Common Chinese Composition Mistakes Students Must Avoid

Did you know that some of the most common reasons students lose marks in Chinese compositions have little to do with the lack of “good phrases” or 好词好句?

Often, students lose marks not because they lack creativity or good phrases, but because of four key areas:

1. Weak story structure
2. Poor adherence to the theme
3. Lack of detail and description
4. Language errors

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Why Students Lose Easy Marks in Composition

The first step of composition writing is never plunging straight into the task. Many “easy marks” are lost because students start writing before they fully understand the question.

Regardless of the type of composition, students need to analyse the question, identify the task requirements, and prepare a simple outline before writing. This planning step is critical in avoiding the first two major problems outlined above: weak story structure and poor adherence to the theme.

Another step which many students miss out on is the last step of writing: checking. A composition is never done until it is checked and edited. Without this key step, language errors will remain, and descriptions may stay flat or underdeveloped.

Weak Story Structure and How to Fix It

The key to fixing a weak story structure is to understand the parts of a composition, their functions and their relative proportions: introduction (起因), body (经过) and conclusion (结果).

The introduction serves as a hook for the reader, and also introduces the setting and characters clearly, enabling the reader to follow the story easily. The body develops the main tension and climax, showing how each character’s thoughts, emotions and actions change as the story unfolds. This part of the story needs to be fleshed out in detail using descriptive techniques like TEASE.

The conclusion must describe how the tension is resolved. It should also clearly highlight the theme of the story, as well as show what the character has learnt from the incident.

Knowing the functions of each part, we would also know how much time and word count to allocate. The introduction and conclusion should be short and purposeful, while the body needs to be described in greater detail without rambling. The hamburger structure would be a good visual to remind students on the relative proportion of each story part.

Weak story structure usually manifests in three ways:

• overlong or generic introductions
• underdeveloped body
• weak endings that do not highlight the theme (点题)

#1 Overlong/Generic Introduction

An effective introduction should be concise and purposeful. Its job is to introduce the characters, setting, and situation clearly so that the story can begin quickly. A good introduction hooks the reader and makes him want to continue reading.

Thus, the tendency to ramble in their introductions must be curbed. Avoid spending excessive time describing the weather, surroundings, or other background details, unless these are related to the theme or key actions. Otherwise, students would have already used up a significant portion of their word count and writing time, leaving themselves with little room to develop the climax.

“One-size-fits-all” introductions may be convenient, but they are far from ideal. While these openings may sound impressive, they are often generic and do little to advance the story or introduce the main conflict.

A good introduction is not defined by length. Ideally, it should cover the 5W1H. Using techniques like flashback, character introduction or speech would be even better.

Compare and contrast the following introductions. Which is better and why?

Evidently, the third one is the best, even though it is not the longest. Although it uses the simple 开门见山(going directly to the point) technique, it is effective because every sentence pushes the story forward.

#2 Underdeveloped Body

This happens when students rush through the most important part of the story: the main conflict and climax. Instead of slowing down to show what happened, what the character felt, and how the problem developed, they jump from one event to the next too quickly. For example, they may describe how a boy was running late and running in great detail, so that by the time they get to the climax (the collision), they scarcely have enough time to describe the collision and its aftermath.

A strong body should allow the reader to vividly imagine the event. If students only narrate character actions, without balancing them with thoughts, emotions, speech, and expressions, the story will not just be lacking in word count, but also flat.

The fix in this is detailed under “lack of detail or description” in the section below.

#3 Endings That Do Not Signpost The Theme

Similarly, effective conclusions should do more than end the story. They should highlight the theme, show how the character has changed, and leave a lasting impression on the reader. Simply stating what happened at the end is not enough students must highlight the character’s reflections, growth, or the theme of the composition.

For instance, in the picture here, the boy rushes out of home because he is late, which results in an accident as he ran without checking. After reflecting on the incident, the ending should show his determination to be more punctual in future.

Evidently, the third paragraph is the best because it clearly states how the character feels toward the incident, the lesson learnt as well as how he plans to change in the future.

Poor Adherence to the Theme

Poor adherence to the theme is a costly mistake to make: a huge chunk of the marks will be lost. Many students do not realise when they write out of point, stray from the topic, or put the descriptive focus on the wrong areas.

For picture compositions, this is particularly challenging as the theme is up to the student’s interpretation. While there may be a few possible themes, it still needs to meet the following criteria:  

• Matches the actions, expressions, speech and thoughts depicted in the pictures (this means students need to understand character intent and cause-effect across the 5 pictures).
• Follows widely accepted societal values (the theme should not be negative, inappropriate, or lacking in meaningful lessons to be gleaned).
• Focuses on the biggest underlying issue that runs across all 5 pictures, not just one narrow part of the story.
• Combines the narrative across all five pictures (ensuring each picture is considered and not misinterpreted).

