17 Common Mistakes with Parts of Speech

Problems with articles are really problems with nouns. Articles and the other types of determiners are pre-modifiers for nouns. Yet, nouns have a number of classifications such as common vs. proper, or in this case, concrete vs. abstract. Abstract nouns often omit the article because we’re referencing the noun generally or in an abstract way. Thus, we should omit the article.

• Mistake: “I have an information about the hotel.”
• Fix: “I need information about the hotel.” Or “I need some information about the hotel.
  • Do not use articles with uncountable or abstract nouns like “information.”
  • Some is not an article – it’s an indefinite adjective. Because of its indefinite qualities, it can modify both countable and uncountable nouns.

Problems also arise when the article is needed, but you omit it. This mistake type often affects those who don’t have articles in their mother language. For learners from such countries, it’s like the article is invisible – even when they are reading aloud.

• Mistake: “I want to take summer class in design.”
• Fix: “I want to take a summer class in design.”
  • Use a or an with countable singular nouns: “It’s a sunny day.”

In addition to article misusage being a noun problem, the nouns themselves can also have mistakes in them. Abstract and uncountable nouns shall not be made plural.

• Mistake: “Advices are useful.”
• Fix: Uncountable nouns (like advice) don’t have plurals.
  • Correct: “The information is useful.”

If you want to turn an uncountable noun into a countable one, you need to add a “container.” These containers allow you to contextualize something uncountable into a countable thing.

Alternative: “These two pieces of information are useful.”

Problems with quantifiers (or as we native speakers call indefinite adjectives) come with some similar problems to articles. One reason is that both types of adjective stem from the same part of speech – determiners. Many people learn these quantifiers in terms of countability. Yet a few of these fall under a singular noun only category (each, every, another) whereas the other set of related words are plural only adjectives (all, other).

• Mistake: “Every students are taking the exam today.”

Fix: Use each or every with singular nouns: “Each student is taking the exam today.”

Adverbs associate with and modify verbs. However, many English learners confuse one for the other and make mistakes like what you see below.

• Mistake: “You drive good.”
• Fix: Adjectives like good describe nouns, while adverbs like well describe actions.
  • Correct: “You drive well.”

The previous mistake explained that adverbs follow verbs. However, this does not apply to linking verbs. Verbs such as be, feel, and get are often associated with feelings adjectives, not adverbs.

• Mistake: “She is being carefully.”
• Fix: Use an adjective (not adverb) after be.

Correct: “She is being careful.”

Comparative words such as “like, as, or than” can serve as prepositions in a sentence when introducing a noun to compare to another noun. For example, “He runs like a cheetah” compares the boy or man to a cheetah. Grammatically, “like” introduces a noun, making it a preposition. However, these words are not interchangeable as they have specific collocations that they go with.

• Mistake: “He works like a teacher.”

Fix: Use as for real roles, jobs, and functions: “He works as a teacher.”

Many non-native speakers don’t realize that some nouns are irregular in that their plurals don’t take an “s/es.” Words such as sheep, fish, teeth, and feet all fit into this category of nouns.

• Mistake: “The sheeps are grazing in the field.”
• Fix: Some nouns have the same singular and plural form.

Correct: “The sheep are grazing in the field.”

This next mistake type is a form of non-standard English in that we native speakers sometimes make this error. I still feel like my second grade teacher will pop out of nowhere and scold me whenever I say “My friends and me!”

• Mistake: “My friends and me went to the donut shop for apple fritters.”
• Fix: Use subject pronouns (I or he, she) in the sentence’s subject.

Correct: “My friends and I went to the donut shop for apple fritters.”

One thing I have noticed as a teacher is that my students often say something like “I along with my friends…” I then ask, “Wouldn’t it be easier just to say – We? A preposition is subordinate as an indirect modifier to a noun or verb.

• Mistake: “I along with my friends are going shopping.”
• Fix: Keep the subject simple.

