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With words deriving from hundreds of other languages, the English language is a difficult beast to master! Even after years of practice, it’s easy to make a lot of mistakes. Make sure you know to avoid these common errors next time you’re speaking!

 

What are some of the most common English mistakes?

 

It’s vs. Its

Although these two tiny words look very similar, their meanings are actually very different! We use it’s as a contraction (or shortened version) of “it is” or “it has.” We use ‘its,’ on the other hand, to say that something belongs to or refers to something like we use ‘hers’ ‘his’ or ‘hers.’

 

Watch, look, see

Many non-native speakers have trouble differentiating the words ‘watch’ ‘look’ and ‘see’. Although the difference is clear for native speakers, for non-natives they are easily confused.

  • “See” means to notice or become aware of someone or something. I.e. “I just saw the cutest dog!”
  • “Look” means to direct your eyes in a particular direction. I.e. “Look over there!”
  • “Watch” means to look at someone or something for an extended period of time.  I.e “What did you watch on TV last night?”

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    Loan vs. borrow

    While many languages have just one word for loan and borrow, in English we differentiate between the two. One way to get to know the difference is to think of ‘loan’ as give and ‘borrow’ as take. E.g.

    • “Loan” – is to give something to someone temporarily. I.e “I loaned my Mum the car as she was having trouble walking with her bad hip.”
    • “Borrow“- is to take something from someone temporarily. I.e. “I borrowed some books from the library.”

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      Owe vs. own

      To many non-native English speakers, these two words sound the same but a slight difference in pronunciation with these two and you really change the meaning of the sentence.

      • “I owe you” = A way of showing gratitude after someone does you a favour.
      • “I own you” = The person belongs to you.

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        Their, there and they’re

        One of the most common English mistakes, even for native speakers, is confusing these three similar-sounding words.

        • “Their” means it belongs to them. I.e. “They left their bag”
        • “They’re” is a contraction (or shorter version) of they are. “They’re such a lovely couple.”
        • “There” refers to a place, eg “Your bag is over there!”

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          Good and well

          The rule of thumb is that “good” is an adjective and “well” is an adverb. Or put simply, “good” describes objects and “well” describes actions.

          • “Good” describes nouns. I.e. “Ford Fiestas are such good cars!”
          • “Well” describes actions. I.e. “You play the piano really well!”

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            Lose vs loose

            These similar words cause a lot of confusion- even for native speakers!

            • “Loose” is an adjective used to describe things that are not tight. I.e “I lost so much weight that my jeans are loose!”
            • “Lose” is a verb that meaning you no longer have or to misplace something. I.e. “I lost my keys”

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