20 Common English Mistakes | 20 Common English Speaking Mistakes

20 Common English Speaking Mistakes Also Sometimes in written English Do You make these?

Now we are going to be talking about some common English mistakes normally made in spoken English but also sometimes in written English. Naturally, these tend to be made by people who are learning English.

But there are quite a few mistakes here that native speakers also make. So you're not alone. This is a very difficult language. So today, I'm going to take the incorrect sentences and provide you with the correction so you can really get them into your head. and also with quiz

Common Speaking English Mistakes Also Sometimes in Written ❌✅ 

Common English Mistakes Less vs Fewer

❌ There are less people than yesterday.

✅ There are fewer people than yesterday.

❌ The baby weighed less than two pounds at birth.

✅ The baby weighed fewer than two pounds at birth.

less means a smaller amount or "not as much" and is used when describing singular or uncountable nouns.

fewer is defined as not as much and is used when describing plural or countable nouns. They gave it to him and 

Common English Mistakes Me vs I

❌ They gave it to him and I.

✅ They gave it to him and me.

❌ Him and me are going out to eat.

✅ Him and I are going out to eat.

me is an object pronoun. I is a subject pronoun. Remember my tip, remove 'him and', does the sentence still make sense?

Common English Mistakes subject/verb agreement

❌ One of you are going to get hurt.

✅ One of you is going to get hurt.

❌ Neither car are very fast.

✅ Neither car is very fast.

❌ Each of the plates are broken.

✅ Each of the plates is broken.

Remember, a singular object takes a singular verb, whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Common English Mistakes An vs A

❌ It's a old dress.

✅ It's an old dress.

❌ It's a amazing deal.

✅ It's an amazing deal.

As a typical rule, use “a" before words that start with a consonant sound and “an” before words that start with a vowel sound.

Common English Mistakes beside vs besides

❌ She sat besides the river.

✅ She sat beside the river.

❌ I could never be a dancer. Beside, I'm too old now.

✅ I could never be a dancer. Besides, I'm too old now.

beside means next to or at the side of somebody/something. besides means in addition to somebody/something; apart from somebody/something.

Common English Mistakes Repeating The Subject

❌ My friend she is coming with me.

✅ My friend is coming with me.

❌ My handwriting it is improving.

✅ My handwriting is improving.

Generally, if you use a noun/pronoun in a compound sentence, you don't need to mention it again unless the noun changes.

Common English Mistakes Nobody vs Anybody

❌ I don't need nobody's money.

✅ I don't need anybody's money.

❌ I didn't meet nobody at the party.

✅ I didn't meet anybody at the party.

Watch out for those double negatives!

Common English Mistakes Would/Should/Could of/Have

❌ You could of said!

✅ You could've said!

❌ She shouldn't of done that.

✅ She shouldn't have done that.

❌ I would of helped you!

✅ I would've helped you!

This error has occurred due to the reduction of "'ve" and many people, even natives, are misinterpreting this as "of". It isn't as clear in spoken English but much clearer in written English!

Common English Mistakes Been in vs Been to

❌ I have been in London before.

✅ I have been to London before.

❌ Have you ever been in India?

✅ Have you ever been to India?

To have been in means a lasting action which is still true. To have been to means to visit someplace and to come back home 

Common English Mistakes Quiz Time!

It's time to practice what you have learned. In each group, there is 1 correct sentence and 2 incorrect sentences. Correct the 2 incorrect sentences!

1a. She shouldn't of told you that!

1b. Have you been in Tokyo?

1c. I've been in the coffee shop since 3pm today.

2a. Nobody never wants to come out with me.

2b. It's not hard - anyone can do it!

2c. She's a incredible person!

3a. The dog is slowly becoming more friendly.

3b. I've been in Europe 3 times now!

3c. I wouldn't of come here if I were you!

4a. I didn't think anyone would come to the dinner.

4b. She always sits besides me in class.

4c. My sister she's working all weekend.