For example, if the climax picture shows a student allowing a classmate to copy her answers during a test, the main theme should be honesty and integrity. To centre the story mainly around friendship or helping friends in need would be morally wrong and completely miss the biggest underlying issue.

For title-based compositions (命题作文), students must first identify the key theme in the title (题眼).Throughout the story, they need to keep returning to this focus. Students must avoid drifting off from the theme, especially when they conveniently regurgitate memorised descriptions instead of choosing and crafting descriptions to spotlight the tested theme.

Take for instance the PSLE 2025 title-based question: 一件让别人为我感到骄傲的事. The theme(题眼) is not merely an achievement: it is something you did which made others proud of you(为我感到骄傲).

What does theme drift look like? If the story is about achieving a personal best during Sports Day, for instance, the student may spend most of the composition describing the race, culminating in his victory and sense of pride. If the story stops at this level, it has veered off point. The focus should not be the achievement itself, but how the efforts, attitude or values behind this achievement made others around him proud of him.

Theme drift often happens when students write without referring to an outline. Before starting each new paragraph, students should ask themselves: what is the focus and purpose of this paragraph? How does this relate to the theme? Such mental checks may seem unnecessary, but can prevent costly mistakes.

Language Errors

As Chinese functions more like a second language than a native tongue for many Singaporean students, language errors are common in compositions. These errors usually fall into three main types: misused vocabulary, wrongly written characters, and awkward expressions caused by direct translation.

#1 Misusing Vocabulary Terms

Students may also confuse terms that share one identical character. For instance, students may use “竟然” instead of “果然”. “竟然” is used to express an unexpected situation, while “果然” is used when something happens as expected.

#2 Wrong Characters

Students frequently mix up characters that sound alike or look similar.

For example, they may write “眼泪向断了钱的珠子一样纷纷落下” instead of “眼泪像断了线的珠子一样纷纷落下”. The pair “向” and “像” sound the same, while “钱” and “线” look similar.

#3 Awkward Expressions

This frequently happens due to direct translation from English.

Students may translate word-for-word, or follow English syntax and word order. For example, when trying to say “upon hearing the little girl’s cries, I turned to see what had happened”, a direct translation would be “听到小女孩的哭声，我转身看什么事发生了”. A more natural way to express this is “听到小女孩的哭声，我转过身，看看发生了什么事” or “听到小女孩的哭声，我转过身，看看究竟/到底发生了什么事” . Chinese word order does not always follow English word order, so students need to learn to express ideas naturally in Chinese instead of translating directly.

Students need to stop translating from English to avoid writing statements like “见你在公园(see you at the park)” instead of “我们在公园见！”

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Lack of Detail and Description

Many students struggle to elaborate in compositions because they focus only on describing actions that happened or what could be seen. As a result, their writing often feels like a simple retelling of events rather than a vivid story.

To write more effectively, they need to zoom in on key moments, especially for the climax. Just as a cinematographer relies on techniques to evoke emotions in the audience, so too should aspiring writers. A good writer thinks of a story like a movie, asking himself: which scenes deserve to be featured in more detail? Which moments to zoom in on? How can speech, actions and expressions be used to convey emotion? How can the environment contribute to the mood?

This can be done using the five key descriptive techniques (see our TEASE blogpost), in particular, by focusing on what cannot be “seen”: for instance, the character’s inner thoughts or bodily sensations (to highlight an emotion). Students can imagine themselves using a magnifying glass when describing key scenes – what lies beneath the surface but evokes a powerful image? Even when describing actions, students should also learn to break key actions down into smaller steps—right at the climax. By slowing down and developing these important moments, students can create a more vivid and memorable composition.

How Chinese Tuition Helps Correct These Issues

Knowing the common mistakes students should avoid in Chinese composition writing is helpful. As you read your child’s next composition, try looking beyond the 好词好句. Ask yourself: is the story on point? Is the climax sufficiently developed? Does the ending bring out the theme?

The challenge, however, is that many students cannot identify their own weaknesses without guidance and targeted feedback. As a result, the same mistakes surface composition after composition. Targeted guidance and feedback can make a significant difference in helping students recognise and correct their weaknesses.

At Grade Solution, our Chinese composition programme teaches students how to analyse composition questions, plan compositions, craft effective introductions and conclusions, develop key scenes, and use descriptive techniques purposefully. More importantly, students receive detailed composition marking and personalised feedback, enabling them to understand exactly what went wrong and how they can improve.

With the right guidance, every composition becomes an opportunity to improve. Through regular practice and personalised feedback, students can develop stronger writing habits, refine their writing techniques and become more confident writers.

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