Eat Sleep Dreamer welcome back to another video with me Tom, the Chief Dreamer. I'm
here to teach you fresh modern British English so that you can take your English to the next
level and achieve your life goals. Now I've got a really really fun one today because
we're looking at the ten common mistakes that native English speakers. That's right guys.
We make mistakes all the time, so I thought it would be really useful for you guys to
see what kind of mistakes they make and how to correct them so that next time you don't
make those mistakes either. Alright, this is going to be a fun one. All that's coming
right up.
The first common mistake that native English speakers make is with this one, Your and you're.
Now the pronunciation is the same but it's when it's written that the mistakes happen.
So we'll take the first one. Your without the apostrophe. Now this is the possessive
adjective. For example 'Is this your coat?' So there it's the possessive, not my coat,
your coat. So a possessive adjective has no apostrophe but when we put the apostrophe
in that's a contraction of you are. So 'You're tall' or 'You're a great person'. So the pronunciation
of your and you're is exactly the same but the meaning is very different. Now words that
sound the same are called homonyms like your and you're for example. These are two homonyms.
So this is the cause of many mistakes for native English speakers is that they sound
the same but when it comes to the written version there's a difference and people don't
always remember or they don't know that there's a difference. So we'll probably come across
quite a few homonyms as we go through this video.
Ok, so related to that is a classic example it's. Now one is without the apostrophe and
one is with the apostrophe. The pronunciation is exactly the same but again when it's written
that's when the problems occur. So without the apostrophe it's a possessive adjective
again. It's a determiner. So it's the possessive of it. For example 'The house has its own
swimming pool.' The its there is possessive relating to the house. But with the apostrophe
it's a contraction again of it is or it has. For example 'It's been a wonderful day, thank
you so much.' There it's a contraction of it has. 'Ok, it's your turn now.' That's the
contraction of it is. It's your turn now. Ok, so with the apostrophe it's a contraction
of it is or it has without the apostrophe it's the possessive determiner of it.
Alright, this is the big one! This is the one that I hear people get wrong so so often.
Even when you are walking around London and you are kind of listening to people talking,
I hear it used incorrectly so often. And maybe occasionally I might also make that mistake
but hey that's all part of being a speaker. Sometimes you do make mistakes. Now the words
here, less and fewer. Now I'm sure a lot of you right now are screaming at the video 'I
know how to use fewer and less' but you so often you English learners know the English
grammar way better than most native English speakers. So you know exactly how to use fewer
and less and yet we still sometimes make mistakes. So let's look at the rules about how to use
less and fewer and then we'll look at some practice examples. Alright, so the important
thing here is to think about is the noun countable or uncountable. So with less, we are using
uncountable nouns things that you cannot count for example time. Time as an idea we cannot
count. Money again as an idea we can't count. I know we can literally count money but as
a concept we don't count it. So for example 'These days I feel like I have less time to
relax'. Now with fewer we are using that with countable nouns so things you can count. Ok,
so dogs or cats or houses or shoes. We use fewer with all those countable nouns. Now
the complication comes when there's a word that could be either countable or uncountable.
Let's take coffee for example. Now coffee as a mass noun, as a concept, is uncountable.
'I don't drink that much coffee'. So we're going to use less with coffee because it's
uncountable so 'I'm trying to drink less coffee.' However, we can make coffee countable by thinking
about the drink itself, like a drink. So 'I had a coffee this morning'. Now a coffee,
it's countable. 'I had two coffees this morning.' So now it has become countable we can use
fewer. 'I had fewer coffees than you today.' We can also make it countable with a cup of
coffee. So there we are making it countable by adding a cup of coffee and then you can
count it. 'I had two cups of coffee' 'three cups of coffee'. So again now we're using
fewer because it's countable. So 'I'm trying to drink fewer cups of coffee every day.'
Same could be with beer, ok? So beer or wine, any drink pretty much. 'I'm drinking fewer
pints of beer than I used to.' But we can make it uncountable by thinking about the
mass noun beer 'I drink less beer than I used to.' So think about the noun, is it countable?
Is it uncountable? And then you decide fewer or less. It's not too tricky. It takes practise,
that's the important thing.
This one is a classic one that a lot of people mistake in written English. And that's the
contractions of i.e. and e.g. Now we are going to need quite an intellectual professor to
talk us through what they mean. Hello everybody, I'm professor Tom and I'll be teaching you
i.e. and e.g. i.e. comes from the Latin which means id est. repeat after me, id est. Id
est. i.e. essentially means in other words. An example sentence 'I'll be away all summer
i.e. June to August.' In other words June to August. You at the back, listen! Sorry.
e.g. stands for exempli gratia. Repeat after me, exempli gratia. Pay attention boy. Exempli
gratia. You're not listening, exempli gratia. e.g. basically means for example. For example
'I have visited many countries in Asia e.g. Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.' Please remember
that this is in written English i.e. and e.g. are written English. If you want to say them
in spoken English you would say i.e. and for example. Class dismissed.
This one causes huge problems, even for, even for me I'm going to be honest with you. I
get this one wrong, so let's look at the differences. Who and whom. Now, the key concept here is
that who is used as the subject of the sentence and whom is used as the object of the verb
or the preposition. .For example 'Who wants some cake?' Who there is the subject, ok?
