Have you ever wondered what clues native speakers in on your non-nativeness?
I have! Apart from the obvious facts such as they simply know I am not a native or they hear my slightly off accent, there must be something else. When we’re just texting, what gives me away? Sometimes nothing, but there are days when I simply feel that they know, like they can immediately tell. (yeah, there are days when I can’t English at all (my brain refuses to cooperate) and there are days when I excel at it). Not that it is a crime that they can tell, or it makes me feel bad about myself, but I’ve been wondering what people who have reached native-like fluency can do to improve or at least maintain their English levels. We’ve gone through pretty much every textbook there is, we read in English and listen in English, we try to use the language every day, yet we still make small mistakes that give us away! And that’s fine unless you want to assume
a false identity or be a spy.
What inspired me to make that post? Reddit, the front page of the Internet.
Here are the most obvious clues that give us away:
Make – You need to create something from scratch.
Make breakfast (there’s no breakfast at all)
Make a plan (there’s no plan at all; you need to create it.)
Do – You need to complete something.
Do homework (your homework is already there; you just need to finish it.)
Rule #1 Don’t overuse them. Use it instead. This and that are used for emphasis.
Rule #2 This for things around you and that for things away from you.
Rule #3 When you talk about objects, abstract ideas, people use that.
B: Yeah, that’s a great guy. (this would be unnatural here because Tom is not standing next to me)
B: Yeah, that’s a great job. (again, this would suggest I’m working right now, doing my job, and I think to myself “This is a great job”)
Rule #4 Use that to talk about things from the past.
Example: That was a great event! That thing you just did! Can you do that again?
Rule #5 Use that to refer to your speaker's ideas.
Example: We should paint our house blue. Yeah that is a great idea. (that because the idea is not coming from me. It’s sort of away from me)
Rule #6 Use this when you refer to your own ideas.
Rule #7 use it when you talk about tangible object/ideas.
Example: We should get a bigger couch. It will make our life better.
Rule #8 Use this or that when you talk about non-tangible ideas.
A: We should move to Japan.
B: Yeah that will be awesome! (Two speakers)
A: We should move to Japan. This will make us happy. (One speaker
SVO (Subject + Verb + Object) Adverbs/adverbial phrases follow the object and they have their own order too. How? Where? When? Vague information is followed by a more specific one.
Wrong ones or they’re just missing entirely.
Example: Can anyone explain (this to) me…
5. Phrasal verbs (wrong prepositions or just wrong usage)
6. Sophisticated vocabulary (formal language in informal situations)
Do you know where the toilet is? vs. Do you know where is the toilet?
When you start your question with a helping verb, you don’t need another question further in the sentence.
Helping verb + Subject + Main verb + Wh question word + Subject + Verb
9. Verbs lacking direct objects (allow vs. allow me)
10. Transitive vs. intransitive verbs (I have vs. I have it)
"The word transitive often makes people think of transit, which leads to the mistaken assumption that the terms transitive and intransitive are just fancy ways of describing action and non-action. But these terms have nothing to do with whether a verb is active or not. A better word to associate when you see transitive is transfer. A transitive verb needs to transfer its action to something or someone—an object. In essence, transitive means “to affect something else.”
Objects and people are funny; events are fun.
12. Countable vs. Uncountable nouns
13. Not conjugating the verb correctly when starting a question with “Anyone...?”
Full question: “Does anyone want to grab a drink after work?”
Slightly condensed question typically asked by a native speaker: “Anyone want to grab a drink after work?”
Common error among many non-native speakers: “Anyone wants to grab
a drink after work?”
14. The conjugation of (third-person singular) verbs in general. (She want vs. She wants)
15. Mixing up adverbs and adjectives is a fairly common mistake I see.
16. Lack of there is/are grammar construction when talking about the existence.
A cat is in the driveway. vs. There’s a cat in the driveway.
Both are grammatically correct but the second one sounds much better.
17. Since vs. for (Present Perfect)
Since + a date/ specific event/ time period
For + counted years/days/ months. 16 months. I counted the months. There were 16 of them.
18. Confusing before, after, and ago.
For example, I often hear "before two years..." when they mean “2 years ago.”
19. For pronunciation, vowel sounds are a pretty clear giveaway.
20. Using the indefinite pronoun “nothing/no one/ nowhere” in a negative statement instead of “anything/ nothing/nowhere,”
e.g. She doesn’t eat nothing instead of she doesn’t eat anything.
I have nothing (a more popular option)
I don’t have nothing means that you actually have something and is wrong.
21. ED and ING adjectives
Interesting vs. interested boring vs. bored
I am bored ( I have nothing interesting to do)
I am boring (As a human being I have nothing interesting to offer)
22. Asking questions with a raising intonation, but there’s no inversion.
This might be ok in an informal style but don’t overuse it. When you’re shocked it’s sounds ok.
23. Mixing up never and ever.
24. People also use the verb must way too much. It’s not common in everyday language, it sounds much better to say I need to/I have to/I should/I ought to.
25. Misusing bare infinitive and to-infinitive (verb patterns!)
26. Using the Present Perfect as a past tense. (I've seen that movie last week.)
27. Agreeing incorrectly (I don't like that, too.)
Ways of agreeing/disagreeing. Remember NO DOUBLE NEGATION. Single negation rule!
Use helping verbs to form such answers.
B: I don’t like that either/ Neither do I
B: So do I! / I like it too/
28. Not knowing how to form tag questions.
Common mistake: "He lives here, or?"
