100 Common Errors in English with Explanation

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✅ 100 Common Errors in English with Explanation


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Subject–Verb Agreement Errors

1. ❌ He don’t know. → ✅ He doesn’t know.
👉 Singular subject “he” takes singular verb “does,” not “do.”


2. ❌ She go to school daily. → ✅ She goes to school daily.
👉 Third-person singular requires “-s” with the verb.


3. ❌ They was late. → ✅ They were late.
👉 Plural subject “they” takes “were,” not “was.”


4. ❌ One of my friends are here. → ✅ One of my friends is here.
👉 “One” is singular, so verb must be singular.


5. ❌ Neither of the answers are correct. → ✅ Neither of the answers is correct.
👉 “Neither” is singular in formal grammar.


6. ❌ The news are shocking. → ✅ The news is shocking.
👉 “News” is an uncountable noun, treated as singular.


7. ❌ Mathematics are difficult. → ✅ Mathematics is difficult.
👉 Subjects like “Mathematics, Physics” are singular.


8. ❌ The committee have decided. → ✅ The committee has decided.
👉 Committee is treated as singular (unless stressing individuals).


9. ❌ Each boy have a book. → ✅ Each boy has a book.
👉 “Each” is always singular.


10. ❌ There is many problems. → ✅ There are many problems.
👉 Plural noun “problems” requires plural verb “are.”




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Tense Errors

11. ❌ I am here since morning. → ✅ I have been here since morning.
👉 Present Perfect Continuous is used with “since/for.”


12. ❌ He has completed yesterday. → ✅ He completed yesterday.
👉 Past time adverbs (yesterday, last year) need Past Tense.


13. ❌ She is knowing the answer. → ✅ She knows the answer.
👉 “Know” is a state verb; it’s not used in continuous tense.


14. ❌ I am agree with you. → ✅ I agree with you.
👉 “Agree” is not continuous; it’s a state verb.


15. ❌ He has gone to school yesterday. → ✅ He went to school yesterday.
👉 Past definite time = Simple Past, not Present Perfect.


16. ❌ I did not went there. → ✅ I did not go there.
👉 “Did” already shows past; verb remains in base form.


17. ❌ She has been to Delhi last year. → ✅ She went to Delhi last year.
👉 Specific past time → Simple Past.


18. ❌ We are living here for five years. → ✅ We have been living here for five years.
👉 Present Perfect Continuous is used for actions continuing till now.


19. ❌ He told that he is tired. → ✅ He told that he was tired.
👉 Reported speech shifts tense one step back.


20. ❌ She was working here since 2010. → ✅ She has been working here since 2010.
👉 “Since 2010” = Present Perfect Continuous, not Past Continuous.




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Preposition Errors

21. ❌ He is married with her. → ✅ He is married to her.
👉 Correct phrase = “married to.”


22. ❌ She discussed about the problem. → ✅ She discussed the problem.
👉 “Discuss” does not take “about.”


23. ❌ They are waiting since two hours. → ✅ They have been waiting for two hours.
👉 “For” is used with duration, “since” with starting point.


24. ❌ He is senior than me. → ✅ He is senior to me.
👉 “Senior, junior, superior” take “to,” not “than.”


25. ❌ She is good in English. → ✅ She is good at English.
👉 Correct preposition = “good at.”


26. ❌ He is angry on me. → ✅ He is angry with me.
👉 Correct phrase = “angry with.”


27. ❌ He is blind from one eye. → ✅ He is blind in one eye.
👉 Correct idiom = “blind in one eye.”


28. ❌ She is married with a doctor. → ✅ She is married to a doctor.
👉 Always “married to.”


29. ❌ He prefers tea than coffee. → ✅ He prefers tea to coffee.
👉 “Prefer…to,” not “prefer…than.”


30. ❌ The boy is weak in mathematics. → ✅ The boy is weak at mathematics.
👉 We say “weak at a subject.”




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Articles Errors

31. ❌ He is a honest man. → ✅ He is an honest man.
👉 “An” is used before vowel sounds, not just letters.


32. ❌ She bought an university book. → ✅ She bought a university book.
👉 “University” begins with consonant sound “yu.”


33. ❌ The Mount Everest is the highest peak. → ✅ Mount Everest is the highest peak.
👉 We don’t use “the” before proper nouns unless specified.


