As an editor, I specialize in working with writers whose native language is not English. That work began nearly 30 years ago when, as a professor, I taught many students whose first language was Spanish. Now, I edit work from writers whose first language might be Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, French or the like. While my students' papers were and clients' manuscripts are well thought out, they often had/have difficulty making the transition from their own language to English. Without fluency and a deep understanding of English as a written language, these writers face difficulties most native English speakers don't face. Part of the reason for this is an unfamiliarity with the rules of the English grammar and part of it stems from the fundamental differences between the way languages influence how people communicate and think.

Rules of Grammar

Every language, including its dialects, has its own set of grammar rules which determine word choice, sentence order, punctuation and more. This leads to the question, "What happens when the rules of one language are applied to another?" As examples two languages with differing grammatical rules, let's compare Spanish and English.

This not to say that native Spanish-speakers are the only writers to face this problem. Nor is it that they are somehow better or worse at understanding and applying English grammar than any other language speakers. The same issues exist for native speakers of English, Arabic, Chinese, Sewali, Russian and many more when writing in a foreign language.

Though there are many differences in grammar rules between English and Spanish, the following table presents a few.

Differences between English and Spanish grammar rules

Grammar Topic	English	Spanish
Gender	No grammatical gender for nouns (except natural gender for people/animals)	All nouns have grammatical gender (masculine/feminine)
Adjective Placement	Usually before the noun Example: "the red car"	Usually after the noun Example: "el coche rojo"
Subject Pronouns	Always required Example: "I eat" (must use "I")	Often omitted (verb conjugation indicates subject) Example: "Como" ("I eat" - no pronoun needed)
Verb Tenses	Fewer tenses; uses auxiliaries heavily Example: "I have eaten" (present perfect)	More tenses with distinct conjugations Example: "he comido" vs "comí"
Double Negatives	Not standard; considered incorrect Example: "I don't want anything"	Required for emphasis Example: "No quiero nada"
Possessives	Apostrophe + s Example: "Mary's book"	Use "de" (of) construction Example: "el libro de María"
Prepositions	"a" and "the" remain separate Example: "to the store"	Contraction with articles Example: "al" (a + el), "del" (de + el)
Reflexive Verbs	Less common; use phrasal verbs Example: "I wake up"	Very common with reflexive pronouns Example: "Me despierto"
Word Order	Strict Subject-Verb-Object Example: "I read books"	More flexible; emphasis through position Example: "Leo libros" or "Libros leo"

This table created with the help of Anthropic's AI, Claude (Sonnet 4.5).

Let's look at the way those rules are expressed in each language within the same message.

English: I am going to take my blue car to the main, downtown library.
Spanish: Voy a llevar mi coche azul a la biblioteca principal del centro.

Each sentence will make perfect sense to a native speaker of each language. But what happens if a Spanish speaker applies the rules of Spanish when writing in English?

The result: Going to to take my car blue to the library main of the downtown.

Sure, a native English speaker can make sense out of the sentence eventually, but that is a short example. When writers applying the grammar rules from their first language to a second language—especially in a longer entire essay or article—it can cause native speakers of the second language to not receive the author's message.

Language Structure

As a professor who corrected thousands of papers, I saw a noticeable difference between those written by students whose first language was English and those, for example, whose was Spanish. A major reason for this came to my attention during a seminar conducted by a Communication Department colleague.

My colleague showed us two diagrams.

She explained that, for the most part, English, like an arrow, is a straight, direct language which moves quickly to its point. This means that native English-speakers think linearly, in a straight line that gets them quickly to their point in each sentence. On the other hand, Spanish is an indirect language which considers multiple ideas between the sentence's beginning and end. Therefore, native Spanish-speakers, for the most part, wander and circle around everything that may be related to the sentence's subject before completing a sentence.

Examples

A native Spanish-speaker writing in English using English grammar rules but using the spiral sentence/thought pattern of Spanish might write: I went to the new store down the block with the big white sign to get some beer for my Uncle Marty who is my mother's brother from San Diego and drinks too much, but I love him, so I'll get him want he wants, a six pack of Corona.

