Indian English Language mistakes part 1

In India we practice English as a Second Language, India being a multilingual country every speaker invent   their own ways of expression. As we use English as a Second Language we make mistakes and It is inevitable. Don’t worry. I’ve decided to my share my knowledge of speaking mistakes for you. It is important for you to learn from these mistakes, it will make you more confident speaker.

Do let me know your reply; I will be grateful to assist you further for your betterment.

1.   MUCH, MORE, LESS

MISTAKES: We say, there are much dusts. They have more courages. He had less funs.

Correct Use: There is much dust. They have more courage. He had less fun.

2.   Less, fewer (countable nouns Less- is used for quantity of hypothetical objects. Fewer – is applied for countable objects) MISTAKES: There were less people.

Correct Use: There were fewer people.

3.   Use of Apostrophe for Possession

MISTAKES: It was Ram’s and Shyam’s car.

Correct Use: It was Ram and Shyam’s car.

4.   His/hers/its (when you don’t know an animal’s gender, you need to use “it”.)

MISTAKES: The cat lost her bone. (You don’t know the gender.) Correct Use: The cat lost its bone.

5.   That/who ( use that to talk on added clause and use who for person)

MISTAKES: I have written to my brother that lives in France. Correct Use: I have written to my brother who lives in France.

6.   Me/I

Always use 'I' when we are using it in sentence as a subject. The pronoun   'me' can be used only when ‘I’ is used an object.

MISTAKES: If it is money then give it to I. Ramesh and me took the class. He taught as well as me.

Correct Use: Give it to me. Ramesh and I took the class. He taught as well as I.

7.   This/that/those/these Incorrect:

(The use of These/Those can be used only when subject is plural. Use

MISTAKES These/those is my mobile. That/this are my books. Correct Use: This/that is my mobile. Those/these are my books.

8.   Happy/well/good  

We need to remember ‘Good’ is an adjective while ‘well’ is an adverb used to answer the question how. Sometimes well also functions as an adjective pertaining to health. Happy can be used to describe something that has been stricken with good fortune.

MISTAKES: She feels well. He did his job very good. He felt  good for discount.

Correct Use: She feels good. He did his job very well. He felt happy for discount.

9.   Quality (well/good)

Always use word ‘well’ to describe quality

MISTAKES: She dances good.

Correct Use: She dances well.

10.               Adverbs with “ly”

MISTAKES: He spoke to her quiet. He shouted not as loud as the rest of the group.

Correct Use: She spoke to him quietly. He shouted not as loudly as the rest of the group.