Grammar Essentials: Common English Mistakes to Avoid

Some grammar mistakes are invisible to the speaker but very loud to a Canadian listener or a CELPIP/IELTS examiner. These ten are the ones that most consistently cost newcomers marks. For each, here is the error, why it happens, and the fix.

1. Dropping the Articles (a, an, the)

Many languages have no articles, so learners say "I am nurse" or "I went to hospital." In Canadian English you need a/an for one non-specific thing and the for something specific or already mentioned. Fix: "I am a nurse." "I saw a car. The car was red."

2. Subject–Verb Agreement

"He go to work" and "My friends is here" are high-frequency errors. The verb must match the subject: he goes, my friends are. Pay special attention to third-person singular -s in the present tense — it disappears in many learners’ speech.

3. Wrong Verb Tense for Past Events

"Yesterday I go to the store" should be "Yesterday I went." Use the simple past for finished actions with a finished time. Reserve the present perfect ("I have gone") for experiences or unfinished time.

4. Prepositions of Time and Place

Prepositions rarely translate directly. Learn them in chunks: at 9 a.m., on Monday, in July, in Canada, at the bus stop, on the bus. Memorising fixed phrases works better than memorising rules.

5. Countable vs Uncountable Nouns

"I need some informations" and "many advices" are common. Words like information, advice, equipment, furniture, news are uncountable: no plural -s, and use much/some, not many. Fix: "some information," "a piece of advice."

6. Adjective Word Order and Position

English puts adjectives before the noun and does not make them plural: "two red cars," not "two cars red" or "two reds cars."

7. Confusing make and do

"Do a mistake" and "make my homework" sound wrong to Canadians. Learn collocations: make a decision, a mistake, money; do homework, the dishes, business.

8. Double Negatives

"I don’t know nothing" means the opposite of what you intend in standard English. Use one negative: "I don’t know anything."

9. Misusing since and for

For + a length of time ("for three years"). Since + a starting point ("since 2021"). Both usually pair with the present perfect: "I have lived here for two years."

10. Question Formation

"You are coming?" and "Where you went?" lose marks in speaking. Use auxiliaries and inversion: "Are you coming?" "Where did you go?"

How to Actually Fix These

1. Pick one error from this list that you know you make.
2. Find it in your own writing — review something you wrote last week.
3. Do focused practice on only that pattern for a few days.
4. Get feedback — a tutor or an AI writing tool that flags the specific pattern, so you notice it in the moment.

Trying to fix everything at once fixes nothing. One pattern at a time, with feedback, is how accuracy actually improves — and accuracy is exactly what the CLB writing and speaking bands measure.