English Grammar: 12 Common Mistakes to Fix This Week
Quick answer: Check these first: a few versus few, the missing s on he, she and it, have been versus am, and tell versus say. Those four change your meaning, so fix them before anything else. Then work through eight smaller ones, including the article before a job title, since versus for, and the double past tense after did. Take one mistake per week rather than all twelve at once.↗ Share on X
If you only have time to check a few things in your English before you send that email or post that message, check these first: "a few" versus "few", the missing "s" on he, she and it, "I have been" versus "I am", "say" versus "tell", the article before a job title, "since" versus "for", the double past tense after "did", "good" versus "well", "people is", "more cheaper", "I am agree", and "informations". Those twelve cover the large majority of mistakes that learners repeat for years, and every one of them takes under a minute to fix.
Work down the list in order. The first four change your meaning, so they matter most.
Which mistakes change what you are actually saying?
Pick the Right English Tense for Daily Life Easily →
Simple Guide to English Grammar Rules for Beginners →
The 12 English Grammar Mistakes Learners Repeat Most →Some errors only sound wrong. These four say something you did not mean, which is worse.
| You say | What people understand | What you probably meant |
|---|---|---|
| "I have few friends here" | Almost none, and I am lonely | "I have a few friends here" (some, and that is fine) |
| "I am living here since 2019" | Nothing clear, the sentence breaks | "I have been living here since 2019" |
| "He work in a bank" | Marks you as a beginner immediately | "He works in a bank" |
| "Tell to me the price" | Confuses two verbs that take different objects | "Tell me the price" or "Say the price to me" |
1. "A few" means some. "Few" means almost none.
This is the difference between a compliment and a complaint. "We had a few problems" is normal project talk. "We had few problems" means the project went well. Same three words, opposite news for your boss.
The same logic works with "a little" and "little". "I have a little time" means I can help. "I have little time" means do not ask.
Quick check: if you mean "some, enough, no drama", put "a" in front. Every time.
2. He, she and it take an "s" in the present.
I work, you work, he works. There is no logic to memorize, just a habit to build. This is the single most noticed mistake in spoken English, because it appears in almost every sentence about another person.
Quick check: before you speak about one other person, pause a half second on the verb. He goes, she wants, it costs.
3. Use "have been" for what is still true now
"I am working here for five years" is wrong, and the fix is "I have been working here for five years". The action started in the past and continues now, which is exactly what "have been" is for.
Quick check: if the sentence has "since" or "for" plus a length of time, you almost always need "have" or "has".
4. "Tell" needs a person. "Say" does not.
Tell me. Tell her. Tell your manager. But say something, say the truth, say it to me.
Quick check: after "tell", the next word is usually a person. After "say", it usually is not.
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The eight smaller mistakes, with the one-line fix
5. "I am engineer." English wants an article before a singular job: "I am an engineer." Use "a" before a consonant sound and "an" before a vowel sound. A teacher, an artist, a university, an hour. Notice that "university" takes "a" and "hour" takes "an", because the rule follows the sound, not the letter.
6. "I work here since two years." Choose by what follows. "Since" takes a point in time: since Monday, since 2019, since I moved. "For" takes a length of time: for two years, for ten minutes, for a long time.
7. "Did you went there?" After "did", the verb goes back to its base form. Did you go. Did she eat. Did they finish. The "did" already carries the past, so the second verb should not.
8. "I speak English good." "Good" describes a thing, "well" describes an action. The food is good. She cooks well. One common exception trips everyone: "I am good" is correct and normal when someone asks how you are.
9. "People is very kind." "People" is already plural. People are. The same applies to police, children and staff. If you mean one, say "person".
10. "This is more cheaper." Pick one, never both. Short words take "-er": cheaper, faster, older. Longer words take "more": more expensive, more interesting, more difficult. And memorize the three irregulars, because they appear constantly: good becomes better, bad becomes worse, far becomes further.
11. "I am agree with you." "Agree" is already the verb, so it does not need "am". Say "I agree with you". The same mistake shows up as "I am disagree" and "I am depend on".
12. "I need more informations." Some words never take an "s" in English, even though they do in many other languages: information, advice, news, furniture, equipment, luggage, money, research. To count them, add a phrase: a piece of information, two pieces of advice, an item of furniture.
How do I fix these instead of just reading?
12 English Grammar Mistakes That Give Learners Away →
The 12 English Grammar Rules That Fix Most Mistakes →
Will vs Going To: The Simple Rule for Everyday English →Reading a list changes nothing. Errors live in habit, so you need repetition aimed at one thing at a time.
1. Pick one error, not twelve. Choose the one from the list you recognize as yours.
2. Write five sentences using it correctly. By hand if you can, because writing by hand is slower and slower is better here.
3. Say those five sentences out loud. Your mouth needs the practice more than your eyes do.
4. Hunt it for one week. Every time you write an email or a message in English, check that one thing before you send.
5. Keep an error notebook. One page per mistake. When you catch yourself, add a tally mark. The page with the most marks is your next project.
6. Move to the next error only when the first one feels boring. Boring means learned.
Seven days per error means all twelve are handled in about three months. That sounds slow until you remember that some people repeat the same mistake for ten years.
The fastest check before you hit send
Read your text once, looking for three things only. This takes about twenty seconds and catches most of what matters.
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Verbs after he, she, it | Is the "s" there? |
| Every "a" and "an" | Is an article missing before a job or a single thing? |
| Time words | "Since" with a date, "for" with a length of time |
Then read the text out loud. Your ear catches broken sentences that your eye skips over, because when you read silently your brain quietly repairs the text for you.
Why do these twelve mistakes survive for years?
Because they do not stop you from being understood. If you say "he work in a bank", everybody knows what you mean, so nobody corrects you. The sentence works, the conversation continues, and the habit gets one more repetition. Ten years of that is how a beginner mistake ends up in the English of someone who reads novels and watches films without subtitles.
There are three other reasons worth knowing, because each one has a different cure.
1. Your first language pushes you. "I am agree" and "informations" are direct translations that feel completely natural in many languages. The cure is knowing your own list, since the mistakes you make are predictable from the language you grew up with.
2. You learned the rule but never practised it under pressure. You know about the third person "s". You just do not have time to think about it while speaking. The cure is drilling one thing until it stops needing thought.
3. Nobody corrects adults. Colleagues, friends and clients stay polite. The cure is a notebook that does not care about your feelings.
Your next step, right now
Pick your one mistake from the twelve. Open the notes app on your phone and write five correct sentences with it, using your own life in each one: your job, your city, your family.
Then, today, check only that one thing in every English message you send. Not the whole list. One. Come back next week and pick the second.
FAQ
What is the difference between a few and few?
A few means some, and it sounds positive. Few means almost none, and it sounds negative. We had a few problems is normal. We had few problems means the work went well. The same logic applies to a little, which means some, and little, which means almost none.
When do I use since and when do I use for?
Since takes a point in time: since Monday, since 2019, since I moved here. For takes a length of time: for two years, for ten minutes. If the sentence uses either one with a time expression, you usually also need have or has, as in I have been living here since 2019.
Why is informations wrong in English?
Some English words never take an s, including information, advice, news, furniture, equipment, luggage and research. To count them, add a phrase in front: a piece of information, two pieces of advice, an item of furniture.