Mistake Monday: Top 5 Mistakes

Hello, and welcome to Mistake Monday! We've been looking at a lot of Common Errors over the last year or so, and I thought it would be a good idea to review a few of them. So, here is my "Top 5 Mistakes" list. This list is subjective, but these are the errors that I notice most in my classes. Some are related to grammar and some are related to vocabulary. All of the items contain links to an explanation on Sitzman ABC.

Sitzman ABC's Top 5 Most Common English Errors:

1. Question Word Order 

This is about question formation, and the way to order the words correctly.

2. Third-person verbs 

"Third person" refers to sentences with he, she, or it as the subject.

3. Using "have" incorrectly 

This talks about using "have" as both a helping verb and a main verb, and when to use the verb "to be" instead.

4. Use of say, tell, and speak

This post describes how to use these three words correctly. If you ever say things like "say me," "explain me," or "describe me," then this post is for you!

5. Incorrect Plurals

This talks about common irregular plurals, like man-->men, child-->children, etc.

What about you? Which errors do you find yourself making most commonly? If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please join in the conversation by leaving a comment.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Common Error: "High" vs. "Tall"

Welcome again to Mistake Monday! Today we'll talk about when to say "high" and when to say "tall." Today's Common Error can actually be funny sometimes, but that's a good reason to be careful when saying these words. 

The Burj Khalifa skyscraper (formerly known as the Burj Dubai). Should you say it's the tallest or the highest building in the world? Read on to find out! Image by Leandro Ciuffo

Common Error: High vs. Tall
DON’T say this:	"Shelly is a very high girl." "When I was a boy, I wasn't high enough to ride the roller coaster." "The airplane is very tall in the sky."
WHY?	-High and tall are essentially synonyms, but they're used for different cases. They both can describe the height of someone or something. The opposite is short. -High is generally used with objects, and it indicates a vertical distance that is far away. Common examples are: "The father put the cookie jar on top of the refrigerator so that it would be too high for the children to reach." "When space tourism starts, passengers will fly high in the atmosphere." -Tall can be used with objects OR people. The word indicates a lot of height: "The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world." "I don't think I'm very tall, but I'm taller than most of my students." -CAREFUL! If you use the word "high" to describe a person, you're generally indicating that he or she is on drugs! "The musician was so high that he couldn't even play his guitar for the concert."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Shelly is a very tall girl." -"When I was a boy, I wasn't tall enough to ride the roller coaster." OR -"When I was a boy, I was too short to ride the roller coaster." -"The airplane is very high in the sky."

This dog may be short, but he still looks suspiciously high (on drugs!) Image by Cissurz

That's it for now! If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Common Error: "Contamination" vs. "Pollution"

Welcome again to Mistake Monday! Today we'll at a Common Error that's easy to correct. We'll examine when to say "contamination" and when to say "pollution."

Is this river contaminated or polluted? Or is it both? Read on to find the answer! (Image)

Common Error: Contamination vs. Pollution
DON’T say this:	"There is a lot of contamination in the streets of San José." "Don't contaminate! Put your trash in the trash cans!" "I wasn't wearing rubber gloves in Biology lab, so I may have polluted our experiments."
WHY?	Contaminate is often used in a technical sense. For example, if you're in a Chemistry class, you may talk about a sample of a liquid being contaminated. In this case, contaminated means impure, and is often used to describe liquids or things that are not clean, but the effects are often invisible: "I need to go to the doctor to give another blood sample. The first one got contaminated in the lab." "The water in some countries is not potable; That means it is contaminated, and you need to boil water or drink bottled water." "The passengers on the cruise ship got food poisoning. They got sick when they ate contaminated steaks." If there are visible substances in liquid, or even if there is just trash in an area, it's more common to say that it's polluted. The verb is pollute, and the noun is pollution. It's similar to contamination, but when something is polluted the effects are usually visible: "We really need to stop polluting so much before the trash problem in this city gets out of control." "The tire factory emits a lot of pollution into the air." "Yuck! Look at all those plastic trash bags and other trash in the river --it's really polluted!"
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"There's a lot of pollution in the streets of San José." -"Don't pollute! Put your trash in the trash cans!" -"I wasn't wearing rubber gloves in our Biology lab, so I may have contaminated our experiments."