34. ❌ I like the gold. → ✅ I like gold.
👉 Uncountable nouns (gold, milk) don’t take “the” generally.


35. ❌ The man is mortal. → ✅ Man is mortal.
👉 To express general truth, omit the article.


36. ❌ He is a best player. → ✅ He is the best player.
👉 Superlatives take “the.”


37. ❌ She wants to become the doctor. → ✅ She wants to become a doctor.
👉 “A” is used with professions.


38. ❌ We went to the school to meet the principal. (when meaning study) → ✅ We went to school to study.
👉 No article when referring to the institution’s purpose.


39. ❌ He went to the bed at 10 pm. → ✅ He went to bed at 10 pm.
👉 No article when referring to routine purpose.


40. ❌ I saw tiger in the zoo. → ✅ I saw a tiger in the zoo.
👉 Singular countable noun requires “a/an.”




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Pronoun Errors

41. ❌ Me and my friend went there. → ✅ My friend and I went there.
👉 “Me” cannot be used as a subject; correct subject form is “I.”


42. ❌ This is mine book. → ✅ This is my book.
👉 “Mine” is a possessive pronoun, not used before a noun. Use “my.”


43. ❌ He hurt myself. → ✅ He hurt me.
👉 “Myself” is reflexive; use only if the subject = object (e.g., I hurt myself).


44. ❌ Everyone must do their duty. → ✅ Everyone must do his/her duty.
👉 “Everyone” is singular; it takes singular pronoun (though modern English allows “their”).


45. ❌ Who’s book is this? → ✅ Whose book is this?
👉 “Who’s” = who is; “Whose” = possession.


46. ❌ Its raining outside. → ✅ It’s raining outside.
👉 “It’s” = it is; “its” = possessive.


47. ❌ The teacher punished we students. → ✅ The teacher punished us students.
👉 Object form “us” is required, not “we.”


48. ❌ She is elder than me. → ✅ She is older than me.
👉 “Elder” is used for family relations; otherwise “older.”


49. ❌ Between you and I. → ✅ Between you and me.
👉 After prepositions (like between), use objective case (“me”).


50. ❌ Each of them did their homework. → ✅ Each of them did his/her homework.
👉 “Each” is singular, so use singular pronoun.




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Adjective & Adverb Errors

51. ❌ He is more intelligent than any student. → ✅ He is more intelligent than any other student.
👉 “Any student” wrongly includes him; “any other” excludes him.


52. ❌ She sings good. → ✅ She sings well.
👉 “Good” = adjective; “well” = adverb.


53. ❌ He works hardly. → ✅ He works hard.
👉 “Hardly” = almost not; “hard” = with effort.


54. ❌ This is the most unique idea. → ✅ This is a unique idea.
👉 “Unique” is absolute; it doesn’t take comparatives or superlatives.


55. ❌ She is elder than me. → ✅ She is older than me.
👉 “Older” is correct in comparisons except family context.


56. ❌ He runs very fastly. → ✅ He runs very fast.
👉 “Fast” is already an adverb; no –ly is needed.


57. ❌ He is much strong. → ✅ He is very strong.
👉 Use “very” with adjectives; “much” goes with comparatives (much stronger).


58. ❌ She is more wiser than me. → ✅ She is wiser than me.
👉 Don’t use double comparatives.


59. ❌ He is less better than me. → ✅ He is not as good as me.
👉 “Less better” is incorrect; use “not as good as.”


60. ❌ He is the eldest student in the class. → ✅ He is the oldest student in the class.
👉 “Eldest” is used for family members; “oldest” for general use.




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Miscellaneous Grammar Errors

61. ❌ I, who is your friend, am here. → ✅ I, who am your friend, am here.
👉 Verb must agree with “I,” not “who.”


62. ❌ Neither he nor I are guilty. → ✅ Neither he nor I am guilty.
👉 Verb agrees with the nearer subject (“I”).


63. ❌ Each of the boys have a book. → ✅ Each of the boys has a book.
👉 “Each” is singular → “has.”


64. ❌ No sooner I reached than it started to rain. → ✅ No sooner had I reached than it started to rain.
👉 Inversion required after “No sooner.”


65. ❌ Scarcely I reached when it started raining. → ✅ Scarcely had I reached when it started raining.
👉 “Scarcely” also requires inversion.


66. ❌ Hardly I reached than it started raining. → ✅ Hardly had I reached when it started raining.
👉 Use “when” after “hardly,” not “than.”


