Top 4 Common English Mistakes You’re Probably Making | Fix Them Now!

Welcome to This Week in English.

I'm your teacher, Aly, and I'm going to show you everything

that we learned in my classes this week.

If you didn't know.

In addition to these YouTube videos, I also host a speaking class on Patreon

You can actually join those classes, follow that link in the description

Patreon.com/papateachme

So first of all, yes, it's Christmas week and I noticed

that my cheeks...

they’re...

Wow, yeah they look a bit more hamster-like this week

so of course we talked about foods in different countries.

If you didn't know English people at Christmas, we have lots of mince pies,

lots of chocolate and that's about it.

I haven't eaten any protein for the last week

but we covered one very important and very useful English expression, which you can use right now.

Let me show you.

Let's

imagine you go to your friend's house for dinner.

Your friend says, Don't worry, I've got dinner.

She's going to order pizza.

But she orders so much pizza.

Too much pizza.

It's excessive.

This is way more than you need, right?

When you want to say this,

what you did is too much.

Use this.

It's just us two.

I think you overdid it.

The verb “Overdo” - in the past “Overdid”

“You overdid it!”

If you've seen my phrasal verbs videos,

you know that the preposition carries the meaning of what happened, right?

In fact, I made a video with the preposition “OVER” and how it affects verbs.

You can watch it here. In general.

Over means more than or too much.

So when you say you over did something,

you're saying you did this too much

so you could use this in any tense, just conjugate the verb “DO”

You overDID something.

I HAVEN’T overDONE anything

but like I said, the verb do is general.

You can use this for any situation.

When someone does something too much,

you can use this verb not just for buying pizza.

Anything like

How's my make up?

Does it look good?

You want to be polite, but you also want to be honest.

So you could use this.

“You may have overdone it”

so maybe you overdid it.

It's a very polite way to say

“This is too much, you look like a clown”

and you have options.

If you want to clarify what the thing is,

that’s too much, use the preposition ON

You may have overdone it ON the make up.

You look ridiculous. You look like a clown.

The topic of that session was special days in your country.

But of course, we don't always look forward to every special occasion

or every national day. Right?

So for me personally, when it's World Cup time, I hate that time.

I hate it so much.

England fans are the worst fans in the world.

When the World Cup comes, the streets

get really dirty, People get arrested and taken to hospital.

It's a s***show!

To describe your feelings about an event.

When you want to say

UGH! This event... I... NO!

use the word “DREAD”! for example.

Oh mate, I am DREADing the World Cup.

It sucks. So much.

We're not going to win. Our fans are the worst.

We trash the place.

We just suck everything!

Maybe you don't want this event to happen because it's boring or annoying for you.

That's fine.

But also use the word dread.

If it's something that you're scared of,

you have a fear.

For example, she has a meeting with her boss at work tomorrow.

She doesn't feel happy about it.

Maybe she'll get fired because she comes late all the time or something.

You can use a noun.

I'm dreading WORK tomorrow, but if you use a verb,

make sure it's the ING form.

I'm dreading goING to work tomorrow.

I'm sure I’m fired!

You dread a NOUN or you dread a verb in the ING form.

This is in continuous because that's her feeling right now.

You don't have to use this in continuous.

You can use it for your daily dreads.

Like I dread taking the tube in the morning

because the tube is overcrowded and it stinks of B.O..

Oh, there's that word again.

Watch that video. It's really useful.

We also covered some really common mistakes.

Of course, if you are studying English,

you will make mistakes from time to time and that is perfectly okay.

See if you also make these mistakes.

Yesterday I went for shopping.

What's the mistake here?

This is very, very common, especially for German speakers.

I don't know why.

Maybe it translates exactly to this, but in English.

Have you noticed the mistake yet?

No “FOR”! “Yesterday I went shopping”

I bought a million donuts.

This next one you've definitely seen in your classes.

And your teacher has probably corrected this a million times.

But see if you notice the mistake

in addition to the bedroom.

I'm very good in the kitchen.

I can make anything. I'm a very good cooker.

Can you see the mistake?

So in English we say a cooker

is like an oven, something you cook in.

So unless you are an oven, you're

not a cooker, you're just a cook.

I'm a really good cook or chef.

That's fine too.

It doesn't matter if that's not your job.

We often say you're a great chef

to talk about someone's kitchen skills.

And the next mistake was really kind of cute.

One of my students was talking about how during special occasions,

holidays, birthdays, old people tend

to give lots of chocolate to kids.

It's like a compulsion, right?

They can't not do it.

When you can't not do something, you can't refrain from doing something.

That verb is to resist. Right?

So my student wanted to explain holidays.

Old people cannot resist giving kids chocolate.

So she said this.

They're irresistible.

So yes, we can transform the verb resist into an adjective.

But this means something different.

When you say something is irresistible, you are saying,

I can't resist this thing.

For example, for me, this chocolate is irresistible.

I can't resist, I can't refrain.

I can't stop myself eating this.

So you see the mistake here?

Very cute. Very adorable.

But how do we correct this?

So we don't use that for this situation?

Just simple.

They love giving chocolates.

They can't resist it.

She wants to say this action, giving chocolates.

They can't resist it. Keep it simple.

But yeah, if you're talking about your willpower around chocolate,

this is irresistible.

I can't stop.

And finally, yeah,

we spoke about special holidays and events in each other's countries.

They told me about, you know, those videos you see of this.

So the story is and maybe you can clarify,

people jump in icy water after a priest blesses.

It's when a priest makes something holy.

This I don't even know what I'm doing, but this thing, the verb is to bless.

So a priest blesses the water, people jump in it and it's good.

I don't know what of my students who is an awesome legend?

Di! I think she'll explain it better than I can.

And then the legend in my class

with the most amazing name, Ali from Iran.

He told me about a special day in Iran,

which I think translates to “The Wednesday Dance”

I'm pretty sure I'm saying that wrong, but it sounds really fun

and I'll let Ali explain how that works.

Also remember,

you can join these speaking classes, improve your confidence,

speaking English, improve your fluency, improve your accuracy.

The link is in the description.

Patreon.com/papateachme

I do four sessions a month.

The level is intermediate and above and the group is full of amazingly chill

and cool people.

But spaces are limited so if there's no room this month,

check back next month at the beginning of the month.

Maybe there's some space.

Also, make sure you check the schedule to make sure you're happy with the class

times and can attend when you want.

You don't need to come to all of the classes just when you can.

It's like a gym membership.

So let me know about a special event in your country.

What is it?

Why do you celebrate?

How do you celebrate?

Do you usually celebrate more with family or more with friends?

What foods do you have at this event?

Tell me everything about the food

in the comments below and I'll see you in the next class! BYE! :)