COMMON MISTAKES IN ENGLISH

COMMON MISTAKES

In this section, we’re going to review the common grammatical mistakes made by the non native speakers. Here are some of them:

INCORRECT: No sooner had I arrived home when it began to rain.

CORRECT    : No sooner had I arrived home than it began to rain.

(Inversion: No sooner + auxiliary + subject + verb … than …)

INCORRECT: Charles loves Angel more than Simpson.

CORRECT    : Charles loves Angel more than Simpson does.

(The sentence “Charles loves Angel more than Simpson” means Charles loves Angel more than he loves Simpson. To avoid confusion, put an auxiliary verb as an ellipsis: Charles loves Angel more than Simpson loves Angel. = Charles loves Angel more than Simpson does.)

INCORRECT: I saw where my mistakes lay and how to make up for them.

CORRECT    : I saw where my mistakes lay and how I could make up for them.

INCORRECT: My archrival, Frankie, he scored very high marks in the last test..

CORRECT    : Frankie, my archrival, scored very high marks in the last test.

(Put the additional description between the subject and the verb. Surround it with commas.)

INCORRECT: I felt very difficult to deal with this physics problem.

CORRECT    : I found it very difficult to deal with this physics problem.

INCORRECT: The general meeting is scheduled to be held this afternoon at three.

CORRECT    : The general meeting is scheduled to be held at three this afternoon.

(In a series of adverbs of time, put the specific time expression before the general one.)

INCORRECT: She ran into her boyfriend yesterday morning in Fair Avenue.

CORRECT    : She ran into her boyfriend in Fair Avenue yesterday morning.

(Adverbs in order: manner – place – time.)