5a. Neither tennis player are bad, but only 1 will win!

5b. I don't want to go out. Besides, I don't have enough money.

5c. William and me got married at the weekend!

6a. Both plates is really disgusting!

6b. An new student is joining our class today.

6c. She gave the gift to Lucy and me.

7a. I've eaten way less food than you have!

7b. She never wanted to have a pet. Beside, she never had

time.

7c. You should of told your boss you were unhappy.

8a. One of them is going to regret their decision!

8b. Both of the boys is on their best behaviour!

8c. Everyone are so happy to see each other!

(For Answers The Quiz in last)

Right, let's get started with the speaking mistakes. Okay, the first mistake is the misuse of less and fewer. And this is a mistake that I myself make, I here will make it a lot. I hear my mum make it. I don't know if it's regional. I think it's just a mistake that native speakers make a lot of the time. If you manage to use less and fewer correctly, then you can confidently say that you speak better than a lot of native speakers including me. 

Let's take a look at this sentence. It's incorrect, I warn you. Don't write it down. There are less people than yesterday,. This should be corrected to there are fewer people than yesterday. Why is this? Well, we use less with uncountable nouns and fewer with countable nouns and people, it's countable noun. 

If you find it confusing, you can think of it this way. Less is used with singular or uncountable nouns and fewer is used with plural or countable nouns. Which one of these is correct? The baby weighed fewer than two pounds at birth, or the baby weighed less than two pounds at birth. I'll give you a couple of seconds, less or fewer?  It should be fewer. Pounds, plural countable noun. 

Right, let's move on to three and four, our next two mistakes. We're going to be looking at me and I. Once again, this is a mistake that I have made many times in the past, and every now and again, I do make this mistake and my dad always corrects me. The issue is that many native speakers are taught to be wary of me, not me in particular, the word me. We're always told it shouldn't be him and me. It should be him and I. But this isn't always correct.

It depends on the placement. Have a look at this sentence. They gave it to him and I, they gave it to him and I, this is incorrect, it should be, they gave it to him and me. Now there's quite a simple trick for checking if it should be him and I or him and me. Remove the him and see if it fits. They gave it to I doesn't fit, they gave it to me does fit, 

we're going to be focusing on subject-verb agreement. This is one of the first things you learn in English. But it's hard, it can get quite complicated and we often make mistakes. I often hear sentences like this, one of you are gonna get hurt, one of you are going to get hurt and to my ear, it doesn't actually sound too bad but it is technically grammatically incorrect. It should be one of you is going to get hurt. One of you is going to get hurt because there is is agreeing with one of you, one of this group of you, one is. 

Have a look at this next one, which one do you think is correct? Neither car are very fast, neither car is very fast. Are or is, I'll give you a couple of seconds. It should be is. Neither means not this one, nor this one. Neither is singular. Last one, see if you can get it, each of the plates are broken, or each of the plates is broken. Give you a couple of seconds. It should be is again, each one, each individual singular is broken. I personally find those quite tricky. It might seem absolutely obvious to you but to me, I really do find that quite hard. I find strange things quite hard, like the difference between take and bring and left and right. Would you believe it? It's funny how everyone's brains work. 

Let's take a look at the articles a and an. This is a very common mistake that I hear, normally made by learners of English. I might hear them say something like It's a old dress where it should be, it's an old dress. We use an because the word that comes after the article begins with a vowel sound, an old, it's actually hard to say a old, you need to do a little tiny glottal stop. Another one, It's a amazing deal. It should be. It's an amazing deal. It's an amazing deal. I used to live with an Italian girl who's a very good friend and she often made the mistake of actually doing this the other way around. 

Because with words that began with an H sound /h/ like hat, she wouldn't pronounce that consonant sound, she would start it with the /a/ vowel sound instead, she would say at instead of hat. So she said I have bought an at. I have bought an at. And I thought that was a very very interesting thing because she was correctly making the calculations of whether she should say a or an, it's just was that she was pronouncing the following word incorrectly. There are some dialects and accents like the cockney accent where they often drop the H's. I wonder if they would say I bought an hat instead of I bought a hat. I'm not sure. I have to ask someone because that seems really interesting. 

