Mistakes in English – Can you correct these 9 typical native English speaker mistakes?
What are some of your typical mistakes in English? The third person “s” with the Present Simple is probably high on your list. How many times have you heard your English teacher say, “It’s ‘She plays’ not ‘She play’.”
But what about native speakers of English? What sort of mistakes do they make? They have problems too, especially when writing… and above all when commenting on social media. Here are some typical things people get wrong!
Can you correct these 9 typical native English speaker mistakes?
1 You’re (you are)
Mistake: Your Frank, aren’t you?
Correct: You’re Frank, aren’t you?
2 Your (possessive form)
Mistake: I like you’re new jacket.
Correct: I like your new jacket.
3 It’s (it is)
Mistake: Its cold outside.
Correct: It’s cold outside.
4 Its (possessive form)
Mistake: The dog ate it’s food.
Correct: The dog ate its food.
5 The possessive apostrophe ’
Mistake: This is Bens bike.
Correct: This is Ben’s bike.
6 Their (possessive form)
Mistake: I saw there new house.
Correct: I saw their new house.
7 They’re (they are)
Mistake: There at home.
Correct: They’re at home.
8 Affect (verb) Effect (noun)
Mistake: The medicine had no affect on her.
Correct: The medicine had no effect on her.
Mistake: How did it effect them?
Correct: How did it affect them?
9 Have
Mistake: I wouldn’t of done that!
Correct: I wouldn’t have done that!
Typical native English speaker mistakes game
Are you ready for our little game? Read the sentences below with mistakes in them. Then, see if you can correct them.
[Scroll down to the bottom for the answers.]
WARNING – these sentences contain mistakes!
- There my best friends. = They’re my best friends.
- You shouldn’t of done that.
- Its raining again.
- It didn’t have any affect on us.
- The cat was black and it’s eyes were green.
- I went in there new car.
- Your in the office, aren’t you?
- That is Petes pen.
- I saw you’re sister.
- If I’d known you were at the party, I would of gone too.
- There in the park.
How to eliminate errors – 3 tips!
It’s difficult to know when you’ve made a mistake. So, any time your teacher or a friend tells you about an error, you should make a note of it. Then, do these 3 things to help you eliminate it:
- Write out the correct phrase or sentence 10 times.
- Say the correct phrase or sentence 10 times out loud.
- Create a little exercise with the phrase or sentence. For example, you could write out the sentence with a missing word. A few days later see if you can do the exercise. Then, repeat this a few weeks later to check that you’ve remembered the correct way to say it.
Finally, if you ever make the mistake again, repeat this process! ?
Answers
- There my best friends. = They’re my best friends.
- You shouldn’t of done that. = You shouldn’t have done that.
- Its raining again. = It’s raining again.
- It didn’t have any affect on us. = It didn’t have any effect on us.
- The cat was black and it’s eyes were green. = The cat was grey, and its eyes were green.
- I went in there new car. = I went in their new car.
- Your in the office, aren’t you? = You’re in the office, aren’t you?
- That is Petes pen. = That is Pete’s pen.
- I saw you’re sister. = I saw your sister.
- If I’d known you were at the party, I would of gone too. = If I’d known you were at the party, I would have gone too.
- There in the park. = They’re in the park.
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