What about you and where you live:
Is there a lot of pollution in your town or city?
Can you think of any examples of types of pollution?
Does your country have more air pollution or general trash?
What is the most polluted place you've been to?
Is the water where you live potable, or is it contaminated?

Please feel free to answer any of these questions in the comments section below!

A photo of the former Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, taken from the town of Pripyat. In 1986 there was a meltdown at the power plant, which spread radiation over the town of Pripyat and over many thousands of kilometers. Today Pripyat is an abandoned city, and still dangerous due to radiation. Radiation is one of the most dangerous kinds of contamination (radiation could also be considered "pollution," but since it's invisible, "contamination" is a more appropriate word). For more information about Chernybyl, click here. (Image)

So, that's it for today. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Common Error: Downtown

Hello! Welcome again to Mistake Monday! Today we'll look at another Common Error that's pretty easy to correct. But first, I have a question: Where do you live? If you said something like "San Ramón downtown" or "Palmares center," then this post is for you!

Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh is one of my favorite cities. (Image)

Common Error: Use of the word "Downtown"
DON’T say this:	"I live in San José downtown." "When we're visiting New York, we'll be staying in the center." "I live in Palmares center."
WHY?	"Downtown" is certainly a word, but it's normally not used in this way in English (click here for more general information about the word). Downtown normally refers to a large city's historical and/or commercial core. In other words, it's a way to describe part of the city, which makes the word work like an adjective. Therefore, it should normally go before the city's name, along with any other words that describe an area in a city. For example: Downtown New York City is amazing on New Year's Eve. He moved to East Saint Louis. It's not safe to walk around downtown San José at night. You can also use the word by itself: We need to take a train or a taxi to go downtown. Also, notice that I said it's normally used with large cities. Palmares may be a nice town, but it only has one stop light in the whole town. To say "downtown Palmares" just sounds strange. You could say "I live in the center of Palmares," but it would be clearer to say the name of your neighborhood or district. You can also describe the location, especially in small towns. In Spanish, a similar concept is "centro," or the center of the city. But in English this sounds strange sometimes. If you do say "center," it usually indicates a building or complex, or possibly the geographic center of a place: We went to a performance last night at the Lincoln Center. Madrid is in the center of Spain, but Barcelona isn't.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"I live in downtown San José." -"When we're visiting New York, we'll be staying downtown." OR -"When we're visiting New York, we'll be staying in (name of neighborhood)." -"I live in Palmares, near the bus station."

So, that's it for today. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

A map of downtown Denver, Colorado. Denver is nice, but it's confusing to drive downtown, since all the streets are at 45-degree angles from the surrounding roads. (Image)

Common Error: "Steal" vs. "Rob"

Hello, and welcome again to "Mistake Monday"! Today we'll look at a Common Error that I've noticed in some of my classes: confusing the words steal and rob. Today we'll talk about how to use these  two words correctly, and on Wednesday we'll look at some words related to crime and criminals.

Robin Hood is a famous character in English literature. According to the legend, he robbed the rich and gave to the poor. Even though he stole many things, it was for a good reason. (Image Credit)

Common Error: steal vs. rob
DON’T say this:	"The criminals stole my house." "My backpack is gone! He robbed it when I wasn't looking!" "She stole me fifteen dollars."
WHY?	Both "steal" and "rob" are verbs. Their tenses are: to steal - stole - has/have stolen to rob - robbed - has/have robbed -The word steal is used when a criminal takes objects from a person, car, house, etc. -If you say steal, it's normally followed by the object that was taken. -The word rob is also used when a criminal takes objects from a person, car, house, etc. -The difference is that when you say rob, it's normally followed by the owner of the stolen object, or the location where the objects were stolen.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"The criminals robbed my house." -"He stole my backpack when I wasn't looking!" -"She stole fifteen dollars from me." OR -"She robbed me and stole fifteen dollars." -"Someone stole my car stereo last night, but at least they didn't steal the car. It was the first time I was ever robbed."

So, that's it for today. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Common Error: "I" vs. "Me"

Welcome to Mistake Monday! This error is actually common among native English speakers, so it's probably a good one to look at. The question is, when should you say "I," and when should you say "me"? 

