English Polish

Refine non-native English writing for grammar, fluency, tone, and idiomatic expression across academic, business, creative, and casual contexts.

Refine English writing for grammar, fluency, and native-level expression. Covers academic, business, creative, and casual registers.

Description

This skill provides systematic English writing improvement for non-native speakers and anyone looking to elevate their prose. It goes beyond basic grammar correction to address fluency, tone consistency, idiomatic usage, register appropriateness, and stylistic refinement across different writing contexts.

When to Use

• Polishing emails, essays, articles, or reports written in English
• Improving English cover letters, resumes, or LinkedIn profiles
• Refining academic papers written by non-native English speakers
• Making business communications sound more professional
• Elevating casual writing to sound more natural and fluent

Instructions

Review Process

Apply these four layers in order. Each layer builds on the previous.

Layer 1: Grammar & Mechanics

Fix objective errors first:

Category	Common Issues
Subject-verb agreement	"The data show" (plural) vs "The data shows" (common but debated)
Article usage	a/an/the misuse, especially with uncountable nouns
Tense consistency	Unjustified tense shifts within paragraphs
Pronoun reference	Ambiguous "it", "this", "which"
Comma splices	Joining independent clauses with only a comma
Dangling modifiers	"Walking down the street, the trees were beautiful"
Parallelism	"I like reading, writing, and to code" → "reading, writing, and coding"

Layer 2: Fluency & Flow

Address sentence-level smoothness:

Fixes to apply:

• Break sentences over 35 words into shorter ones
• Vary sentence length (mix short punchy sentences with longer analytical ones)
• Remove filler phrases: "in order to" → "to", "due to the fact that" → "because", "at this point in time" → "now"
• Replace weak verbs: "make a decision" → "decide", "give an explanation" → "explain", "have a discussion" → "discuss"
• Use transitional phrases between ideas: however, moreover, in contrast, as a result
• Ensure each paragraph flows logically from the previous one

Common Chinese-English Interference Patterns:

Chinese Pattern	Literal Translation	Natural English
虽然...但是	Although... but...	Although... [no "but"]
我觉得	I feel/think	I believe/In my opinion
毫无疑问	Without doubt	Undoubtedly / Certainly
越来越	More and more	Increasingly / Growing
进行研究	Conduct research	Study / Investigate / Research

Layer 3: Register & Tone

Match the writing level to the context:

Academic: Formal, precise, hedged

• Use: "Furthermore," "Nevertheless," "It has been demonstrated"
• Avoid: contractions, colloquialisms, rhetorical questions

Business: Professional, clear, action-oriented

• Use: "Please find attached," "I'd like to propose," "Looking forward to"
• Avoid: overly academic language, slang, emotional language

Casual/Conversational: Natural, relaxed, direct

• Use: contractions, phrasal verbs, idioms
• Avoid: overly formal constructions, unnecessary complexity

Creative: Engaging, varied, expressive

• Use: sensory language, metaphors, varied sentence structures
• Avoid: clichés, passive voice overuse

Layer 4: Idiomatic Enhancement

Replace literal or awkward phrasing with natural English:

Awkward	Natural
"I'm very agree with you"	"I completely agree"
"It has a big impact to me"	"It had a huge impact on me"
"I have no idea about this"	"I'm not familiar with this"
"I will try my best to do it"	"I'll do my best"
"Every coin has two sides"	"There are two sides to every story"

Output Format

Present corrections as:

text

## English Polish Results

**Overall Level**: [Advanced / Intermediate / Basic]
**Primary Issues**: [Grammar / Fluency / Tone / Idiom]

### Corrections

1. **[Category]** Original → Revised
   Reason: Brief explanation

2. ...

### Refined Version
[Full polished text]

If the text is already near-native, say so — don't force unnecessary changes. Sometimes the original is fine and only minor tweaks are needed.

Examples

Before: "With the development of technology, more and more people begin to use AI tools to improve their work efficiency. Although AI has many advantages, but it also brings some problems."

After: "As technology advances, an increasing number of people are adopting AI tools to boost productivity. While AI offers significant advantages, it also presents new challenges."

Before: "I am writing this email to inform you that we need to have a meeting about the project. Please let me know your available time so that we can schedule it."

After: "I'd like to schedule a meeting to discuss the project. Could you share your availability this week?"

Before: "The reason why I chose this topic is because it is very interesting and nobody has researched it before."

After: "I chose this topic because it raises intriguing questions that remain underexplored in the literature."

Tips

• Read the polished text aloud — if it sounds awkward to say, it's not fluent enough
• Less is more: if a word doesn't add meaning, remove it
• Prefer active voice unless passive serves a specific purpose (academic method descriptions, diplomatic language)
• Keep the author's voice — don't rewrite their personality out of the text
• For academic writing, prefer "this study demonstrates" over "it is demonstrated by this study"