Learn English
Common Mistakes
Common mistakes that students make when using English.
Travel vs Trip – Difference
Oct 4th
What is the difference between Travel and Trip?
These two words frequently confuse learners of English.
A quick explanation that is valid for most situations is the following:
Travel – a verb (the action) Trip – a noun
Susan’s husband isn’t in town at the moment; he is on a business trip. He More >
Million vs Millions
Aug 23rd
The difference between Million and Millions
Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?
A: New Zealand has a population of four million people
B: New Zealand has a population of four millions people
The first sentence (A) is correct and the second sentence (B) is incorrect. Why?
English students often get confused about when to put an More >
Maybe or May be – What is the difference?
Jul 12th
When do you use maybe and when do you use may be?
This is a common mistake for students learning English (and sometimes native speakers too!).
The simplest explanation is: Maybe = perhaps May be = is possibly
- Our boss was sick yesterday so he may be absent from work today. Maybe our meeting will be postponed More >
Strangers vs Foreigners
Jul 5th
Strangers or Foreigners
Common mistake
“There were many strangers at the hostel. It was great to meet so many new people.”
Strangers = people you have never met, seen or talked to. To call someone a stranger is not particularly friendly. e.g. “Call the police! There’s a stranger walking around in our garden!” Foreigners = More >
House vs Home difference
Jul 1st
The difference between HOUSE and HOME
Something that confuses people learning English is the difference between HOUSE and HOME
A HOUSE is the BUILDING where the majority of people live. It normally has bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and a dining room.
A HOME is a PLACE where someone lives. Normally it is More >
Landscape vs Scenery difference
Jun 28th
Landscape vs Scenery difference
When people describe the outdoors they sometimes use landscape and scenery incorrectly.
We use the word landscape to talk about the view or a large expanse of a particular area and how it is arranged or positioned. We can also use the term urban landscape to talk about the same thing More >
Business or Busyness
Jun 21st
Business OR Busyness
A common mistake amongst English students is the spelling of Business. Bussyness, bizness, buziness, bussiness and bussnis are just some of the spellings I’ve seen!
To remember, think – business is full of busy-ness (busi-ness)! Busy = have a lot to do, occupied with many things.
Of course it’s spelt nothing like More >
Desert the dessert in the desert
Jun 14th
Desert the dessert in the desert!
Desert can be a verb and a noun though with two completely different meanings. To Desert means to leave without intending to return. It can also mean to abandon. A Desert is a dry place which receives very little rainfall.
The verb is pronounced with the stress on ‘sert’- More >
Pretty Beautiful Handsome Ugly
Jun 7th
Beautiful Women and Handsome Men
Did you know that there are over 170,000 words in the English language and over 25% of them are adjectives? (Adjectives are used for descriptions)
A common mistake with adjectives is when describing people. To describe a woman we could call her beautiful or pretty but we don’t call More >
Learn English every day
May 30th
Learn something new every day
One of the most important things about learning English (or any language) is to be consistent. It is best to learn a little every day than try and learn a lot in one day and nothing over the next ones.
The more frequently you have contact with More >
