Making grammar mistakes is a natural part of learning a foreign language. Even advanced students make them. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to evolve and correct your grammar and pronunciation mistakes until you sound just like a native speaker.
It takes time to learn a new language. It may take years until you become fluent in it. And during that process, you’re expected to make mistakes. You shouldn’t feel ashamed when that happens. Accepting where you’re at will help you learn how to be confident while speaking English.
All you have to do is practice relentlessly. Improving your English writing, reading, and speaking skills is key to avoiding miscommunication. Below is a list of the most common mistakes people make in English, so you can avoid them.
How to Avoid Making Mistakes in English
There are no specific tips on how to avoid making grammar mistakes in English. However, we’ve decided to highlight some of the most common mistakes below. This will help you keep them in mind in order to avoid them in the future. Having said that, practicing English every day is the most reliable way to make sure you don’t make these mistakes.
If you want to steer clear of grammar mistakes in English, follow these fundamental tips:
- Use online English forums to practice the language regularly
- Write texts in English at least once a day, even if only short ones
- Watch YouTube channels in English every day
- Try to watch your favorite shows and movies in English with English subtitles
- Read texts written in English regularly, even if you need the help of a dictionary
- Use Cambly to talk to a native tutor in English. This way, you won’t need to feel ashamed or afraid of being laughed at.
Most Common Grammar Mistakes in English and How to Avoid Them
The tips above are just generic guidelines. Most of them focus on practicing the language. However, studying some of the most common mistakes people make in English can also help you avoid them. Check them out below.
“It’s” and “Its”
Without the apostrophe, “its” indicates possession, whereas “it’s” is just a contraction of “it is”. You can clearly spot the mistake in the example below:
“The spider spun it’s web. Its a very beautiful web.”
Here, we should use “its” to refer to the spider’s web, since that’s what we’re talking about. In a way, the web belongs to the spider, so there’s that sense of possession. The correct sentence would thus read:
“The spider spun its web. It’s a very beautiful web.”
“Could”, “Should”, and “Would”
“Could” is used in conditional sentences to express a possibility. “Would” can be used both as the past tense of “will” to express a future occurrence in a sentence in the past tense, to indicate common actions in the past tense, or to denote an intention or inclination to do something. “Should” in turn expresses a condition or obligation, but it can also be used as the past tense of “shall”.
“There”, “Their”, and “They’re”
“There” is used to refer to a certain place or position, e.g. “Where is my jacket?” “It’s right there!”
“Their” is a possessive pronoun related to “they”, e.g. “Where are the kids? Their (the kids’) food is getting cold.”
And “they’re” is just a contraction of “they are”.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Although very common, this kind of mistake is considered worse than choosing the wrong words. So, pay attention to verbs! They need to agree with the subject of the sentence in terms of singular/plural (number).
Example:
“The list of books are on the table.”
Since the verb “to be” is connected to the word “list”, not to “books”, it should be in the singular, as “list” is a singular noun.
Correction:
“The list of books is on the table.”
“Watch”, “Look”, and “See”
This may seem like a silly one, but many people get it wrong. If you don’t want to be one of those people, try to remember these tips:
- Look – When you look directly at something or someone, or when you’re looking for (searching) something or someone.
- See – When you see something or someone you’re not necessarily looking for, something or someone that has appeared regardless of your intention.
- Watch – When you observe or pay attention to something or someone moving for a period of time.
Mixing Up Verbs
Mixing up verbs is one of the most common mistakes people make in English. The verb “to be”, for example, is often confused with “to stay” and “to have”. Watch out!
Translation
Do not mentally translate words or sentences from/to your mother language. This is a very common mistake. Many English words do not translate across cultures. Especially if you try to translate slang and idioms. Those can be very specific and therefore won’t be understood if translated.
“To Make” and “To Do”
This is a tricky one. Native speakers just know when to use those verbs because they grew up associating them with specific words and contexts.
As a rule of thumb, use “to do” when someone is performing an action or carrying out a duty. “To make”, on the other hand, usually indicates that someone is producing something.
Need More Tips?
If you want more tips on how to improve your English grammar, talk to one of Cambly’s native tutors. You’ll find several tutors on the course platform that are more than happy to help you learn English.
Since our content is tailored to fit your needs, you can specifically ask for classes on common grammar mistakes in English. In fact, you can book a class to practice any topic you want in English!