So we're going to use who. Whereas with whom we're going to use it as the object of the
verb or the preposition. So an example 'Whom do you believe?' You is the subject, believe
is the verb and whom is the object of that verb. Now this sounds quite formal and if
I'm honest whom has become a word that we generally use in writing and particularly
formal writing. Although people do use it in spoken English and generally quite formal
spoken English, it's probably used more in written English and again particularly formal
written English. Probably the most common way of using whom is in set phrases. To whom
is may concern. So to whom it may concern isa really nice way to address a letter or
an email to someone but you are not sure who it's addressed to. So you say 'to whom it
may concern' and then the rest of your writing.
Alright, is it me and you or you and I? Alright, this causes so many problems for native English
speakers and in fact these I don't know if anyone cares about whether it's me and you
or you and I. But we should know the grammar rules here. First of all, these are all pronouns,
ok? So you, me, I are all pronouns. Now I and you are subject pronouns. In the sentence
'I love you' I is the subject, love is the verb, you is the object. I love you. Now i
cannot say me love you, that's not correct English. Me is an object pronoun, I is a subject
pronoun, me, object pronoun. So I can't say me love you, I have to say I love you. Now
you can be a subject pronoun or an object pronoun, ok? So 'you love me', you is the
subject, love is the verb, me is the object pronoun. You love me. So the correct way to
describe two people together is 'you and I'. Like together, us two, you is the subject
pronoun and I is the subject pronoun. 'You and I have known each other for a long time.'
That's the two of us, together, two 'you and I'. So that's correct, whereas me and you.
Well me is an object pronoun but we want a subject pronoun in this sentence. Me and you
have known each other for years. Me and you, that's the subject, those are the subjects
of the sentence and me is an object pronoun so we can't use it there. So it has to be
'you and I have known each other for years.' So when you are making that choice about is
it me and you or you and I, choose you and I. However, in normal common every day natural
English, particularly spoken English you are going to hear people say me and you. I say
me and you. Every one I know says me and you but it's grammatically not correct so it's
important for you guys to know the grammatically correct version but it's your English. I'm
not going to tell you what to do. You can decide which one you want. If you are studying
for the IELTS exam or you are in a business situation you probably are going to want to
use the correct grammatical form so you and I. Ok, I hope that kind of clears that one
up for you. You and I is grammatically the correct form.
This is a little silly one that is usually in spoken English how's things? How's things
going? Now, how, how's. The contraction there is 'how is things'. Well things is plural,
things. So we need to use the plural auxiliary 'how are things? So 'How are things?' i do
this all the time, I'll be like 'oh how's things?' it's just a silly grammatical mistake
that a lot of native speakers make. It doesn't affect communication so people still understand
exactly what you are saying. It's just something that we, a silly mistake we make. How's thing?
It should really be How are things?
This is a problem particularly in written English the word affect. Now more or less
the pronunciation is the same. I mean more or less. Affect effect, ultimately I say them
pretty much the same. Now one is a verb, one is a noun. Affect with an A is a verb. 'The
pollution really affects me.' Now it's a verb there, ok? So 'the pollution really affects
me.' Now if it's a noun we use effect. Ok, like 'I love the special effects in that film.'
So there it's used as a noun. So that's all you need to think about, is it a verb? Is
it a noun? And therefore I'm going to use the A affect for a verb or E effect for the
noun.
We've got three homonyms here, there, their and they're. Right the first there. It's an
adverb and it's used for positions usually. For example 'Look over there!' I'm directing
you to look in to a certain place or position. We also use it to describe a position or an
existence of something. For example 'there's a great restaurant down the road.' And that
usually combines with there is or there are 'there is a great restaurant down the road.'
So we use there for positions, telling where something is or the existence of it things
like that. So that's the first there. The second their is the possessive adjective,
their. 'I've got their phone number if you want it.' So there their is representing the
possessive. Whose phone number, it's their phone number. Maybe a family that you are
talking about. 'I've got their phone number if you want it.' Another example 'I love their
new house.' Again it's a possessive adjective there talking about the people's house. Ok,
and the final homonym is they're. It's a contraction of they are but the pronunciation would be
they're just like the other two. 'They're a really fun family.' 'They're a really cute
couple.' Again they are a really cute couple. Ok, there, their, they're. THERE!
The final mistake is usually a spelling mistake, could of. Now this should be could have and
it comes from the fact that the pronunciation, when we say it, it's contracted and it's squeezed
together. The sounds are squeezed together so it sounds like 'could of'. 'You could have
got me a bigger ice cream.' Now could have, it's contracted down so instead of saying
'you could have got me' 'you could've'. And I guess when people hear that and they say
it so often they make the mistake. They keep thinking it's could of, not could have. And
that's where the mistake comes from and you'll see it a lot in written English particularly
informal written English. It's wrong, ok. It should be could have. And just the same
with should have or must have again you will see sometimes it's written as should of or
must of. Not correct! Should have, must have.
So guys, which ones of those mistakes have you made before and which ones do you find
difficult? So maybe the there, their and they're you get confused sometimes when you are writing.
So let me know in the comments below, which ones do you find difficult, which ones have
you made the mistakes with. Also if you can think of any other mistakes that you commonly
make or that you hear other speakers make, let me know in the comments below. Thank you
so much for hanging out with me guys. Remember, I release new videos every Tuesday and every
Friday to take your English to the next level. I can't wait to hang out with you again, this
has been super fun. Remember that if you have enjoyed it, please give it a big thumbs up,
subscribe to my videos so that you don't miss a single English video. Alright guys, thank
you so much, this is Tom the chief dreamer, saying goodbye.