Are YOU Saying it WRONG? 5 Highly Common Mistakes in English

0:00 Have you ever used sentences like these?

0:03 Probably, I'll go out tonight.

0:06 It's a quite big house.

0:09 Or I ate the three last biscuits.

0:13 If you have, I'm afraid you're making

0:16 some very common English mistakes, but don't worry.

0:20 Today, we're looking at five of the most common ones,

0:23 but more importantly, how to correct them.

0:26 Now, this video is part of a big series

0:29 on my channel that comes with a free ebook.

0:33 So, I need to tell you about something incredible.

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0:44 35 common mistakes English learners make and how to fix them.

0:50 This powerful ebook will help you fix some

0:54 of the most common errors English learners make immediately.

0:59 Inside, you will find everything from today's lesson,

1:02 plus 30 more mistakes that my teaching team and I have seen again and again.

1:08 And yes, for now, I'm offering it to you for free.

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1:26 Okay, let's begin.

1:28 Can you spot the mistake in this sentence?

1:31 Probably, I'll go out tonight.

1:34 Now, we don't usually use probably at the beginning of a sentence.

1:40 It just doesn't sound natural.

1:43 But where should it go?

1:45 Well, some adverbs of certainty, like probably, possibly, certainly,

1:51 and definitely, usually go directly before the main verb.

1:57 We call this the mid position.

2:00 So, it should be I'll probably go out tonight.

2:04 Go is the main verb.

2:06 Will is the auxiliary.

2:08 Now, with the negative contracted form won't, the order is different.

2:14 It is incorrect to say, I won't probably go out tonight.

2:20 Instead, it's I probably won't go out tonight.

2:25 I probably won't speak to him again today.

2:29 Try to learn these chunks.

2:32 Try to remember them.

2:34 I'll probably I probably won't.

2:37 Now, a note on pronunciation here.

2:40 It's very important.

2:41 Probably can be pronounced with three syllables, probably.

2:46 But, many speakers will reduce it to just two in fast speech.

2:52 Probably.

2:53 I'll probably go.

2:56 Let's see some more examples.

2:57 I probably need more time.

3:00 We can't possibly finish decorating the flat in 2 days.

3:05 Now, an exception.

3:06 This is English.

3:07 We love exceptions.

3:09 When the main verb is to be, these adverbs usually appear after it.

3:15 As in, this is probably the best restaurant in the neighborhood.

3:20 We can use these adverbs alone in short answers.

3:24 Are you going out tonight?

3:26 Yeah, probably.

3:28 Do you think it'll rain?

3:30 Possibly.

3:31 Who knows?

3:32 Now, take a look at the ebook, the free ebook,

3:35 to learn about the positions of other adverbs of certainty.

3:40 You can scan the QR code there, or the link is in the description box.

3:44 Okay, for our second common mistake, we have another word order problem.

3:48 Can you spot it here?

3:51 It's a quite big house.

3:55 Hmm, well, it should be.

3:57 It's quite a big house.

3:59 Now, I think I understand why my students make this mistake.

4:03 I think they copy the position of very.

4:07 Both of these sentences are correct.

4:10 It's very big.

4:12 It's quite big.

4:14 Very or quite plus adjective.

4:18 But, and here's the issue.

4:20 The words behave differently when the adjective comes before a noun.

4:25 Listen.

4:27 It's a very big house.

4:30 It's quite a big house.

4:33 Quite goes before the article, adjective, and noun.

4:37 Again, it's a good idea to memorize and repeat chunks.

4:42 It's quite a.

4:43 He's quite a.

4:45 That was quite an.

4:47 For example, notice how the t sound at the end of quite joins the vowel sound a.

4:55 Quite a.

4:56 Quite an.

4:57 Now, when you're in conversation and want to add specific details,

5:01 it should be easier.

5:03 He's quite a talented musician.

5:05 That was quite an interesting lecture.

5:08 Very, really, and pretty all follow a different structure.

5:12 A plus very, really, or pretty plus adjective plus noun.

5:17 It's a really good film.

5:19 She had a pretty unusual name.

5:22 Okay, let's move on to mistake number three now.

5:26 We're sticking with word order.

5:28 Word order is tough, but we're really going to focus on it today.

5:31 Can you correct this sentence?

5:34 I ate the three last biscuits.

5:38 Now, I hear things like this all the time.

5:41 But, it should be I ate the last three biscuits.

5:46 That's a tough pronunciation challenge, isn't it?

5:48 Last three.

5:50 The and then r last three biscuits.

5:54 We would actually elide the sound in last and say

5:59 last three biscuits to make it a little bit easier.

6:02 Now, if you say the three last biscuits, there is no communication problem.

6:09 People will understand what you mean, so don't get stressed about this.

6:13 But, if you can correct all of the word order mistakes we're looking at today,

6:17 you'll sound more natural and more fluent.

6:19 [clears throat] I think it's a mistake that's

6:22 worth correcting nice and early so that you

6:24 don't have to correct it when you're at C1

6:27 C2 level and it's embedded in your brain.

6:30 Here's a similar mistake I've heard before.

6:33 The two first chapters are quite slow.

6:37 Perfectly understandable,

6:38 but it should be the first two chapters are quite slow.

