There are two kinds of English mistakes. The first kind breaks a grammar rule. The second kind is more interesting — these are mistakes that do not always break a rule, but they make you sound unnatural to a fluent English speaker.
The sentence is understood, but something feels slightly off. The phrasing sounds like a translation. The word choice is close but not quite right. These mistakes hold back learners who have already reached an intermediate or advanced level — grammar errors decrease with study, but unnatural phrasing can persist for years if nobody points it out.
- Saying “I am agree” instead of “I agree”
- Using “Make” and “Do” incorrectly
- Overusing “Very” to intensify adjectives
- Saying “Discuss about” instead of “Discuss”
- Confusing “Say” and “Tell”
- Using “Congratulations” for birthdays
- Using the wrong preposition after adjectives
- Translating idioms directly
- Asking questions with wrong word order
- Using continuous tense with state verbs
In many languages, “agree” functions as an adjective — so learners reach for “I am agree” by analogy with “I am happy.” But in English, agree is a verb. It does not need am or is.
I am understand the question.
I am know the answer.
I understand the question.
I know the answer.
Both translate to the same word in many languages. The general rule: use make when something is created or produced; use do for tasks, activities, and work.
English has stronger, more precise adjectives that already contain the intensity. Using them immediately makes your English sound more natural.
Discuss already contains the idea of “about” within it. Adding about is redundant. The same applies to mention, emphasise, and explain.
Can we discuss about your essay?
Can we discuss your essay?
Say is used without a person directly after it, or with to + person. Tell is always followed directly by the person you are speaking to.
He told that he was tired.
He said that he was tired.
Simple test: If a person follows immediately after the verb, use tell. If not, use say.
In English, congratulations is used specifically for achievements — things someone actively did or accomplished. Not for birthdays, Eid, or New Year.
Eid: Eid Mubarak!
New Year: Happy New Year!
Prepositions after adjectives follow no consistent rule — they must be learned as fixed combinations.
- Interested in (not interested to / interested about)
- Good at (not good in)
- Afraid of (not afraid from)
- Responsible for (not responsible of)
- Excited about (not excited for)
- Satisfied with (not satisfied from)
- Tired of (not tired from when expressing boredom)
When learners translate idioms from their first language into English, the result is often confusing. Learn English idioms as complete, fixed units of meaning.
- It is raining cats and dogs — raining very heavily
- Break a leg — good luck
- Under the weather — feeling slightly unwell
- Cost an arm and a leg — very expensive
- Hit the nail on the head — to identify something exactly correctly
In English questions, the auxiliary verb comes before the subject. This is called subject-auxiliary inversion.
What you want?
Why she is late?
What do you want?
Why is she late?
State verbs — verbs that describe a state rather than an action — do not normally use the continuous form. State verbs include: have (possession), know, believe, understand, want, need, seem, love, hate, prefer.
I am knowing the answer.
I am wanting coffee.
I know the answer.
I want coffee.
Note: Have can be continuous for activities: “I am having lunch” ✓ — because this have means eating, not possession.
Awareness Is the First Step
Most of these mistakes happen not because learners do not know English, but because they have never been made aware of them. Nobody corrected them. Nobody explained the rule clearly. And so the mistake became a habit.
Now that you know these ten patterns, you will start noticing them in your own speech and writing. That noticing — that moment of self-correction — is exactly how language improves. The next step is practice: using the correct forms deliberately and consistently until they replace the old habits.
Reading about common mistakes helps you become aware. But having a qualified instructor listen to you speak and correct you in the moment — that is what actually breaks old habits and builds new ones. At Elemental Academia, correction and feedback are built into every live class.