Almost every learner mistake in English has the same origin: building the sentence in your first language and swapping the words one by one. Languages organize ideas differently, so the result comes out wrong. These are the 15 most frequent.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I have 25 years. | I am 25 (years old). | age uses “to be” |
| People is nice. | People are nice. | ”people” is plural |
| Make a question. | Ask a question. | questions are “asked” |
| Explain me. | Explain to me. | ”explain” needs “to” |
| I am agree. | I agree. | ”agree” is a verb |
| Depend of. | Depend on. | fixed preposition |
| I like very much pizza. | I like pizza very much. | adverb goes at the end |
| She have a car. | She has a car. | third person |
| Is more cheap. | It’s cheaper. | short comparative and a required subject |
| I went to home. | I went home. | no “to” before “home” |
| Discuss about. | Discuss. | ”discuss” takes no “about” |
| Since two years. | For two years. | ”for” for duration |
| Actually (meaning “currently”) | Currently | false friend |
| Pretend (meaning “intend”) | Intend / plan | false friend |
| Informations | Information | uncountable |
The three groups of mistakes
1. Structure copied from another language
“I have 25 years”, “I am agree” and “is more cheap” follow the order and verbs of Spanish, Portuguese, French or Italian. The fix is to learn the English sentence as a whole: “I’m 25”, “I agree”, “It’s cheaper”.
2. Translated prepositions
“Depend of”, “explain me”, “discuss about”: English prepositions rarely match other languages. Since no rule covers them all, the way forward is to store the verb and its preposition together, like one word: “depend on”, “listen to”, “wait for”.
3. False friends
“Actually”, “pretend”, “library” and “college” look like words in many European languages and mean something else. We have a full guide to English false friends.
A subject is required
Many languages let you drop the subject: “Is expensive”, “Is raining”. English always needs one, even if it is just “it”: “It’s expensive”, “It’s raining”. Forgetting “it” is one of the clearest signs of a learner.
How to fix them for good
Reading the list is not enough, because the mistake returns when you speak fast. What works is hearing the correct form many times, in context, until it sounds natural. Shows are great for this: “How old are you? I’m 25” appears everywhere. In Telidioma you can click the expression, see the translation in context and save the phrase to review with spaced repetition.
Frequently asked questions
Do these mistakes stop people from understanding me?
Most do not block understanding, but some sound odd and stand out, especially at work. Fixing the most frequent ones greatly improves how you come across.
Why is it “I am 25” and not “I have 25 years”?
English expresses age with the verb “to be”. “I have 25 years” sounds as if you owned 25 years rather than being that age. Speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian make this mistake because their languages use “have”.
How do I stop making translation mistakes?
Learn whole expressions the way native speakers say them, by hearing them in context. Shows and videos help because they give you the ready-made phrase, not the isolated word.