"I" is the subject; "me" is the object. (Image credit)

It seems like an easy answer: "I" is a subject pronoun and "me" is an object pronoun. But it gets a little more complicated when you are talking about more than one person. For example, we can say "Mark and I," but can we say "I and Mark"? What about "The audience was looking at Mark and I"? Here are some tips for both English learners and native speakers:

Common Error: "I" vs "me"
DON’T say this:	"Me and Paul are brothers." "That car belongs to Angela and I." "Miguel and me are going to go to a movie." "Her and I are in the same English class."
WHY?	As we mentioned before, "I" is a pronoun used for a subject, and "me" is a pronoun used for an object. The same is true for the combinations of "he" and "him," "she" and "her," "we" and "us," and "they" and "them." If you have more than one subject or object and don't know which word to use, try eliminating one of them. For example, in the sentence above, "Miguel and me are going to go to a movie," eliminate Miguel. Does the sentence make sense? ("Me are/is going to a movie"... no, it doesn't make sense). If not, then you need to use a different pronoun. In the other example, "That car belongs to Angela and I," eliminate Angela: "That car belongs to I"... hmm, this also doesn't make sense, so I should use "me" instead. Note: when using "I" or "me," it's usually more common to put your name second or at the end of a list, if you're talking about more than two people.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Paul and I are brothers." -"That car belongs to Angela and me." -"Miguel and I are going to see a movie." -"She and I are in the same English class."

So, that's it for now. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Common Error: "How is...?"

The Mona Lisa, one of the most famous portraits in the world. I can ask "What is it like?" and "What does it look like?" but NOT "How is it?" Why not? Continue reading to find the answer!

Hello, and welcome back to Mistake Monday! If you're in Costa Rica and had a break last week, I hope it was relaxing.

Today's error is basic but still commonly causes confusion even for intermediate or advanced speakers. We'll look at how to use phrases like "How is...?" and "How are...?"-- and how not to use them, too! We'll also talk about "What is (s)he like?" and "What does (s)he look like?"

First of all, if I ask...

"How are you?"

...how do you respond? That's easy, right? You probably learned on your first day of English class that the response to this is something like "I'm fine, thanks" or "I'm O.K." In other words, "How are you?" asks for your temporary condition or feelings. So, if I ask...

"How is she?" or "How is he?"

...how should you respond? Obviously, it's the same question, but with a different subject. You can say something like "She is fine" or "He is sick." But I think this is confusing, especially for Spanish speakers, because there are two Spanish phrases that are similar: 

"¿Cómo es?" is used for physical descriptions or talking about personality.

"¿Cómo está?" is commonly used to describe temporary conditions or feelings.

The phrase "How is he?" could be literally translated into either of these phrases, but it really means "¿Cómo está?" If you want to say "¿Cómo es?" then what should you say? That's right, you should say:

"What is she like?" or "What is he like?"

If you only want a physical description, and not personality, you can also ask:

"What does she look like?" or "What does he look like?"

If you remember when to use these phrases, then you should be able to avoid this confusion.

As a side note, I noticed another similar phrase that causes problems in my classes. Sometimes I start my class by asking:

"How is everyone?" or "How is everybody?"

This is basically the same question, but instead of talking about one person, I'm talking about a group of people. "Everyone" in this context means "all of my students." It just looks strange because "everybody" refers to a group, but grammatically, it's singular. Just think of the word "every" as considering each individual person in a group.

So, to practice, see if you can complete this dialogue between a teacher and her students:

Ms. Bloom: Good afternoon, class! 

Students: Good afternoon.

Ms. Bloom: (1)________________ ?

Students: Fine, thanks!

Ms. Bloom: Good to hear. Now, who's absent? Where's Jane?

Ron: She's still in the hospital, remember?

Ms. Bloom: Oh, that's right! I forgot about her broken leg. Did you talk to her? (2)________________ ?

Ron: She's doing better. She should be out soon, at least according to Dr. Jackson.

Ms. Bloom: Dr. Jackson? I know a Dr. Jackson who works at the hospital. Do you mean Sheila Jackson?

Ron: Ummm, I'm not sure. I don't know her first name.

Ms. Bloom: (3)________________ ?

Ron: I'm not very sure. She seemed nice, but she was also very professional. I didn't really talk to her much.

Ms. Bloom: OK, but can you describe her? (4)________________ ?

Ron: Oh! Well, she's fairly short, she has dark skin, and she has long, wavy hair. She's very pretty... she has a wonderful smile with perfect teeth and soft, smooth lips, and she's got big eyes that are the color of the ocean at night. She also has an incredible body-- I think she must work out!

