Common Grammar Mistakes In Speaking English (And How To Fix Them!) + TEST

What’s up guys? My name is Shane and this is part two of the common grammar mistakes series.

If you haven’t seen part one, you can check it out right here.

Now, many students make mistakes in grammar which can easily be fixed. If you want to speak English well, you should learn the patterns of English.

A pattern is a specific way of doing something.

For example, I hear a lot of students saying things like ‘Please wearing a mask.’ Or ‘Please doing this.’ But this is incorrect and it’s such an easy mistake to fix.

Because normally after the word ‘please’, we use a present tense verb. So we should say ‘Please wear a mask.’ Or ‘Please do this.’

If you learn these patterns, your grammar will get much better.

Of course there are always exceptions to the rules but if you know the main patterns in English, your grammar will be correct probably 90% of the time.

But don’t worry if English grammar is confusing because in today’s video we look at five common mistakes that you might be making and how to fix those mistakes.

And make sure you watch until the end of the video because there will be a quiz to test your understanding. Are you ready? Let’s go!

Common grammar mistake #1

Have you eat yet? Have you eat yet? What is wrong with this sentence and why?

Well, we are using the word ‘have’ which means that this sentence may be a perfect tense, right?

And when we use a perfeect tense, we need to use a past participle.

So this sentence should be ‘Have you eaten yet?’ Have you eaten yet?

If you remember this simple and easy rule that after ‘have’ we normally use a past participle and not a present tense verb, this can really improve your grammar.

You see? Grammar is easy, right?

Now let’s look at some other sentences with this mistake. The first one. Have you take the mail to him? But it should be ‘Have you taken the mail to him?’ ‘Taken’ is the past participle for ‘take’.

The next one. What have you do? The correct way to say this should be ‘What have you done?’ ‘Done’ is the past participle of ‘do’.

And one more. I have never see anyone drink so fast. But it should be ‘I have never seen anyone drink so fast’ because ‘seen’ is the past participle of ‘see’.

So just remember, after ‘have’, we normally use a past participle. Easy, right?

Common grammar mistake #2

It’s a four years course. It’s a four years course. Is this sentence okay? Why or why not?

Well, this sentence is not okay. Why?

Because when we use a duration to describe something or when we use an amount of time to describe something, we normally don’t use S with the duration.

For example, ‘one year course’. Two year course. Ten year course. Two day course.

So with this sentence, it should be ‘It’s a four year course.’ No S.

Let’s have a look at some other examples.

The first one. It’s a three year course. Is this okay and why or why not? This one is okay because we’re using the duration to describe the course and we haven’t used an S.

The next one. My course is for five years. Is this okay? Yes it is. Why? Because we’re not using the duration to describe the course, we are just saying what the duration is.

And the last one. It’s a three days thing. It’s a three days thing. Is this okay? Why or why not? This is not okay because here we are using the duration to describe the thing.

So what we should say is that ‘It’s a three day thing.’

So just remember, if you’re using a duration to describe something, to describe a noun, we normally don’t use S.

Common grammar mistake #3

Do you like ice cream? Yes I like.

Is this okay? No it isn’t.

Why? Because ‘like’ is what we call a transitive verb.

A ‘transitive verb’ is a verb that we need to use with an object.

For example, ‘I like it.’ I like dogs. I like cats.

Because if you just say to a native speaker ‘I like’, he might be a bit confused. Like what? What do you like?

Now I understand that maybe in your language, if you just say ‘I like’, it’s okay. But in English, it’s not correct grammar.

Remember, when you a learn a language, stop translating from your language and start listening and copying native speakers.

Okay, let’s look at some more examples. It’s my favourite thing. I really like. Is this okay? No it isn’t. Because we don’t have an object. You need say ‘I like it.’

Studying English is really fun and I like it. Is this okay? Yes it is. Because we’ve got an object. We said ‘I like it.’

Did you like the movie? Yes I did like. Is this okay? No it isn’t. Because again, there’s no object. So we need to say ‘Yes, I liked it.’

Why do we use ED? Because the question is in the past. ‘Did you like the movie?’ So our answer also has to be in the past.

So just remember, normally after ‘like’, we need an object. Easy, right?

Common grammar mistake #4

Was the movie good? Yes I enjoyed.

Is this okay? No it isn’t. Why?

Because it’s the same as the previous example. The word ‘enjoy’ is a transitive verb.

So when we use this verb, we need to use it with an object.

So the correct answer should be ‘I enjoyed it.’ Or ‘I enjoyed the movie.’

And again, I understand that in your language maybe it’s okay to say ‘I enjoyed’. But in English, it’s not correct grammar.

Okay, let’s look at some more examples right now. I enjoy playing sport. Is this okay? Yes it is because we’ve got an object. ‘Sport’ is the object.

Sport is fun. I enjoy. Is this okay? No because we don’t have an object.

Sport is fun. I’m really enjoying. Is this okay? No it isn’t because again, we don’t have an object. So the correct answer should be ‘I’m really enjoying it.’

So just remember, after ‘enjoy’, we normally need an object. Easy, right?

Common grammar mistake #5

Everyone know him. Everyone know him.

Is this sentence okay? No it isn’t. Why?

Because ‘everyone’ is considered singular. Because ‘everyone’ is considered singular, we need to use a singualr verb – ‘knows’. He knows. She knows. It knows. Everyone knows.

So why is ‘everyone’ singular? ‘Everyone’ is many many people, right?

Yes that’s true but ‘everyone’ is just one group of people. It’s one group and it contains everyone. That’s why it’s singular.

Okay, let’s have a look at some more examples.

Everyone want to go there. Is this okay? No it isn’t because again, we haven’t used a singular verb with ‘everyone’. So the correct answer should be ‘Everyone wants to go there.’

Everyone in the world want to learn English. What’s wrong with this sentence? Again, we need that S with the word ‘want’. Everyone in the world wants to learn English.

Everyone likes eating ice cream. Is this okay? Yes it is. Because we’ve used a singular verb with ‘everyone’. Everyone likes.

Quiz

Okay we have learned about five common grammar mistakes in English and why those mistakes are wrong. So now let’s have a little quiz to test your understanding.

I will show you a sentence and I want you to tell me: is the sentence correct or not correct and why?

Number one. School’s fun. I really like it. This sentence is okay because we’ve used an object, ‘it’, with the word ‘like’. Remember, normally when you use the word ‘like’, you need to use an object with ‘like’.

Number two. Everyone wants to be a millionaire. This sentence is correct because remember, ‘everyone’ is singular and ‘wants’ is singular so these two words go together.

Number three. School’s fun. I really enjoy. This sentence is not correct because we haven’t used an object with ‘enjoy’. So we should say ‘I really enjoy it.’ Or you could say ‘I really enjoy school.’ Just remember, normally when we use the word ‘enjoy’, we need to use an object with ‘enjoy’.

Number four. Have you ever eat there before? This sentence is not correct. It should be ‘Have you ever eaten there before?’ Remember, normally when we use the word ‘have’, we need to use it with a past participle, not a present tense verb.

Last question. Question number five. My course is for five years. This sentence is okay because we’re not using the duration to describe the course. We are saying how long the course is for. But, if we said ‘It’s a five years course’, then this would be incorrect. The correct sentence in this case would be ‘It’s a five year course.’

Conclusion

Okay that is the end of the lesson today. If you’re interested in learning more English, you can check out this video right here.

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