The WORST English mistakes native speakers make

"Swept up like a douche on the..."

Uh, douche. Deuce, deuce, deuce. Hi. James from engVid.

I just made a mistake in singing that song. I used the wrong words or lyrics. It happens

all the time. People do it when they speak. And native speakers make certain mistakes

that we don't think of as mistakes, and sometimes even teachers, like myself, will do it. So,

this particular lesson is how to not make the mistakes that we make, and we don't even

know we're making them. I want to help you speak like a native speaker, but not make

the same mistakes they do. Okay? So, we're going to look at five different word pairs

that are confused in English. But at the end of this lesson, you won't be confused, and

in fact, you should understand English a little bit better. Are you ready? Let's go to the

board. Okay. "Swept up like a douche", what was I thinking? Are you ready?

So, look, Mr. E's saying: "We all make mistakes!" And what mistakes does he want to point out

today? Let's take a look. "Literally" versus "figuratively".

"I literally fell down the stairs. Well, figuratively speaking, I fell down the stairs."

For you, it doesn't make

a difference, but there's a huge difference. "Literally" in English means it actually happened.

What I'm talking about happened. So, I literally got punched in the face. I got punched, literally,

you can see it. But if it didn't happen, maybe somebody said something to you that you didn't

like and you said: "It felt like I got punched in the stomach, like I was literally punched."

Well, no, they said something you didn't like, that's figuratively. So you could say: "Figuratively speaking"

or "Figuratively put, it felt like I got punched in the stomach." "Literally"

means it has to happen, "figuratively" is a metaphor. It's a way of using language to

let someone know how you feel in a graphic way. Okay? So, you're giving them something

to feel with or work with, because it didn't happen, but you can't really explain how it

felt. A punch in the stomach really hurts. Well, words don't physically hurt you, but

we all know what it's... Well, maybe. We know what it's like to get hit in the stomach,

it's not comfortable, so we understand what they're saying. Right? Cool.

How about the next one? "Could have", "could of". Huh? Well, here's the deal: It's more

about stress than anything else. This is something that we don't pay attention to, because as

English speakers, we know: "I could have done that", it's really a stress of the "v" from

the "have". Right? "Could have", because we contract the word to: "could", and it looks

like this, we get rid of this and do that, and it becomes: "could've". But because we

say "v" and we stress that, people who are non-native think we're saying "could of".

Now, it's not really noticeable when they speak or we speak, because, you know, you

can't see words when I am talking. The problem comes when you write. An English speaker will

write: "I could have done this", and they will write either: "could have" or they'll

write "could": "could've", like this. But unfortunately, non-native speakers will actually

write it with "of" because they're confused by the words. Right? So this is a mistake

more for writing, but be careful. Okay? You can have the same thing with: "could of",

"should of", "would of", the o-f. Okay? Cool. So that's number two.

Let's look at number three, another mistake that native people make sometimes, and you

might make more often. "Who" versus "that". This is a simple one. "Who" is used for people.

"Do you know the guy who lives next door?", "who" because "who" is a person. Easy enough.

"That" is used for things. "Do you know the machine that sits on top of my counter?" Because

it's not a person, it's a thing. And usually you remember this when we talk about: "Do

you want this or do you want that?" You don't refer to people with "this" or "that", generally

speaking. Okay? But sometimes...

Notice that I made a mistake. Huh? I'm going to go here. I made a little mistake. Sorry, guys.

"Noticeable", now that is much more noticeable, so don't make my mistake. See?

We all make mistakes.

Anyway, "who" versus "that". Now, when I said "that" with a machine: "Do you know that machine on my desk?"

it's for things. Right? You wouldn't say:

"Do you know the machine who sits on my desk?"

I go: "Interesting. You think the machine is alive? We need to see a doctor."

All right? [Laughs] So, where we want to go with this? Sometimes you can use "that" like

you use "who", to be quite honest with you. But at your beginning stages, it's better

to use "who" for people and "that" for things. I know your teachers will say you can use

both, but if you're not sure, if you stick with that rule, you won't... See? "Stick with that rule",

you won't have a problem. Okay? So, try to think: "that" - things, "who" for

people, no problem. As you get more comfortable with the language, then you can say something

like: -"Do you know that guy who lives down the hall?" -"No. I don't know who he is."

And you'll be correct. All right? Cool. That's number three.

