Unforgivable Mistakes in English
Unforgivable Mistakes in English
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Unforgivable Mistakes in English
Open the lesson as a language-awareness lesson: these are not 'tiny' mistakes if they change meaning, grammar, register or correctness in formal English.
Learning goal
I can recognise and correct common high-frequency mistakes in written and spoken English.
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One mistake in English that you still see or make often
Use this as prior-knowledge activation. Invite short entries such as confusion pairs, verb forms, apostrophes, or informal shortcuts. Briefly group the answers into spelling, grammar, and register.
Spelling and form basics
Some mistakes are easy to avoid once you know the rule.
Always write I with a capital letter.
In the present simple, he / she / it usually takes -s.
These errors look small, but they immediately stand out in formal English.
Keep the focus on accuracy and proofreading, not on shaming mistakes. These are convention-based rules that advanced learners are expected to control consistently.
Words that sound alike
fell / felt
fell: past of fall
felt: past of feel
there's / theirs
there's = there is
theirs: possessive pronoun
More frequent confusions
to / too / two
to: preposition
too: also; more than enough
two: the number
then / than
then: time or next
than: comparison
Common pairs and groups
Stress meaning, not memorisation alone. Students should ask: What job is the word doing in the sentence?
Possession, place and short forms
Apostrophes matter
Three-way contrasts
your / you're
your: possessive adjective
you're = you are
its / it's
its: possessive adjective
it's = it is
there / their / they're
there: place
their: possessive adjective
they're = they are
where / were / we're
where: question-word
were: past of be
we're = we are
Point out that apostrophes often signal contraction, not possession, in these examples.
Meaning changes with one letter
quite means fairly or completely in context; quiet means making little noise.
of is a preposition; off can mean away, not operating, removed, or cancelled.
dead is usually an adjective; death is a noun.
beautiful is the correct spelling, not beautifull.
Use examples from the source slides if useful: a quiet village, take your jacket off, before her death.
Verb forms and sentence patterns
Grammar mistakes often come from using the wrong pattern after a word.
There were seventeen students. Plural noun → plural verb.
Lie down! is correct here, not lay down.
I think that we should talk to the teacher, not I find in this pattern.
I agree with you, not I am agree with you.
The lie/lay distinction is difficult because lay is also the past of lie meaning 'recline'. Keep only the classroom-useful distinction from the lesson material.
Which sentence is correct in formal English?
I think we should talk
I find we should talk
I am agree with you
There was seventeen students
Checks the first grammar block: sentence patterns and agreement. The distractors come directly from the nearby content slides.
Complete the grammar patterns
In formal English, small grammar choices matter. There were seventeen students in the room, because the noun is plural. If someone is making too much noise, you can say, 'Lie down!' We also say 'I agree with you', not 'I am agree with you'.
All blanks are load-bearing forms taught on slides 2 to 6: plural agreement, lie down, and agree with.
Grammar choices that sound right but are wrong
few goes with plural countable nouns; little with uncountable nouns.
good at is the correct preposition: good at maths.
worse is the comparative of bad; worser is not standard English.
In conditional sentences, do not use will or would in the if-clause.
If needed, give one clear model for each conditional type, but do not overload the slide with full paradigms again.
Time, advice and tense control
Some errors come from fixed grammar combinations.
You'd better + infinitive: You'd better turn that music down.
Use the present perfect for a situation that began in the past and continues now.
for + length of time
since + starting point
Link this to the example We have been dating for a long time and contrast it with since October 2010.
Verb choice and collocation
Advanced accuracy depends on choosing the right verb with the right structure.
learn = receive instruction
teach = give instruction
say something; tell somebody something
speak to somebody; talk about something
Students at C1 often know these verbs individually but still mix their patterns. Emphasise collocation and object structure.
Opinion, influence and negatives
according to is used for another source or person's view.
According to him, it's a good film.
In my opinion, it's a good film.
Not: according to me
affect / effect
affect: verb
effect: noun
In a negative clause, use either, not also.
Correct opinion phrases
Other key choices
This is a useful register point: according to me may appear in learner English through transfer, but it is not idiomatic standard usage.
Avoid informal shortcuts in formal writing
These forms may appear in messages or speech, but they do not belong in formal written English.
'cause → because
wanna → want to
gonna → going to
u → you
Frame this as register, not absolute prohibition in every context. The lesson source treats them as unacceptable in written school English.
Which phrase correctly uses time with the present perfect?
since a long time
for October 2010
for a long time
since three years
Tests the for/since contrast from the time-and-tense block. Wrong options reflect common blending errors.
Complete the collocations
In standard English, we say 'You'd better turn that music down.' If a situation started in the past and continues now, we often use the present perfect. We tell somebody something, but we say something without a direct person after the verb.
Anchors three key combinations from slides 8 to 11: fixed advice pattern, tense choice, and say/tell structure.
Why are forms like 'wanna' unsuitable in formal writing?
Expected elements: students should explain that formal writing avoids text-message spellings and speech reductions because register matters. Strong answers may mention clarity, audience, school writing, and standard written English.
More lookalikes and word families
right / write / ride have different meanings and different parts of speech.
live can be a verb; life is a noun.
person is singular; people is plural.
The correct verb is marry somebody or be married to somebody.
Use quick sentence frames orally: Write it down, ride a horse, city life, marry Lucas.
Phrasal and paired expressions
Adjective pairs
sensible / sensitive
sensible: reasonable
sensitive: connected with feelings
sociable / social
sociable: friendly
social: connected with society
Meaning depends on the particle
look after / take after
look after: take care of
take after: resemble
A small word changes the meaning completely.
A helpful strategy is to learn these in pairs with one example sentence each, rather than as isolated dictionary entries.
Prepositions and noun choice
despite and in spite of are both correct before a noun phrase.
Use birthday for the day someone was born.
Use anniversary for the date when an important event is remembered.
Accurate word choice makes English sound precise and natural.
You can briefly note that despite of is incorrect, since learners often blend the two structures.
Which sentence uses the correct expression?
According to me, it's useful
She is married with Tom
Despite of the rain, we left
He looks after his sister
Checks the final lexical block. The distractors target common learner errors: according to me, married with, and despite of.
Choose the precise words
A precise choice changes the meaning. You write an essay, but you ride a bike. Someone who is calm and reasonable is sensible, while a person who is easily hurt emotionally may be sensitive.
Uses taught contrast pairs from slides 12 to 14. Each blank has a unique semantic fit.
What is your best strategy for catching these mistakes?
Expected elements: students may mention checking contractions and apostrophes, testing the word's function in the sentence, watching collocations and prepositions, reading for register, and proofreading for lookalikes.
What is one mistake from today that you will remember?
Reflection only. Encourage students to name one specific rule, pair, or pattern from the lesson that they expect to remember.
Glossary
contraction - a shortened form made by combining words, such as it's or you're
possessive adjective - a word showing ownership before a noun, such as your, their or its
possessive pronoun - a word showing ownership without a following noun, such as theirs
preposition - a word such as to, of, at or since used to show relationships
countable noun - a noun that can be counted, such as apple or student
uncountable noun - a noun not normally counted separately, such as water or bacon
comparative - the form used to compare two things, such as worse
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Glossary
collocation - a natural combination of words that commonly go together
register - the level of formality or style used in language
conditional - a sentence pattern used to talk about real or imagined situations and results
present perfect - a tense linking the past to the present, often used for unfinished time periods
infinitive - the base form of a verb, such as write, go or speak
noun - a word for a person, place, thing or idea
adverb - a word that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb, such as well
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