Yelena Maksimova

English 104, section 85

The list of my most common errors

Here is the list of common errors that I make most often.

Let me start with my favorite, which is “Incorrect word choice.” This type of error includes misunderstanding distinctions between synonyms and their usage and confusing homonyms. For example, I can get confused as to whether I should use “make” or “do”.

Another very frequent error I make is “Wrong spelling”. I am so glad there is Microsoft Word, or I would often skip the first “e” in “statement” or write “e” instead of “a” and “i” instead of “e” or vice versa.

Next is “Using wrong tense”. There are just too many tenses in English. It is easy to get confused. Frequently, I use Present Perfect instead of Simple Past and vice versa. In general, perfect tenses are somewhat confusing for a native Russian speaker. Also, English verb tenses agree in a different way than in Russian.

Sometimes I use a wrong preposition or a wrong article or none at all where one is needed. As a nonnative speaker I may not know all the patterns, so I have to look them up in a dictionary or a textbook.

Some of these errors occur because sometimes I think in Russian and translate my thought into English. Every once in a while my translation is too literal, word-for-word. A similar mistake occurs when I try to punctuate an English sentence the way its Russian translation would be punctuated. Sometimes, I have commas or dashes at wrong places.

These are my most common errors.