Common Grammar Mistakes in English, Grammatical Errors

Common Grammar Mistakes in English, Grammatical Errors

Confusing the Infinitive, Gerund or Base Form of the Verb

Examples;

• I must to buy a new cartoon book.
• I must buy a new cartoon book.

You use the infinitive with modals like should, must when you should use the base form of the verb but You can also use gerunds when you should use infinitives:

Examples;

• I decided going to the cinema with my mother.
• I decided to go to the cinema with my mother.

Wrong Word Usage

This happens mostly because in your native language, the verb can come at the end of the sentence but this would be a wrong sentence in English. There are many words and phrases that are commonly confused and misused in sentences. Using them incorrectly can change the meaning of the sentence.

Examples;

• Sally accepted her teacher offer to make exam.
• Sally excepted her teacher offer to make exam.

Misusing Adverbs and Adjectives

In fact, you’ll need to make sure your adverbs and adjectives are in tip top shape.

Examples;

• I want to speak English good.
• I want to speak English well.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Examples;

• People is coming to my birthday party tomorrow.
• People are coming to my birthday party tomorrow.

People are people, but you often need to make sure the verb agrees with the subject of your sentence.

Examples;

• Women has very important rights in the constitution.
• Women have very important rights in the constitution.

Basic Rule; A singular subject (she, car) takes a singular verb (is, goes), whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Choosing the Wrong Tense

Examples;

• I have been to New York last summer.
• I went to New York last summer.

In this case, you fail to notice that because you’re referring to something that happened at a specific moment in the past, so you should use the past simple, not the present perfect. You may remember the correct form of the verb (and remember the correct past participle for a specific verb) the problem is that you simply use the wrong tense to express yourself.

Common Mistakes With Prepositions in English

Always Write	Never Use
Alex was just in time to catch the taxi.	on
Samuel’s methods are different from yours.	than
There are more than 200 clients there.	over
Our company is ashamed of him.	for
Mary feels superior to everybody else.	than
The customer was on time for the meeting.	in
Look out of the window.	out
Meet the board members at the office.	in
Our MD is aiming at leaving South America.	for
The player died of leukaemia.	from
The project will cost about a million rand.	around

 

Examples of Grammar Mistakes

Mistake		Correct
My car beautiful.	->	My car is beautiful.	The verb ‘be’
At Sunday	->	On Monday	Prepositions
I play chess good.	->	I play chess well.	Adverbs
Last week I cry.	->	Last week I cried.	Past tense
She like cheese.	->	She likes cheese.	3rd person ‘s’
How to spell…?	->	How do you spell…?	Auxiliary verbs
What time it is?	->	What time is it?	Word order
She is more tall.	->	She is taller.	Comparatives