Avoiding Mistakes – AB51 English School

District of Columbia, Washington, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:44:58 +0000

When writing addresses in English, most countries go from the smallest part to the biggest.

Wrong	Right
United States of America, Washington, D.C., 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, The White House	The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., United States of America

“You aren’t stupid, are you?” “Yes.”

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:40:46 +0000

In English, the answer to a yes/no question does not change if the question becomes negative.

So the answer to these three questions should be the same:

Are you stupid?	No, I’m not.
You’re stupid, aren’t you?	No, I’m not.
You aren’t stupid, are you?	No, I’m not.

Examples

Wrong	Right
“You’re not stupid, are you? “Yes, I’m not.”	“You’re not stupid, are you? “No, I’m not.”
“You’re not a monkey, are you?” “Yes, I’m not.”	“You’re not a monkey, are you?” “No, I’m not.”
“You didn’t eat my cake, did you?” “Yes, I didn’t.”	“You didn’t eat my cake, did you?” “No, I didn’t.”
“You weren’t reading that, were you?” “No, I was.”	“You weren’t reading that, were you?” “Yes, I was.”

The next next day

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 07:50:48 +0000

Time phrases that repeat words are quite childish. These include:
– tomorrow’s tomorrow
– yesterday’s yesterday
– the next next day
– the day before before
Instead, use the correct counting phrase.

The correct counting phrase

Wrong	Right
tomorrow’s tomorrow	the day after tomorrow in two days time
yesterday’s yesterday	the day before yesterday two days ago
the next next day	two days after
the day before before	two days before

Examples

Wrong	Right
Jill will start her new job tomorrow’s tomorrow.	Jill will start her new job the day after tomorrow.
Jill left her last job yesterday’s yesterday’s yesterday.	Jill left her last job 3 days ago.
He will go to Beijing on the 19th. On the 19th’s tomorrow, he will go to Xining.	He will go to Beijing on the 19th. The day after that he will go to Xining.
He will go to Beijing on the 19th. On the 19th’s yesterday he will be in Xi’an.	He will go to Beijing on the 19th. The day before that, he will be in Xi’an.
I went to Milan for the football game. The game’s tomorrow I came home.	I went to Milan for the football game. The day after, I came home.
I went to Milan for the football game. I bought my ticket that day’s yesterday.	I went to Milan for the football game. I bought my ticket the day before.

We together go

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:23:40 +0000

‘Together’ goes at the beginning or at the end of a clause (usually the end), not in the middle.

Examples

Wrong	Right
She and I together work.	She and I work together.
They together went to the cinema.	They went to the cinema together.
We together go?	Shall we go together?

I came in the train

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:58:01 +0000

The rule for using ‘in’ or ‘on’ for transport is:
– independent or special transport uses in
– services use on
* It is not about being inside or on top.

An easy way to think about this is:
Does the transport usually do this journey, even when I am not here?
If it does, it probably uses ‘on’.

Independent transport vs. service

Independent transport	Service
taxi	train
boat (private boat)	boat (ferry)
plane (private plane)	plane (normal plane from airport)

Exception: bicycles are independent transport, but use on.

Examples

She came to the party in a taxi.	They went to Blackpool on the train.
Jules travelled to the island in her boat. (*private boat)	Darlene went to France on the ferry.
I left my wallet in the plane. (*my plane)	I left my bag on the plane. (*normal plane)
	Francis went to the shop on her bicycle.

I wish I am rich

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 05:16:12 +0000

When using wish, the tenses ‘go backwards’.

Current Wishes

Although the wish is for something now, use the past tense.

Wrong	Right
I wish I don’t have homework.	I wish I didn’t have homework.
I wish she is my girlfriend.	I wish she was my girlfriend.
I wish I can do magic.	I wish I could do magic.

Past Wishes

Wishes in the past have to use the past perfect tense.
The past perfect tenses is had + done/eaten/gone etc.

Wrong	Right
I wish I studied harder when I was at school.	I wish I had studied harder when I was at school.
She wishes she didn’t kiss him.	She wishes she hadn’t kissed him.
He wishes he didn’t get drunk at the bar and acted stupidly in front of the staff.	He wishes he hadn’t got drunk at the bar and acted stupidly in front of the staff.

I like

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:10:21 +0000

In English, ‘like’, ‘want’, and ‘need’ need objects. The sentence cannot finish after the verb.

Examples

Wrong	Right
“Do you like cheese?” “Yes, I like.”	“Do you like cheese?” “Yes, I like it.”
“Who wants an ice-cream?” “I want.”	“Who wants an ice-cream?” “I want one.”
“Does anyone here need a lift to the game?” “I need.”	“Does anyone here need a lift to the game?” “I need one.”

I’m so-so

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 03:50:46 +0000

Although not wrong, ‘so-so’ is seldom used in English.
Instead, people use words such as ‘OK‘, ‘alright‘, and ‘not bad‘.

Wrong	Right
“How are you?” “I’m so-so.”	“How are you?” “I’m Ok.”
I’m a so-so swimmer.	I’m an average swimmer.
The party was so-so.	The party wasn’t bad.

I went to the park, it was very nice

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:39:53 +0000

In English, a comma cannot connect clauses. Instead:
1) use two sentences or
2) use a conjunction or
3) use a subordinate clause or
4) use stronger punctuation

1) Use two sentences

The easiest way to avoid the weak comma problem is to make two sentences.

Wrong	Right
I went to the park, it was very nice.	I went to the park. It was very nice.
My teacher was very angry, he told me to sit down.	My teacher was very angry. He told me to sit down.

2) Use a conjunction

Conjunctions tie parts of sentences together,
Conjunctions include: and, but, so, or.

Wrong	Right
I went to the park, it was very nice.	I went to the park, and it was very nice.
My teacher was very angry, he told me to sit down.	My teacher was very angry, so he told me to sit down.

3) Use a subordinate clause

Subordinate clauses are clauses used to describe another clause or object.
Subordinate clauses are put next to the thing they are describing.
Subordinate clauses usually begin with which, that, or who.

Wrong	Right
I went to the park, it was very nice.	I went to the park, which was very nice.
My teacher was very angry, he told me to sit down.	My teacher was very angry, which made him tell me to sit down.

4) Use stronger punctuation

One way to avoid the weak comma problem is to replace the comma with stronger punctuation.
Usually the new punctuation is a colon or semi-colon.
Strong punctuation can look unusual in short sentences. Therefore only use colons or semi-colons occasionally.

Wrong	Right
I went to the park, it was very nice.	I went to the park; it was very nice.
My teacher was very angry, he told me to sit down.	My teacher was very angry: he told me to sit down.

Exercise

Re-write these sentences to make them correct:

1. He smokes, it is very bad for him.
2. We will go to the zoo, I like the animals.
3. She broke up with her boyfriend, she doesn’t love him anymore.
4. They ate the cake, it was delicious.
5. The cat fell over, everybody laughed.

I with my friend went to the beach

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:50:30 +0000

When talking about doing things with a friend, put the ‘with my friend’ after the action.

Examples

Wrong	Right
I with my friend went to the swimming pool.	I went to the swimming pool with my friend.
He with his friends will go to Korea.	He will go to Korea with his friends.

My friend and I

If talking you and another person are both subjects, you do not need to use with.
In these cases you use the ‘x and I’ structure.

Wrong	Right
I with he ate all the food.	He and I ate all the food.
I with my friend are going to Mexico next year.	My friend and I are going to Mexico next year.