A native English-speaker expressing the same thoughts in English might write: I went to the store to get some beer for Uncle Marty. He is my mother's brother who lives in San Diego. He drinks too much. I love him. I will buy him a six-pack of Corona.

Notice that the Spanish speaker puts many ideas into the same sentence while the English speaker breaks the thoughts into separate sentences. Again, neither way of expressing this is wrong when writing in either's native language, but when writing in another language, it can become an issue.

Furthermore, when the difference in the rules of grammar and syntax in Spanish also are applied by a native Spanish-speaker to the already spiraled English, the sentence becomes nearly impossible for a native English-speaking to understand: Went to the store new down the block with the sign big white to get some beer for my Uncle Marty who is the brother of my mother from San Diego and drinks too much, but him I love, so will get him what he wants, a pack of six of Corona.

So, how does one avoid these problems when one must write?

AI Editing

This will be the obvious choice for many writers because it is easy and often cheap. But it is the WRONG CHOICE. Sure, the result might be a grammatically perfect document, but it will destroy the write's voice. The combination of thought, word, rhythm and flow that is unique to each writer will be replaced by the inhuman, unnatural-sounding voice of a machine which spreads that mechanical voice across every text it edits.

To be clear, I am not saying there isn't a place for AI in the writing process, but that role should be limited to assisting during the pre-writing process. Using AI to conduct research, writing outlines, etc. is fine. Using AI to check punctuation or format references is also okay, but having it suggest or change the text, even by using Grammarly, can deaden the writing. And if writers are writing in an academic setting, even the smallest bit of AI-generated text can get them accused of cheating.

Human Editor

For now, and in the near future, using a human to edit a manuscript written in a language that is not the writer's first language is by far the BEST SOLUTION. Unlike an AI, a human professional editor has the education and experience to deliver an edit which keeps the writer's voice intact.

Here is an example of an actual edit made to one paragraph of a document written by a native Russian speaker:

Russian Speaker Writing in English

Edit by a Native English Speaker

I was led to medicine by a man with a neat white beard and a kind squint from under his glasses. Even before I set foot in medical school, he revealed to me that every patient is like a unique gem, and their diseases are lenses that let us glimpse at the shimmer. This revelation stayed with me and resonated deeply as I started my medical career at a city hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst the pandemic's turmoil, I witnessed a spectrum of reactions among patients battling severe respiratory failure. Those who somehow found the courage to stay calm often emerged as survivors. In my eyes, it emphasized the importance of making maximal effort to alleviate their fear and enhance their comfort. "You will overcome it, I believe in you", "I will be here the whole night through, so I am near", fluff a pillow or stroke a hand. Anything than could let them feel that they are truly cared for. The man with whom I began is Oliver Sacks, an author of books about "romantic medicine", from the first pages of which I understood that I wanted to be a doctor. A doctor who sees beyond symptoms and truly embraces the human behind the illness.

The man who led me to practice medicine had a neat white beard and, from behind his glasses squinted kindly at the world. As a teenager, long before I set foot in medical school, he showed me that every patient is unique as a gem and that their diseases act as lenses through which we glimpse their glimmering souls. That man was Oliver Sacks, author of books about "romantic medicine." After the first pages of his I read, I wanted to become a doctor who sees beyond symptoms and truly embraces the human behind the illness, and that is what I became. Years later, Sacks' thoughts still resonated deeply as I started my medical career at a city hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst that turmoil, I witnessed the spectrum of reactions among those patients battling severe respiratory failure. Those who somehow found the courage to remain calm often emerged as the survivors. My pandemic experiences emphasized the importance of putting maximum effort into alleviating patients' fear while enhancing their comfort. Simple things such as saying, "You will overcome this," "I believe in you," and "I will be here through the whole night" or taking a moment to fluff a pillow or stroke a hand let them know that they were truly cared for.

If your first language is not English and you want to have a well-written document in English, I hope you will contact me to edit your manuscript. In any case, I urge you to find an editor with a native speakers understanding of English.