Hey guys! It's Anna. And this is the "English Fluency
Journey"
for this video
I put together the most common grammar mistakes that English learners make
Even advanced students make,
I made, still can make sometimes.
But especially those who are at an intermediate level.
. And I’m not saying beginners, because it’s kind of
obvious. Before we get into this
I want you to know that, I don’t want you to feel embarrassed
about this. It doesn’t mean that you’re stupid.
And people who allow themselves to criticize
you or say things like “you should really
work on your grammar” “your grammar is so
bad”. Just don’t listen to this.
Yes! You should work on your grammar, just like everybody else.
Everybody makes mistakes – it doesn’t
matter what they think or what they say.
Believe me if you're learning if
working on yourself, you're improving every day.
You are a very intelligent, smart
person. This is not your first
language. Making mistakes is a part of the learning process.
And I know what some people might think. “ But if a
person isn’t aware of their mistakes and I want to tell them. It doesn’t make
me a bad person.” – No, it doesn’t.
But do it nicely. Think before saying something.
Your words may have a huge impact
on someone, so think!
If you really want to help someone and not just
show how smart you are, then say this in private and
kindly, like “I’m sorry
I noticed that you make this mistake a lot and maybe
you’re not aware of that. So this is just so you know and you can
fix this”. And this is the most important
thing in fixing your mistakes.
You have to know, , you have to be aware of the mistakes you’re making.
And that’s why we’re talking about this in this video.
These are the basics, but the most common mistakes
at the same time. The first one is
forgetting to add -s or -es at the end of
verbs in the third person singular noun
or pronoun, like He, She, It.
I’m not talking about forming plural nouns like:
tables, cars, trees, buildings
that’s not it. Or forming the possessive. Like
“This is my cat’s bowl.” or "These are my
husbands pants."
This is when we form a sentence in the Present Simple
Tense, that we use to talk about repeated actions,
habits, facts or general truths,
or scheduled event’s in the near future.
for example
And in some cases, we can use the Present simple tense to talk about actions,
to talk about actions, that are happening now.
This is when we use non-continuous
verbs like smell, believe,
appear, need to talk about
ongoing situation. So we can't say
it is correct to say. OR
it's correct to say
right now. So, you noticed
This is where confusion comes and mistakes
happen. You have to memorize that in the
Present Tense
in the third person singular
to the infinitive
And some example sentences
No s is added to the verb "like"
because KIDS it’s plural.
And, then the second mistake that flows from
the first one is using DO and
DOES in questions and statements. So
DO DOES once again is used in the
present simple tense to form a question and a
negative statement. Also
when answering a question and
emphasizing something. Like:
And, the mistake is
that people use DO, but forget to use
does or don’t understand when
to use does.
So remember
Then with plural
And You can be plural as well, like in
I hope you do
Then
Example sentences
I'm making an emphasis
Especially pay attention to situations when,
for example someone asks your child
but you give an answer and you say
but it's supposed to be
I get it because you heard don’t
you in a question and that confused you, but it's supposed
to be "I think she does" And one more
mistake, the thing that is confusing
Remember when we use DOES
we don’t add S or ES to a verb.
Like for example
The third mistake is not
using at all or misusing AM, IS,
ARE. They are used in the Present
simple tense and the Present progressive tense with
nouns or pronouns. It’s the verb
“ to be” in different forms. So
when we’re talking about something that is happening
right now in the moment of speaking, we use the
Present progressive tense,
or for some fixed plans in the near future,
repetition and irritation
usually with the word “always”. And for some
temporary actions that are in progress
now. It is formed using
And we’ve talked the Present Simple a little earlier in this video.
one more example
It is said in the Present simple Tense because it’s a fact.
What I want you to remember
is that we use
I’m it's the contraction of I am
and with plurals like
A common mistake is that people forget about these auxiliary
verbs and say something like “it very delicious”,
or misusing them, like
“She are a great teacher” So don’t forget
about them and don't drop them. Some example sentences
Then also don’t forget to use
them in questions by inverting the
subject and am/is/are. Like
And of course let’s not forget about passive constructions. Like
The mistake number 4 Present simple
vs Present progressive tense
And the mistake is that people usually use
present simple when present progressive is needed.
Like for example instead of saying
the say
or instead of
they say
or when answering a question like
What are you doing
and it's supposed to be
because this is what you're doing right now
And you actually have a cue in the question
"What are you DOING?" that indicates that you have to
answer in the present Progressive tense.
And very often I can hear questions like:
“Why is he cry?” or
“Do you speaking English?” Can you find the
mistakes in these questions? Write them down in the comments.
The mistake number 5. Did and a
verb in the past tense
WE use DID in the Past
simple tense in questions and
negative statements. Which is used to show
that a completed action took place at a specific
time in the past. Some example sentences
And we’re making a positive statement in the Past
Simple tense by adding ED ending
to regular verbs or using an
appropriate form of irregular verbs.
And what people usually do is that when they ask
a question, they use Did and a
verb in the past tense, together in a question, like
Remember when we’re asking a question
question or making a negative statement in the Past Simple tense
we use Did + infinitive.
And the number 6
Misusing WERE and WAS.
They can be used either in the past simple
tense, that we’ve just talk about or
in the past progressive tense for actions that were
in progress at a specific time the past
For example answering a question “Where were you last night?”
You can sometimes hear
and it's supposed to be
So, remember, with
we use. And with plurals
we use
Of course all the tenses and articles and
articles prepositions are very confusing as well.
But this video is about the most common basic mistakes,
and here is where a lot of confusion happens
And these are the things that I noticed. So,
you might think right now “How can
I avoid making those mistakes?” And my
answer is ‘You don’t want to avoid
making those mistakes” That’s not news for
you. I know that. A lot of people say this.
But why? From my experience, as I’m still
in the position of a language learner.
I can say the best way to fix this situation is
First, of course to use
a language as much as possible. And, then here
inevitably when you’re talking to someone
you’re going to make mistakes. And, when
you’re making mistakes in real life conversations
with people - it’s awkward, it's
upsetting right? But in such moments your brain
kind of works the best. It thinks “ Ok
that was a bad feeling, and that was because we’ve made that
mistake
We don’t want to feel it again, let’s just remember this!”
At least that’s how it is for me and
for people that I’ve talked to about this.
And, well as long as you know that you’re making a mistake.
Because when you’re in a classroom
working with a teacher and making mistakes there
and a teacher corrects you, of course.
It’s kind of a safe place. Remember your feelings.
You're not stressed. You’re relaxed
You’re not even trying to remember this. And that why people
are so surprised sometimes and I would even say indignant.
Because they study English for years
and then still make mistakes. Because you need to go out there. Into the real world.
Put yourself in those awkward situations.
Make mistakes and learn from them. This is
actually how we learn!
I’m not an exception I make mistakes a lot when I’m speaking. And what usually
happens is either I speak,
pause when I need to think of a word or grammar
or I make a mistake, correct myself and keep talking.
I hope that this information helps you
to pay attention and detect your mistakes.
If you need a more detailed explanation of those grammar
points, you can always find it online.
I always encourage people to do research
and to learn to self-educate.
I think it’s a vital skill.
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See ya!