Next we're going to look at the difference between beside and besides, these are commonly confused words. Take a look at this sentence. She sat besides the river. She sat besides the river. This is wrong. It should be, she sat beside the river, beside means next to, besides means in addition to. 

Can you tell me which of these next two sentences is correct? I could never be a dancer. Beside, I'm too old now. Or I could never be a dancer. Besides, I'm too old now. Which one do you think is right? I'll give you a couple of seconds. It is besides, in addition, in addition to that, I'm too old now. 

Next, let's look at a very common mistake. The mistake of repeating the subject. I hear this all the time. Take a look at this sentence. My friend she's coming with me. It should be my friend is coming with me. You don't need to repeat the subject. It's either my friend is coming with me or she is coming with me. By saying my friend she's coming with me, you are saying the same thing twice. 

Another example, my handwriting it's improving. My handwriting it's improving. This should be my handwriting's improving, or my handwriting is improving. No need to repeat yourself, we got you. 

Next, let's take a look at the incorrect use of nobody, instead of anybody. Now, I'm not going to say that this is always incorrect because it forms part of dialects. It's quite cool slang as well. But if you're looking to write correct English in an exam or something like that, it's important to notice, take a look at this sentence. I don't need nobody's money. I don't need nobody's money. Now grammatically, this sentence is wrong. Although it sounds right, you'll hear in music all the time. It's like extra emphasis. But it's actually a double negative. It should be, I don't need anybody's money. By saying nobody, you're doubling up on that negative. 

Another example, I didn't meet nobody at the party. I didn't meet nobody at the party. Technically, it should be, I didn't meet anybody at the party. 

Moving on, let's have a look at would have, should have, and could have. I actually made a video all about would have, should have, and could have. I will link it down below because it's very useful. I know a lot of students struggle with it. But there is a common mistake used by native speakers again because we have the reduction of have, would have, should have, could have. This has been misinterpreted over the years and people are saying would have, should have, and could have. But this is technically incorrect. 

An example is you could have said, you could have said. It's very hard to hear that slight difference. It should be could have said or she shouldn't have done that, she shouldn't have done that. It's much clearer to see in written English or I would have helped you, should be I would have helped you. It's a very subtle difference in spoken English, but there's a very clear difference in written English. 

Finally, we have our last two mistakes. This is one I read on a daily basis in my comments section. My lovely students asked me if I've visited their country and they asked me, "Have you ever been in India? Have you ever been in London? Have you ever been in Italy?" For example, is the difference between being in and being to. To have been in means it's a lasting action, which is still true. I've been in here filming for three hours, 

for example, and I'm still here. When you visit or travel to somewhere, you can say that you've been to that location. We use it to talk about our travelling experiences. I've been in London before should be I've been to London before Have you been in India? Have you been to India? 

Right, that is it for today's lesson. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you learned something. Now it is time for you to complete the quiz on that 

Answers Common English Mistakes

la. She shouldn't have told you that! 

lb. Have you been to Tokyo? 

lc. Correct.

2a. Nobody ever wants to come out with me.

2b. Correct.

2c. She's an incredible person!

3a. Correct.

3b. I've been to Europe 3 times now!

3c. I wouldn't have come here if I were you!

4a. Correct.

4b. She always sits beside me in class.

4c. My sister is working all weekend.

5a. Neither tennis player is bad. but only I will win!

5b. Correct.

5c. William and I got married at the weekend!

6a. Both plates are really disgusting!

6b. A new student is joining our class today.

6c. Correct

7a. Correct.

7b. She never wanted to have a pet. Besides. she never had time

7c. You should have told your boss you were unhappy.

8a. Correct 

8b. Both of the boys are on their best behaviour!

8c. Everyone is so happy to see each other!

Source by English With Lucy