Do you make these mistakes in English?

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I'm Rebecca from www.engvid.com.

In the past 30 years, I've worked with thousands of students from all over the world to help

them improve their English communication skills.

In the past year, I've been researching the most important errors and the most common

errors made by English learners.

And what I've done is I've put all of this information together into a course.

It's called: "Correct Your English Errors in 10 Minutes a Day".

I'm very excited to tell you about this course, because I really think it's an easy, quick,

fast way for you to improve your English and take it to a higher level.

But first what I want to do is tell you: What are the points you have to keep in mind when

you are trying to improve your English?

What do you need to know about correcting your errors?

So, let me share a little bit of my results from my research so it can help you.

And then we will look at specific types of errors, and do a little quiz to see where

you stand. Okay?

Let's get started.

So, first, when you're correcting your English, really, you can do two things.

When you're improving your English, you can do two things; you can learn what's right

or correct what's wrong.

Now we're talking about this area where we correct what's wrong.

So, in order to correct what's wrong, what do you need to do?

First, you need to know what's wrong.

So, when I get an essay or I get an email to correct, what's the problem?

It's not that the person was trying to make mistakes.

They weren't trying to make mistakes; they're trying to do their best.

That's what you do.

Every time you write or every time you speak, but you didn't know that something was wrong.

So, first you have to know what's wrong.

Then you have to understand why it's wrong.

Why is it this word and not that word?

Why is it this verb tense and not that verb tense?

And so on and so forth. Okay?

Then you have to learn how to fix it. Okay?

Is it a spelling change?

It is a punctuation error?

What kind of mistake is it?

That's what we're going to be looking at - the types of mistakes.

Because once you understand and correct a type of mistake, you will correct lots of

mistakes all at once. Okay?

And that's what I want you to do; to make quick progress, fast progress.

Then what you need to do, which many students do, is to practice it immediately.

So, for example, if I teach you something in this lesson or in any one of my engVid

lessons, after you watch it, what you need to do is to practice something with that immediately.

That's why we usually have a quiz-right?-so that you can go there right away, do some

more practice to put that information really into your head; and not just to put it passively

there, but to use it.

To use whatever you've learned in a practical way.

So, you need to practice it immediately, but sometimes that's where students stop.

They practice it right away, and then they don't touch it after that, and they think:

"I did it. I know it", but not quite.

So, what's also very, very important in terms of our brain, in terms of how we learn, in

terms of how we remember is this point, here: That you need to review it frequently.

Review anything that you learn often; otherwise, it's not going to stay with you.

So, for example, in my course, what we have are we have daily quizzes, we have weekly

tests, we have monthly reviews with the same material.

So that after a while, you say: "Of course I know that.

The difference between 'it's' and 'its'.

I know the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'.

That's not a problem", because you've reviewed it.

If you don't review it, then it's going to drop away.

So this is an essential part of brain-based learning, of very smart learning.

Not just hard learning, but smart learning.

And then you need to know what's important.

So, let's say you get back your essay and there are twenty corrections.

So, are they all equally important? No.

Some are critical.

If you make some mistakes, you can get very low marks on your IELTS or TOEFL, you could

lose a job possibility-right?-you could have a very low grade in university.

But some other mistakes are not so serious; they're very advanced kind of technical mistakes

that even English learners might make.

Those are not as serious.

But if you make basic mistakes with verb tenses, if you forget to use a verb, or something

like that, if you don't use an article - then those mistakes are more fundamental and more

And that's what I made sure is in the course and also what I'm going to tell you about

So, let's do that.

Okay, so let's go through these common mistakes.

Number one: "Everyone is here" or "Everyone are here"?

What's correct?

This is a question of subject-verb agreement.

So, what do you think it is?

It should be: "Everyone is here." Okay?

"Everyone", "someone", "anyone", "no one" - these are all singular, and that's something

that is always true.

So, it's something that once you learn that, you know that you can apply it always.

Number two - this is a preposition error: "I've lived here since two years" or "I've

lived here for two years"?

Which is correct?

It should be: "I've lived here for two years."

Do you know why?

Remember I said it's not only important to know that it's wrong; it's important to know

why it's wrong.

And the reason why is because we use "for" plus the period of time; how long.

And we use "since" from the point in time.

So, let's suppose it's 2010 now.

It's not, but let's suppose it was 2010 now, then we can say: "Since 2008", two years before that.

But "for" plus the period of time, so that's a kind of an error that, once you understand

it, it will be much easier to apply, and especially once you practice it.

Next, number three - this is a mistake in verb tenses, potentially: "We visited Niagara

Falls yesterday" or "We have visited Niagara Falls yesterday"?

So, here we have the simple past, here we have present perfect.

Which is correct in this sentence, or are both correct?

Well, it should be: "We visited Niagara falls yesterday."

Why can't we use the other one?

Because we have the word, here: "yesterday".

"Yesterday" is a finished time.

Once you have a finished time that's mentioned in the sentence, then we can only use the

simple past or past simple; we can't use present perfect.

We can use present perfect if no time is mentioned.

If it only said: "We have visited Niagara Falls" or otherwise not.

Or if you want to say: "this week".

We can use it with a time that's not finished.

"We have visited Niagara Falls this summer", "We have visited this week", "this month",

A time that's not finished we can mention.

Next, this is a question of word order: "He arrived at 7:00 at the airport" or "He arrived

at the airport at 7:00"?

And you're saying: "It doesn't matter.

I know, I know.

But in English, it does matter.

So, is there a rule you can follow here?

So, which one, first of all, do you think is right?

