Download - Frequent Mistakes2009
Frequent mistakes
TO WORK ON
The correct preposition for this verb is ON.
"I'm working on a new project."
NEAR +NO PREPOSITION
The preposition "near" is never followed by another prepostion: "He's near the window"
FOR TO
These prepositions never go together:
"For working on..."
"To work on..."
• All and everybody/ everyone
We do not normally use all to mean everybody
• Everybody enjoyed the party, (not 'All enjoyed...')
But note that we say all of us/ you/ them, not 'everybody of...':
• All of us enjoyed the party, (not 'everybody of us')
• All and everything
Sometimes you can use all or everything:
• I’ll do all I can to help, or I’ll do everything I can to help.
You can say 'all I can' / 'all you need' etc. but we do not normally use all alone:
• He thinks he knows everything, (not 'he knows all')
We use all in the expression all about:
• They told us all about their holiday.
We also use all (not 'everything') to mean the only thing(s):
• All I've eaten today is a sandwich.
Every/ everybody/ everyone/ everything are singular words, so we use a singular verb:
• Every seat in the theatre was taken.
HEAR AND LISTEN
To listen to sthing/body
To hear something/body
"I'll listen to you"
"I'm hearing something"
RECOMMEND
To recommend st to sb.
To recommend sb st.
To recommend sb to...
"He recommended this film to me"
He recommended me a film"
"He recommended me to go"
APPROACH
To approach something/somebody
"I approached the city"
VISIT
To visit something/somebody
"I visited the city"
"I'm going to visit my grandmother."
TO PICK UP
To pick st/sb up
To pick up (long expression)
"He picked me up"
"He picked up the children"
SIEBLINGS
Brother and sister are "sieblings", not brothers.
ARRIVE IN/AT
To arrive in (big place)
To arrive at (small place)
"He arrived in Seville/Africa"
"I arrived at the party at... 8 o'clock"
CONFUSED / CONFUSING
I feel confused.
He looked exhausted.
The book was confusing.
Playing football is exhausting.
QUITE / QUIET
• quite: Adverb which means "very":
The music is quite loud.
• quiet: Adjective which means "silent":
He's a quiet man.
SAFE / SURE
• This is a safe place.
• I'm sure of this.
CUTE
This adjective is only used for people or animals.
"Her boyfriend is cute."
TO SPEND ON
We use the preposition "on" with this verb.
"He spends great deals of money on cds."
SUBECT+VERB+OBJECT+COMPLEMENTS
"I like this book very much."
"The waves were beating the rocks furiously."
This / that to refer to the past
"This" refers to something near in place or time:
This is my book.
This Friday I'll be back.
This / that to refer to the past
"That" refers to something far away in place or time:
That is my book.
That Friday I was back.
Use of contractions
We do not use contractions in formal texts like formal letters, essays, reports, etc.
Other/another
with the without the
singularthe other man
the otheranother one
another
pluralthe others
the other menother ones
others
"People" is always plural
People usually go to the beach in summer.
Plural / singular
Be careful with the use of singular or plural with verbs, determiners, nouns, adjectives, etc.
In / into
"In" means "inside": It's in the box.
"Into" means "in" with a sense of direction: "He got into the room."
preposition + object pronoun
After prepositions we always use object pronouns
It depends on them.
This is for us.
also
Also is always used in the middle of a sentence:
I also bought some food.
I have also gone to the cinema.
THERE IS / ARE
There is + singular noun
uncountable noun
There is a man.
There is some news.
THERE IS / ARE
There are + plural nouns
There are some people there.
There are two apples in the fridge.
TELL AND SAY
If you know when to use them, visit our blog:
http://englishinguiaintermedio.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/tell-and-say/
much and many
Much is used with uncountable nouns and is usually found in negative sentences.
He doesn’t have much money
much and many
In positive sentences we tend to use a lot of.
There is a lot of sugar.
much and many
Many is used with countable nouns.
There are many people here.
When do we contract have?
Have can only be contracted when it is an auxiliary verb
I’ve got a problem.
You’ve got to go.
When do we contract have?
When it is a full verb it can’t be contracted:I have two brothers and
sisters.
I have dinner everyday at 7pm.
SPELLING OF VERB WRITE
This is the correct spelling of this verb:
write
writing (do not double the t)
written
PREPOSITION + VERB + ING
Whenever we use a verb after a preposition we have to use its ing form.
I’m tired of working.
He isn’t used to getting up early.