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Life Talk!

English Mistakes

lizz-is-me

lizz-is-me

Germany

OK, here are a few mistakes that you should not make.

(1) "ain't"Do not use this word. It is not a proper English word, you will just sound ignorant. The correct word to use is "aren't".

(2) "is" and "are"-Please take care when using these words. Do not mix them up. The word "is" is a singular word, and the word "are" is a plural word. Example: She is going to the mall. They are going to the mall. An exception to this is the word "you"Example: You are very nice.

(3) "alot" Although you will find many English speakers using this term, it is incorrect. A lot is a piece of property, and should not be used to describe the quantity of something. The correct terms to be used are words such as "much" and "many".

Thank you for reading.

-Lizz

11:55 PM Mar 13 2008 |

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M. Augustus

United States

The fact that a lot of (Tongue out) English speakers use these terms means that if you want to sound like a native speaker, you should actually use #1 and #3.

Commonly accepted usage hasn't yet regularized the verb 'to be' though, so point #2 stands.

 

12:42 AM Mar 14 2008 |

lydian029

China

Thank you for your information . In my apinion ,In non-English speaking countries,most of pepole maynot make this English Mistakes ,as for me ,a English learner has never hear of them before.

01:03 AM Mar 14 2008 |

Alebaby

Alebaby

Chile

Wait, wait, she has a point, I mean in my experience you shouldn't use slang when first talking to a native speaker, because they are not expecting it and they go "Huh?" after you've said something, and then you think you said something wrong, but when talking to a friend and in an  informal situation it's okay and fun  :)

01:09 AM Mar 14 2008 |

lizz-is-me

lizz-is-me

Germany

Please never make these English mistakes unless like Alebaby stated "when talking to a friend" and a very close friend that will know that you are having fun. Please never use (1) unless you would like to fit in with the Geoge Bush crowd.

01:27 AM Mar 14 2008 |

lizz-is-me

lizz-is-me

Germany

also a lot should not be used if you would like to speak correct English.

01:30 AM Mar 14 2008 |

gkisseberth

Germany

good points lizz,

"ain't" is certainly not formal English, but it's good to learn what it means since you will hear it. Sometimes a lot. 

Speaking of a lot…  that actually is correct. Yes a lot is a piece of property, but it also means a quantity of something. It is always two words, however. Never alot. Maybe some think it's not correct because usually in written English, writers use terms like often or "a great deal" 

The opposite would be a little, 

02:14 AM Mar 14 2008 |

M. Augustus

United States

Oh, pray tell, which dialect is 'Correct English'?   You've already clarified that it isn't the Texan dialect…

I agree that English textbooks and courses, since they must create something 'teachable', need to artificially produce a 'standard' dialect, and I agree that certain elitist societies (academic, legal, business-oriented, etc) have their own rules of proper usage, but outside of the classroom on an informal message board, your prescriptivist argument ain't holding a lot of water.

02:36 AM Mar 14 2008 |

lizz-is-me

lizz-is-me

Germany

I'm sorry if you have a problem with my post, but I simply stated a few common mistakes, so that people taking on English as a second language do not make these mistakes and fall into the FOB stereotype, and get tormented by the ignorant native English speaker. 

03:06 AM Mar 14 2008 |

M. Augustus

United States

I understand that, and I agree that your point #2 is a very good one and a mistake that I've noticed a lot of people making.

 

My problem is simply that your points #1 and #3 are not ones that would make someone sound like a "FOB" if they used them.  Indeed, it would make them sound like a colloquial English speaker, and the only objection that can be raised against them is raised on prescriptivist grounds.  I would suggest that we would be of better help to English learners if we focused more time on the universally unacceptable errors (bits of grammar like the verb 'to be') instead of beating dead academic horses about usages which popular speech finds to be completely acceptable.

03:15 AM Mar 14 2008 |

lizz-is-me

lizz-is-me

Germany

To M.Agustus

It might be acceptable where you live, but it is not acceptable where I live. If they would like to sound like proper English speakers then they will take my advice, but if they would rather sound like a ignoramus then they will heed to your advice.

04:29 AM Mar 14 2008 |