7 Common English Speaking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Key takeaways

• Most English speaking mistakes are not random; they follow predictable patterns based on how your first language works.
• Verb tense errors and missing subject pronouns account for a large share of common mistakes across learner backgrounds.
• Preposition errors (in/on/at, for/since/during) are difficult to learn from rules alone and are best absorbed through extensive listening and reading.
• Make and do are one of the most-confused pairs in English because they do not map cleanly onto a single verb in most other languages.
• Pronunciation of silent letters and consonant clusters can persist at high fluency levels if not addressed directly.

Most learners focus on grammar rules and vocabulary lists when preparing to speak English. But the mistakes that stay the longest are not about knowing the rule; they are about speaking faster than your self-monitoring can keep up.

The seven mistakes in this guide are the ones that appear across learner backgrounds, persist at intermediate to advanced levels, and are straightforward to fix once you know what to look for.

This guide covers verb tense errors, missing subject pronouns, word order in questions, the make/do confusion, preposition errors, silent letter pronunciation, and incorrect article usage, with examples and correction strategies for each.

italki connects you with English teachers online across its network of over 30,000, who listen to your speech, identify your specific patterns, and give you targeted feedback that a grammar book cannot.

Mistake 1: using the wrong verb tense

Wrong: Yesterday I go to the market and I buy vegetables. Right: Yesterday I went to the market and I bought vegetables.

Wrong: I live here since 2019. Right: I have lived here since 2019.

Fix: pay attention to time markers. Yesterday, last week, and in 2020 signal simple past. Since, for, and already often signal present perfect.

Hearing these time markers in conversation and recognizing the tense they demand takes repeated exposure to native speakers.

Practise tense patterns with an online English tutor by sharing short stories about your day and receiving real-time corrections.

Mistake 2: dropping the subject pronoun

Wrong: Is raining outside. Right: It is raining outside.

Wrong: Was a great film. Right: It was a great film.

Wrong: Don’t know what to say. Right: I don’t know what to say.

Fix: train yourself to always start a sentence with a subject. Sentences about weather, time, and distance all require it: it is raining, it is 3 o’clock, it is far.

This habit builds through speaking and immediate feedback. Work through everyday conversation scenarios with an English tutor on italki and notice how many times it or a personal pronoun anchors each sentence.

Mistake 3: wrong word order in questions

Wrong: You like pizza? Right: Do you like pizza?

Wrong: Where you are going? Right: Where are you going?

Wrong: Why she is late? Right: Why is she late?

Fix: memorise the pattern: auxiliary + subject + main verb + rest.

Repetition makes this automatic. Practise forming questions with an online English teacher by asking them questions in real time and self-correcting until the pattern feels natural.

Mistake 4: confusing make and do

Common do phrases: do homework, do the dishes, do exercise, do your best, do a favour, do research.

Common make phrases: make a mistake, make a decision, make a plan, make an effort, make progress, make noise.

Wrong: I did a mistake. Right: I made a mistake.

Fix: learn make/do collocations as fixed phrases. The guide to transitive and intransitive verbs in English covers the verb-object relationship in detail.

These pairs stick best when you hear them in context and produce them yourself. Build fluency with make/do through role-play and conversation with online English teachers, using the phrases naturally until they feel automatic.

Mistake 5: preposition errors

Wrong: I arrived to London yesterday. Right: I arrived in London yesterday.

Wrong: She is good in English. Right: She is good at English.

Wrong: I have been here since three years. Right: I have been here for three years.

Wrong: We met in Monday. Right: We met on Monday.

Fix: learn good at, arrive in, on Monday, in the morning, and at night as fixed units.

Identify preposition patterns through dialogue with an English teacher and ask about exceptions that feel counterintuitive. A native speaker can explain the reasoning that rules alone cannot.

Mistake 6: mispronouncing words with silent letters

Word	Common error	Correct pronunciation
know	k-now	noh (k is silent)
write	wri-te	rite (w is silent)
knife	k-nife	nife (k is silent)
Wednesday	Wed-nes-day	Wenz-day (d is silent)
island	is-land	eye-land (s is silent)
honest	hoh-nest	on-ist (h is silent)
debt	deh-bt	det (b is silent)

Fix: when you learn a new word, look up its pronunciation at the same time, not just its spelling.

Hearing silent-letter words pronounced by a native speaker is only half the battle. You need to speak them aloud repeatedly until the pronunciation sticks. Practice with English tutors on italki who correct your pronunciation in real time.

Mistake 7: incorrect article usage (a/an vs. the vs. no article)

Wrong: I am looking for job. Right: I am looking for a job.

Wrong: The life is short. Right: Life is short.

Fix: a/an when the listener does not know which specific one you mean; the when the listener does or when there is only one.

Getting corrections in context from a real speaker is the single most effective way to reduce speaking mistakes. With 30,000+ expert tutors across 150+ languages on italki, a native-speaking English tutor can correct your specific patterns in real time, far faster than waiting to notice patterns on your own.

Book a trial lesson today.

FAQ

Which of these mistakes is the most important to fix first?

Prioritise by impact: mistakes that affect comprehension (missing subject pronouns, wrong word order in questions) matter more than mistakes that do not block understanding (article errors, minor preposition slips).

How can I catch my own mistakes in real time when speaking?

Real-time self-monitoring is difficult because it splits your attention. A more effective approach is to record yourself speaking for two to three minutes on a topic, then listen back and note patterns.

Do native English speakers make any of these mistakes?

Some, yes. Between you and I (should be me) and dialect past tense forms are examples of usage that deviates from standard written grammar but is common in speech.