Over the last two years of teaching, I have found that many of my students, regardless of English level or nationality, make some of the same mistakes. Recognizing and correcting these small errors can make one sound substantially better when speaking English.
The first step is to become aware of the error. Second, regardless of how long you’ve been making the error, you need to make a conscious effort to change. This is the hardest part; the longer you’ve been saying something incorrectly, the harder it is to change. So have a look, and if you think any of these apply to you, change your ways now to start sounding more fluent immediately!
1. Use bored / boring and tired / tiring correctly
2. Match your subject and verb correctly
3. Use well vs. good correctly
4. Learn the difference between country, language, and nationality
5. Do not say “persons” and “childrens"
6. Don’t overuse your favorite English idiom
Use bored / boring and tired / tiring correctly
Almost all of my students make this mistake. Learn the difference and use these common words correctly starting now!
INCORRECT:
It is bored.
I feel boring.
Doing homework is tired.
On Fridays I feel tiring after a long week of work.
CORRECT:
It is boring.
I feel bored.
Doing homework is tiring.
On Fridays I feel tired after a long week of work.
EXPLANATION:
Boring is an adjective used to describe a person or thing.
Tiring is an adjective used to describe a person or thing.
Examples:
My sister is boring.
(In this sentence, boring is an adjective used to describe your sister (a person).)
I think cats are boring; all they do is sleep.
(Here, boring is used as an adjective to describe cats (a thing).)
I find running very tiring.
(Here, tiring is used as an adjective to describe running (a thing).)
Bored is an adjective used to describe feelings.
Tired is an adjective used to describe feelings.
Examples:
I am bored; I haven’t left my house all day.
(In this sentence, bored describes how I feel.)
Bob was bored of studying; he wanted to do something fun instead.
(Again, bored describes how Bob feels.)
Nancy is tired of eating rice for dinner.
(Here, tired describes how Nancy feels.)
A few more examples:
When I read a boring book, I feel tired.
I am so bored of this boring music.
He is probably bored because he is doing something boring.
SELF TEST:
I barely got any sleep last night, so I am really _____ today.
Golf is a really _____ sport to watch on TV.
I am so _____ of reading my textbook.
Memorizing new vocabulary can be very ____, but I know it will help my English.
Match your subject and verb correctly
INCORRECT:
She like to go to the movies.
Aaron and Sally both loves chocolate cake.
These questions is too hard.
The government make laws.
CORRECT:
She likes to go to the movies.
Aaron and Sally both love chocolate cake.
These questions are too hard.
The government makes laws.
EXPLANATION:
For most verbs, we add s, es, or ies for the subjects he, she, and it. There are exceptions (as with most rules in English) in which the plural verb is the same as the singular. If you do not already know how to do this, here’s a helpful link.
For the purpose of this explanation, I will assume you know the basics of how subject verb agreement works.
Ok, so back to the initial examples. The key is to identify your subject and decide which pronoun it matches. Once you practice doing this regularly, it will start to happen naturally (like a native speaker)!
Examples (incorrect):
She like to go to the movies.
(Here the subject is she, so we know to use likes.)
Aaron and Sally both loves chocolate cake.
(Aaron and Sally -> They so we know to use love.)
These questions is too hard.
(These questions -> They so we know to use are.)
The government make laws.
(The government -> It so we know to use makes.)
Maybe you already know the rules and you know how to apply them. Many of my students who make these mistakes are high level, using difficult vocabulary and grammar correctly, but they can’t always get their subject and verb right. This sticks out like a sore thumb when speaking to a native speaker. If you want to sound fluent, practice, practice, practice correctly matching your subject and verb!
SELF TEST:
Titanic __ a very famous movie.
My mother _____ me a cake every year for my birthday.
Professional basketball players ____ to practice all the time.
Many people _____ cats better than dogs.
Use well vs. good correctly
**If you do this right, you will sound BETTER than the average native English speaker**
INCORRECT:
She did good.
Aaron and Sally speak English good.
I hope I get a well score on the self test.
Fran is a well person.
CORRECT:
She did well.
Aaron and Sally speak English well.
I hope I get a good score on the self test.
Fran is a good person.
EXPLANATION:
Good is an adjective
Well is an adverb
*Exception: well can be used as an adjective when talking about health.
Examples:
She did well.
(We want to modify did (the verb), so we need to use an adverb (well).)
Aaron and Sally speak English well.
(We want to modify speak (the verb), we want to explain how they speak, so we need an adverb (well).)
I hope I get a good score on the self test.
(Here, we want to modify score (a noun), so we need an adjective (good).)
Fran is a good person.
(We want to modify person (a noun), we want to explain what kind of person Fran is, so we need an adjective (good).)
*Exception: well can be used as an adjective when talking about health.
Examples:
How is she feeling? She is well. Her fever has decreased since yesterday.
She sings well.
The cat is reading a good book.
SELF TEST:
My mother bakes ______, her cookies are really _______.