Ms. Bloom: Well, that doesn't sound like the Dr. Jackson I know, but it does sound like you want to get to know this other Dr. Jackson! Haha!

So, what were your answers? Here are some suggestions:

(1) - How is everyone? (You can also say something like "How is everybody?" "How are you all doing?" or "How are all of you?")

(2) - How is she? (Informally, you may also hear people say "How is she doing?")

(3) - What is she like?

(4) - What does she look like? ("What is she like?" isn't a good option here, because Ms. Bloom and Ron are giving a physical description of Dr. Jackson, but not talking about her personality.)

That's all for today. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below or send an email. Thanks for reading, and have a good day!

Common Error: Addressing a Teacher as "Teacher"

Welcome to Mistake Monday! Today's Common Error is very basic but very common, at least in almost all my classes in Costa Rica.

My face wasn't this skeptical until my students started calling me "Teacher Ryan" continuously.

Common Error: Addressing a teacher as "Teacher"
DON’T say this:	"Hello Teacher, how are you?" "Teacher Ryan, could you repeat that?" (To get my attention): "Teacher! Teacher!"
WHY?	I realize that in Costa Rica this is common for some reason, but it still sounds ridiculous to me (and to any teacher from the U.S.A. I talk to about this). Whenever my students call me "Teacher," I respond by calling them "Student" or, if I know their jobs, "Baker," "Engineer," "Airport Cop," "Carpenter," etc. If that sounds strange, then you understand why calling me "Teacher" is strange for me. My name is Ryan, so call me Ryan or, if you absolutely need a title, you can call me "Mr. Sitzman." Don't confuse a personal title with a job description. Common personal titles include Mr., Mrs., Miss, Doctor, Professor, Principal, President, and a few others. If you call someone by their title, you say Title + Last Name, as in: -"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is the title of a famous movie." -"Principal Jefferson gave a teaching award to Miss Holmes, the Math teacher." -"Dr. Henderson prescribed the old man some medicine for his back pain." In English, "teacher" is a job description, but not really a title. Think of this: I have a friend named Brad who is a lawyer, but no one calls him "Lawyer Brad." I have another friend named Andrea who cleaned hotel rooms, but no one called her "Housekeeper Andrea." Those are just job names or descriptions, but not titles for people. Also, as I mentioned last week, you shouldn't address your teacher as "professor" unless she or he has a PhD degree. If that's the case, then you can call them "Professor + (last name)." For example you could call Albert Einstein "Professor Einstein," but not "Professor Albert," and definitely not "Teacher Albert."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Hello Ryan, how are you?" OR -"Hello Mr. Sitzman, how are you?" -"Ryan, could you repeat that?" OR -"Could you repeat that?" (If you're already looking at me, then you don't need to say my name over and over.) -(To get my attention): "Excuse me, Ryan?" OR -(You can also just silently raise your hand... I'll probably see you and help if I can.)

So, that's it for today. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Common Error: Phrases For Introductions

What phrases should these people use to say their names? (Image)

Welcome to Mistake Monday! Today's Common Error is short, but it does cause problems. I used to work as an English teacher in a call center, and believe it or not, the phrase we'll look at today caused many communication problems between agents and callers:

Common Error: Phrases For Introductions
DON’T say this:	(Answering the phone): "Hello, I am Ryan." (Introducing someone): "She is Jenny. She's my sister." "Yesterday in class I introduced me."
WHY?	These phrases make sense if you translate them from other languages, but if you're introducing or presenting someone, normally we use different phrases. Normally, if you're answering the phone and want to identify yourself, say: "This is (your name)." If you say "I am (your name)," it sounds strange to many people, and even though it's good English, it can cause confusion. If you're introducing a person, it's most common to say: "This is (person's name)." Don't say "She/he is (name)," since it also sounds strange to many people. Finally, if you're introducing yourself, it's best to say: "My name is (your name)." If you use the phrase "I am ____," it's normally connected with professions or personal characteristics, but not names: "I am a teacher," "I am tall," "I am optimistic," OR "I am 31."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-(Answering the phone): "Hello, this is Ryan." -(Introducing a person): "This is Jenny. She's my sister." -"Yesterday in class I introduced myself."

How do you answer the phone or introduce people in your country or language?
Is it similar or different from English?

