English Grammar Explained. Mistakes That You Need to Avoid in English

Today we’re going to talk about Grammar,  and we’ll learn 18 common mistakes that  

students make from Beginner to Advanced Hello and welcome to English lessons with  

Kate. In this video we’re going to learn the  common mistakes that beginner, intermediate  

and advanced students make in English. Let’s start with the Beginner Level.  

Look at these 2 sentences. She do her homework every evening.  

She have two brothers What’s wrong? Timer  

Great! These sentences are in the present simple  tense. We say I do, You do, We do. However,  

we always use 'does' instead of 'do'  when talking about 'she, he or it’.  

She does, he does, it does. She does  her homework every evening. The subject  

is SHE. The verb needs to have an –s. Look at the second sentence. The subject  

is SHE. "Have" changes to "has" to agree  with the subject "she." I have, you have,  

we have, he has, she has. She has two brothers.  

Common mistake number 2.  Look at these sentences.  

She can to speak three languages.  You should to exercise more.  

You must to wear a seatbelt in the car.  Do you see any mistakes here? Timer  

Now let’s clarify this. What are the  main verbs in these three sentences?  

Number 1 is speak, number two is  exercise and number three is wear.  

We have not only main verbs but also  modal verbs. Can, should, must.  

In these three sentences  we have three modal verbs.  

There’s an important rule. When we have  a modal verb- can, could, would, should,  

may, must, after modal verbs we never use  TO. We use the base form of the verb.  

There’s no TO, there’s no –s, we  use just the base form of the verb.  

She can to speak three languages? No! She  can speak three languages. This is correct.  

You should to exercise more? (shaking  head) You should exercise more.  

You must to wear a seatbelt in the car?  No. You must wear a seatbelt in the car.  

Common mistake number 3. I go to the store yesterday. What’s  

the mistake here? (timer) Let's clear this up. Is  

this sentence past or present? It is past. I go is present. I went is  

past. Beginners often misuse tenses. The correct sentence should be. Yesterday,  

I went to the store. Mistake number 4!  

There is many books on the shelf.  We was friends in high school.  

What’s the mistake here? (timer) Let’s see. What is the subject in  

the first sentence? The subject is people. In the second sentence? The subject is WE.  

Now look at the verbs, IS and WAS.  

Is and was are singular. But look at  the subjects. Books and we are plural.  

This is not correct. If the subject is  plural, the verb also needs to be plural.  

This is called the subject-verb agreement. So the first sentence should be - There are  

many books on the shelf. And the second sentence  should be - We WERE friends in high school.  

And common mistake number  5. Look at these examples.  

I have car. I live in big house. Do you see any mistakes?  

Something is missing here. We have to say  - "I have a car. I live in a big house."  

Articles are necessary in English. We can  count- 1 car, 2 cars, 3 cars… 1 house,  

2 houses, 3 houses. We need to use an article  ‘a’ before these words. A car, a house. We use a,  

an and the before countable nouns. If you need  to know more about using articles in English,  

you can watch this video (показать ссылку) Mistake number 6  

Look and these two sentences. Me and my friend went to the park.  

I and my sister are planning a trip. Are these sentences correct? (timer)  

Of course, they are wrong. When you use "and" to connect  

yourself with others in a sentence, we  should place others first and yourself last.  

We should say my friend and I went to the  park. My sister and I are planning a trip.  

It's correct to mention others before yourself. Alright, let’s move on to the Intermediate Level  

Mistakes. Are you ready? Let’s talk about 6 common  

mistakes. Mistake number 1. Look at these two sentences.  

There are much furniture in the  room. I have a big luggage.  

What’s wrong here? Timer Now let me break it down for you.  

Furniture means things such as chairs,  tables, beds, cupboards. Is it plural?  

No, it is singular. Furniture is an uncountable  noun and is not used in the plural.  

So we should say - There is  much furniture in the room.  

But what about the next sentence? I have a big  luggage? Do we say, one luggage, two luggages,  

three luggages? It would be wrong to say  this. The word luggage is uncountable.  

And you know that we don’t use  articles before uncountable nouns.  

Common mistake number 2. Look at these two sentences. She enjoys  

to read books. I avoid to eat late at night. What do you think about these two  

sentences? What’s wrong here? (timer) Let’s look at the verbs here. Enjoy and Avoid.  

After these two verbs we always use a gerund.  What is a gerund? It is a verb + ing.  

So the correct sentence is  She enjoys reading books.  