Mandy just won a gold medal, she swam very _____.
After reading this article I will be able to speak English _____.
Mariah Carrey is a _____ singer; she sings ______.
Learn the difference between country, language, and nationality (and when to use “the” before a place)
INCORRECT:
Many China people like dumplings.
Spaghetti is an Italy food.
Aaron and Sally are from Russian.
The Japan is an island nation.
CORRECT:
Many Chinese people like dumplings.
Spaghetti is an Italian food.
Aaron and Sally are from Russia.
Japan is an island nation.
EXPLANATION:
Country: where they are from
They are from America.
Nationality: what they are
They are American.
*We use the same word we use to describe someone’s nationality as an adjective to describe items from that country (KFC is an American restaurant).
Language: what they speak
They speak English.
Learn them. Memorize them. Use them correctly. If you do, your English will be better in no time. Here are some examples to get you started:
(COUNTRY)
(NATIONALITY)
(LANGUAGE)
America
American
English
Spain
Spanish
Spanish
China
Chinese
Chinese
Russia
Russian
Russian
Brazil
Brazilian
Portuguese
Thailand
Thai
Thai
Examples:
This is a Chinese flag.
This British man speaks English.
These dolls are from Russia.
Here is a more complete list of countries and what we call their languages and nationalities in English.
*Final tip on this subject: do not put “the” in front of a word if it doesn’t belong there. This is another English mistake that will stick out to a native speaker.
Do say the United States, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic.
Do not say the Japan, the China, the Brazil.
The is used when the country has a plural name.
the Bahamas, the Philippines, the Netherlands, etc.
We also use the before countries when their state is described in the title.
the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, the United States, etc.
Here is a more comprehensive list and explanation of article usage with countries.
SELF TEST:
Sushi is a ______ food that is now popular all over the world.
Champagne comes from ______.
David Beckham is a famous ______ soccer (football) player.
In Brazil they speak ________.
Do not say “persons” and “childrens”
INCORRECT:
Many persons speak English.
These persons are very fun to talk to.
All of the childrens in my school like candy.
My childrens are in elementary school.
CORRECT:
Many people speak English.
These people are very fun to talk to.
All of the children in my school like candy.
My children are in elementary school.
EXPLANATION:
The singular form is person, the plural is people. Although there are a few situations where persons is used, the correct plural is almost always people.
Example:
This is one person.
These are two people.
(The singular form is child, and the plural is children. We do not say “childrens” as a plural form. This is wrong.)
Example:
This is one child.
These are two children.
If you are interested in a more expansive list of irregular plural nouns, here is a link.
SELF TEST:
There are over one billion ______ in the world who speak Mandarin Chinese.
In America, many ______ go to preschool before kindergarten.
He doesn’t have any brothers or sisters; he is an only _____.
Many _____ like to eat fish.
Don’t overuse your favorite English idiom
Although idioms can be a fun way to show your mastery of English, they can also be a tell-tale sign you’re not a native speaker. Using idioms correctly and sparsely is a wonderful way to spruce up your dialogue, but using them incorrectly and/or too much will have the opposite effect.
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard, “that’s just not my cup of tea.” This must be in every ESL book in China. The first time I heard someone say it I laughed a bit, thinking it was a cute British-ism my student heard somewhere. After hearing it for the 100th time, I realized this wasn’t the case. Beware of overusing idioms, that is all I can say.
Final Note
Regardless of your English level, these few tips will be sure to help you. Whether you are at a beginning level or at a super high advanced level, there are sure to be discussions that require using these six rules listed above.
New learners and long-time learners alike need to be able to express when they are bored / find something boring (1), tell their teacher that they like her teaching methods (2), tell their language partners that they speak English well (3), ask a new acquaintance if they are from England or Australia (4), talk about experiences from when they were a child (5), and convey a meaning using an idiom or decide it’s best to skip the idiom and say it straight (6).
Learn these rules, memorize them, practice them, practice them some more, and speak with confidence! Your listeners will be convinced you’re a native speaker in no time!
SELF TEST ANSWERS:
I barely got any sleep last night, so I am really tired today.
Golf is a really boring sport to watch on TV.
I am so bored of reading my textbook.
Memorizing new vocabulary can be very tiring, but I know it will help my English.
Titanic is a very famous movie.
My mother bakes me a cake every year for my birthday.
Professional basketball players have to practice all the time.
Many people like cats better than dogs.
My mother bakes well, her cookies are really good.
Mandy just won a gold medal, she swam very well.
After reading this article I will be able to speak English well.
Mariah Carrey is a good singer; she sings well.
Sushi is a Japanese food that is now popular all over the world.
Champagne comes from France.
David Beckham is a famous British (English) soccer (football) player.
In Brazil they speak Portuguese.
There are over one billion people in the world who speak Mandarin Chinese.
In America, many children go to preschool before kindergarten.
He doesn’t have any brothers or sisters; he is an only child.
Many people like to eat fish.
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