67. ❌ He has the ability of running fast. → ✅ He has the ability to run fast.
👉 Correct form = “ability to + verb.”


68. ❌ I look forward to meet you. → ✅ I look forward to meeting you.
👉 “To” here is a preposition → use gerund (–ing).


69. ❌ He is capable to do it. → ✅ He is capable of doing it.
👉 “Capable of + gerund” is correct.


70. ❌ She succeeded to solve the problem. → ✅ She succeeded in solving the problem.
👉 “Succeed in + gerund” is correct usage.




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Vocabulary & Usage Errors

71. ❌ She is my cousin sister. → ✅ She is my cousin.
👉 Cousin already implies gender-neutral relation.


72. ❌ I am going for home. → ✅ I am going home.
👉 No preposition needed before “home.”


73. ❌ The scenery are beautiful. → ✅ The scenery is beautiful.
👉 “Scenery” is uncountable and singular.


74. ❌ He gave me an advice. → ✅ He gave me a piece of advice.
👉 “Advice” is uncountable; use “a piece of advice.”


75. ❌ He told to me. → ✅ He told me.
👉 “Tell” doesn’t take “to” before the object.


76. ❌ She said me the story. → ✅ She told me the story.
👉 “Say” cannot take an indirect object; use “tell.”


77. ❌ He suggested me to go. → ✅ He suggested that I go.
👉 “Suggest” doesn’t take object + infinitive.


78. ❌ I am suffering with fever. → ✅ I am suffering from fever.
👉 Correct collocation is “suffer from.”


79. ❌ I have visited the Taj Mahal yesterday. → ✅ I visited the Taj Mahal yesterday.
👉 Yesterday = definite past → Simple Past.


80. ❌ I am giving examination. → ✅ I am taking an examination.
👉 Correct idiom is “take an exam,” not “give.”




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Spelling & Confused Words

81. ❌ Loose (instead of lose). → ✅ I don’t want to lose my book.
👉 “Lose” = misplace; “loose” = not tight.


82. ❌ Affect (instead of effect). → ✅ The medicine had a good effect.
👉 “Affect” = verb; “effect” = noun.


83. ❌ Advise (noun) / Advice (verb) confusion. → ✅ He gave me good advice. / He advised me well.
👉 “Advice” = noun; “advise” = verb.


84. ❌ Principle vs. Principal. → ✅ The principal taught us good principles.
👉 “Principal” = head; “principle” = rule.


85. ❌ Stationary vs. Stationery. → ✅ I bought some stationery.
👉 “Stationary” = still; “stationery” = writing materials.


86. ❌ Their / There / They’re confusion.
👉 “Their” = possession; “There” = place; “They’re” = they are.


87. ❌ Its / It’s confusion.
👉 “Its” = possession; “It’s” = it is.


88. ❌ Then / Than confusion. → ✅ She is taller than me.
👉 “Than” = comparison; “Then” = time/sequence.


89. ❌ Accept / Except confusion. → ✅ I accept your proposal, except that part.
👉 “Accept” = agree; “except” = excluding.


90. ❌ Complement vs. Compliment. → ✅ Your tie complements your shirt. / Thanks for the compliment.
👉 “Complement” = completes; “compliment” = praise.




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Style & Redundancy Errors

91. ❌ He returned back. → ✅ He returned.
👉 “Return” already means “come back.”


92. ❌ He repeated again. → ✅ He repeated.
👉 “Repeat” itself means “do again.”


93. ❌ They all went together. → ✅ They went together.
👉 “All” + “together” = redundant.


94. ❌ I myself personally went. → ✅ I went.
👉 Extra words unnecessary.


95. ❌ He is my cousin brother. → ✅ He is my cousin.
👉 Cousin is gender-neutral; no need for “brother/sister.”


96. ❌ She entered into the room. → ✅ She entered the room.
👉 “Enter” already includes “into.”


97. ❌ The reason is because… → ✅ The reason is that…
👉 “Reason” and “because” together = redundancy.


98. ❌ He asked me that where I live. → ✅ He asked me where I live.
👉 No “that” before indirect questions.


99. ❌ I am much happy. → ✅ I am very happy.
👉 Use “very” with adjectives; “much” with verbs or comparatives.


100. ❌ He did not went to school. → ✅ He did not go to school.
👉 “Did” already shows past → verb stays base form.




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