10 Common English Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)
The same ten errors appear in almost every intermediate learner's speech. Here is what causes each one and the fix that actually sticks.
After twelve years of lessons I can predict a learner's first ten corrections before they finish their first paragraph. That is good news: a small, fixed set of errors is causing most of the friction, and each one has a specific cause you can address directly.
1. "I have seen him yesterday"
The present perfect cannot appear with a finished time expression. Yesterday, last week and in 2019 all close the time period, which forces the past simple: I saw him yesterday. Use the present perfect only when the period is still open — this week, today, ever, never, so far.
2. "I'm agree with you"
Agree is a verb, not an adjective, so it does not take a form of be. I agree with you. The same trap catches depend, belong and consist.
3. "He didn't went"
Once did carries the past, the main verb returns to its base form: He didn't go. Tense is marked once per verb phrase — never twice.
4. Missing articles
If your first language has no articles, the fix is a decision path rather than intuition. Ask three questions in order: is the noun countable and singular? Is it specific to both of us? Have I mentioned it before? Countable, singular and new takes a/an. Specific or previously mentioned takes the. Plural or uncountable and general takes nothing.
5. "Explain me this"
Explain, describe, suggest and mention do not take an indirect object directly. Explain this to me. Give and tell do allow it, which is why the pattern feels inconsistent.
6. Preposition drift
- depend on, not depend of
- interested in, not interested for
- arrive at a building, arrive in a city
- listen to, not listen (nothing)
- married to, not married with
7. "People is"
People is already plural — people are. The singular is person. Similarly, information, advice and equipment are uncountable and never take an -s.
8. Adjective order
English orders adjectives predictably: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose. A lovely small old round brown Italian leather riding boot sounds right; reorder it and it immediately sounds foreign. You rarely need more than three.
9. "Since three years"
Since marks a starting point; for marks a duration. Since 2023, for three years. If you can answer when, use since. If you can answer how long, use for.
10. Overusing "very"
Very is not wrong, but it flattens your range. Trade it for a stronger single word: very tired becomes exhausted, very interesting becomes fascinating, very big becomes enormous. This single habit does more for perceived fluency than a hundred new nouns.
How to make the fixes stick
Do not try to correct all ten at once. Pick the two that appear most in your own speech, write them at the top of your notes, and only monitor those for two weeks. Accuracy improves when attention is narrow. Once the two feel automatic, replace them with the next two.
Fluency is not the absence of errors. It is having your remaining errors be the ones that no longer block understanding.
Want this applied to your English?
Reading about it helps. Practising it with feedback is what changes the habit. A $25 trial lesson tells you exactly which of these gaps is costing you the most.
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