这部分的错误是因为中文直译所引起的普遍的句法错误。很明显，中文和英文的句法和词序有许多不同，因此，当中国学生用汉语的思路去思考并且直接译成英文时，就会出现错误。这里列出了很多诸如此类的错误。我们先给出中文句子和错误的英文翻译，以便读者能看到这两种句型的类似点，找到产生错误的根本原因。
Example 7:
“Later”and “before”（。。。后/。。。前）
学生们经常误用“later”和“before”，让我们先看“later”。
My students often use the words “later”and “before”incorrectly。Let’s start by looking at“later”：
我很饿，我们五分钟后吃饭吧。
Incorrect English：
“I’m really hungry.Let’ s eat lunch five minutes later。”
Correct English：
“I’m really hungry.Let’s eat lunch in five minutes。”
解释：
表达“从现在开始的某段时间以后”时，我们必须用“In +某段时间”，而不能把“以后”译成“later”。在英语里，我们不能用“某段时间+later”。要表达“从现在开始的五分钟以后”。应该说“in five minutes”。在下面的例子里，这种说法适于表达任何长度的时间。
Explanation：
To express “（a certain amount of time）in the future from now” we have to say “in（a certain amount of time）”。We cannot just translate “以后”as “later”。We cannot say “（a certain amount of time）later。”To express “five minutes in the future from now” we say “in five minutes”。Notice in the following examples that this way of speaking can be used for very short，very long，and moderate lengths of time。
Examples：
“In six months，I m going to leave China and go home to work as an engineer。”
“Mary hopes to be rich and married with kids in twenty years。”
（on the phone）“I` m going to leave my apartment in ten minutes。It takes twenty minutes to get to your apartment by bike，so I` ll probably get to your apartment in half an hour。”
“The sun will blow up and engulf the earth in about 100 million years。”
再看“before”：
Now let` s look at “before”：
我两周前买了这本书。
Incorrect English：
“I bought this book two weeks before。”
Correct English：
“I bought this book two weeks ago。”
解释：
要表达“从现在开始的某段时间以前”，我们必须用“某段时间+ago”形式，不能把“以前”译成“before”，我们不能用“某段时间+before”形式. 表达“现在开始的两周前”应说“two weeks ago”. 在下面的例子，这种说法适用于任何长度的时间。
Explanation：
To express “（a certain amount of time）before now”we have to say “（a certain amount of time） ago.”We cannot just translate “以前”as “before. ”We cannot say “（a certain amount of time）before.”To express “two weeks before now”we say “two weeks ago. ”Notice in the following examples that this way of speaking can be used for very short，very long，and moderate lengths of time.
Examples：
“Julie just left thirty seconds ago。She is probably walking down the stairs.”
“I cooked this rice three hours ago。It` s too cold to eat now.”
“Ten years ago Ian graduated from Harvard University with a biology degree”.
“The dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago.”
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