Grammar Guide

Common ESL Grammar Mistakes and Fixes

Published by Evolang

https://evolang.info/grammar-guide/common-mistakes/common-grammar-mistakes-esl-learners-make

Evolang.info article flagged and corrected by an internal fact-check sweep for fabricated citations, quotes, dates, or statistics.

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Correction

Emir BaycanExpert Contributor

Correction history

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  1. 19 July 2026 · corrected by Emir Baycan

    Fabricated quote attributed to Diane Larsen-Freeman. This exact quote does not appear in Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching or any other indexed source.; Fabricated quote attributed to Mignon Fogarty. This exact quote does not appear in Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips or any other indexed source.; Fabricated quote attributed to Bryan Garner. This exact quote does not appear in Garner's Modern English Usage or any other indexed source.; Fabricated quote attributed to Rod Ellis. Th

    Before

    <blockquote> <p>&quot;The errors learners make are not random. They are the fingerprint of their first language pushing against the second. A good teacher can almost always tell a student's native language from three paragraphs of their English writing.&quot; Diane Larsen-Freeman, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching</p> </blockquote> [...] <blockquote> <p>&quot;The apostrophe is not decorative. It has a specific job. Putting one before every final s is the most common punctuation error in English and the one that professional editors notice first.&quot; Mignon Fogarty, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips</p> </blockquote> [...] <blockquote> <p>&quot;The gerund and infinitive distinction is one of those places where English grammar asks you to carry a list in your head. There is no shortcut. The verbs that take each form were fixed centuries ago and the list is the list.&quot; Bryan Garner, Garner's Modern English Usage</p> </blockquote> [...] <blockquote> <p>&quot;The student's accent is the last thing native listeners notice. The student's article errors are the last thing to disappear. Between those two, everything else corrects itself with enough practice.&quot; Rod Ellis, The Study of Second Language Acquisition</p> </blockquote>

    After

    <blockquote> <p>Second language acquisition researchers such as Diane Larsen-Freeman have long observed that the errors learners make are not random but reflect the influence of their first language, often clearly enough that an experienced teacher can guess a student's native language from a sample of their English writing.</p> </blockquote> [...] <blockquote> <p>Grammar writers such as Mignon Fogarty of Grammar Girl emphasize that the apostrophe has a specific job rather than a decorative one, and that misusing it before every final s is among the most common and most noticeable punctuation errors in English.</p> </blockquote> [...] <blockquote> <p>Usage guides such as Bryan Garner's Garner's Modern English Usage note that the gerund-versus-infinitive distinction is one of the areas of English grammar with no reliable shortcut: which verbs take which form is largely a matter of memorization built up through exposure.</p> </blockquote> [...] <blockquote> <p>Second language acquisition researchers such as Rod Ellis have documented that article errors are among the last features to disappear even in otherwise advanced learners, while most other error types fade with sustained practice.</p> </blockquote>

    Why: Fabricated quote attributed to Diane Larsen-Freeman. This exact quote does not appear in Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching or any other indexed source.; Fabricated quote attributed to Mignon Fogarty. This exact quote does not appear in Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips or any other indexed source.; Fabricated quote attributed to Bryan Garner. This exact quote does not appear in Garner's Modern English Usage or any other indexed source.; Fabricated quote attributed to Rod Ellis. This exact quote does not appear in The Study of Second Language Acquisition or any other indexed source.

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  1. Correction 19 July 2026

    Emir Baycan: Fabricated quote attributed to Diane Larsen-Freeman. This exact quote does not appear in Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching or any other indexed source.; Fabricated quote attributed to Mignon Fogarty. This exact quote does not appear in Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips or any other indexed source.; Fabricated quote attributed to Bryan Garner. This exact quote does not appear in Garner's Modern English Usage or any other indexed source.; Fabricated quote attributed to Rod Ellis. Th

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