Common Student Mistakes
The same errors appear year after year. Fix ten of them and your writing improves more than it would from a month of new material.
How to use this page
Do not read it all at once. Take one table, find two examples of that error in your own recent written work, and correct them. Repeat with the next table tomorrow.
An error you have found in your own writing is fixed; an error you have only read about is not.
Verbs and tenses
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| She don't like tea. | She doesn't like tea. | With he, she or it, the negative is doesn't. |
| He go to school daily. | He goes to school daily. | Third person singular takes -s in the simple present. |
| I am living here since 2018. | I have lived here since 2018. | Since with a continuing situation needs the present perfect. |
| I have seen him yesterday. | I saw him yesterday. | Do not use the present perfect with a finished time. |
| He did not went home. | He did not go home. | After did, the main verb returns to its base form. |
| She is having two brothers. | She has two brothers. | Have meaning possession is not used in the continuous. |
| I am knowing the answer. | I know the answer. | State verbs are not used in the continuous. |
| The work is completing. | The work is being completed. | The work does not complete itself; the passive is needed. |
Nouns, articles and agreement
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| He gave me many informations. | He gave me much information. | Information is uncountable and has no plural. |
| I need some advices. | I need some advice. | Advice is uncountable. Advise is the verb. |
| The furnitures are new. | The furniture is new. | Furniture is uncountable and takes a singular verb. |
| Every students must attend. | Every student must attend. | Every is followed by a singular noun. |
| One of my friend is a doctor. | One of my friends is a doctor. | One of is followed by a plural noun. |
| He is engineer. | He is an engineer. | A singular countable noun needs an article. |
| I waited for a hour. | I waited for an hour. | Hour begins with a vowel sound, so an is used. |
| The box of books are heavy. | The box of books is heavy. | The verb agrees with box, not with books. |
| Each of the boys have a bag. | Each of the boys has a bag. | Each is singular. |
Prepositions and word partnerships
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| We discussed about the matter. | We discussed the matter. | Discuss takes a direct object with no preposition. |
| He is good in mathematics. | He is good at mathematics. | The fixed partnership is good at. |
| She married with a doctor. | She married a doctor. | Marry takes a direct object. Married to is used with be. |
| I am waiting my friend. | I am waiting for my friend. | Wait is followed by for. |
| Listen the teacher. | Listen to the teacher. | Listen is followed by to when there is an object. |
| He returned back home. | He returned home. | Return already contains the idea of back. |
| Repeat it again. | Repeat it. | Repeat already means to do it again. |
| I look forward to hear from you. | I look forward to hearing from you. | Here to is a preposition, so the -ing form follows. |
| Congratulations for your success. | Congratulations on your success. | The fixed partnership is congratulate on. |
Sentence structure
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| He asked me where do I live. | He asked me where I live. | Reported questions use normal statement order. |
| Although it rained, but we went. | Although it rained, we went. | Do not use although and but together. |
| Because he was ill. He did not come. | Because he was ill, he did not come. | A because clause cannot stand alone as a sentence. |
| I like reading, I read every day. | I like reading; I read every day. | Two sentences cannot be joined with only a comma. |
| If it will rain, we will stay. | If it rains, we will stay. | Will does not go in the if-clause. |
| He is more taller than me. | He is taller than me. | Do not use more with an -er comparative. |
| It is the most best answer. | It is the best answer. | Best is already superlative. |
| Being a rainy day, we stayed home. | As it was a rainy day, we stayed home. | The original leaves the participle without a proper subject. |
Words that are confused
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Its raining heavily. | It's raining heavily. | It's means it is. Its shows possession. |
| Their going to the shop. | They're going to the shop. | They're means they are. |
| He gave me a good advise. | He gave me good advice. | Advice is the noun; advise is the verb. |
| I loose my pen often. | I lose my pen often. | Lose is the verb; loose means not tight. |
| The principle called us. | The principal called us. | Principal is the head; principle is a rule or belief. |
| Everyday I read. | Every day I read. | Everyday as one word is an adjective, as in everyday clothes. |
| He is my cousin brother. | He is my cousin. | Cousin brother is not used in standard English. |
| Please revert back to me. | Please reply to me. | Revert means to return to a previous state, not to reply. |
Practise correcting errors
Each sentence contains one mistake. Rewrite the whole sentence correctly.
Loading activity…
Build your own error list
Everyone has a personal set of about six errors that they make repeatedly. They are not the same for everyone, and a general list can never replace your own.
Take the last three pieces of written work you had corrected. Write down every error, and count how often each kind appears. The two or three that appear most often are your list. Put it inside the cover of your exercise book and check every piece of writing against it before you hand it in.
Students who do this usually eliminate their commonest error within a month.
Next
Grammar
The rules behind these corrections.
Guided Writing
The correction checklist to use on your own work.
Interactive Revision
More practice that marks itself.