And the next sentence is I avoid  eating late at night. After the verbs  

"enjoy" and "avoid," we always use a gerund. Mistake number three at the Intermediate Level  

Look at these sentences. Everyone are ready  for the lesson. Do anyone know the time? No  

one want to be alone. What’s wrong with  

these three sentences? (timer) Let me break it down for you. In English,  

everyone, anyone, no one, someone, these words are  always singular. Even when you’re talking about a  

large group of people, these words are singular. So, let’s fix these sentences together.  

Everyone are ready for the lesson?  No, everyone is ready for the lesson.  

Do anyone know the time? This is not correct.  Does anyone know the time? This is correct.  

No one want to be alone? This is wrong. No  one wants to be alone. This is correct.  

Mistake number four. I have been working  

here since three years. They have lived in the United  

States since the past two years. Where is the mistake? (timer)  

We should say - I have been  working here for three years.  

They have lived in the United  States for the past two years.  

We use since to talk about a  starting point in time, and  

we use for to talk about the duration of time. For example, I have been working here since 2021.  

2021 is the starting point. We use "since." But when we talk about the duration of time  

and want to emphasize how long something  has been happening, we use "for." I have  

been working here for three years. They have  lived in the United States for the past two  

years. We’re talking about a period of time. Mistake number 5 – Look at these sentences.  

I don't need no help. She  can't find nothing to wear.  

What’s wrong here? (timer) Let's break this down in simple terms!  

Sentence 1: "I don't need no  help." What happened here?  

The word "don't" means "do not," which is already  negative. The word "no" is also negative.  

In English grammar, using two negatives  like this, in the same sentence,  

is called a double negative, and it can cause  confusion because two negatives cancel each  

other out. We can’t use double negatives. What should it be? To follow standard  

grammar rules, use only one negative: I don't need help. I don't need any help.  

OR: I need no help. (It’s less  common but still correct!)  

Sentence 2: "She can't find nothing to wear." What happened here? The word "can't" (cannot) is  

a negative. The word "nothing" is also negative. Putting them together creates a double negative,  

which means they cancel each other out. So, what’s the correct sentence?  

Use only one negative: "She can't find anything to wear." OR:  

"She can find nothing to wear." So, there’s a simple rule - avoid  

using two negatives in the same sentence! And the last mistake for the intermediate level.  

Let’s look at the two sentences - There were 7 persons at the dinner.  

The childs are playing in the  park. What’s wrong? (timer)  

Let’s fix these grammar mistakes. Sentence 1: "There were 7 persons at the dinner."  

What’s the mistake? The word "persons"  is not commonly used in English. Instead,  

we use "people" when talking about  a group of individuals in general.  

Replace "persons" with "people". The correct  sentence is: "There were 7 people at the dinner."  

Sentence 2: "The childs are playing in the park." What’s the mistake? The word "childs" is wrong  

because the plural of "child" is "children", not  "childs." "The children are playing in the park."  

That was the end of the intermediate level. Now we’re going to the last level – advanced.  

But before we do that, please click that like  button and a notification bell so you’ll never  

miss any of my new videos. Now let’s go to the last  

stage – the Advanced Level. Mistake number 1. Look at these two sentences.  

The police has arrested two suspects. The team were ready to play the  

game. What’s wrong here? timer Sentence 1: "The police has arrested  

two suspects." What’s the mistake? The word "police" is a collective  

noun that is always plural. The verb "has" is singular,  

but it should match the plural subject. So we should use the plural verb "have":  

"The police have arrested two  suspects." This is correct.  

Sentence 2: "The team were  ready to play the game."  

What’s the mistake here? The word "team" is a collective noun  

that is usually singular in American English. The verb "were" is plural, but it should match  

the singular subject. We need to use the  

singular verb "was" instead of ‘were’: "The team was ready to play the game."  

Please remember – The word Police is  Always plural (We say "The police are,  

police have, police were). The word Team is Always  

singular ( We say The team is, the team was ) Mistake number 2. Look at this sentence.  

"I recommend you to exercise every day."  Hmm. Does this sound right to you? (timer)  

Of course, this is not right. We  normally use recommend + a gerund  

I recommend exercising every day. We do not say –  I recommend you exercising every day. I recommend  

the activity. We use the gerund to express the  activity. He recommends exercising every day.  

When we need to talk about another person,  can we say I recommend you to exercise? No.  