If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Clothing Vocabulary: "A Pair Of..."

Finally! A man who knows how to wear a pair of pants with style! (Image)

Good afternoon, and welcome to Word Wednesday! On Monday we looked at a common word we say when we talk about clothing: "wear." Today I wanted to talk about a vocabulary point that is different in English and other languages:

Common Vocabulary Error: "a pair of..."
DON’T say this:	Today I am wearing a jeans and boots, and she is wearing a short and tennis. I need to wash my clothes; I don't have a single clean underwear. She always wore a glasses.
WHY?	All of the following words are considered plural in English, and can be "counted" with the phrase "a pair of...": -a pair of glasses / sunglasses / reading glasses / etc. -a pair of ski goggles / swimming goggles / etc. -a pair of ear muffs -a pair of headphones / earphones -a pair of underwear / boxer shorts / briefs / panties / etc. -a pair of jeans / pants / trousers / slacks / dress pants / etc. -a pair of shorts / swimming trunks / board shorts / hot pants / etc. -a pair of leggings / tights / pantyhose / etc. In some languages (like Spanish and German) many of these can be singular. For example, in Spanish you can say "un pantalón," and in German "eine Hose"; in English, both of these are "a pair of pants" (or "a pair of trousers" in British English). But why do we say "a pair" if it's only one piece of clothing? That's a good question. Notice that most of these words are for clothing related to your legs, ears, or eyes. I normally tell my students to count the number of legs, ears, or eyes to remember that certain pieces of clothing are always plural in English. If that's too complicated, remember that in many cases, we can even eliminate the phrase "a pair of," as long as we say the clothing in plural: "She's wearing shorts and tennis shoes." OR "He wears goggles and swimming trunks when he goes to the pool." Obviously, if you're talking about clothing that has two parts (like shoes, gloves, boots, etc.), then those are also going to be considered plural.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Today I am wearing a pair of jeans and a pair of boots, and she is wearing a pair of shorts and a pair of tennis shoes." OR -"Today I am wearing jeans and boots, and she is wearing shorts and tennis shoes." -"I need to wash my clothes; I don't have a single clean pair of underwear." -"She always wore a pair of glasses." OR -"She always wore glasses."

Hopefully that makes sense. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

If you're reading this in Costa Rica, hopefully you can enjoy the beautiful day-- go for a nice walk, but be sure to wear a pair of shorts and a pair of sunglasses!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Common Error: "use" vs. "wear"

What are these mannequins wearing? (Image Credit)

Hello again, and welcome to Mistake Monday! Today's post is technically related to vocabulary, but since it's still a common problem for my students, I decided to include it in the Common Errors section. Last week we talked about using the phrase "used to" for customs, as in "I used to be a little boy" or "I am used to waking up late." There is another problem that is related to the word "use," and I mainly notice the problem when people are describing clothing. Take a look:

Common Error: "use" vs. "wear"
DON’T say this:	Today I am using a jeans, a shirt color blue, and tennis. He's easy to find in a group of people because he always uses a big hat.
WHY?	-Remember that we can say the word "use" if we're utilizing an object for a specific purpose. The word "use" is normally combined with tools and other types of equipment, as in: "Use the key to open the door." OR "I use a special pan to make pancakes." BUT, we don't normally say "use" with clothing. There is a specific verb for clothes, and that verb is "wear." The past of wear is wore, and the past participle is has/have worn. Here are a few examples: "To prevent sunburns, you should wear a hat and sunscreen while working outside." "The mean dog was wearing a collar with spikes, so we decided not to pet it." "The girl was used to wearing pants, and she had never worn a nice dress before she went to the formal dance." Notice that we use wear even with things like sunscreen, makeup, shoes, and protective clothing. Basically, you can use the word wear for anything that you can put on your body. On Wednesday and next Monday I'll focus more on special words and phrases for clothing, such as plurals and descriptions of clothes.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Today I am wearing a pair of jeans, a blue shirt, and a pair of tennis shoes." -"He's easy to find in a group of people because he always wears a big hat."

Some common questions related to these words are:
-What do you usually wear?
-What are you wearing today?
-What do you wear to exercise / to go to work / to go out?

