MOST COMMON MISTAKES

UNIT 1
Padres =parents my fathers parents live in Len
How old are you? I am 30 years old or I am 30 but I am 30 years is wrong. In
these sentences we use to be, so I have am 30
I work as a police officer, my husband is a teacher...
Married to/with She is married to David, He is married to Diana; She is married with
three children.
One child (singular) two children (plural)
Old, older and the oldest, but in case we speak about our brothers or sisters it would be
John is the eldest brother and James is the youngest
They split up (= separarse)
And me or and I. That present is for you and me. My brother and I like painting
(...and I + verb)
widow = viuda; widower = viudo
UNIT 2
Prepositon on + floor My name is Luka, I live on the second floor
On the corner or in the corner
The table is in the corner of my room, we are inside a house;
the Irish pub is on the corner of that street.
In front of my house you can find a Tennis/basketball court and a football pitch or
field.
En la planta de arriba/abajo hay ... upstairs/downstairs there is
A wooden table (= una mesa de madera) a table of wood.
Furniture (incontable) Some furniture or a piece of furniture. In the dinning room
there are five furnitures (the same would happen when we use news noticia/sadvice consejo-...)
Sunlight = luz natural, there isnt light enough in that room (iluminacin)

Intermedio I Aula 1 curso 2009/10

S.I.R.P.

UNIT 3
Trousers is a plural noun.A pair of trousers or some trousers, I bought a pair of
trousers I bought one trouser My trousers is are yellow (the same for scissors,
glasses...)
In clothes there are different sizes, XL = extra large; L= Large; M = medium; S = small;
XS = Extra small.
footwear = calzado; shoe size
UNIT 4
When I surf the web (navegar por internet)
I read online newspapers
To do some exercise to be fit (to make exercise)
I practice different sports I DO different sports (UK) or I PLAY different sports
(USA).
Note the difference: Torres practices football (he is a professional football player) but
I play football twice a week (I am a police officer and in my spare time I like playing
football)
In my spare time I DO different sports, for example:
PLAY: I play tennis, basketball, football...
GO: I go swimming, I go skiing, I go fishing...
DO: I do karate, I do kickboxing...
I do abdominals I do sit-ups = hago abdominales (abdominals are muscles)
push-ups = flexiones
UNIT 5
I live in Spain and my brother lives in the U.K. Springsteen was born in the USA.
The United Kingdom, the USA, the Czech Republic...some other countries with the
The Netherlands, the Philippines...(these two are plural names)
Nationalities
- ended in sh or ch: Spanish, French, English...they are plural in meaning; you
dont have to add s at the end Spanishes
- The same happens with those natioalities ended in ese: Chinese, Japanese,
Sudanese...or Swiss.
- With other nationalities, the plural noun finishes with s: Italian/s, German/s...
When we speak about things or people in general we do not use the
English people drink a lot of tea
...but when we talk about a specific group of people we use the, for example:
The English people that I know drink a lot of coffee
Dutch = holands-holandesa
Intermedio I Aula 1 curso 2009/10

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UNIT 6
The / the
We say the sky, the sea, the ground, the country, the environment. I like to live near the
sea It can be dangerous to swim near the sea.
- A mountain or a lake + name we do not use the, for example Mount Everest or
Lake Constance...but we use mountain or lake without the
Note the difference: They live near THE lake butthey live near lake Constance
- We use the with names of oceans, seas, rivers and canals:
The Atlantic (ocean), the Red Sea, the Amazon, the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal.
- We use the with the names of desserts: the Sahara Desert.
- With mountain rages and groups of islands we use the The Alps, The Andes... The
Canaries, the Canary Islands, the Seychelles
-The Middle East, the Far East

UNIT 7
My mother tongue = lengua materna
We learn English at the school
Interested/interesting:
learning a language is interested interesting I am interested in learning a language
I am bored/ the book is boring; I am tired/ this job is tiring...
Escuela de idiomas = language school (noun + noun, both in singular)
Divisin de formacin = formation Training Division
Progress improve your English... = mejora tu ingls...
UNIT 8
To be on holydays holidays ...
The Minister studies is considering the possibility of building...

UNIT 9
CNP = Spanish National Police Corps or National Police Corps.
Police officer or police constable (UK) Police Constable = PC polica
Senior police officer oficial de polica
Sergeant subinspector
Inspector inspector
Chief Inspector inspector jefe
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Superintendent comisario
Oposiciones = public examinations or examinations
I passed the opositions examinations to become a police officer in 2000.
Durante las prcticas = during the probation period (during the practices probation
period)
Ascenso, promocin = promotion, to promote. I am studying hard to ascend promote
to official senior police officer
Destinar, destino = to be assigned. After passing the examinations I was assigned to...
UNIT 10
Time and prepositions
AT for the time of the day AT 5:30, midnight, lunchtime...
ON for days & dates ON Saturday, on 15th March 2010, on his birthday, on
Christmas day
IN for months, years, seasons or long periods IN March, in 1970, in summer, in the
XIX century, in the 80s, in the past/future...
Note the difference: see you in the morning / see you on Saturday morning.
At the end/ in the end
In the end = finally, the result of a situation: I didnt like that dress very much but in
the end I bough it.
At the end to say when something ends: at the end of the journey we hired a car; at
the end of July we went to Thailand...
____________
Actually Currently
Currently means actualmente, en la actualidad. I currently live in Madrid.
Actually = en realidad, en efecto, de hecho. What do you actually think about your
boss? En realidad qu piensas de tu mujer? (Actually is a false friend)
Person People
Person (singular) and people (plural). Three people were rescued, arrested...
People is ARE, does DO, likes LIKE are...(the same happens with police, police is
ARE, wants, WANT...)
Once, twice, three times, four times...
una vez = once, e.g. once a week
dos veces = twice ( two times ) e.g. twice a day
tres, cuatro veces = three times, four times
Firstly, first of all...
Firstly = en primer lugar; First Firstly I am going to speak about my family
(a good way to enumerate in the different writings would be firstly ...
secondly...then...finally)
Intermedio I Aula 1 curso 2009/10

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I Like to do - I like doing

I like do
In repeated actions we can use like to do or like doing
I like having breakfast early or I like to have breakfast early
I like doing something = I enjoy doing something
I like watching soap operas = me gusta ver los culebrones I enjoy watching soap
operas = me divierto viendo culebrones
I like to do something = I thing that doing it is good for me (but it does not mean that I
enjoy it)
I like to go to the dentist = me gusta ir al dentista (seguramente por prevenir)
Say tell
Both have the same meaning
You tell someone something I told him that I liked his sweater.
You say something to someone - I said hello to Mary.
Prepositions + verb ended in ing
After going to the theatre, before leaving the hotel, thank you for coming...
Degree career
Degree = carrera universitaria, e.g. a degree in physical education
Career = professional career = carrera profesional. My professional career started in
vila in 2000
Modal verbs (+ infinitive )
Can, Cant (I can do something; it cant be true) you can to do it
Be able to
Could
Must , musnt You must to call him...
Neednt do something, dont need to do something
May
Might
Have to
Pay attention to the writing of some words:
Confortable comfortable; inmigration immigration; usefull useful;
holydays holidays...

Intermedio I Aula 1 curso 2009/10

S.I.R.P.