Miscellaneous Common Mistakes Among Advanced English Learners
Dec 10, 2011 Libby Wilson
This article explains small errors which are common among people who speak English well. In avoiding these, the learners will sound more like a native.
As stated in an article on common English errors made by Indians, "With all its irregularities, exceptions and rules, English is a very difficult language to master." Even people who speak very good English sometimes phrase their sentences in a way which gives away the fact that it isn't their first language. The following are some of those mistakes, and an explanation of how to say them in a more 'native-like' way.
Compound Adjectives with Numbers
Common examples: a five-year-old boy, a two-week holiday
Nigel J Ross, teacher in the City of Milan School for Interpreters and Translators, concedes that numbers are very frequent in these 'Double-Barrelled Adjectives.' What English learners need to remember is that compound adjectives are invariable. That means that the word after the number does not become plural.
While people understand this phrasing, it doesn't quite sound natural! A better phrase to use would be 'had the chance to.'
When to use 'much' as opposed to 'a lot' can be difficult... for those who haven't visited the Woodward Chile site and heard about this simple rule: much is only used in negative sentences, and questions.
*You have done much today!
You have done a lot today!
It is possible to say 'I don't have a lot of friends,' (even Angelina Jolie says it) but it would be more common to say 'I don't have many friends.'
Possessives Using 'The [Noun] of [Name]'
Common examples: The mother of my girlfriend said, this is the car of my brother.
In general, English speakers opt for using the apostrophe+s form of showing possession, as it is a much quicker way to get the message across.
From time to time, especially when expressing more complex relationships, the longer form may be used.
For example, 'That was the mother of one of my students.' However, it is also possible to say 'That was one of my students' mothers.'
Have You Ever ...?
Now is the time to use everyone's favourite tense: the present perfect. Despite being loathed by English-learners all over the world, it is actually a very useful tense for making small talk. So, when striking up conversation with a new acquaintance, don't ask 'Were you ever in Fiji?', but rather 'Have you ever been to Fiji?' When they start coming back with questions, the answer is 'Yes, I have' or 'No, I haven't.'
As Rodger Woodham states on the BBC World Learning English site, the present perfect is often used with adverbs but, in sentences like the ones above, "yet is understood but not used." Therefore, this construction is useful for any situation where a speaker is asking whether, up until this moment in their life, a person has done or tried something.
For example, 'have you ever bungee-jumped?'
Speaking a foreign language is no easy task, and comes little by little. However, by working to eliminate common errors and clearing up doubts about confusing pairs, learners can sound considerably more like native speakers.
Compound Adjectives with Numbers
Common examples: a five-year-old boy, a two-week holiday
Nigel J Ross, teacher in the City of Milan School for Interpreters and Translators, concedes that numbers are very frequent in these 'Double-Barrelled Adjectives.' What English learners need to remember is that compound adjectives are invariable. That means that the word after the number does not become plural.
- Ninety-Mile beach, *Ninety-Miles beach
- A thirty-minute speech, *a thirty-minutes speech
- I was in the train for five hours *I was in the train for long
- It was a five-hour train ride It was a long train ride
While people understand this phrasing, it doesn't quite sound natural! A better phrase to use would be 'had the chance to.'
- *I had the possibility to do an internship in New Zealand
- I had the chance to do an internship in New Zealand
When to use 'much' as opposed to 'a lot' can be difficult... for those who haven't visited the Woodward Chile site and heard about this simple rule: much is only used in negative sentences, and questions.
*You have done much today!
You have done a lot today!
It is possible to say 'I don't have a lot of friends,' (even Angelina Jolie says it) but it would be more common to say 'I don't have many friends.'
Possessives Using 'The [Noun] of [Name]'
Common examples: The mother of my girlfriend said, this is the car of my brother.
In general, English speakers opt for using the apostrophe+s form of showing possession, as it is a much quicker way to get the message across.
From time to time, especially when expressing more complex relationships, the longer form may be used.
For example, 'That was the mother of one of my students.' However, it is also possible to say 'That was one of my students' mothers.'
Have You Ever ...?
Now is the time to use everyone's favourite tense: the present perfect. Despite being loathed by English-learners all over the world, it is actually a very useful tense for making small talk. So, when striking up conversation with a new acquaintance, don't ask 'Were you ever in Fiji?', but rather 'Have you ever been to Fiji?' When they start coming back with questions, the answer is 'Yes, I have' or 'No, I haven't.'
As Rodger Woodham states on the BBC World Learning English site, the present perfect is often used with adverbs but, in sentences like the ones above, "yet is understood but not used." Therefore, this construction is useful for any situation where a speaker is asking whether, up until this moment in their life, a person has done or tried something.
For example, 'have you ever bungee-jumped?'
Speaking a foreign language is no easy task, and comes little by little. However, by working to eliminate common errors and clearing up doubts about confusing pairs, learners can sound considerably more like native speakers.
Copyright Libby Wilson. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
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