We should say – I recommend (that) you  exercise every day. Or we can simple  

say - I recommend you exercise every day. Mistake number 3. Look at this sentence.  

If we took a taxi, we wouldn’t  have missed the flight.  

What’s the Mistake here? (timer) The sentence mixes two different conditionals:  

"If we took a taxi" is from the second conditional  (used for present or future unreal situations).  

"We wouldn’t have missed the  flight" is from the third  

conditional (used for past unreal situations). Why is this wrong? The condition and result  

need to match the same time frame. Since the  result is about the past (missing the flight),  

the condition also needs to refer to the past. So we need to use the third conditional  

structure for both parts: "If we had taken a taxi,  

we wouldn’t have missed the flight." "If we had taken a taxi" = A past  

unreal condition (what didn’t happen). "We wouldn’t have missed the flight" = A  

past unreal result (what could have happened). This is a Quick Rule for the Third Conditional:  

If + past perfect, would have + past participle If we had taken a taxi, we wouldn’t  

have missed the flight. The next grammar mistake for the  

advanced level. Look at this sentence He said he is going to the store. Does  

this sound right to you? (timer) The mistake is in tenses. He said he  

is going to the store. Why is this wrong? The main verb "said" is in the past tense,  

so the rest of the sentence (reported speech)  should also shift to the past. If you need more  

information about reported speech and shifting  tenses, I recommend that you watch my grammar  

lesson about Reported speech. The link is here. In reported speech, when the reporting verb (like  

said) is in the past tense, the verb in the  second part also needs to shift to the past.  

"Is going" (present tense) should change to  "was going" (past tense) to match "said."  

"He said he was going to the store." Mistake number 5. And this one is very  

confusing even for native speakers! Look at these two sentences. I like  

to lay on the couch after work. She  always lies her keys on the counter.  

Do these sentences sound right to you? (timer) Let me clarify this. Sentence 1: "I like  

to lay on the couch after work." What’s the mistake? The word "lay"  

is wrong here because "lay" means to place  something down. And it requires an object.  

There’s no object in this sentence. What should it be? We use "lie" instead,  

because "lie" means to recline,  and it doesn’t need an object.  

"I like to lie on the couch after work." Sentence 2: "She always lies her keys on  

the counter." What’s the mistake?  The word "lies" is wrong because  

"lie" means to recline, not to place something. Here, she is placing her keys, so you need "lay."  

"She always lays her keys on the counter." Use "lays" instead because "lay" means to  

place something, and the object is "her keys." There’s a quick rule to remember: Lie means To  

recline (no object). "I lie on the bed." Lay means To place something (needs an  

object). "I lay the book on the table." But! There’s a more confusing rule.  

The past tense of lie is lay:  "Yesterday, I lay on the couch."  

The past tense of lay is laid: "Yesterday,  I laid my keys on the counter."  

But, Native speakers often mix up "lie" and "lay"  in daily conversation. Most people don’t worry  

about it. You’ll hear things like, "I’m gonna lay  down for a while," even though it’s not correct.  

It should be "lie down," but no one really cares.  The same goes for sentences like, "Just lie it on  

the table." It should be "lay it," but people say  it wrong all the time. If people understand you,  

it’s not a big deal in casual conversation. But  if you’re taking an exam, don’t mix them up!  

Mistake number 6 and this is the  last mistake for the advanced level.  

The most important resource are people. The scariest thing are nightmares. (timer)  

Sentence 1: "The most important  resource are people."  

What’s the mistake? The word People  is plural, and this can be confusing,  

because we say – people are… But, in this  case, the subject "resource" is singular.  

The verb "are" is plural, so it doesn’t match the  singular subject. In English, the verb must agree  

with the subject in number (singular/plural). Since "resource" is singular, you need to use  

"is". "The most important resource is people." Sentence 2: "The scariest thing are nightmares."  

There’s a similar mistake? The subject "thing" is  singular. The verb "are" is plural, so it doesn’t  

match the singular subject. Why is this wrong? The  verb must agree with the singular subject "thing",  

even though the word "nightmares" is plural  and it follows later in the sentence.  

The correct way to say this: "The  scariest thing is nightmares."  

This is the end of the Advanced level stage!  Congratulations! Today we’ve talked about the  

most common grammar mistakes in English! I hope  this lesson was useful for you. Let me know in the  

comments how many mistakes you noticed. Thank you for watching this video. Please  

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post a lot of useful content. Thank you  for watching! See you next time. Bye!