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What are the most common mistakes with verbs in parts of speech, read on to find out my top 9…
You’re learning English, and you know how important verbs are. They’re the engines of your sentences—they show actions, describe states, and connect ideas. Without them, we’d be stuck with incomplete thoughts (literally, it’s called a sentence fragment).
But let’s be honest: verbs can be tricky! Maybe you’ve wondered, “Am I using the right form of the verb?” or “Why does my teacher always correct my verb patterns?” Mistakes like mixing up verb tenses, pronouncing -ed endings wrong, or forgetting subject-verb agreement can hold you back, even if your vocabulary is strong.
So, how can you get verbs right every time and make your English clearer and more natural? Let’s tackle this together! Below, we’ll walk through the most common verb mistakes I see English learners make. I’ll explain why they happen, give you examples, and show you how to avoid them. By the end, you’ll feel much more confident about using verbs correctly—and your English will sound better too.
The kind of mistakes English learners make with verbs as a part of speech
English verbs have many characteristics, properties, and classifications that can end up being a common mistake. ESL (or English as a second or foreign language) learners often make mistakes because they aren’t familiar with the parts, the functions, and the rules surrounding verbs.
Furthermore, the verb’s role in a sentence means it associates with other parts of speech to form the verb phrase. I’m talking about its objects and modifiers which are also candidates for common mistakes with verbs in parts of speech. Mastering verbs isn’t only about learning what they mean, it’s about understanding the relationships around them to form sentences.
I teach you how to identify verbs and their relationships in my post on identifying all he parts of speech.
So, without further adieu, let’s dive in and turn any problem areas with verbs into a strength.
1st Common Mistake with Verbs: Failing to Conjugate for 3rd Person Singular
The mistake: Non-native speakers especially make the mistake of not conjugating the verb properly to match the subject in person or number. In English sentence grammar, subject-verb agreement is a hard and fast rule. Furthermore, it sounds bad in spoken English and looks even worse as a writing mistake.
Why this happens: English verbs need to match the subject, especially in the present tense. Singular third-person subjects often require an -s or -es ending, which many learners forget.
And I’m not just talking about the present simple verb tense like with the example sentence below.
Example:
Incorrect: She go to the market every day.
Correct: She goes to the market every day.
You also need to make sure any auxiliary verb for a present tense gets the proper treatment by conjugating the auxiliary verb (only). This could lead to a number of potential mistakes where a learner might misconjugate the auxiliary verb of a present tense (as in, My father have dropped me off.)
2nd Common Mistake with Verbs: Mispronouncing the [ed] suffix
The mistake: I teach English in a country (Poland) that has a rigid pronunciation framework. Every vowel is always pronounced as well as the fact that they are always pronounced the same way. This affects English learners because English vowels change their pronunciation in many cases and for different reasons.
The ‘e’ at the end of a word is almost always silent. And when you add an ‘ed’ or ‘es’ at the end of a word, the ‘e’ in that ending may be pronounced or depending on the sound before it.
Why this happens: As I explain in my blog post and YouTube video, the ‘ed’ ending has three pronunciations: voiced, unvoiced, and words with a ‘d’ or ‘t’ last sound. The -ed ending can be pronounced as /t/, /d/, or /ɪd/ depending on the final sound of the root verb. Learners often use one pronunciation for all cases.
Example:
Incorrect: I walk-ed (/wɔːlkɪd/) to the park yesterday.
Correct: I walked (/wɔːkt/) to the park yesterday.
Tip to avoid it: Learn the rule:
- Use /t/ after voiceless sounds (e.g., walked).
- Use /d/ after voiced sounds (e.g., played).
- Use /ɪd/ after t or d (e.g., wanted).
3rd Common Mistake with Verbs: Mispronouncing Zero Affixation Verbs
The mistake: In my post on “Can a word be more than one part of speech,” I introduced the idea of zero-affixation verbs that can also exist as nouns. Now that is just a fancy term for a verb that can also be another part of speech without changing the suffix (or ending). No suffix means zero affixation.
Well most verbs that can also be a different part of speech without a spelling change have two different pronunciations. English learners who are not aware of this difference often mispronounce words that are both verbs and nouns because their stress patterns are different.
Why this happens: Some words, like conduct, change stress depending on whether they are used as a verb or a noun. Learners may not realize the difference.
Example:
Incorrect: He CONducts the orchestra beautifully.
Correct: He conDUCTS the orchestra beautifully.
Conversely:
Incorrect: Your conDUCT in class was unacceptable today.
Correct: Your CONduct was unacceptable in class today.
Tip to avoid it: As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. If you download my list of zero-affixation verbs, you can practice pronouncing them until you have it down perfectly. Find the list over on my full post on how words can be multiple parts of speech.
4th Common Mistake with Verbs: Incorrect word order after 2-Object Verbs
The mistake: One of the verb patterns in English sentences is the 2-object verb pattern. This applies to verbs of communication, provision, offering, and more. Here’s an example construction:
Who + gave + whom + what.
I + gave + her + a tissue.
In this type of verb pattern, the “whom” goes before the “what,” and not the other way around.
Why this happens: The word order in other languages may differ from English. In English, the indirect object usually comes before the direct object unless a preposition is used.
Example:
Incorrect: She gave the book to her friend.
Correct: She gave her friend the book.
Tip to avoid it: Remember this formula: Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object or even better – who + gave/sent/offered + whom + what (She gave him the pen).
