10 Common English Mistakes To Avoid

Do you ever make common English mistakes when you speak English?

If so, keep in mind that it’s absolutely normal to make mistakes when you’re learning another language, so don’t feel bad about it.  

The types of mistakes you make often depend on your first language. If you speak Italian, for example, you might make certain types of mistakes that may be different from those of Japanese speakers. 

Some errors, however, are common among most learners of English.

Let’s see ten of these common English mistakes together so you can avoid them!

1. Using The Present Perfect With Expressions Of Finished Time  

As you may have already learned in this post about the present perfect, you can't use the present perfect to talk about actions or events that were completed in the past and are disconnected from the present moment.

If you use expressions that specify exactly when the action or event happened (e.g. when I was little, in 2009, last night, 20 years ago, etc.) you need to use the past simple.

Note that you can use expressions of finished time with the present perfect only if you use the word “since”. 

For example,

• I haven’t slept since yesterday. 
• I have been in this country since 2018.
• I have known him since I was little.

In these sentences the action is not completed or finished. It started in the past and it’s still connected to the present because it’s still true or happening in the present moment.

2. Using A Singular Verb After “People” 

This mistake is especially common for Italian and Spanish speakers because the noun “people” is considered singular as it represents one single group of individuals.

So remember that when the subject is plural, such as “people,” the correct form of the verb is “are,” not “is.”

3. Watch, Look And See

“Watch,” “look,” and “see” all mean to turn your eyes in a particular direction. They are often confused so let’s clarify what they mean exaclty:

• “Look” is a verb that means to turn your eyes in a particular direction. For example,
  • “I looked at the beautiful sunset.”
  • “She looked at me and smile”
  • “Look at those mountains! They’re beautiful”
• “See” is a verb that means to notice something with your eyes.
  • “I saw a shooting star in the sky.”
  • “I looked out of the window but saw nothing.”
  • “Look at this picture. What can you see?”
• “Watch” is a verb that means to look at ​something for a time, paying attention to what happens.
  • “First watch me, then you’ll try.”
  •  “I like to watch movies at night”
  • “Would you like to play?’ ‘No thanks—I'll just watch.”

4. Use “To” After “Must,” “Can,” “Could,” “Will” And “Would”

The rule here is simple: never use “to” after “must,” “can,” “could,” “will” and “would”. Do this and you’ll avoid this English mistake.

5. Using A Comma Before The Word “Because”

This is a common mistakes but, again, it’s very simple to correct.

6. Adjectives Ending In ED And ING 

This might be tricky, so let’s clarify the rule.

Adjectives that end in “ed” describe how someone or something feels. For example, “I am bored” means I feel bored.

Adjectives that end in “ing”, however, describe something that causes a feeling or emotion. For example, “The movie was boring” means the movie caused me to feel bored, and “The news was exciting” means the news caused me to feel excited.

Remember

• “ed” adjectives = how someone or something feels
• “ing” adjectives = what causes the feeling

7. Adverbs Of Manner vs. Adjectives

Also this is a grammar point you might find confusing, so let’s have a look at the difference between adverbs of manner and adjectives.

Adverbs of manner (slowly, carefully, beautifully, etc.) describe how an action is performed or how something happens. They give more information about a verb. 

For example, 

• She sings beautifully (= in a beautiful way)
• He drives carefully (= in a careful way)
• I cook very badly (= in a bad way)

Adjectives, on the other hand,  give information about a noun or pronoun. They tell us what something or someone is like. 

For example, 

• She is beautiful.
• Dave’s a careful driver.
• I’m a bad cook.

As you can see “beautiful,” “careful” and “bad” are not used to describe actions, while “beautifully,” “carefully” and “badly” are used to describe the action of singing, driving, and cooking.

8. Using Capital Letters

Let’s quickly review some simple rules for capitalisation. 

In English, we use a capital letter for:

• the first word of a sentence or a direct quotation (=something someone else said)

Example: She said, “Hello.”

• names of people, nationalities, places, or things.

Example: Mary, Italian, New York, Eiffel Tower.

• the first word in a title of a book, movie, song, or other artistic work.

Example: “The Catcher in the Rye”, “Jurassic Park”, “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

• the pronoun “I.”

Example: I went to the store.

• days of the week, months, and holidays.

Example: Monday, December, Thanksgiving.

9. Since vs For

Here’s a quick explanation of the difference between “since” and “for”. 

Both “since” and “for” are used to talk about the duration of an action. However, you use “since” when you talk about a specific point in time when an action began.

This is why “since” is often used with a specific time expression, such as “since 10 am” or “since last week.” 

You use “for” to talk about a period of time, so you often use it with a duration of time, such as “for three hours” or “for a week.” 

• Since = point in time
• For = period of time

10. Do vs Make

“Do” and “make” are two common verbs in English that are often confused. 

In general, you use “do” when you talk about actions or tasks that don’t involve creating a physical object. For example:

• Do your homework
• Do the dishes
• Do some exercise
• Do business
• Do the housework

You use “make” when you’re talking about creating or something. For example:

• Make a cake
• Make a painting
• Make a plan
• Make a coffee
• Make noise

There are some exceptions to these rules and there are fixed expressions in English with both of these verbs. So the best way to avoid making this mistake is to notice how these expressions are used in context. 

Common English Mistakes

Did you find any common English mistakes you typically make in this list? 

Don’t feel discouraged if you did. Believe it or not, native speakers of English make mistakes too, so you really have nothing to worry about.

But try to take action and work on them, so you can eliminate them and express yourself with more precision.

One way to take action is to try the StoryLearning method, and read books in English. As you read, you'll be exposed to a lot of correct language.

This will help you notice how grammar, vocabulary and punctuation are used in context so you too can use them correctly.

Before you know it, you'll stop making these common English mistakes!

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.