Minor but significant mistakes you may have made in speaking English

billzhao

Some friends, especially those who are just learning English, often make the following mistakes.
% v3 R! U  g8 Y4 I
) G3 T! i4 |9 S$ x8 X, z9 @1. My husband has a good job. She makes over 100,000 dollars a year.
0 W) J; L6 l1 ]8 u    My girlfriend did not live with me, because he is still in China.

) b; P, B. v) O) I* g+ XThe reason to make this mistake is not due to grammar knowledge. One reason might be she and he have the same pronunciation in Chinese.
3 o) h' \1 P% S$ P3 ?
" h' C" O( U/ ^; E% r2. I do not like big rain, I like small rain.
- U9 J" {; h0 i6 r6 {; R+ X% H3. Please close your phone.
These mistakes are made because of direct translation. Another similar mistake is: I very like Canada. You really like Canada, or you like Canada very much.


$ \9 C6 H2 e1 E% l: x! U4. How to say: heavy rain, light rain, and turn off your phone in English?
: O# v4 R- Y' H" ?! ?! ?9 zThe correct way to ask the question is like this: how do you say... in English?

( w$ f6 ?( v3 p/ K7 j! A( V) C3 v5. I am a Chinese.
; o* p% m1 R+ e/ j" D5 k: T( p7 `) `I am a Chinese person, or I am Chinese.
6. He is a gay.
He is gay.
7 O6 h" _* \7 s5 m1 c
. d# v; V8 L, \$ p7. Why? No why.
5 F; U! f$ P! [. iNot no why, no reason.
8. Thanks! No thanks!
/ |5 R( u& l. ^& |