Common English Mistakes to Avoid

When learning a new language, you are bound to make mistakes sooner or later. Learning English takes time and a lot of hard work to perfect. We at American English Language School want to help English learners to improve, so here are a few common mistakes to look out for when learning English.

1. Articles: "a," "an," and "the" are difficult for many to understand. You use "the" when you are talking about something that you and the reader know about. "A" and "an" are used when referring to anything. However, you must use "an" if the word comes before a word that starts with a vowel.

For the: "I went to the grocery store next to my house."

For a/an: "I want to buy a cat or an iguana." 

2. Prepositions: Prepositions are words that describe a relationship between other words in a sentence. “In,” “on,” “at,” and “between” are common prepositions. “In” is used for spaces and periods of time. “At” is used for a specific time or place. “On” is used to describe the surface that something is on or a day.

3. Uncountable Nouns: You cannot add numbers to uncountable nouns because we don’t measure uncountable nouns by numbers. For example, you can say, “I have 2 bags of flour.” However, you cannot say, “I have two flours.” Flour is uncountable because it is a powder, and you cannot count powder. Uncountable nouns are nouns that are difficult to measure (milk, salt, and rice) or things that are abstract (love, energy, and fear).

4. Pronouns: A common mistake that English learners make is mixing up pronouns. Your reader or listener should be able to understand the noun that the pronoun stands for. You use “he” or males, “she” for females, and “it” for objects. This may take some time to remember which pronoun to use.

5. Capitalization: When learning English, you need to capitalize “I” when it is being used as a subject, the first letter of a sentence, proper names, days of the week, and months.

These are just a few mistakes that English learners make. Mistakes are a part of the learning progress, and they can help you to keep improving. You will just need to be careful that you don't keep making the same mistakes.

An effective way to avoid making these mistakes and quickly improve your English is to take an ESL course. A big part of our ESL course at American English Language School is our small classes. We emphasize small class sizes so that when you read, write, or pronounce something incorrectly, your teacher will be there to listen and can correct you right away, or answer any questions you may have. To learn more about our ESL courses, visit our programs page or contact us at info@aels.edu.

Published on January 19, 2021

American English Language School (AELS) is a CEA-accredited and SEVP-approved English language school authorized to issue I-20 forms for international students. Located in Los Angeles, Orange County (Fullerton), and Irvine, California, AELS offers small classes, conversation-focused lessons, and proven results through individualized learning experiences. If you’re serious about improving your English, join AELS today!