8 Common Grammar Mistakes in English

• published: 26 Aug 2015
• views: 882

"What's the different"? "Today morning"? "I enjoyed"? Improve your grammar by correcting the common mistakes in these English sentences. A good review for all students, especially at intermediate and advanced levels. Also check our full resource of 100 Common Grammar Mistakes in English at http://www.engvid.com/english-resource/50-common-grammar-mistakes-in-english/ Quiz: http://www.engvid.com/8-common-grammar-mistakes-in-english/ TRANSCRIPT Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. In this lesson, you'll have a chance to review eight common English errors. So, let's see how you do. The first one: "Today morning I woke up late." So, what's wrong with that? There is actually something wrong with each and every one of these. I'll tell you that in advance; there's no... There are no tricks here. Okay? So, what's wrong with that sentence? "Today morning I woke up late." Well, it should be: "This morning". Okay? We don't say: "Today morning". We say: "This morning". Number two: "What's the different?" What's the different? Well, that's wrong too, because "different" is an adjective. What you want to use here is the noun. So, what's the noun of this word? "Difference". "What's the difference?" Okay? This is a really common error, so make sure you don't make this one. Next one: "I met John two years before." Okay? What's wrong with that? Well, over here, we can't say: "I met John two years before." We can say: "I met two... I met John two years ago." All right? If you use the word "before", then you have to say before something. "Before I graduated". Okay? "Before I got married", or whatever. But you can't use "before" by itself. So the proper word there is "ago". "I met John two years ago." Next one: "This is a six-months course." That sounds almost okay, but it's not okay. So the mistake here is with the "s". When we use this expression, it becomes... The entire expression becomes an adjective for the noun "course". So we should say: "This is a six-month course.", "This is a million dollar contract." And so on. Okay? That's another... Each of these is a different element of grammar, different aspect of grammar, and so on. Next, number five: "Thank you. I really enjoyed." What's wrong with that? Well, the problem is here. "Enjoyed" is a reflexive verb, so you would need to say: "I really enjoyed myself.", "I really enjoyed myself.", "He enjoyed himself.", "She enjoyed herself.", "We enjoyed ourselves.", "They enjoyed themselves." Okay? So there are certain reflexive verbs in English, and we need to use them correctly. That's one of them. Very common one. Okay, number six: "Did you loose your cellphone?" What's wrong with that? I helped you a little bit by actually showing you where the error is. So, many people make this error. This is actually a spelling mistake. You should be spelling the word this way. "Did you lose your cellphone?" "Loose" is an adjective which means not tight, and "lose" is the opposite of "find". Okay? "Did you lose your cellphone?" Also, the pronunciation is "lose" and not "loose". Next one: "This is an academic course.", "This is an academic course." So, what was wrong with what I said there? Okay? So, what was wrong was my pronunciation of that. So many people mispronounce this word. It is not "academic". It is "academic". The stress is on the middle. Academic. "This is an academic course.", "This is an academic program." Okay? So, if... In case you make that mistake. I'm not saying you do. In case you do, make sure you correct it. Last one: "Yes, I have a free time." Is that...? What's wrong there? What's going on? Okay, here. We don't need to say: "A free time". We need to say: "Free time", because this is a... Time is an uncountable noun. Now, each one of these examples represents a different aspect of grammar. So, how can you possibly learn all of them? Well, I'll give you two easy ways to help you out. One is to go to our website: www.engvid.com, because there, we have currently I think more than 700 lessons on different aspects of English grammar and of English in general for exams, for writing, speaking, all kinds of things. And by watching them, you can find the lessons that you actually need. And the other thing is that we also have... I've written actually a resource which might help you, which shows 50 such common errors that people make in English, and that might help you out as well. Okay? So, I hope you did well, and I hope you continue to do better and better in English. All the best with your English. Bye for now.