The fastest way to get great at speaking English is to make mistakes —  tons of them. As long as you understand where you’re going wrong and try something different next time, errors are a language student’s best friend! However, you can’t learn from your mistakes if you don’t know what they are…

No one expects you to have perfect English, but if you absorb the information in this article you’ll sound more natural at some of the trickiest stumbling points. This way, any mistakes you do make will be nice and original!

Common English mistakes (and how to avoid them) 

Most English mistakes occur when non-native speakers try to translate phrases directly from their first language. Which mistakes you are prone to make usually depends on your first language and how its grammar and construction differs from English. However, here are some super common stumbling points: 

1. Mixing up “lend” and “borrow” 

Some people use “borrow” when they actually mean “loan” or “lend.” For example, a non-native speaker might say: 

Let’s get you talking

• Can you borrow me an eraser? 

When what they mean to say is: 

• Can you loan me a eraser? 

In standard English, “to borrow” means to take something from someone, knowing that you will give it back. “To lend” or “to loan” means to pass something on to someone else for a short time. 

How to avoid this mistake 

Ask yourself “Which direction is this object moving?” 

← lend ←  [me] ← borrow ←

• If an object is moving away from you, you’re lending it
• If an object is moving towards you, you’re borrowing it

You can also tell which word it is from the prepositions around it. We lend something to someone, but we borrow something from someone. 

2. Confusing “me too” and “me either”

“The difference between ‘me too’ and ‘me either’ is that one is positive, and the other one is negative. The positive one is ‘me too’, so for example, if you say ‘I like traveling’ then I would say ‘me too’ which means ‘I like traveling too.’ 

On the other hand, if you say ‘I don’t like extreme sports’ then, if I agree with you, I would say ‘me either’ which means ‘I don’t like extreme sports either.’ Not too, either.” 

How to avoid this mistake One of the first things you learn in English classes is how to agree with a positive statement by saying “me too.” If you want to agree with a negative statement, you should say “me either” instead. To remember this, learn the trigger words for negative statements, including:

• I don’t like…
• I hate…
• I can’t stand…

3. Saying “congratulations” on someone’s birthday

“When someone has a birthday, you can say happy birthday, you can send good wishes, but in English, you can’t really say ‘congratulations.’ In English, the word ‘congratulations’ is used to praise somebody’s achievement.  However, when you have a birthday, it’s just something that happens to you. It’s not really an achievement. This mistake usually comes from translating from your own language into English.”

How to avoid this mistake 

Instead of wishing the birthday boy or girl “congratulations”, say “happy birthday!” or “I hope you have a lovely day.” Save “congratulations” for when your English-speaking friends have achieved something more active. For example, if somebody’s getting married, got a job promotion, a new house — then you say ‘congratulations’ because this is something brand new happening in their lives!

More generally, mistakes like this can be avoided if you try to start “thinking in English” rather than translating words directly from your native language. 

4. Mixing up “since” and “for” 

“I often hear people say ‘I have been living here since three years.’ It’s a shame, because ‘I have been living here’ is a beautiful way to start a sentence, very advanced. However, the final part of this sentence has a mistake! You should say ‘I have been living here for three years.” 

How to avoid this mistake 

Unfortunately, there’s no magic hack with this one! You just have to learn the two use cases of since and for. 

For = the length or the duration of time something has been happening.

• I have been a doctor for five years 

Since = point when something started happening, which is still happening today. 

•  I have been a doctor since 2016.  

5. Saying “eat” rather than “take” for medicine 

• I have a headache, so I eat some painkillers

But the correct verb to use is:

• I have a headache, so I took some painkillers 

She explains:

“We use the verb ‘take’ for medicine, pills, tablets vitamins and drugs — including illegal drugs. In English, we don’t use ‘take’ to talk about drinking or eating. We just use it for medication and drugs.” 

How to avoid this mistake 

Practice! Next time you feel unwell, say the correct version to yourself out loud in English: “I am going to take some medication.”
Alternatively, you could try watching an English language TV show set in a hospital, such as Scrubs or Grey’s Anatomy. That way, you’ll hear the correct verb used to talk about medicine all the time! 

6. Mixing up “lay” and “lie” 

“Lay and lie, I’m not gonna lie, these two little three-letter words are known to have bugged both native and non-native English speakers for over 700 years! So if you feel confused by them, you’re in good company! I say: the best way to understand the differences between lay and lie is to study the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs.”

How to avoid this mistake 

There’s no getting around how confusing these two words are! If you’re still stuck, read through this explanation of the difference between laying and lying in bed.

“Lay” means to place something down flat, it is transitive and requires an object to act upon. As in:

• He lay down his sword. 

“Lie” means to be in a flat position on a surface. “Lie” is intransitive and requires no object to act upon. “Lie” describes something moving on its own into position, or already in position.

• I decided to lie down. 

Once you understand these definitions and want to make them stick long-term, you can use this mnemonic (memory tool): 

• LAY —> pLAce
• LIE —>  recLIne

7. Using “nobody” when they mean “anybody” 

“People say ‘I didn’t meet nobody’ but the word nobody would be wrong in this sentence. The correct version is: ‘I didn’t meet anybody.’ Do you know why? Because ‘nobody’ isn’t used in a sentence that already has ‘not’ in it — a sentence that is already negative. If there is already a negative component in a sentence, you do not add another negative to it. You’d say ‘I didn’t meet anybody.” 

How to avoid this mistake 

Read up on what “double negatives” are in English, and why they are considered incorrect. This tip will also help you overcome mistake #2: confusing “me too” and “me either.” 

8. Using “the” when making general statements 

“This is an old one, but still a tricky one! Many advanced learners still use the definite article when talking about a plural or uncountable noun. Remember that in English, when we are talking in general, about all of a thing, we don’t use ‘the.’ For example, the sentence ‘life is beautiful’ is correct.

That doesn’t mean we can’t use ‘the’, but when we do, we are being specific and only referring to one thing. For example: “I’m reading about the life of Michael Jackson.” 

How to avoid this mistake 

Remember that to use a definite article, you must be talking about something definite! Try to memorize a few concrete examples of general statements, for instance: 

• Life is beautiful
• War is horrible
• Something that makes me anxious is climate change   

9. Using incorrect grammar in positive statements 

“Lots of students say ‘I like so much cats!’ I mean, yeah, me too but — this is a mistake. Equally often, students say, ‘I very like cats.’ This one is more common with intermediate speakers. Both of these are mistakes, how do we fix them? Firstly, if you want to use ‘so much’ then that should go after the object. So the correct version is, ‘I like cats so much!’ Otherwise, you should use a modifier instead of ‘very’ — so it would be ‘I really like cats”

How to avoid this mistake 

Just remember — it’s rare that you can translate sentences directly from your native language to English.  Even if you’re an advanced learner, keeping some template sentences in mind can be a big help. For instance:

• I really like pancakes.
• I absolutely love pancakes.
• I think pancakes are great.

How can I speak English correctly?

Speaking English correctly is a matter of passion and attention to detail. You must get obsessed with the finer points of grammar and the subtle meaning of words. You must also get comfortable with being corrected on your mistakes! 

Luckily, as we’ve seen, there are plenty of passionate experts online who can inspire you to polish your English skills to perfection. You can also try conversational lessons with an online tutor, who will give you live feedback on how you can improve and advice on how to phrase sentences more naturally. 

Nobody speaks English correctly 100% of the time — least of all native speakers! But by seeking out lists of common errors like this one, you’ve put yourself on track to speak with as much accuracy as possible.