Correct: “We are going shopping.”

Adjectives have a defined order in which they come before (modify) a noun. If you use multiple adjectives before a noun, check that the order is correct.

• Mistake: “She wore red big shoes.”
• Fix: Follow this order:
  • Opinion → Size → Color → Noun.
  • Correct: “She wore big red shoes.”

Non-native speaker English resources and coursebooks (ESL/EFL) do a poor job of teaching linking verbs. Very common, everyday verbs such as sensory verbs are either stative, linking, or action verbs depending on how they are being used. In a descriptive sentence, the sensory verb is a linking verb and can be followed by an adjective or a noun.

• Mistake: “He smells badly.”
• Fix: Linking verbs like smell or feel use adjectives, not adverbs.
  • Correct: “He smells bad.”

P.S. The mistake in the example is especially bad because of what it expresses. In an action verb sense, the mistaken sentence basically expresses that the boy’s nose doesn’t work well (i.e., It’s not doing its job).

Adverbs are like wild cards when it comes to placement in a sentence. Some can come at the beginning, on the verb, or at the end. In the mid-sentence position, the adverb’s placement depends on the verb expressed. If the verb is “be,” the adverb follows the verb “be.” On the other hand, if the verb is a regular verb, the adverb comes before it.

• Mistake: “He often is late.”
• Fix: Put adverbs like often in the right spot:
  • Correct: “He is often late.”

Homonyms are a class of similar sounding words that we native speakers learn in school. Most of these homonyms are easy enough to distinguish. However, there are a few pairs out there that seem to trouble us throughout and after our school days. For me, those pairs are “accept vs except,” “there vs their,” and “affect vs effect.” The more common the homonyms are, the more likely we are to make mistakes with them.

• Mistake: “The rain had a big affect on the football game.”
• Fix: Affect is the verb form for effect. There are two ways to fix this: (a) replace the verb with the noun “effect” or (b) transform the sentence around the verb “affect.”
  • Affect is a verb: “The rain affected the football game.”

Effect is a noun: “The rain had a big effect on the football game.”

Word building means adding suffixes to change the part of speech of the base word. Sometimes, non-natives mix the suffix endings, ending up with a malformed word.

• Mistake: “This area is ready for investation.”
• Fix: Use the correct suffix to form the word:

Correct: “This area is ready for investment.”

The gerund is an abstract idea of a verb when using it in place of a subject noun. We often use gerunds when no good noun exists as a relative of the verb. In some cases, the noun exists, but it is of a different meaning or quality to that of the verb. A good example of this is “smoke vs smoking.” Smoke is the physical quality of air rising from something that’s burning – like the smoke coming out of a cigarette. However, “smoking” is the act of smoking a cigarette. So, you cannot confuse the two words. On the other hand, let’s observe a pair of words my students often struggle with.

• Mistake: “Exercising is good for you.”
• Fix: Use simpler nouns when possible:
  • Correct: “Exercise is good for you.”

What’s the harm in using “exercising” here? The noun “exercise” can be both abstract and concrete. When thinking about the abstract form of the noun, it is always better to use than the gerund. The gerund is best used when no better alternative exists.

Some words change meaning depending on where you stress the word. Here are examples:

Fix: Pay attention to stress! Nouns have the stress on the first syllable; verbs on the second syllable. The first example only contains one syllable, so the pronunciation difference is in the vowel sound. “Live” as an adjective pronounces its vowel as the long-I whereas “live” as a verb pronounces its vowel as the short-i.

Many non-natives mix up adjectives ending with -ed or -ing. The difference comes down to cause and effect. The -ing adjective associates with the thing that causes or evokes a feeling. On the other hand, the -ed adjective expresses the evoked feeling.

• Mistake: “I was so boring during the movie.”
• Fix:
  • -ing adjectives describe a cause: “The movie was boring.”

-ed adjectives describe feelings: “I was bored.”