If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Common Error: Confusing "use," "used to," and "(to be) used to"

Hello, and welcome to Mistake Monday! As I mentioned in my previous post about Sitzman ABC's new publishing schedule, on Mondays I'll be focusing on errors and difficult parts of English. Today we'll look at an error that causes problems for many of my advanced students. The problem is that people often confuse the words "use," "used to," and "(to be) used to." Still, with a bit of practice, it's not so hard. Let's look:

Common Error: Confusing "use," "used to" and "(to be) used to"
DON’T say this:	Every year my family gets together for Christmas. We always used to eat tamales and cake. When I was younger I am used to exercising every day.
WHY?	-First of all, "use" can be a verb or a noun. When it's a verb, the "s" is pronounced like a "z," and when it's a noun the "s" is pronounced like an "s." (Click here to hear the pronunciation of both forms.) -The verb use is normally a synonym of "utilize," but "utilize" isn't very common. Both words are usually combined with an object that does a specific job: "Jenny used a hammer and a nail to hang the picture frame on the wall."  -The phrase used to normally indicates common actions completely in the past (they are not happening now). This phrase is followed by an infinitive verb: "Jenny used to be a good artist before she broke her hand. She used to paint wonderful portraits, but now she can't do that anymore." -If you add the verb "to be" in any form before used to, it indicates common actions in the present. These phrases are followed by a gerund (-ing) verb: "Jenny is used to working according to a strict schedule. Every day she wakes up at 5 am, exercises, makes breakfast, and works three hours... all before Ryan gets out of bed! Ryan is used to waking up around 9 am!" -The phrase "(to be) used to" can normally be substituted with the word "usually."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"My family gets together every year for Christmas. We are used to eating tamales and cake." OR -"My family usually gets together every year for Christmas. We usually eat tamales and cake." -"When I was younger I used to exercise every day." (finished common action in the past) OR -"Nowadays I am used to exercising every day." (common action in the present)

What are some things you are used to doing?
What are some things you used to do?

If you have questions or comments related to this common error or the blog in general, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Common Error: Plurals and Apostrophes

"Taxi's" or "Taxis"? Read on to find out! (Photo Credit).

Hello everyone! It's been a while since we looked at a Common Error, but this is one that I've noticed a lot recently. Interestingly, it's a common error that advanced learners and even native English speakers make--the sign in the picture above was in England! The problem happens when you try to incorrectly make a word plural by adding 's (an apostrophe plus 'S').

Common Error: Incorrectly making a word "plural" by adding an "apostrophe + s"
DON’T say this:	When I teach young student's, I talk with their mother's and father's. The sign said it sold "ice cream, hot dog's, and hamburger's."
WHY?	-This is an easy error to correct and recognize: -Generally, to make a regular noun plural, add "-s" or "-es." -If you add "'s" (apostrophe + s) to the end of a word, it usually makes it possessive, not plural, or in some cases it may be a contraction of the word "is."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-When I teach young students, I talk with their mothers and fathers. -The sign said it sold "ice cream, hot dogs, and hamburgers." -Mike's a great guy, and he can make delicious hamburgers. (Here, Mike's = "Mike is") -Let's go to Mike's house. (Here, Let's = "let us," indicating a suggestion, and Mike's = the house belongs to Mike)

So, apostrophes can sometimes be a bit confusing, but remember that they're usually NOT used to make plurals! If you are comfortable reading advanced English, AnnaLisa has written a couple of posts about apostrophe use on her blog "Word-wise." The posts are very complete, so check them out if you can!

If you have any comments or questions, or especially if you have any suggestions for future Common Errors, please leave a message in the Comments section or contact us. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Common Errors: Confusing "Family" Words

Hello everyone, and welcome to Mistake Sunday (Monday is going to be busy, so I'm posting this Common Error a day early)! Today's error is common for most of my Spanish-speaking students, since Spanish--and probably other languages, too--has a tendency to group people together under a "masculine" word. For example, if someone says "Tengo cuatro hermanos" ("I have four 'brothers'"), it's unclear if the speaker is referring only to males, or to males and females together.