6:43 Why?

6:43 Well, in English, words like first, last, next, and past come before a number.

6:49 A couple more sentences.

6:51 I'm booked solid for the next three weeks,

6:54 not the three next weeks, the next three weeks.

6:58 Or she's been to Edinburgh twice in the past six months,

7:03 not the six past months.

7:05 We also use this word order with other

7:07 phrases like the first few or the past several.

7:12 I only watched the first few minutes, not the few first minutes.

7:17 Or it's been sunny for the past several days, not the several past days.

7:23 Take a look at the ebook to see even

7:25 more examples and another word that follows this pattern.

7:30 We're moving away from word order.

7:32 So, what's wrong with this sentence?

7:34 I saw everything which happened.

7:38 Which isn't very natural.

7:40 And if you think it should be what, I'm afraid that's not right either.

7:44 The best choice is that.

7:47 I saw everything that happened.

7:50 Now, after words like everything, anything, nothing, and all,

7:55 we tend to use the relative pronoun that to introduce defining relative clauses.

8:02 These clauses give us essential information.

8:05 We don't usually use which after those words.

8:09 For example, is there anything that I can do to help?

8:13 Or there's nothing that we can do now.

8:18 Or they are all that matters.

8:20 In speech, we can leave out that if it's the object of the relative clause.

8:26 For example, is there anything I can do to help?

8:31 There's nothing we can do now.

8:33 But we can't do it with they're all matters.

8:37 That is the subject of the clause.

8:40 Take a look at the ebook for an exception to this rule.

8:43 You can scan that QR code there or click the link in the description box.

8:47 It's free to download.

8:48 Now, what is not a traditional relative pronoun,

8:52 so we don't use it to introduce a relative clause.

8:55 This sentence is considered grammatically incorrect,

8:59 though you will hear it in some dialects.

9:02 I saw everything what happened.

9:05 I recommend using that unless you're specifically trying

9:10 to use a dialect that uses what instead of that.

9:14 Okay, we're on to the final sentence.

9:17 Is this a mistake?

9:20 I cut my hair.

9:22 Well, the answer is maybe.

9:25 I cut my hair is a grammatically correct sentence that means I cut my own hair.

9:33 I took a pair of scissors and chopped.

9:35 Now, in my case, that would be a big mistake.

9:38 I prefer to go to a hairdresser.

9:41 So, how would I say that?

9:44 I had my hair cut, or I got my hair cut.

9:50 This is called a causative structure.

9:54 Have or get plus object plus past participle.

9:59 To have something done or to get something done.

10:03 It's used when someone else does something for us, usually a paid service.

10:07 Can you repair your own car?

10:10 If the answer is no, use the causative.

10:13 I had my car repaired yesterday.

10:17 A mechanic did it.

10:18 Would you paint your own house?

10:20 I mean, it actually sounds like fun,

10:21 but I'm not sure it would look very good if I did it.

10:24 So, I might say, "We're having the house painted next month.

10:29 A professional painter is doing it." Notice that only have or get change tense.

10:35 We always use the past participle after the object.

10:40 We can use the same structure to say that something bad happened to us,

10:44 usually when we didn't cause the bad thing to happen.

10:47 For example, "I had my wallet stolen last night." Or, "She

10:53 got her car broken into." Someone did these things to us.

11:00 Again, there are more examples with the causative in the e-book.

11:04 It's quite a useful structure to learn.

11:07 It's a really useful structure.

11:11 Okay, we have time for a little quiz before we finish the lesson.

11:15 Some of these sentences contain mistakes.

11:19 If there is a mistake, correct it.

11:22 I'll read them out for you.

11:23 One, "Who ate the two last slices of pizza?" Two,

11:29 "She told me nothing that I didn't know already.

11:35 Three.

11:36 I'm having a tooth taken out tomorrow.

11:41 Four.

11:42 We had a quite good meal at that restaurant.

11:46 And five.

11:48 Probably she'll help.

11:49 I'll give you 5 seconds, but pause if you need more time.

11:58 Okay, number one contained a mistake.

12:00 It should be the last two slices of pizza.

12:04 Remember we put words like last and first before numbers in English.

12:10 [snorts] The second sentence was correct.

12:12 We usually use nothing that in relative clauses,

12:15 not nothing which or nothing what.

12:19 Number three was also correct.

12:21 I definitely wouldn't want to take my own tooth out.

12:24 So, the causative structure, meaning someone else will do it, is right.

12:29 Number four was incorrect.

12:31 It should be we had quite a good meal.

12:35 Remember it's quite plus article adjective noun.

12:40 And number five also had a mistake.

12:42 The most natural way to say this is

12:45 she'll probably help with probably before the main verb.

12:50 So, how did you do out of five?

12:52 Let me know in the comments and don't forget to download the 35 mistakes ebook.

12:57 You're going to love it.

12:57 It is absolutely huge and it's free.

13:01 Scan the QR code there or click the link in the description box.

13:04 I hope you enjoyed today's lesson.

13:06 I hope you learned something.

13:08 I will see you in the next one.

13:09 Bye.

13:10 Mwah.

13:15 [music] [music] Mhm.