Here are 30 common mistakes in English you can use for teaching, content creation, or revision. I based this list on common grammar and usage errors often highlighted in learner resources.[grammarly]
30 common mistakes
- Your / You’re.
- Their / There / They’re.
- Its / It’s.
- Then / Than.
- Affect / Effect.
- Advice / Advise.
- Accept / Except.
- Lose / Loose.
- Fewer / Less.
- Good / Well.
- Who / Whom.
- Who’s / Whose.
- Much / Many.
- A lot / Alot.
- Me / I.
- I have a headache / I am having a headache.
- She told me / She said me.
- Take a photo / Make a photo.
- Married to / Married with.
- Do you know this city? / Have you ever been to this city?
- Present simple / Present perfect confusion.
- Past simple / Present perfect confusion.
- Singular / plural subject-verb agreement errors.
- Double negatives.
- Wrong prepositions, for example, “interested on” instead of “interested in.”
- Wrong question structure, for example, “You are hungry?” instead of “Are you hungry?”
- Wrong word order in adjectives.
- Misplaced apostrophes.
- Uncountable nouns with plural “-s,” for example, “informations.”
- Overusing “too much” instead of “a lot” or “very much.”[oxfordinternationalenglish]
Easy teaching note
If you want to explain them to learners, group them into four categories: grammar, vocabulary, prepositions, and common expressions. That makes the lesson easier to remember than a long random list.[global-exam]
Example format for a lesson
- Wrong: “She said me the news.”
- Correct: “She told me the news.”
- Why: “Say” usually needs “to,” while “tell” is followed by an indirect object.[everyspeakercounts]