English did and still does this, too, but it's not as common these days. Consider the phrase from the Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal." That was obviously written hundreds of years ago, and today would probably read, "all men and women" or "all people." Nevertheless, this error is easy to recognize and correct, with a couple of good vocabulary words. Let's take a look:

Common Error: Confusing "Family" Words
DON’T say this:	Clark Kent lived with his fathers, Jonathan and Martha, before he became Superman. I'm going to visit my uncles Peter, Paul, and Mary during the vacation. We are seven brothers in my family, and I am one of the three girls.
WHY?	-If you are talking about two dads (both males, obviously), then you can use the word "fathers." If not, use the word "parents," which indicates men and/or women. -Use "uncles" for men, but if you're including women, you have to use the phrase "aunt(s) and uncle(s)." -For brothers and sisters together, use the word "siblings," which indicates brothers and/or sisters together. -Finally, if you're talking about the number of people in your family, the phrase "we are" sounds strange. Instead, say something like "there are (3) of us" or "I have (2) siblings."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Clark Kent lived with his parents, Jonathan and Martha, before he became Superman." -"I'm going to visit my aunt Mary and my uncles Peter and Paul during the vacation." -"There are seven siblings in my family, and I'm one of three girls." OR -"My parents had seven children, including three girls."

So, I hope that was helpful! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for future Common Errors, please leave a message in the Comments section or contact us. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Common Error: "-ed" vs. "-ing" Endings

 Hello, and happy Friday! I'm still planning on talking more about other languages' influence on English, but it's been a while since we've had a common error, so I wanted to share this one. I've heard my students make mistakes with words like bored/boring, excited/exciting, amazed/amazing, and other similar word combinations.  Fortunately, this is an easy error to correct. Let's look:

Common Error: Bored vs. Boring, etc. (-ed vs. -ing)
DON’T say this:	I have been doing grammar exercises for an hour, so I'm very boring. The movie last night was very amazed. This Common Error is not very confused. Can you please play some relaxed music?
WHY?	For word pairs like these, just remember how to use the two endings: -Use -ing at the end of the word if the subject causes the emotion. For example, a movie can cause an emotion, but it can't experience an emotion (because it's not alive). So, we'd have to say: "The movie was boring/exciting/interesting/etc." -Use -ed at the end of the word if the subject experiences or feels the emotion. For example, a person can experience an emotion, so you could say: "John is bored/excited/confused/etc." -BUT, a person can also cause an emotion (if he or she makes someone else experience that emotion). So, you could also possibly say: "John is boring/exciting/confusing/etc." ...depending on what you want to express in your sentence. Other similar word pairs include: -annoyed/annoying -depressed/depressing -disappointed/disappointing -embarrassed/embarrassing -enchanted/enchanting -fascinated/fascinating -frightened/frightening -frustrated/frustrating -interested/interesting -pleased/pleasing -relaxed/relaxing -shocked/shocking -surprised/surprising -tired/tiring -worried/worrying Can you think of any others?
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"I have been doing grammar exercises for an hour, so I am very bored." -"The movie last night was very amazing." -"This Common Error is not very confusing." -"Can you please play some relaxing music?"

I hope that this Common Error isn't too confusing... and I also hope that you're not confused! If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave a comment or contact us. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Common Errors: "Know" vs. "Meet," "See," and "Visit"

Good evening, everyone! Welcome back to Mistake Monday. This week's Common Error is actually really common, but it's also very easy to fix. The four words we'll talk about --know, meet, see, and visit-- are used in similar ways, but they're not 100% interchangeable. Let's look:

Common Error: "Know" vs. "Meet," "See," and "Visit"
DON’T say this:	I want to travel to France to know the Eiffel Tower. I have never known New York, but I've heard it's an amazing city. The Spring Social Meeting is a great way to know new people.
WHY?	If you know someone or something, it means that you have knowledge or information about them. If you meet a person, you see him or her for the first time. This situation can be called an introduction, since you introduce one person to another person. If you visit a place or person, you interact with them in some way. If you see a person or place, it's similar to visit; normally you interact with them, but you may just observe them.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"I want to travel to France to see/visit the Eiffel Tower."  -"I have never visited/been to/gone to New York, but I've heard it's an amazing city." -"The Spring Social Meeting is a great way to meet new people." -"Do you know Paul? He's a really nice guy." OR "Have you met Paul?" -"I don't know French, but I do know German."

