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Common mistakes we make while speaking English
1. ~ "It was a blunder mistake."
Correction, people! The word 'blunder' means mistake, so you could say:
~ "It was a blunder," or
~ "It was a big mistake."
******************
2. ~ "It would have been more better."
The word 'better' itself implies that the option in question is
superior -- the use of the word 'more' in the sentence is, therefore
both inappropriate and unnecessary. Thus the correct sentence would go
as follows:
~ "It would have been better."
******************
3. ~ "Why don't he get married?"
The term 'don't' applies when discussing a plural subject. For
instance, "Why don't they get married?" The right way to phrase that
sentence would be:
~ "Why doesn't he get married?"
******************
4. ~ "I want two Xeroxes of this card."
The term 'Xerox' is used in North American English as a verb. Actually,
'Xerox' is the name of a company that supplies photocopiers! The
correct thing to say, therefore, would be:
~ "I want two photocopies of this card."
******************
5. ~ "Your hairs are looking silky today."
This is one of the most common Indian bloopers! The plural of 'hair' is 'hair'! Thus:
~ "Your hair is looking silky today."
Get Ahead reader Nasreen Haque says, "We must realise that English is
not the native language of Indians. Having said that, we should tell
ourselves, 'Yeah, I could go wrong and I could make innumerable
mistakes, but of course there is always room for improvement.'"
******************
some more::
1. ~ Loose vs lose:
Many people make this mistake. They inevitably interchange the words
'loose' and 'lose' while writing. 'Lose' means to 'suffer a loss or
defeat'. Thus, you would write:
~ 'I don't want to lose you," and not ' don't want to loose you.'
'Loose', on the other hand, means 'not firm' or 'not fitting.' In this context, you would write,
~ "My shirt is loose," not "My shirt is lose."
******************
2. ~ "One of my friend lives in Kolkata."
This is one of the most common Indian English bloopers ever! The correct way of putting that is:
"One of my friends lives in Kolkata."
Why? Because the sentence implies that you have many friends who live
in Kolkata, but you are referring to only one of these friends.
******************
3. ~ Tension-inducing tenses.
People often use the wrong tense in their sentences. For instance, someone might say:
~ "I didn't cried when I saw the movie."
Unfortunately, the word 'didn't' is never followed by a past tense
verb, in this case 'cried'. The correct way of putting it would be:
~ "I didn't cry when I saw the movie."
1. ~ "It was a blunder mistake."
Correction, people! The word 'blunder' means mistake, so you could say:
~ "It was a blunder," or
~ "It was a big mistake."
******************
2. ~ "It would have been more better."
The word 'better' itself implies that the option in question is
superior -- the use of the word 'more' in the sentence is, therefore
both inappropriate and unnecessary. Thus the correct sentence would go
as follows:
~ "It would have been better."
******************
3. ~ "Why don't he get married?"
The term 'don't' applies when discussing a plural subject. For
instance, "Why don't they get married?" The right way to phrase that
sentence would be:
~ "Why doesn't he get married?"
******************
4. ~ "I want two Xeroxes of this card."
The term 'Xerox' is used in North American English as a verb. Actually,
'Xerox' is the name of a company that supplies photocopiers! The
correct thing to say, therefore, would be:
~ "I want two photocopies of this card."
******************
5. ~ "Your hairs are looking silky today."
This is one of the most common Indian bloopers! The plural of 'hair' is 'hair'! Thus:
~ "Your hair is looking silky today."
Get Ahead reader Nasreen Haque says, "We must realise that English is
not the native language of Indians. Having said that, we should tell
ourselves, 'Yeah, I could go wrong and I could make innumerable
mistakes, but of course there is always room for improvement.'"
******************
some more::
1. ~ Loose vs lose:
Many people make this mistake. They inevitably interchange the words
'loose' and 'lose' while writing. 'Lose' means to 'suffer a loss or
defeat'. Thus, you would write:
~ 'I don't want to lose you," and not ' don't want to loose you.'
'Loose', on the other hand, means 'not firm' or 'not fitting.' In this context, you would write,
~ "My shirt is loose," not "My shirt is lose."
******************
2. ~ "One of my friend lives in Kolkata."
This is one of the most common Indian English bloopers ever! The correct way of putting that is:
"One of my friends lives in Kolkata."
Why? Because the sentence implies that you have many friends who live
in Kolkata, but you are referring to only one of these friends.
******************
3. ~ Tension-inducing tenses.
People often use the wrong tense in their sentences. For instance, someone might say:
~ "I didn't cried when I saw the movie."
Unfortunately, the word 'didn't' is never followed by a past tense
verb, in this case 'cried'. The correct way of putting it would be:
~ "I didn't cry when I saw the movie."
