A good command of the English language can help you get better professional opportunities in the world of business. More business writing is being done today in English than ever before, and with it, the need for honing English writing skills becomes more important. Grammar mistakes may seem unprofessional, making anyone lose potential business opportunities, but they are a reality—especially for nonnative speakers.
That’s why more nonnative English speakers want to get better at writing in this language. It is no surprise that more people are searching on the internet how to get better at writing.
A great way to do that is to continue practicing your English writing while knowing a couple of the common English grammar errors that many nonnatives often make.
By knowing what the most common English grammar mistakes are, you can start improving your English business writing.
Here is a list of the most common grammar mistakes made by nonnative speakers.
1. Incorrect use of articles
“A,” “an,” and “the” are the three articles present in the English language. They go along with nouns, helping the reader understand if we are talking about a particular person or thing.
Unfortunately, many non-English speakers often don’t use articles. Often, the error comes from a direct translation of sentences in their heads.
In business, this error often comes when telling your profession or position within an organization.
Often, nonnatives say:
“I am engineer.”
Instead of:
“I am an engineer.”
As mentioned, this error stems from a direct translation of the sentence from the speaker’s native language into English.
You will hear people forgetting the article in situations like the following:
“She went to office.” “She went to hospital.”
Again, the error stems from a direct translation from the speaker’s native language into English.
2. Subject-Verb Agreement Errors
The second error we want to point out in this article is the lack of agreement in number and person between the subject and the verb.
Agreements differ a lot among languages, so, again, a direct translation can bring such errors. Other times, the error is a result of not knowing the rules of English.
“He adapt quite easily to new environments.”
Some people simply do not grasp the rule that in the third person singular, the verb takes an –s.
The sentence should have spelled:
“He adapts quite easily to new environments.”
3. Incorrect use of prepositions
One of the most frequent grammar mistakes made by nonnative English speakers is using the wrong preposition.
“She will get a promotion on 2026.”
Is a clear example of the wrong use of prepositions in English. As a general rule, years take the preposition “in.” Here, the speaker used “on,” which is incorrect.
However, sometimes, the choice of the correct preposition has to do with how people use the language.
Many nonnatives will say or write something like:
“She is married with the CEO of the company.”
While in some languages, the equivalent of “with” is used in such cases, in English, the preposition is incorrect.
The correct sentence is:
“She is married to the CEO of the company.”
In English, you are never married “with someone,” but “to someone.”
For the most part, the use of prepositions needs to be learned mechanically, by being exposed to usage.
4. Confusing verb tenses
For nonnative speakers, English tenses can be very confusing. Even advanced English speakers may commit errors when it comes to using the correct verb tense. The reasons for these mistakes vary, but often, the rule of tense usage in English is unknown.
“I have went to the meeting.”
Is a poor choice because after “have,” we need the past participle form of the verb.
The correct sentence is:
“I have gone to the meeting.”
This error has all to do with the correct formation of the tense. Other tense errors have to do with choosing the correct tense.
“He has praised his partner yesterday.”
Shows a lack of knowledge in using the correct tense.
“Yesterday” is a time marker of the past simple. We know exactly when the action took place, so we do not need to use the present perfect. Instead, the past simple would be more than enough.
“He praised his partner yesterday.”
5. Double negatives
Another common grammatical error that nonnatives make is to use double negatives in a sentence.
“I don’t know nothing.”
To many nonnative speakers, this sentence sounds fine. However, to the ears of the native English speaker, something is not in order.
The problem with this sentence is that it has a double negative. The sentence contains “don’t” and “nothing.” These are two negative words, thus forming a double negative.
Like with many common grammar mistakes, the problem lies in direct translation. Some languages do admit them; still, this isn’t the case with English.
“I don’t know anything”
is the correct form of the sentence.
6. Improper pluralization of nouns
Not being proficient in a language can show, and a clear way in which you can tell it apart is from how someone forms some tricky plurals.
The general rule in English, when forming the plural, is to add an –s.
That’s why from “one manager,” we can move to “several managers.” “One bank” becomes, easily, “two banks.”
However, some plurals are not formed like that.
We do not get “womans” from “woman.” And we do not obtain “childs” from “child.”
No, “women” and “children” are the correct plural forms, and not knowing that will tell others that you do not master English.
7. Confusing “Since” and “For”
Two often used time markers, “since” and “for” are often confused by nonnative English speakers.
“She has worked for this company since four years.”
Is a terrible mistake to make. The same goes for:
“He has been part of the team for he started working.”
The rule is that “since” denotes a specific point in time, while “for” discusses an amount of time.
“She has worked for this company for four years”
is the correct way of writing and uttering the sentence.
Also,
“He has been part of the team since he started working”
is the proper way of expressing this thought.
8. Incorrect use of pronouns
Pronouns can be difficult to use for the nonnative who hasn’t mastered the language. Many people who use English as their second or third language commit pronoun mistakes.
For example, someone may utter “a friend of me,” which is completely incorrect.
“A friend of mine” must be used in such contexts.
“Between you and I, the budget for this year is not enough.”
Tells the native English speaker that they are dealing with a person who doesn’t have English as a mother tongue.
In this instance, “Between you and me …” is the correct use of the pronoun.
9. Misplacement of adverbs
Another grammar mistake that gives away whether a person is a native or not is the misplacement of adverbs.
In different languages, adverbs are placed in different positions in the structure of a sentence. That’s why many nonnative English speakers have a difficult time handling adverbs.
You may hear someone uttering:
“She sings beautifully always.”
This sentence sounds off to any native English speaker. However, to a nonnative, it may sound perfectly fine.
The rule is that adverbs of frequency go before the main verb. Frequency adverbs are the ones that express how often an action takes place. “Seldom,” “rarely,” “often,” and “always” are all adverbs of frequency.
In our example, “always” is the adverb of frequency being used, and its positioning is incorrect—at the end of the sentence.
The correct sentence is:
“She always sings beautifully.”
Final Thoughts
There are many grammatical, style, and usage errors made by nonnative English speakers. Mastering a second, or a third, language can be, indeed, difficult, and mistakes come along.
However, it is important not to commit errors so serious that they make others doubt your ability to communicate in that language—English. This is especially important in business English. Improper use of the language in a business environment can make others consider you unprofessional. That’s why it is important to recognize the grammatical errors you often commit and to try to improve your English writing and speaking skills as often as you can.
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