So, hopefully you'll know what to say now if you meet someone new or visit a new place. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave a comment or contact us. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Common Error: "Since" vs. "For"

Good evening, and welcome to Trouble Tuesday! We're back tonight with an error that many students make when talking about things that happened in the past. Let's take a look:

Common Error: "Since" vs. "For"
DON’T say this:	She's lived in San Jose since 15 years. I only have 5 months at my new job.
WHY?	For and Since can both be used to refer to activities that started in the past and continue today, but each word is used a little differently: -Use since if you mention when the activity started. -Use for if you mention the period of time that has passed or will pass. The second incorrect example above is wrong because you can generally not "have" time. In this case, you'd have to re-phrase the sentence (see below). Note: Both since and for can generally be used with any tense except the simple present tense.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"She has lived in San Jose for 15 years."  OR "She has lived in San Jose since 1997." -"I have only been working at my new job for 5 months." OR "I have only been working at my new job since December."

So, this error isn't actually that complicated to fix, right? If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave a comment or contact us. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Common Error: Misusing "advice" and "advise"

Welcome again to Mistake Monday! Our error this week is pretty quick, but I even noticed it in my classes one or two times this past week. Let's look:

Common Error: Misuse of "advice" and "advise"
DON’T say this:	This problem is urgent, so please advice me on what to do. This is my advise: you should quit medical school and start a band! Can you give me an advice?
WHY?	-This is an easy-to-solve problem: advice (with a C) is a noun, and advise (with an S) is a verb. -Additionally, advice is a non-count noun. That means that you can't say "an" advice, since it can't be counted. Instead, you can make it plural ("some advice") or if you want to "count" it, you could say "a piece of advice." -For pronunciation, at least in American English:      -advice is pronounced with an "/s/" sound     -advise is pronounced with a "/z/" sound
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"This problem is urgent, so please advise me on what to do." -"This is my advice: you should quit medical school and start a band!" -"Can you give me some advice?" OR -"Can you give me a piece of advice?"

So, that's it for today. I'll be happy to advise you if you have any more questions about this common error. Or, if you have any other questions or suggestions, please leave a comment or contact us. Thanks for reading!

Common Error: "Thank God" vs. "Thanks God"

Hello, and welcome again to Mistake Monday! Today's error is small and technically, it's not actually an error some of the time. Still, it could cause some confusion. For example, sometimes my students say, "Thanks God!" To which I just reply, "I'm not God."
Why do I say that? Well, because I'm not God. But there's also a grammatical reason. Let's take a look:

Common Error: "Thanks God" vs. "Thank God"
DON’T say this:	Thanks God that we weren't in that earthquake! "Thanks God!" said Pete when he realized that the quiz was canceled.
WHY?	-As I said above, "Thanks God" isn't actually an error, in the right context. If you're talking directly to God, you could say something like, "Thanks, God, that was great!" -However, most of the time when people use this phrase, it's more of an exhortation (like a command, almost), and in that case, "Thank God" is generally considered correct. -In the same way, people would say, "Praise God!"
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Thank God we weren't in that earthquake!" -"'Thank God!'" said Pete when he realized the quiz was canceled. -"At church, the pastor could be shouting 'Praise God! Praise God! Praise the Lord!' over and over." "'TGIF' means 'Thank God It's Friday!'" BUT: -"Sean thanks God every day for his health." (Here "thanks" is a third-person verb) -"Thanks, God, for my good health." (If praying, since you'd be talking to God)

So, that's it for today. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact us. Thanks for reading!

Common Error: "Grow" vs. "Grow Up"

Hello, and welcome to Mistake Monday! Actually, I guess at this late hour, I'll have to call it "Mistake Monday Tuesday"! It's been a busy day and my schedule just changed, so please pardon the delay. In fact, I may have to start posting these common errors on Tuesdays, but we'll see. For now, let's look at a quick error. It's pretty small, but it's one I hear surprisingly frequently:

Common Error: Confusing "grow" and "grow up"
DON’T say this:	Those palm trees really grow up quickly, don't they? "When I grow I'm going to be a firefighter," said Jenny. I hope to grow up in my new job. My grandmother always grew up tomatoes in her garden.
WHY?	-Generally, the verb "grow" means to become larger, bigger, or to get more experience. -We can also use the verb grow when talking about agriculture; if you plant a seed, then you want it to grow. -On the other hand, "grow up" means to become older (to age). -Both verbs are irregular; the pattern is grow-grew-grown.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Those palm trees really grow quickly, don't they?" -"'When I grow up I'm going to be a firefighter,' said Jenny." -"I hope to grow in my new job." -"My grandmother always grew tomatoes in her garden."

So, that's it for the moment. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact us. Thanks for reading!