Category: Grammar

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

 

They say:  Must I go to the meeting on Friday?

 

Remember when we are asking if something is necessary or required we use “ Do I have to  . . .?”

 

Correction:  Do I have to go to the meeting on Friday?

Answer:  Yes, you have to go (to the meeting on Friday.)   =   You must go, you have no choice.

No, you don’t have to go (to the meeting on Friday.)  =  Your choice, go if you want to but it’s not necessary.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

 

They say:  Where do he come from?

She don’t work on Fridays.

 

These sentences both contain the same mistake.

 

Remember the rule:  He, she, it, das ‘S’ muss mit!

 

Corrections:  Where does he come from?

She doesn’t work on Fridays.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

 

They say:  I have started to learn English 5 years ago.

 

There are a couple of things wrong with this.

 

Firstly, remember the word ‘ago’ is a key word for the simple past tense.  It represents finished time.  So instead of saying ‘have started’ just say ‘started’.

 

Also native speakers are likely to use the _ing form after the verbs to start and to stop.

 

Correction:  I started learning English 5 years ago.

 

Some further examples:

He stopped smoking 2 years ago.

They started working at 7.30 in the morning.

She stopped skiing after injuring her knee.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

 

They say:  I want to make an order.

 

There are a couple of things wrong with this.

 

Firstly, although grammatically correct, ‘I want’ does not always get you very far in English particularly when you are asking someone to do something for you.  It is too hard, aggressive and demanding.

 

Instead use ‘I would like . . .’  If you want to be extra polite use the word please at the end of the sentence.

 

Secondly we don’t ‘make’ an order.  Make is the wrong verb.  We ‘place’ an order.

 

So the correct sentence is:  I would like to place an order, (please.)

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

 

They say:  I’m making a party for my birthday on Saturday.

 

Remember in English we cannot ‘make’ a party.  Make is the wrong verb here.

 

Instead say ‘have’, ‘hold’, or ‘throw’ a party.

 

E.g.  I’m having a party for my birthday on Saturday.

The company held a big party last week to celebrate the opening of the new headquarters.

They threw a party to celebrate their 50^th wedding anniversary last weekend.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

They say:  I make my holidays in France.

 

Remember in English we cannot ‘make’ holidays.  Make is the wrong verb here.

Instead say ‘take’, ‘have’ or ‘spend’ (if you want to say where the holiday is / was.)

 

E.g.  I usually take my holidays when the children have their school holidays.

He had a long holiday in May.  He travelled to several countries.

They usually spend their summer holiday in Spain but last year they spent their summer holiday in France.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

 

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

They say:  Where can I become a ticket?

Can I become a beer, please?

 

Remember, the verb to become in English is the same as ‘werden’ in German so the above sentences do not make sense.

Anyone who has learnt some German would probably understand what you want to say but to everyone else the sentences are just confusing.

 

Corrections:

Where can I buy / get a ticket?

Can I order / buy / have / get a beer, please?

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

They say:  In the last time I work a lot.

 

There are a couple of things wrong with this.

 

Firstly, we don’t say ‘in the last time’.  Instead say recently or lately.

 

Secondly, the tense in the sentence is wrong.  To describe an action that has been happening repeatedly over a period of time in the past and up to now (and may continue into the future) we need to use the present perfect continuous:  have/has + been + verb+_ing.

 

So the correct sentence is:

Recently / lately I have been working a lot.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘used to do’ and ‘to be used to doing’.

 

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

 

Used to do is for actions that were true in the past but are no longer true now.  It describes things that happened repeatedly in the past or continuous states in the past.

 

E.g.  I used to live in England but now I live in Germany.

He used to work in a regional office but now he works at the main headquarters.

She used to speak French fluently but she hasn’t spoken French for many years so she’s a bit   rusty.

 

To be used to doing is for actions that are normal or regular for you.  You have experienced the actions many times before.  They are not new or surprising for you.

 

E.g.  I’m used to getting up early for work.  I’ve done it for the last 30 years.

She is used to speaking English at work.  She does it nearly every day.

They are used to making mistakes when speaking English – they are still learning!

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

They say:  We are four persons in my team.

 

There are a couple of things wrong with this.

 

Firstly, persons is only used in English in very formal or legal situations.  We don’t use it in daily language.  Instead just say people.

 

Secondly, don’t say ‘we are’, say ‘there are’.

 

So, the correct sentence is:

There are four people in my team.

 

Alternatively you can say:

There are four of us in my team.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise