Common Mistakes

Correct the sentence and give a full explanation in English of the reason why the
are incorrect:

1.Actually, sensible people tend to su er from the e ects of social media : Currently,
sensible people tend to su er from the e ects os social media. Actually does not mean
“actualmente” it means in fact, in reality, so we use currently, which does mean
“actualmente, en el momento actual”.

2. She has 18/ She is 18 years: She is 18 / She is 18 years old. When we talk about
ages the verb have is not used, but rather the verb to be is used.
Also you have to add “old” after years to talk about ages.

3. I am agree / The teacher was agree with the class: I agree / the teacher agreed with
the class. The verb agree is translated into Spanish as “estar de acuerdo, tener la misma
opinión…”, so it is not necessary to use the verb to be before this verb.

4. I said her that I was going to be late / I told to her that I was going to be: I told her
that I was going to be late: the verb tell is used to say who you are talking to. I told her
that I was going to be: After the verb tell, when we put a pronoun that refers to who the
message is transmitted to, the preposition to is not put.

5. That car red won the race: That red car won the race. In English, adjectives are
placed before the noun.

6. Is a nice day to have a walk: It is a nice day to have a walk. In English the presence of
a subject is always necessary.

7. I have much experience with children: I have a lot of experience with children. In
English, it is much more common to use “a lot of” to refer to an uncountable noun.

8. We have a three-days weekend coming up: We have a three-day weekend coming

up. In English, when we mean weekends, it is common to use phrases like "two-day
weekend," "three-day weekend," etc. The correct way to express that you have a three-
day weekend is to say "three-day weekend," where "three-day" functions as an adjective
modifying "weekend.

9. I stopped to smoke several years ago: I stopped smoking several years ago,
because we use the -ing form after stop to indicate that an action or event is no longer
continuing. We use the to-in nitive after stop to indicate that someone stops doing
something in order to do something else, but this is not the case.
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 10. My father always gives me great advices: My father always gives me great advice.
Advice is an uncountable noun, so you can’t say “some advices”.

11. The ground is dry. It mustn't have rained last night. The ground is dry. It can’t have
rained last night. "Must have" is used only in the positive form: when we believe that the
action de nitely occurred. "Can't have" is used when we believe that the action was
de nitely not that way (the opposite of "must have").

12. Despite I wasn’t invited to the party, I went./ Although not being invited to the
party, I went: Despite not being invited to the party, I went: Despite is typically followed
by a noun or a gerund, not a subject pronoun. Although I wasn't invited to the party, I
went. Although is typically followed by a subject pronoun.

13. My friend recommended me to buy this car: My friend recommended me buying

this car. After the verb “recommend” we use the -ing form of the verb to express the
advice.

14. Could you please tell me where are the restrooms?: Could you please tell me
where the restrooms are? Indirect questions have the followed structure: Question word +
subject + in nitive.

15. I’m agreeing with what you’re saying: I agree with what you're saying. The verb
agree is a opinion verb so it is not used in any continuos tense.

16. All the people came to class / I liked all the things at the party: Everybody came
to class / I liked everything at the party. Although sometimes “all the people” and “all the
things” are correct expressions, they are rare and can be misleading. Everybody and
everything are pronouns that mean “todo el mundo" and “todas las cosas" and their use
is very frequent.

17. Do you think you will come to the party? I think that yes: Do you think you will
come to the party ? I think so. In English, it is not correct to answer “I think that yes”
even if it is the literal translation. I think so is the most common and correct way.

18. The dogs chase cats: Dogs chase cats. “Dogs” is a plural subject and “chase" is a
plural verb. We don’t have to use “the” because “dogs” is not a speci c subject but refers
to dogs in general.
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