10 English mistakes I hear every day!

Please, please, please stop making  these English grammar mistakes.

Today we're going to review some common grammar  mistakes that my advanced students make.

Now, even if you're still a beginner, you'll be  

surprised to see that these mistakes  are actually more beginner mistakes.

And make sure you watch right until the end,  because I saved the most common mistake for last.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

This sentence has one mistake in it.

Feel free to hit pause, review the  sentence, and try to identify the mistake.

Now, these are real sentences by real  students of mine in the finely fluent Academy.

I review example sentences from  my students every single day,  

and these are the mistakes that they commonly  make, that we're correcting in this lesson.

So do you know what this mistake is?

The mistake is with track record.

Now we have one of one of the best track record,  so one of suggests that there's more than one.

So the noun needs to be plural.

The correct sentence is this machine has  one of the best track records in its group.

Our next sentence.

Your assignment was late.

Please explain why you failed  to do What's the mistake?

The mistake is leaving out  the object you need to say.

Please explain why you failed to do it and it  represents the assignment which was already said.

Now, even though it's obvious  you're talking about the assignment,  

you need an object here grammatically.

Our next sentence, being a great communicator  in all situations, set you up for success.

What's the mistake here?

It's set you up.

This is the wrong verb conjugation,  

because we have this gerund expression being  a great communicator in all situations.

Now students will often look  at that in all situations,  

and they think that's what you  need to conjugate the verb with.

But it's not.

It's the gerund expression which is being  a great communicator in all situations.

And all of this is the subject it.

If you had to choose a subject for it,  it would be the subject it or this.

This sets you up for success.

So you need to add an S to that  verb because it's conjugated with  

it as the subject, and it's the present simple.

Now, if you had a noun, you would say  this situation sets you up for success.

That's the singular noun.

Or you could say all situations.

Now this is plural.

It's they all situations set you up for success.

So with the noun, you conjugate  it with singular or plural.

But when the sentence starts with a  gerund verb, being is conjugated as it.

How about this sentence?

I want to run something to you.

Do you know what the mistake is?

Well, technically this is grammatically  correct, but it's the literal meaning.

I want to run something.

Maybe this iPad.

I want to run something to you now, my student.

When they use this, they were trying to use the  expression to run something by or past someone,  

which is when you share an idea with someone  in order to get feedback on that idea.

So the mistake here is using the wrong preposition  

which can entirely change the meaning  because now it's not the expression.

I want to share an idea to get feedback.

Now it's I want to literally run something to you,  

which is not what my student  wanted to communicate.

How about this sentence?

Lately I'm worried about my English test.

What's the mistake?

The mistake is using the wrong verb tense with  lately or recently, and I hear this mistake a lot.

Lately or recently means the action started in the  

past and it continues until now and  it might continue into the future.

So what verb tense do we need?

The present perfect continuous?

Lately I've been worrying about my English test,  

and you could also say recently I've  been worrying about my English test.

Now remember that these are  real mistakes that my real  

students in the finely fluent Academy have made.

If you're that student who made this mistake,  

don't worry, because that's the  whole purpose of taking lessons.

I love it when my students make  mistakes because it means I get to  

share something with them, I get to teach  them something and they get to improve.

So if you are also making  these mistakes, don't worry.

The important thing is that  you're correcting them right now.

And of course, if you want  my personalized support,  

you can simply join the Finally Fluent Academy.

You can check out the link in  the description to learn more.

Our next sentence we need to  stop problem in its tracks.

What's the mistake?

This student forgot the article.

This is definitely the most common  mistake I hear even with my advanced  

students is leaving out articles or  not using articles correctly overall.

So here problem is a singular countable noun.

So it means an article.

We need to stop the problem in its tracks.

Now you could also say we need to  stop this problem in its tracks.

You could even say we need to  stop our problem in its tracks.

But you need some article before  a singular countable noun.

Unless it's one of the many nouns that  are exceptions and don't take articles.

Which is why students struggle  with articles so much,  

and which is why I help my students  in the Finely fluent Academy and  

provide this support because the use  of articles is so specific in English.

Let's look at this sentence.

Whenever a student joins the finely fluent  Academy, they always introduce themselves.

And one of the questions is  what do you do for a living?

And a lot of students will reply back  and say I'm accountant, I'm accountant.

What's the problem here?

Again, it's articles.

You need an article before a job title.

So you would need to say I'm an accountant.

You need an because accountant starts with a  vowel sound, so you need an instead of awe.

I'm an accountant.

He's a developer, but if you were talking about  a group, you could say they're developers.

They are developers.

So notice in this case there's no  article because the noun is plural  

and you don't need an article with  plural nouns, they're developers.

So please, when you tell people what you do for  a living, make sure you include the article.

Otherwise it will sound like  your English is very beginner.

Let's review this sentence.

He has been jumping up and down  for two hours, was the mistake.

This student wanted to use the present perfect  continuous but they didn't form it properly.

So it's the incorrect structure.

The correct structure is subject  have or has conjugated with the  

subject which this student did and  then been and then the verb in ING.

So the student only made one mistake, but just one  

mistake with the structure of a sentence  will make the entire sentence incorrect.

The student used the verb in ING  being when it should have been been.

So the correct sentence is He has been  jumping up and down for two hours.

How about this one?

You need to practice more your English lessons.

What's the mistake?

The mistake here is incorrect word order,  

because you don't practice more  something, you practice something more.

So the correct sentence is you need  to practice your English lessons more.

You practice something, your English lessons more.

Now if the something is obvious,  you're talking about English lessons.

You don't need to specify that.

You could simply say you need to practice more,  

so you can also use practice more  but without including the something.

This is the final mistake and it's the one that I  hear the absolute most, even more than articles.

This sentence is the project doesn't go well.

What's the mistake?

So what verb tense is being used here?

This sentence uses the present simple, but  the present simple is for routine actions,  

and in this case it's not a routine action,  it's an action that's taking place right now.

So the mistake is using the present simple when  the present continuous should have been used.

And this is by far the most  common mistake that I hear.

Advanced students make the present simple.

The correct sentence is the  project isn't going well.

Isn't going.

Is going, but in the negative.

So we have our present  continuous is going is not going.

The project isn't going well because  we're talking about right now.

Right now, the project isn't going well.

You could absolutely use the present  simple, but you would have to make  

the context appropriate so it would  need to be more of a routine action.

Think of it as more of an in general.

So you could say our projects don't go well.

So it's not necessarily the  project right now, it's in general.

In general, our projects don't go well, so  just remember right now, present continuous.

In general, present simple.

So were you making a lot of these mistakes?

Don't worry if you were, because  as I said, these are real mistakes  

that my real students make and don't  feel bad if you make them as well.

The whole purpose of being here is to  make mistakes, learn, improve and grow.

But let's find out if you truly  know how to correct these mistakes.

I am going to quiz you right now.

Here are all the questions we just reviewed.

Hit pause, and I want you to correct them.

Correct all the mistakes, and when you're  ready to see the answers, hit play.

So, were you able to correct  all of those mistakes?

Let's find out.

Here are the correct answers.

Hit pause, review them, and when  you're ready to continue, hit play.

So how'd you do with that quiz?

Could you correct all the mistakes?

Share your score in the comments below.

And if you found this video helpful,  

please hit the like button, share it with  your friends, and of course, subscribe.

And you can get this free speaking  guide where I share 6 tips on how  

to speak English fluently and confidently.

You can click here to download it or  look for the link in the description.

And why don't you keep improving  your English and keep correcting  

common mistakes with this lesson right now?