Common grammar mistakes in written oral English 5-8 class

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15 Common Grammar Mistakes in Written and Oral Work

1.  The verb doesn’t agree with the subject:

a)    There are many person in this class.

b)    The film finish at four o’clock.

             Advice: The verb should agree with the subject:

a)        There are many people in this class.

b)        The film finishes at four o’clock.  

2.  There are mixed tenses or the wrong tense has been used:

a)    I went to the supermarket and meet my friend James.

b)    I have saw my sister yesterday.

             Advice: Use the correct tense, and don’t mix tenses:

a)    I went to the supermarket and met my friend James.

b)    I saw my sister yesterday.

3.  There are articles or determiners in the wrong place or missing altogether:

a)    I bought new computer last weekend.

b)    I had some interesting journey to work this morning.

             Advice: Use articles and determiners correctly:

a)        I bought a new computer last weekend.

b)        I had an interesting journey to work this morning.  

4.  Capital letters are used incorrectly:

a)    I’ll see you on sunday.

b)    my friend rob lives at 44 sunnybank drive, ollerton, southampton, sh2 5pb.

               Advice: Put a capital letter at the start of a proper noun and where necessary:

a)    I’ll see you on Sunday.

b)    My friend Rob lives at 44 Sunnybank Drive, Ollerton, Southampton, SH2 5PB.

5.  There are spelling mistakes:

a)    I came to Britain last autum.

b)    The children finished their diner and went outside.

Advice: Check your spelling with a dictionary if you are unsure and learn lists
of common words:

a)    I came to Britain last autumn.

b)    The children finished their dinner and went outside.

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English Banana.com

15 Common Grammar Mistakes in Written and Oral Work

6.    Sentences are long, rambling and repetitive:

a)    I wake up at 7 o’clock and have a shower and brush my hair and get dressed.

b)    We learnt about grammar and some of the students said they didn’t like it, but I think it is a good subject for me because ...

            Advice: Use short sentences with one or two  phrases in each:

a)    I wake up at 7 o’clock and have a shower. Then I brush my hair and get dressed.

b)    We learnt about grammar and some of the students said they didn’t like it. I think it is a good subject because ...  

7.    The words in the sentence are in the wrong order:

a)    Which programmes you don’t like?

b)    I can go home now, please?

             Advice: Check that words in each sentence are in the right order:

a)    Which programmes don’t you like?

b)    Can I go home now, please?

8.    There is incorrect punctuation:

a)    My sisters name is Zafreen, she lives with our parents in Leicester.

b)    What. is. your. favourite. colour.

             Advice: Use punctuation correctly:

a)         My sister’s name is Zafreen. She lives with our parents in Leicester.

b)         What is your favourite colour?  

9.    The answer is not relevant to the question, e.g. ‘Describe a good friend’:

a)    My name is Sandeep Singh. My address is 54 Park Lane, Wisbech,

Cambridgeshire, WB12 4RW. I have two brothers and two sisters …

             Advice: Make sure that your answer is relevant to the question:

a) I want to write about my friend Ahmed. I have known him for a long time. He is tall with brown hair, and he wears glasses …  

10. There is incorrect use of plural forms:

a)    We can do it ourself.

b)    Do you want a toast?

             Advice: Learn and use plural forms and their determiners:

a)    We can do it ourselves.

b)    Do you want some toast?

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English Banana.com

15 Common Grammar Mistakes in Written and Oral Work

11. A verb is missing from the sentence:

a)    I just spoken to Emma and she really busy.

b)    My boss leaving next week to start a new job.

             Advice: Don’t miss out verbs – even little ones!

a)        I have just spoken to Emma and she’s really busy.

b)        My boss is leaving next week to start a new job.  

12. A preposition is missing from a sentence:

a)    Bill Clinton was the 42^nd President the USA.

b)    I put my bag the table.

            Advice: Don’t miss out prepositions, no matter how unimportant they look:

a)        Bill Clinton was the 42^nd President of the USA.

b)        I put my bag on the table.  

13. The meaning isn’t clear or the sentence doesn’t make sense:

a)    I got the train at six thirty and arrived when I got to work early.

b)    My favourite food is Chinese because I can’t go out and get it very often.

Advice: Does your sentence make sense? Make sure the reader can
understand what you are trying to say:

a)    I got the train at six thirty and arrived at work early.

b)    My favourite food is Chinese, but I don’t go out and get it very often.

14. The infinitive is used incorrectly:

a)    I’m going talk about my country.

b)    Kevin wanted to going to the museum with his class.

               Advice: Use the infinitive correctly – ‘to’ + infinitive, rather than mixed tenses:

a)    I’m going to talk about my country.

b)    Kevin wanted to go to the museum with his class.

15. There are incomplete sentences, e.g. a sentence that doesn’t contain a subject-         verb-object:

a)    Not good.

b)    We’re going to.

Advice: Try not to use very short, incomplete sentences, e.g. a sentence that
doesn’t contain a subject-verb-object:

a)    That was not good.

b)    We’re going to eat out later.

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