COMMON MISTAKES

In this article I’m going to show you some common mistakes made by ESL learners. Go through the examples and make sure you understand the corrections.

INCORRECT: Please supply us with 12 pieces of cushion covers.

CORRECT    : Please supply us with 12 cushion covers.

[We use quantifier ‘piece of’ with uncountable nouns, eg.: a piece of paper, 12 pieces of paper.]

INCORRECT: Do you like to play the baseball?

CORRECT    : Do you like to play baseball?

[We don’t use ‘the’ with sports.]

• He hit me with a baseball.  (baseball as a ball.)

• He likes to play baseball.  (baseball as a kind of sport.)

INCORRECT: I looked at me in the mirror.

CORRECT    : I looked at myself in the mirror.

[Use reflexive pronoun when you do something for/to/by yourself.]

• I accidentally cut myself. (do something to yourself)

• She sent a birthday gift for herself because she has no friends.

• He did it himself. (do something by himself)

INCORRECT: He has a little interesting shop.

CORRECT    : He has an interesting little shop.

[The adjective that express opinion, such interesting, beautiful, nice, and so on comes first before the adjective that describes size or shape.]

INCORRECT: The frigthen woman screamed.

CORRECT    : The frightened woman screamed.

[‘Frightened’ is a past participle (verb -ed) functioned as an adjective modifying the noun woman.]

INCORRECT: She is taller compared to Ali.

CORRECT    : She is taller than Ali.

— Use comparative adjective to compare two things.

INCORRECT:  I hope you would do it quickly.

CORRECT    : I hope you will do it quickly

— In Standard English would is used in conjunction with the past tense. It can be used with the present tense if a condition is involved. eg. [I think she would benefit if she studied a little more.]

INCORRECT: I want to know what is the matter?

CORRECT    : I want to know what the matter is.

— “I want to know what the matter is” is an embedded question. An embedded question is a polite way of asking a question by adding another question to it. Note that the later sentence is no longer in question form.

INCORRECT: He cut his hair.

CORRECT    : He had his hair cut.

— “He had his hair cut” means someone else cut his hair, not himself. “He cut his hair” means he cut his own hair by himself. Think for one second, can you cut your own hair? – No, of course you can’t.

INCORRECT: I’m having a headache.

CORRECT    : I have a headache. OR I’ve got a headache.

— Have/has is used to refer to possession (I have a car) or sensation (I have a cold).

INCORRECT: I’ll give to you next week.

CORRECT    : I’ll give it to you next week.

— ‘Give’ is a transitive verb; it needs an object.

INCORRECT: My one is very nice.

CORRECT    : Mine is very nice.

— You may say, “My ‘steak’ is very nice”. OR “Mine is very nice.” ‘One’ is used to avoid repetition in a sentence. Eg.: Which dress should I wear? The black or the brown one?” ‘One’ refers to the dress.

INCORRECT: Though I told him not to come but he insisted.

CORRECT    : Though I told him not to come, he insisted.

— ‘But’ is redundant in the sentence. ‘Though’ (or although and even though) is used as a subordinating conjunction to show opposition. ‘But’ is also used to show opposition. You may say, “Though I told him not to come, he insisted.” OR “I told him not to come, but he insisted.”