5th Common Mistake with Verbs: Incorrect Use of verbal Objects - Gerunds and Infinitives
The mistake: A verbal is a verb being used in a different grammatical form such as a verb subject or object. Generally, verbs are the action, but in some cases, the verb can be the object (to a verb). When this occurs (the verb being a verb object), English learners sometimes confuse whether to use the gerund or the infinitive. Which one you should use depends on the first verb in the sentence. That verb will be followed by one or the other, or in some cases either form works.
Infinitive verbs are formed with (to + verb) while gerunds are formed with (verb + ing).
Examples of Infinitive verbs include: appear, ask, expect, help, learn, and offer.
Examples of gerund verbs include: avoid, enjoy, finish, keep, and involve.
Example:
Incorrect: She enjoys to swim in the mornings.
Correct: She enjoys swimming in the mornings.
Tip to avoid it: Memorize which verbs take gerunds (e.g., enjoy, avoid) and which take infinitives (e.g., want, decide). Try creating flashcards to get some regular practice.
6th Common Mistake with Verbs: Mispronouncing the ED suffix of regular verbs in the past simple
The mistake: Irregular verbs are often a huge trouble spot for non-native English learners. When you are learning new verbs, one thing you should always do is learn its past form profile. When you don’t know the past form of a verb, it will leave you stuck and blocked from speaking.
Why this happens: There are a few reasons for problems connected with Irregular verbs.
- Firstly, learners don’t know the verb in the first place. If you don’t know the verb, you will be left guessing its past form.
- Your first guess might be that it’s a regular verb. You learn the verb “spread” for the first time, and your teacher asks you what you think the past form might be. You say “spreaded” which is a mistake. Your teacher then tells you the correct form “spread-spread-spread.”
- Irregular verbs have patterns that we can either follow or confuse. For instance, take the following set of verbs: ring-rang, sing-sang, and drink-drank. Then you see the word “think” and you might attribute the wrong pattern to this verb and say “think-thank-thunk” which would be incorrect. Each of the verbs in the original pattern contained an ‘i’ in the spelling as well as the verb “think.” Personally, I have heard native speakers use “thunk” in reference to “think” in the past tense, so native speakers even make this mistake.
Example:
Incorrect: The news spreaded quickly.
Correct: The news spread quickly.
Tip to avoid it: Study irregular verbs in groups and practice their three forms (e.g., go-went-gone). In my post and YouTube video on irregular verbs, I present many of the most common irregular verbs in groups according to their spelling patterns. This is a much better way to learn and practice the irregular verbs.
7th Common Mistake with Verbs: Modifying regular Verbs with Adjectives instead of Adverbs
The mistake: Regular verbs (meaning verbs other than “be”) are modified by adverbs. However, many English learners have difficulty differentiating between adjectives and adverbs.
Why this happens: Learners may confuse the role of adjectives and adverbs because the adverb is irregular (good-well, bad-worse, etc.).
Example:
Incorrect: She sings beautiful.
Correct: She sings beautifully.
Tip to avoid it: Use adjectives to describe nouns and adverbs to describe verbs. If it answers “how,” it’s likely an adverb.
8th Common Mistake with Verbs: Misusing tricky or often confused intransitive verbs
The mistake: Firstly, let’s define what it means to be transitive or intransitive. If you break the word “transitive” down you see the word “transit.” The action transits from the subject and affects the object. So, transitive verbs have an object and intransitive verbs do not have an object.
With words of similar meaning, an English learner might put the object on the intransitive verb.
Why this happens: Verbs like beat (transitive) and win (intransitive) seem interchangeable but aren’t.
Example:
Incorrect: They won against their opponents.
Correct: They won.
Correct: They beat their opponents.
Tip to avoid it: Check if the verb needs an object. If it does, it’s transitive.
9th Common Mistake with Verbs: Using Adverbs after linking Verbs
The mistake: When native speakers learn about verbs, we do so systematically, learning all the classifications and practicing them one after another. Non-natives, on the other hand, learn them one piece at a time and at different points in time. This time gap allows mistakes like this to creep in, like placing an adverb after a linking verb instead of an adjective.
Why this happens: You spend so much time learning that verb objects are modified by adverbs, but you haven’t learned to differentiate between regular verbs and linking verbs.
Linking verbs include: be, become, get, appear, seem, feel, and the verbs of senses.
Example:
Incorrect: She seems happily.
Correct: She seems happy.
Tip to avoid it: If the verb describes a state (e.g., be, seem, become), follow it with an adjective.
What about common mistakes with other parts of speech
Verbs aren’t the only area where English learners struggle with parts of speech and common mistakes. In my main post, I cover the most common mistakes with parts of speech that English learners make with all of the parts of speech. Give that a read as well and test your skills there.
Some Recommended Language Arts Workbooks to Practice Error spotting and Correction
Final Thoughts on the 9 Common Mistakes with Verbs in Parts of Speech
While these common mistakes sound bad in speaking and look worse as writing mistakes, there is hope. When you learn new vocabulary, you should learn more about the verbs. Start with their meanings, but also think about how they are modified. Furthermore, what are their patterns and typical collocating objects.
Verbs are the cornerstone of every sentence. They are at the center of the verb tense. Therefore, it is so imprtant to get verbs as a part of speech right.
English Grammar Explained
If you want to learn more about English grammar, check out my book, English Grammar Explained here, which will teach you the parts of speech and sentence building rules for you to overcome common mistakes like the ones found in this list post.
