Avoid these common grammatical errors in English.
If you are learning English and still make some grammatical mistakes don’t lose heart, even native speakers often do not use the language correctly. You don’t need to worry if you don’t speak or write everything always perfect because a large number of native English speakers make grammatical mistakes every day.
In this guide, we will learn the most common errors that appear all the time in English conversations and how we can avoid them.
1. There/Their/They’re
These are homophone – words which sound the same but their meaning are different as well as their spelling.
* We can use ‘there‘ to refer to or to state something. Your Birthday gifts are over there. There are more boxes on your bed.
* We can use ‘their‘ to indicate possession. I like their blue car.
* We can use ‘they’re‘ as a short form for ‘they are’. They’re my best friends.
2. Its/It’s
Apostrophes must be used to indicate possession, but the word ‘it‘ is one exception to the rule and many people get confused.
* We can use ‘It’s‘ as the short form for ‘it is‘ or ‘it has.’ This English course is fantastic. It’s not a waste of time.
* ‘Its‘ indicates that something belongs to something else when you are not talking about a person. The restaurant lost its clients.
3. Your/You’re
There is a widespread problem with these words, and this is a fairly common and fatal error.
* We use ‘your‘ to indicate possession. The side mirror of your car is broken.
* We use ‘You’re‘ as the contraction of ‘you are.’ I am very happy to be your friend. You’re a great person.
4. Amount/Number
These words refer to commodities or individual items.
* We use ‘amount‘ to refer to a commodity because they are uncountable. The amount of money that she spends on clothes is ridiculous.
* We use ‘number‘ to refer to individual things that you can count. The number of shoes that she has is impressive.
5. Affect/Effect
These two words have a similar look and sound that get many people confused, but there’s a simple explanation to help you remember the difference.
* We can use the verb ‘affect‘ when talking about something that has an impact on something else. The apple juice won’t affect the baby.
* We use the noun ‘effect‘ when talking about the result of being affected by something. The effect of the medicine was immediate.
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