Hello everyone, and welcome back to my channel, Sparkle
English, where I teach you how to improve your level of
English. This is the third video in my series on the most
common mistakes in English. At the end of this video, we will
have a short quiz. Let's get started. So the first common
mistake in English is knowing when to use the word then or
than. Then and than are commonly confused words in
English. Then refers to time or a point in time; than is
used to make comparisons. That is the main difference between
these two words. So let's look at examples with then. She
lived in India and then moved to Japan. We ate dinner and
then went to the cinema. I'll be home this evening. Can I
call you then? In all of these examples, you can see we are
using then referring to time. She lived in India and then
moved to Japan. Another way of saying then would be after
that, or next. I'll be home this evening. Can I call you
then? Can I call you at that time? So now let's look at
than, which we use to make comparisons. Tyler is taller
than George. We are comparing these two boys. And when we
compare, we use than. I'm more intelligent than Beth. I'd
rather be poor and loved than rich and despised. Being
single and free is better than feeling trapped in a
relationship. So in all of these examples, we are making
comparisons between people or concepts. Let's look at the
second common mistake in English, which is knowing when
to use the word good, or well. Both mean the same thing.
However, good is an adjective. It modifies a noun. And most
of the time well is an adverb. It modifies a verb. So an
example of a noun is a person, place or thing. So for
example, dog, dancer. And well is an adverb; it modifies a
verb. So verb could be run, sing. For example, this pizza
is good. Pizza is a noun. So we use adjectives to describe
nouns. This pizza is good. Not this pizza is well. They are
pretty good landlords. We're describing the landlords. They
are good landlords. Justin is a good singer. All of these
words are nouns, and so we use the word good to describe a
noun. Now let's look at examples using the adverb
well. Did you sleep well last night? Sleep is a verb. So we
don't say did you sleep good last night? Because we have to
use an adverb to modify a verb. Did you sleep well last
night? How did your move go? It went well. Justin sings
really well. I'm not feeling well today. If you compare the
difference between these two sentences: Justin is a good
singer, and Justin sings really well. The difference is
that singer is a noun. And sings is a verb. So you can
say a person is a good singer or dancer because those words
are nouns. But sing or dance is a verb; we're talking about
the action.
And finally, the third common mistake is knowing when to
write who's or whose. Who apostrophe s and whorse are
homophones. They sound the same but are spelled
differently and have different meanings. This is a very
common mistake. Who's is a contraction for who is or who
has, depending on the context of the sentence. Whose is the
possessive form of who. For example, who's coming to the
party tomorrow? Who apostrophe s, in this case means who is?
So who's is a contraction for who is. Who is coming to the
party tomorrow? Who's got a bike I can borrow? In this
case, who's got is a contraction for who has. Who
has got a bike I can borrow? Do you know who's playing the
guitar? Do you know who is playing the guitar? In all of
these cases, you can see we have a verb after who
apostrophe s. Who has got? Who is coming? Who is playing? And
that can help you determine when to use who's with an
apostrophe, or whose. So let's look at some examples using
the possessive form of who. Whose dog is this? It's so
cute. We use whose when we are trying to determine who owns
or possesses an item or person or a thing. I don't know who
the owner of this dog is. Whose dog is this? I know
someone whose boyfriend is famous. So I know a person
that possesses a boyfriend that is famous. Whose keys are
these? Again, I'm trying to find the person who owns these
keys or who these keys belong to. If you get stuck, and you
don't know if it's who's or whose, one trick is to try to
turn this into who is or who has to see if you would write
it like this. Who is keys are these? That doesn't make
sense. Who has keys are these? No, that doesn't make sense.
So we know it's the possessive form. You can also see that
after whose, these are all nouns. Okay, so now it's time
for our common mistakes quiz three. Are the sentences
correct? I will read eight different sentences, and you
must correct them if they need to be corrected. Number one,
Benjamin's dog is bigger then my dog. Number two, who's cat
is that? Number three, he's a good driver. Number four,
who's got a dollar I can borrow? Number five, you dance
good. Number six, he took me out for dinner, and then we
went bowling. Number seven. I know someone whose cousin is
Taylor Swift. And finally, number eight. She isn't
feeling well today. Okay, let's correct these together.
Number one. Benjamins dog is bigger then my dog. This is
incorrect. Remember, we use then for time. And than for
comparisons, so we don't say then. We say than. You're
comparing two dogs. Number two is also incorrect. Whose cat
is that? We need to use the possessive form of who. Wh o s
e. Whose cat is that? Who is the owner of that cat?
Number three is correct. We're using the adjective good to
describe a noun - the driver. Number four is also correct.
Who's got a dollar I can borrow? In this case, who's is
the contraction for who has. So that is correct. Number
five, you dance good. This is incorrect. Dance is a verb. So
we have to use an adverb to modify a verb. You dance well.
Number six is correct. He took me out for dinner, and then we
went bowling. Remember, we use then with an E when it is
related to time. Number seven, I know someone who's cousin is
Taylor Swift. This is incorrect. I know someone who
is cousin or who has cousin is Taylor Swift does not make
sense. We need to use the possessive form of who. So,
whose. And finally, number eight. She isn't feeling well
today. This is also correct. Again, well is an adverb, and
it's coming after feeling, which is a verb, so that is
correct. So let me know in the comments section how many you
got correct out of eight, or if you had any difficulty with
this lesson. Make sure to click on the links in the
description below this video to watch my other videos in
this series. Thank you for watching. Make sure to
subscribe to Sparkle English for more videos like this one
and I will see you in my next lesson.