Learning To Overcome Average Mistakes In English Grammar
Published by Fred at October 26th, 2009You can easily come off as an intelligent person while talking, but as soon as you have to type the English language, you can come to an unfortunate problem: English grammar can be hard to learn. It’s necessary to learn, and with some practice, you can master the English arts.
Contractions are hard to get down for some. Perhaps one of the most common mistakes is the use of “your” and “you’re.” When you see the contraction “you’re” you should be able to replace it with “you are” and the sentence should make sense still. “Your” is instead used to show ownership of an item. An example could be “She said you’re welcome to have a cookie, so make your decision.” As we can see, the sentence makes sense when using “you are” in place of contractions.
Probably the second most common mistake in grammar is “there” being confused with “their.” The word “their” shows possession, while “there” is indicating a location. If your neighbors own a pool, you would say “The neighbors often swim in their pool,” and use there as “Sometimes I swim over there.”
There are many different levels of English grammar mistakes in terms of difficulty. One of the more difficult ones, even for professionals, is discerning between “affect” and “effect.” When using “effect” it is done when using an adjective or adverb, such as with “The effect of using good grammar is appearing more intelligent.” With “affect,” it’s a verb instead, and a sentence would appear as “Learning affects the way others perceive me.”
When migrating to English from another language, you will agree the change isn’t easy. Some grammar structure is hard to get down, such as using “a” and “an.” When using “an,” you should verify the next word either starts with a vowel or sounds like it does. It’s easy to see that a word starts with a vowel, but a word such as “hour” could throw newcomers off. The best bet would be to learn different words and how they sound to prevent making a mistake.
“Good” and “well” are taught incorrectly in common United States slang. It’s common to say “I am feeling good,” but this is actually not correct. “Good” is not a noun, but instead an adjective. “Well” is a noun, and would instead take the place of good in this case. “I am/am not feeling well” should be the proper response if asked how you are feeling.
Final Thoughts
Keep your nose to the grindstone, so to speak, and your attempt at grasping the English language will lead to success. If you decide you need help, there are many sources over the Internet and tutors you can find in your locale to learn further.
Learn more about Learn English Online and English Grammar Learning.