Why students at EC language school in Brighton are better at English than some native speakers…
In England, at school, we don’t tend to study English grammar in the way that speakers of other languages study theirs. We don’t learn about ‘mixed conditionals’, ‘future perfect continuous’, ‘phrasal verbs’ etc. Some native speakers barely know the difference between a verb, a noun and an adjective!
To native speakers, the English language is ‘acquired’. Sometimes, it’s acquired incorrectly. Here, we’ve compiled a list of common mistakes that real-life, actual English people make! Can you figure out what the problems are? If so, you can sit back and feel incredibly smug and proud that YOUR English is better than some native speakers!
1) ‘Your’ versus ‘you’re’. Yes, they are pronounced the same. No, they are not the same word.
2) ‘Their’, ‘they’re’ and ‘there’. Yes, they are pronounced the same but they are also completely different words!
3) Bad native speaker spelling – ‘definately’, ‘neccessary’, ‘seperately’. They are all wrong! Can you spell these words properly?
4) Bad native speaker says, “If I’d known it was your birthday, I would of bought you a present.” Can you spot the mistake?
5) Bad native speaker says, “Yesterday, I come home and the house was a mess!”
6) Bad native speaker says, “He don’t want to come to the cinema.”
7) ‘Advice’ versus ‘advise’. ‘Practice’ versus ‘practise’.
8) Bad native speaker says, “Chocolate is more better than salad.”
9) Bad native speaker says , “I don’t like nothing on this menu.”
10) Bad native speaker says, “She dances really good.”
11) Bad native speaker says, “I’ve got less sweets than you.”