So, the correct one is: "He arrived at the airport at 7:00", and this is wrong.

Again, the principle.

The principle is that we have to mention place before time.

"I arrived at the party at 7:00", "I arrived at the airport at 7:00", "I arrived at the

office at 7:00", okay?

And not the other way around.

So, once you understand the principle, you'll be able to apply it when you're speaking and

when you're writing.

Number five, this is a question of comparative adjectives: "The weather is better today"

or "The weather is more better today"?

Which is right, or are both right?

Both are definitely not right in this case; and in fact, one of them is always wrong.

Which one is always wrong?

This is the only correct option.

So, if you ever hear anyone saying: "more better", it's always wrong.

And that's because that's the only form.

You have "good", "better", and "the best".

There is nothing else.

So, some of these you learn by just knowing that there is never a case, there are no rules

that sometimes you use this one and sometimes you use that one - no.

That's the only option.

Now let's look at five more from my course.

All right, let's do number six.

So, here, we are talking about a car.

And let's look at this mistake.

This is a mistake in writing.

The first one: "It's tires need to be changed" or "Its tires need to be changed"?

So, here we have "it's" and here we just have "its".

So, which is correct?

So, it is this one, without the apostrophe, and this one is wrong because this: "it's"

is short for what?

Short for: "It is tires need to be changed."

We want to use the possessive form of "it", which is "its" with no apostrophe.

This is different from lots of other words, okay?

So: "Its tires need to be changed."

So, this is an example of a homophone.

These are words which...

Words which sound the same, but their meaning and their spelling is often different.

There are many of these, and these can cause a lot of confusion, and they are responsible

for lots of mistakes in writing.

The next one is an example of word choice; incorrect word choice.

For example: "We won the other team" or "We beat the other team"?

Okay, I'm going to write the answer now.

"We...

We beat the other team", not: "We won the other team".

Although people might say that, but that's not right.

So, you beat the other side, the other player, your opponent, and so on; but you win the

game, you win the championship.

That's how you...

You win the match.

So, "win" is used with the game, or the match, or the championship; and you beat the other

So, there, it's an example of you had to choose the right word.

And you have to know that's more of a vocabulary issue.

Number eight, we're talking about the correct word form.

So, you know, like every word, there is a family.

Every word has a family; there's a noun, there's a verb, there's an adjective, there's an adverb

usually, and sometimes people use the wrong one.

So, let's figure out if you can get this one right.

Number eight: "Can you advise me?", "Can you advice me?" or "Can you advices me?"

Which of those is correct?

Now you had a choice of three.

So, it should be: "Can you advise me?"

Not "advice" and definitely not "advices".

Why did I say: "definitely not 'advices'"?

Because this word is just wrong; it doesn't exist.

It's not part of the family.

It is...

It doesn't exist.

This is just a mistake that people make.

That is not the plural of "advice".

This is the noun: "advice", and even...

You can't make it plural by adding "s"; it's a non-count noun.

So, here we wanted to use the verb, so the verb is "advise".

I know it's written with an "s", but it's pronounced with a "z" sound.

"Can you advise me?"

Next, so this one is just confusing words, confusing grammar-okay?-let's call it.

"It's so a beautiful day" or "It's such a beautiful day"?

What's right there?

It should be: "such a beautiful day", because after "such", we're looking for a noun or

we're looking for a noun phrase.

And after "so", we're usually looking for an adjective or an adverb.

So, we could say: "It's so beautiful today" or "It's such a beautiful day".

Again, each of these points you have to master.

I'll talk to you about that in a second.

And the last one is just expressions that we use.

So, which of these expressions is correct: "Good evening.

How are you?" or "Good night.

So, is there a difference between saying: "Good evening" and "Good night"?

In some languages, I believe it's not; there's no difference, but in English, there is a

So, which is correct here?

We should say: "Good evening.

Because: "Good evening" is a greeting when we meet somebody.

And we can use it.

We can say: "Good morning.

How are you?", "Good afternoon.

How are you?", "Good evening.

But: "Good night" is only said when you're leaving and you're going away.

So, you're not going to say: "Good night", and then say to somebody: "How are you?" because

it's, like, the end of the conversation.

You can't say: "Bye.

See you tomorrow.

And you're not talking anymore; you're just going away after that.

So, there's nothing else.

But: "Good evening" is when you arrive, and you say: "Good evening, everyone.

And now you're going to start the evening; and here, you're ending it, so there's nothing

But, again, that's something you have to learn.

And why is it important?

Because, here, we've talked about just 10 kinds of errors, but actually there are many

kinds of errors, and in my course we cover more than 100 of them, and the most important

thing is we cover them only one by one.

Here, in case you didn't get them all immediately, it's because we did a lot in one time, and

I understand that.

And maybe you understood them right now, but the question is: Will you remember them tomorrow?

So, by doing...

By focusing on just one at a time, you can master it, and then you can review it at the

end of the week, at the end of the month, at the end of the course, and so on.

Also, I've particularly chosen those errors that are the most common, that are the most

embarrassing, that will lead to misunderstanding - so if you use one word instead of the other,

people might misunderstand, they might get confused.

"What does he...?

What does he mean?

What is she saying?"

So those are the kinds of errors that I've chosen, and also these are the most serious errors.

They make you look bad, or they make you get lower grades and things like that.

So, by focusing on them and by mastering them once and for all, then you're done; you've got it.

And your English will have improved so much, because little by little, you corrected all

the different types of errors that really matter. Okay?

So, if you'd like to know more-okay?-click on the link that's either below or above the

video, and I wish you all the best with your English.