00:00Have you ever sent a message and then immediately realized you made a mistake? Like mixing up
00:04there or there? Maybe you have wondered if you should say, I haven't or I have gone.
00:09If so, you are in the right place. Today we will cover the most common mistakes English
00:13learners make and learn simple ways to avoid them. By the end of this lecture, you will
00:18know how to avoid the most frequent English mistakes, sound more fluent, and feel more
00:23confident when speaking and writing. Many learners confuse these two words. Your is
00:34a possessive adjective. It shows that something belongs to you. While your is a construction
00:40of you are. For example, this is incorrect. This is correct. This is incorrect. This is
00:48correct. Tip to remember, if you can replace the word with you are and the sentence still
00:54makes sense, use this. If not, use this. These words are homophones. They sound the same
01:05but they have different meanings. Their is a possessive pronoun. Their car is blue. Their
01:10refers to a place. Put the book over there. Their is a construction of they are. They
01:16are coming to the party. For example, this is incorrect. This is correct. This is incorrect.
01:24This is correct. Tip to remember, practice sentences with each word and understand the
01:29context. A quick mental check can prevent these mistakes. Many people confuse when to
01:36use I and me in a sentence. I is used as the subject of a sentence and me is used as the
01:42object. For example, this is incorrect. This is correct. This is incorrect. This is correct.
01:51Tip to remember, remove the other person from the sentence to see if it makes sense. For
01:56example, me went to the store sounds wrong but I went to the store sounds right. These
02:06two words can be tricky because they involve giving and receiving. When you borrow something,
02:11you take it for a while. When you lend something, you give it to someone for a while. For example,
02:17this is incorrect. This is correct. This is also correct. Tip to remember, think of borrow
02:23as taking and lend as giving. You lend to someone but you borrow from someone. Few and
02:34a few can change the meaning of a sentence. Few means almost none while a few means some.
02:41For example, this is incorrect. This is correct. Tip to remember, use a few when you want to
02:49express a small positive amount and few for a small negative amount. Both words mean not
03:02as much but they are used differently. Fewer is used for countable nouns while less is
03:08used with uncountable nouns. For example, this is incorrect. This is correct. This is
03:16incorrect. This is correct. Tip to remember, ask yourself, can I count it? If yes, use
03:24fewer. If not, use less. A run-on sentence happens when two or more independent clauses,
03:34incomplete sentences, are joined without proper punctuation or conjunctions. For example,
03:39this is incorrect. This is correct. Tip to remember, break long sentences into shorter
03:46ones or use conjunctions like and, but, or so to join ideas correctly. A sentence fragment
03:58is an incomplete sentence. It may be missing a subject or verb. For example, this is incorrect.
04:05This is correct. Tip to remember, ensure every sentence has both a subject and a verb and
04:11expresses a complete thought. In English, two negatives make a positive. So using double
04:29negatives creates confusion. For example, this is incorrect. This is correct. Tip to
04:36remember, avoid using two negative words in the same sentence. Choose one. Many English
04:45words contain silent letters and learners often make mistakes by pronouncing them. For
04:51example, knife is incorrect. Knife is correct. The K is silent in this word. Often is incorrect.
05:02The T is silent in this word. Tip to remember, pay attention to silent letters. Practice
05:08listening and imitating native speakers. Many learners rely on the word very, too much,
05:17but native speakers use a wider variety of words to express degrees of intensity. For
05:22example, instead of very good, say excellent. Instead of very tired, say exhausted. Tip
05:30to remember, learn and use more specific adjectives to make your speech more natural.
05:36Prepositions in English can be tricky because they don't always translate directly from
05:45other languages. For example, this is incorrect. This is correct. This is incorrect. This is
05:53correct. Tip to remember, learn prepositions as part of a phrase rather than by themselves.
06:03We covered common common mistakes like mixing up your and your and when to use I versus
06:08me. We looked at vocabulary mistakes like confusing borrow and lent and how to use few
06:15versus a few. We also discussed sentence structure issues such as random sentences and sentence
06:21fragments. Lastly, we reviewed pronunciation mistakes like silent letters as well as common
06:28errors in spoken English like overusing very and using the wrong preposition.
06:321. Don't rush. Take your time while writing or speaking to think about what you are saying.
06:422. Prove free. Always review your sentences for grammar and spelling before finalizing.
06:483. Listen and learn. Listen to native speakers and try to imitate their sentence structures
06:54and pronunciation. Thank you for joining today's lecture on common English mistakes.
07:00If you found this helpful, make sure to subscribe to the channel, give this video a thumbs up and
07:06leave a comment with any questions or additional topics you would like to learn about. Keep
07:12practicing. I'll see you in the next video. Thanks for watching.
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