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Typical German speaker mistakes in English (4)

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

 

They say:  I was in London two times.

There are a couple of things wrong with this.

 

Firstly, we don’t say two times, we say twice.  (Remember: once, twice, three times, four times, five times, one hundred times etc.)

 

Secondly, to native speakers it sounds like an incomplete sentence.  I’m waiting for the ‘when’.  When were you in London?

 

So, the correct sentence is:

I was in London twice last week / last month / last year.

(Alternatively you can say “I went to London twice last week / last month / last year.”)

 

Remember, if the ‘number of times’ in London is more important than the ‘when’ in London then say:

I have been to London twice.  (Here it is irrelevant when this was; the number of times is the focus.)

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

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Bought vs brought. When do we use these words?

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 ‘bought’ and ‘brought’.

 

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

 

Bought is the past tense of the verb to buy.

E.g. He bought some food at the supermarket.

She bought some new clothes with her birthday money.

They bought a new house after winning the lottery.

 

Brought is the past tense of the verb to bring.

E.g.  He brought the water to boiling point before adding the pasta.

She brought some beer to the party.

They brought their homework to the lesson.

 

To help you remember the difference:

Bring and brought both have an ‘r’ – they belong together.

Buy and bought have no ‘r’ – they belong together.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

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Check vs control. When do we use these words?

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 ‘check’ and ‘control’.

 

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

 

To check means to make sure something or someone is correct, accurate, safe or suitable.

 

Passports and / or I.D. cards are checked before people travel from the U.K. to America.

Before setting off on a long car journey it’s a good idea to check the tyres, oil and water.

I always double check the sales figures before presenting them to my boss.

 

To control means to limit, instruct, direct or rule something, or someone’s behaviour.

 

The firefighters had difficulty controlling the fire.

If you can’t control your dog, put it on a lead!

If you drink alcohol, you shouldn’t drive home.  You may not be able to control your car very well.

 

Look at this comparison:

I can check the temperature in my house by looking at the thermostat.

I can control the temperature in my house by adjusting the thermostat.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

 

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Typical German speaker mistakes in English (3)

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

They say:  I bought me a new car.

There are a couple of things wrong with this.

 

Firstly, remember in English we don’t use the reflexive form as much as in German.  The ‘me’ is wrong.   (You could replace the ‘me’ with ‘myself’ but it’s not necessary and native speakers wouldn’t always use it in this example.)

 

Secondly, if we want to use the past tense we need to say ‘when’ something happened.

 

So, the correct sentence is:

I bought (myself) a new car yesterday / last week / last month / last year.

 

If the ‘when’ is not important and the main focus is the new car you would say:

I have bought (myself) a new car.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

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Stationary vs stationery. When do we use these words?

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 ‘stationary’ and ‘stationery’.

 

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

 

Stationary is an adjective.  It means not moving or standing still.

The car was parked.  It was stationary.

The train pulled into the station and was stationary for a while before setting off again to continue its journey.

 

Stationery is a noun and refers to writing materials such as paper, pens, pencils, notebooks and envelopes.

In our office the secretary is usually responsible for ordering the stationery.

A new book and stationery shop opened in town last week.

 

To help you remember the difference ‘a’ is for automobile and ‘e’ is for envelope.  Or you can remember stationERy and papER.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

 

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Typical German speaker mistakes in English (2)

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

 

They say:  We meet us tomorrow at 9.

There are a couple of things wrong with this.

 

Firstly, when we are talking about personal plans in the future (e.g. tomorrow) we use the verb +_ing.

Secondly, we cannot meet ‘us’.  The verb meet is not reflexive in English.

 

So, the correct sentence is:

We are meeting tomorrow at 9.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

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Borrow vs lend. When do we use these words?

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 ‘borrow’ and ‘lend’.

 

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

To borrow is a verb and it means to take something (with permission!) for a certain and limited period of time.

You can borrow money from a bank to buy a house.

You can borrow a book from a library.

You can borrow objects from people.

 

E.g.  “I borrowed some money from a friend last week and I need to pay it back by Friday.”

“I’ve lost my phone.  Can I borrow yours?  I need to make a quick call.”

 

To lend is a verb and it means to give or to hand out for a certain and limited period of time.

Libraries lend books.

Banks lend money.

 

E.g.  “ A friend lent me some money last week and I need to pay it back by Friday.”

“When I lost my phone a friend lent me their phone so I could make a quick call.”

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

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Will vs going to vs _ing

Having taught German speakers English for many, many years I know that one area of language that causes lots of problems and confusion is speaking in the future.

When do we use ‘will’?  When do we use ‘going to’ and when do we use ‘the verb +_ing’?

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

 

We use ‘will’ to talk about things decided at the moment of speaking:

I forgot to call the London office.  I’ll call after my next meeting is finished.  (This is a spontaneous decision.  There was no plan in advance.)

 

We use ‘going to’ to talk about things that were already decided or planned before speaking:

I’m going to call the London office this afternoon.  I promised I would call them after lunch.

(There was already a plan to call London before speaking.  It was already decided.  It was not spontaneous.)

 

We use verb + _ing (present continuous tense) to talk about future plans when what we are talking about is an arrangement.  We usually know the time and place.  More than one person is involved:

 

I’m meeting my new boss for lunch this afternoon at 1 p.m.

We are having a party at the company on Friday night.  Would you like to come?

 

We also use verb + _ing (present continuous tense) to ask about plans:

 

Are you doing anything at the weekend?

What are you doing at work tomorrow?

Are you having a holiday in the summer?

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

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Been vs gone. When do we use these words?

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 ‘been’ and ‘gone’.

 

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

Been is the past participle of the verb to be.

Gone is the past participle of the verb to go.

 

Been is used to describe journeys or trips that are completed.  You were there at some point in the past but now you are back.

I have been to London twice.

(You are not in London now.  Your journeys to and from London are complete.  You are back.)

 

Gone is used to talk about a situation where the person is still away and has not returned.

My boss is not in the office this week.  He has gone to London on a business trip.  He’s coming back next week.

(The boss is not here.  He is away in London.  His journey back has not been completed.)

 

We use been to ask about and talk about past experiences:

Have you ever been to London?

Yes, I’ve been to London five times.

No, I’ve never been to London.

 

How long have you been learning English?

I’ve been learning English for six years.

 

Have you ever been on a business trip to China?

No, I’ve never been on a business trip to China.

Yes, I’ve been on a business trip to China.  I went there last year.*

 

* When we say when something happened we use the past simple tense:

I’ve been to London.  I went in March.

I’ve been to China on business.  I was there last week.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

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Verbs and phrases with _ing (3)

I’ve mentioned before that some verbs and phrases when followed by another verb take the _ing form.

Below are a few more examples.  There are more!

 

The following verbs take _ing:

  • avoid
  • begin
  • start
  • finish
  • stop
  • miss
  • keep
  • risk
  • practise

 

I haven’t begun writing my report yet.

He stopped working at 9 p.m.

She misses living by the sea.

I keep forgetting to call her.

We can’t risk losing the money.

They practice speaking English every day.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise