Most Annoying Grammar Mistakes in English

Most Annoying Grammar Mistakes in English

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1.  Third conditional

"If I would have known about the party, I would have gone to it."

This is INCORRECT, although commonly used, especially in American English.

The correct form is:

If + had + past participle, would + have + past participle

* "If I had known about the party, I would have gone."  

This is CORRECT.

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2.  Don't vs Doesn’t

"He don’t care about me anymore."

This is INCORRECT.
Doesn't, does not, or does are used with the third person singular - words like he, she, and it.
Don't, do not, or do are used for other subjects.
* "He doesn’t care about me anymore."  
This is CORRECT.

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3.  Bring vs Take

"When we go to the party on Saturday, let’s bring a bottle of wine."

This is INCORRECT.

When you are viewing the movement of something from the point of arrival, use “bring”:
* "When you come to the party, please bring a bottle of wine."
This is CORRECT.
When you are viewing the movement of something from the point of departure, use “take”:
* "When we go to the party, let’s take a bottle of wine."
This is CORRECT.

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4.  Fewer vs Less 

Sign at the checkout of a supermarket: “Ten items or less”.

This is INCORRECT.

You can count the items, so you need to use the number word “fewer”.  These nouns are countable.

* "Ten items or fewer."

This is CORRECT.

If you can’t count the substance, then you should use “less”.  These nouns are uncountable.

* "You should eat less meat."

This is CORRECT.

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5.  However

"We were supposed to go to the dance last night, however, it was cancelled because of lack of interest."

This is INCORRECT.

A semicolon, rather than a comma, should be used to link these two complete sentences:

* "We were supposed to go to the dance last night; however, it was cancelled because of lack of interest." 

This is CORRECT.

It should be noted that there ARE situations in which you can use a comma instead of a semi-colon:

* "The match at Wimbledon, however, continued despite the bad weather."

This is CORRECT. 

There is only one complete sentence in this example.  It is not a compound sentence.

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6.  Have vs Of

"I never would of thought that he’d behave like that."

This is INCORRECT.

It should be would have:

* "I never would have/would’ve thought that he’d behave like that."

This is CORRECT.

It’s the same for should and could:

"He should of come with me."

This is INCORRECT.

* "He should have/should’ve come with me."

This is CORRECT.

"She could of had anything she wanted." 

This is INCORRECT.

* "She could have had anything she wanted."

This is CORRECT.

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7.  Double negative 

"I'm not speaking to nobody in this class."

This is INCORRECT.

Since 'not' is a negative, you cannot use 'nobody' in this sentence:

* "I'm not speaking to anybody in this class."
This is CORRECT.

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8.  Present perfect

"He has took the train."

This is INCORRECT.

The correct form for the present perfect is:

would + have + past participle

* "He has taken the train."

This is CORRECT.

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9.  Went vs Gone 

"I should have went to school yesterday."

This is INCORRECT.
The correct form is:
should + have + past participle
* "I should have gone to school yesterday."
This is CORRECT.

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10.   Its vs It's

"Its going to be sunny tomorrow."

This is INCORRECT.

It’s is the contraction of It is:

* "It’s going to be sunny tomorrow."

This is CORRECT.

"What’s that?  I can’t remember it’s name."

This is INCORRECT.

Its is a possessive pronoun that modifies a noun:

* "What’s that?  I can’t remember its name."

This is CORRECT.