages coherence.
How do I fix a comma splice?
Not with a full stop — short simple sentences are accurate and show no range, which caps you from the other direction. Add the word that names the relationship: 'Because it affects everyone, pollution is a serious problem', or 'Pollution, which affects everyone, is a serious problem'. Both are complex sentences containing exactly the same ideas as the splice, plus the thing that was missing.
Can I say 'Although... but...' in English?
No. Chinese requires both halves of 虽然...但是, and English allows only one. 'Although he is rich, but he is unhappy' is an error — write either 'Although he is rich, he is unhappy' or 'He is rich, but he is unhappy'. The same applies to 因为...所以: 'Because it rained, so we stayed home' should use either 'because' or 'so', never both.
Why do I forget the -s and -ed endings?
Because Chinese verbs do not inflect — tense is carried by time words rather than by changing the verb, and nouns do not mark plural. So the endings feel redundant when the sentence already says 'yesterday'. English requires both, and dropping the ending deletes grammar the examiner is listening for, costing you on grammar and pronunciation at once. Practise them out loud, since final consonant clusters are physically unfamiliar in Chinese.
Is 'With the development of society' a good essay opener?
No — it and 'more and more people pay attention to' are so common in Chinese candidates' essays that examiners recognise them instantly as memorised template language, which is marked down separately from your other scores. They also contain no information. Start with your actual idea.