12 Common English Mistakes Learners Make (and How to Fix Them)

Some English mistakes are made by learners from every country in the world. The good news: they are all fixable, and fixing just a handful of them will make your English instantly more natural. Here are twelve of the most common, with the correction for each.

1. Your vs You're - "Your" shows possession ("your book"); "you're" means "you are". Fix: say the sentence with "you are" - if it fits, use "you're".
2. Its vs It's - "Its" is possessive ("the dog wagged its tail"); "it's" means "it is".
3. There / Their / They're - "There" is a place, "their" is possession, "they're" means "they are".
4. Then vs Than - "Then" is about time ("first, then"); "than" compares ("bigger than").
5. Much vs Many - "Many" for countable nouns ("many books"); "much" for uncountable ("much water").
6. Since vs For - "Since" gives a starting point ("since 2020"); "for" gives a duration ("for five years").
7. Make vs Do - Idiomatic; generally "make" creates something ("make a decision") and "do" performs an activity ("do homework"). Learn the common pairs.
8. Advice vs Advise - "Advice" is a noun ("good advice"); "advise" is a verb ("I advise you").
9. Borrow vs Lend - You borrow from someone; you lend to someone.
10. Say vs Tell - You say something ("say hello"); you tell someone something ("tell me a story").
11. Agree with - It is "I agree with you", not "I agree you". Same with "depend on" and "listen to".
12. I am agree (wrong) - "Agree" is a verb, not an adjective. Say "I agree", not "I am agree".

The pattern behind these mistakes

Look at the list again and you will notice two themes. First, homophones - words that sound the same but are spelled differently, like "your/you're" and "there/their" - cause errors mostly in writing, not speech. Second, preposition and word-choice errors like "I am agree" or "since/for" happen because learners translate directly from their own language, where the rules are different.

How to fix them for good

• For homophones: proofread your writing and always re-read the sentence with the expanded form ("you are", "it is", "they are").
• For translation errors: learn the correct English pairing as a fixed phrase, not word-by-word. "I agree with you" is one block, stored whole.
• Use audio and repetition: hearing the correct version of "listen to" and "depend on" hundreds of times rewires the habit faster than any rule.
• Get feedback: write a few sentences each week and have someone (or an app) point out which of these twelve you still hit.

One mistake at a time

Do not try to fix all twelve in a week. Pick the one you make most often, practise it consciously for a fortnight, then move on. Correction works best when it is focused - and each mistake you eliminate makes the next easier to notice.

Every mistake on this list is normal and every one of them is fixable. Keep practicing, keep noticing, and your "common mistakes" list will shrink month by month.