Let's look at number four: "anyway" versus "anyways". This is a tough one, and I'll explain.

As slang, "anyways" is kind of popular and you'll hear it a lot, but we should use "anyway".

What does "anyway" mean? I'm glad you asked. "Anyway" is a way of changing the subject

or ending a conversation. For example:

"I went to the hospital on Monday. Anyway, we should finish off this job."

Okay? So, we've changed the subject; hospital to job. Or ending

the conversation: "Well, I don't really think that's interesting anyway." Conversation's

done. Why am I telling you this? Well, this word, here, kind of contains both of those.

If you actually watch North American teenage girls, they'll say something like:

"[Snaps] Anyways." Just by itself, which means: "Your time is finished. You can stop talking, because

I'm no longer interested." Now, is this regularly? Yeah, you'll hear it a lot. Is it correct?

This is why I said difficult. You shouldn't use it, because really, this is how it works-I'm

sorry, but I'm going to be honest-you have an accent and you're learning my language.

If you make any mistakes, even the slightest (and "slightest" means smallest) we don't

think you speak English. It's just the truth. "Anyway, I went to the house after." That

guy doesn't speak English. Perfect sentence. He has accent, that's the problem. So, if

you had: "Anyways, I went to the house", it's even worse. Even though we would say that,

you're not allowed to. So it's better for you to work on using "anyway", and as your

accent comes down and you get a greater mastery of English, then listen to us carefully and

you'll know when to throw in the "anyways". You know what I'm saying, anyway? All right,

let's move on to the last one.

Okay, you notice I wrote: "don't exist", because this word doesn't exist, and this word doesn't

exist, but let's talk about "regardless". When we look at "regardless", it means I don't

care, basically, or it doesn't matter. I'll give you an example. You could say:

"Regardless what you say" or "Regardless of what you say, I'm not changing my mind." It means I don't

care what you say or it doesn't matter, nothing will change. But many people will say:

"Irregardless of what you say", because it sounds stronger or they're making more emphasis. The problem

is: This word doesn't exist in English. I don't know who started it, but congratulations,

you got people saying what you want them to say. But you, please, please, please don't

use it. I mean, to be honest, I used it 20 years ago and I was lucky a teacher kind of

tapped me on the shoulder and go: "Hey, stupid, come here, come here for a second. 'Irregardless'

is like a foot up your butt. There's not one there, you can't use this word. Got it?" I

was like: "Okay. Got it." And you'll hear people use it. Sometimes, as I said, they

use it for emphasis, and sometimes they use it because they think they're sounding very

intelligent: "Irregardless of the situation, I'm not going to do it." [Laughs] And then

you can now say: "Hey, dumbass, don't use that. 'Regardless'. Just going to help you out." All right?

So, as a quick recap before we go on to the next board, as you know what's coming up,

a little quiz. Right? "Literally" versus "figuratively", think of it this way: "literally" has to happen,

it must happen. When you say: "figuratively", you can say: "figuratively speaking" or "figuratively put".

Okay? "Figuratively put, blah, blah, blah", "Figuratively speaking, blah, blah,

blah". So if it didn't really happen, it's a part of your imagination, use "figuratively"

because you want someone to feel it, and use "literally" when it happened. Okay?

"Could have" versus "could of", it's almost the same. Remember: It's not important how

you pronounce it, because they sound the same. It's written. Be careful. Because we over-emphasize

the "v", it sounds like "of". So, when in doubt, write: "could have". Don't even do

the contractions. Write: "could have", no problem. That works for "should have", "would have", whatever else. Okay?

Next: "who" versus "that". It's a little confusing because you watch English speakers use both.

I'm suggesting you use "who" for people, "that" for things. As you get more comfortable with

the language, then you'll know you can use "that", and when you can, and you won't make

any more stakes. Steaks? I must be hungry. Mistakes. Okay?

"Anyways..." Remember? Dismiss it. "Anyway" is correct-remember?-to end a conversation

or change it. "Anyways", it is used in slang, so as much as I say it doesn't exist, it's

used in slang to basically-[snaps]-end the conversation. Okay? Anyways, we're moving

on. Meaning: We're finished, time's up. All right?

"Regardless" versus "irregardless", kill this, and you're okay. Cool? You ready for the quiz?

I am.

