Any Denglish in your English?

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

They say:  The conference has begun at 11 yesterday.

The wrong tense has been used here.  Remember the word yesterday indicates finished time.  Therefore use the past simple.  For unfinished time use the present perfect (have / has + 3^rd form of the verb.)

Correction:  The conference began at 11 yesterday.

Some further examples:

I worked a lot last week (finished time; last week is over, done, finished.)

I have worked a lot this week (unfinished time; this week is not finished, it is ongoing.)

She drank three coffees yesterday (finished time; yesterday is over, done, finished.)

She has drunk three coffees today (unfinished time; today is not finished, it is ongoing.)

Have fun learning English!

Louise

One area of English that often causes problems for learners is prepositions.

Below are some examples of prepositions we use when travelling.

We travel on foot but by car, by train, by plane, by bus, by tram, by taxi, by bike.

E.g.  It won’t take me long to get there.  It’s only 10 minutes on foot from here.

We are travelling by train to the conference.

He travelled more than 30 km by bike to get there.

We sit in a car and in a taxi but on a train, on a bus, on a plane, on a tram, on a bike.

E.g.  We are in the taxi at the moment.  We’ll be with you shortly.

We are on the train at the moment.  We’ll be with you shortly.

We had good seats on the plane with plenty of legroom.

Have fun learning English!

Louise

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