Some of the most common non-English language speaking mistakes

When learning any new language there are always pitfalls we need to look out for and those of currently learning the English language, you will no doubt come across plenty of common errors that many students unknowingly make.

However, it is important to stress that we all make mistakes and they are a part of learning any new skill.

Here at Harvest English Institute, it’s our job to help guide our students throughout their English language learning journeys, studying across all four of our campus’. One of the best things you can do to try and avoid making mistakes when speaking or writing in any new language is to be aware of the most likely ones and gain an understanding as to how you can avoid them.

To help you out, below are some common mistakes to look out for that you are likely to make when learning English.

Do any of these sound familiar?

1. Understanding the correct placement of “is”. A common mistake made by non-English speakers, for example: “Do you know who is she?” Instead, the correct way to say this is: “Do you know who she is?”.

2. Adding er or est to the end the end of an adjective? Remember not to include “more” before. For example, things do not get “more easier”, they just get “easier”. However, if the adjective does not follow this pattern, in most cases “more” can be used.

3. When to you use “one” vs. “a”: In English, a single item is not normally counted, for example: “I’m going to buy one coat” would normally be said as follows: “I’m going to buy a coat”.

4. A common grammatical mistake in English is confusing “it’s” with “Its”. “It’s” is short for “it is”, so you could say for example: “It’s raining outside”. When using “its”, think of “it has”. An example of this is: “its rained outside”

5. For all Spanish speakers, it is important to take into consideration that “fun” and “funny” are the same word: “divertido”. Whereas, in English, “the play is funny”, but “going to see a play is fun.”

6. Don’t forget to include “for”. In some languages, the word “for” is built into a verb which can mean it gets left out of sentence, for example: “wait us”. When in fact the correct way to phrase this is: “wait for us”.

7. The same goes for “to”. In English, it is not built into the verb. So, for example: “Explain me” should be: “Explain to me”.

8. The correct use of “dear”. In English, using “dear” in the place of someone’s name is informal and normally only used between family members and close friends. You would not use “dear” to a stranger or someone you have recently met. For example, you would not say “Hi Dear” to a new acquaintance. Instead refer to them by their name: “Hi John”.

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9. The meaning of watch, look and see are often confused in English. Try to remember the following when using these three verbs:

   1. Look – is to look directly at something

   2. See – is to see something, for example: in the distance

   3. Watch – is to look at something that is normally moving

10. Know your audience when deciding whether to use casual or formal language. When meeting people in an informal situation you might say: “Hey, great to meet you”. Whereas, at a job interview, it would be polite to say: “Hello, pleased to meet you.”

We hope this brief overview has been useful. If you have faced your own challenges when learning English, feel free to share them with us in the comments below.