[Snaps]

Okay. So, we've worked on the five things that native speakers make a mistake on and

possibly your teachers. I'm guilty of it. We all are. I want to give you two little

hints to help you out before we do the quiz. Are you ready? Let's go to the board.

Mr. E is gone, but he's here in our hearts. The first thing he would have us do is this:

Check pronunciation online. Huh? Well, you're at a computer because you're watching me right

now, so I know you have one - stop for a second, if you have a word, you go online, type it

in. What will happen is the word will come up or it won't. If it doesn't come up, it

doesn't exist. Example, if you say something like: "Tuehersday. I go to you Tuehersday."

I'm thinking: "What do you mean? Do you mean Tuesday or Thursday?" Put that in the computer:

"Tuehersday", the computer will say: "Sorry, you're crazy." Because of that, you can't

use it. So check your pronunciation online. Another way to do it is if you use an English

to English dictionary, at the top, they'll have the word plus pronunciation, some helpful

hints and guides. Check that. Okay? Finally... Oh yeah, see? If you can't find the word,

it doesn't exist. If you put it in the computer: "T-u-e-s-h-e-r-d-a-y", and the computer goes:

"Sorry, dude. Don't exist." Move on.

And where do you move on to if you're really confused? I'll give you a second place. You

might recognize this. Check out engVid. Huh? Well, if you look at engVid, I'm standing

here, there's a search box, I think it's up here. If you look up, you see a box, it says:

"Search", put in your word. We've done a lot of videos over the years, and if it's not

myself, some of the other teachers may be talking about what you want. And it won't

be just pronunciation. It could be grammar use, it could be using idioms, it could be

the pronunciation. Heck, who knows? So, if you put it in there, you might find it. And

if you can't find it, drop us a note. What? Yeah. Drop us a note-it's by the quizzes-and

we'll try and help you. I'm always looking for cheap and easy lessons, so help a brother

out. Okay? Just drop a note, like: "What is about this? What is this?" and I'll be happy

to... Easy lesson for James. Okay? Me and E always looking for easy. [Laughs] Rhymes.

So, once again, check out the pronunciation online, put the word in, a lot of computer

systems or a lot of programs will tell you how it sounds. Okay? Or use a dictionary,

paper to paper, check out the word, look for it. If not, go to engVid. We'll help you the

best we can. And speaking of which, time to do the quiz. You ready? Let's go to the board.

Let's look at the first one. "I said to him: 'Irregardless of what you say, I'm going home tonight.'"

What's wrong, or is right? Take a look.

That's correct. Do you remember I said there were two words that weren't really words in English?

Well, one of those words was "irregardless". You can say:

"Regardless", and that's okay. So the answer was: No, it

was not correct, and the correct answer is "regardless".

Let's look at number two. "The new neighbour who moved in is nice." Is it correct, yes or no?

Yes. Good guess. It's correct. "Who" is for person, and the neighbour is a person, is a human. Good.

Let's see if we can get number three. You're doing well.

"Literally speaking, I felt as though I grew two heads." Literally.

Ah, you're smart. You noticed that when we said "speaking",

I said we should use another word. Remember? That word was: "Figuratively", because when

something literally happens, it has to be real. And you know you don't have two heads.

Do ya? So let's put this here. "Figuratively", "Figuratively speaking" or "Figuratively put".

Remember we talked about that before? You're really doing well.

We've got one more to go, and let's just see how you do. All right?

"Anyways, don't be upset. I still think you did the right thing."

What do you think?

Yes or no?

"Anyway" is correct. "Anyway, don't be upset. I still think you did the right thing." is correct.

"Anyways" is that funny word I talked about where I said: "Anyways" is kind of slang.

Now, people might say that, and in a slang way or colloquial way. "Slang" and "colloquial",

similar, common people speech, yes. But for correct... For writing in a correct way or

putting it on a paper, use "Anyway".

Anyway, my time is up. I hope you enjoyed the lesson, and I'm going to ask you to go

somewhere. Where would I possibly ask you to go? Well,

www, "eng"-oh, sorry-"eng" as in English,

"vid" as in video.com (www.engvid.com) where you can do the long quiz that goes with

this lesson, and check out, as I said, pronunciation and whatnot on engVid. All right?

Looking forward to seeing you. And before I go, once again, don't forget to subscribe,

and that's somewhere around here. And thank you; we appreciate it every time you come.

Have a good day.