Hey student!

This is a very common challenge English learners have. As we practice Speaking and Writing in English, we may “create” incorrect phrases in English. However, the main problem with that is that some students persist with some incorrect phrases forever and don’t change them

They get so used to speaking that sentence incorrectly…

To help you, I am going to show 3 popular sentences that English learners use all the time and why they are incorrect.

 

1. I went to do… I went to buy – I went + verb 

While this construction is possible with a few verbs (I went to sleep for example) English learners, especially the ones from Latin countries, tend to use this construction in the past form all the time with all the verbs. The English language is more practical.

Every time you want to say: I went to do, I went to buy, I went to learn… Use the second verb only in the past form. That’s how native speakers do in 99% of the time. So if you want to say “learn”, use learn and not “went to learn”

Now you can make a different construction; you can say I went to (place) to (do) a certain thing. For example: I went to the mall to buy a new skirt. I went to the hospital to do a blood test.

There are some expressions with “go” that are very specific. Dedicate some time studying expressions with go. There are many interesting ones!

2. Have a place in my city….

English learners love making this construction, but it doesn’t exist in English. You can’t use “have/has” to describe objects/people or things that exist in a place. For example. Let’s say you want to talk about a new restaurant in your neighborhood. Here is what you have to say:

There is a great new restaurant we have to check!

There are many people migrating to different countries.

In general, you cannot start a sentence with “have” (with a few exceptions). So the next time you want to describe something like that, start with there is or there are

3. Literal translations with stay + feelings

I stay sad, I stay happy, I stay angry… You cannot use “stay” like that. When describing feelings you will need to use the verb “get” to give that idea you are looking for. You can use the verb stay to describe locations for example, stay home, stay inside, stay here

I get angry – I get happy – I get hungry, etc.

 

 

There you have it! Did you enjoy this lesson? Then share it with your friends!

 

 

See you next time

 

Teacher Prix