7 Grammar Traps That Scream 'I'm Not a Native Speaker' (And How to Fix Them)

You know the feeling. You spent years studying English. You know the difference between Past Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous. Yet, when you speak or send an email, native speakers have a moment of hesitation. They understand you, but they know you aren't one of "them".

Often, it's not the big mistakes that give you away. It's the micro-errors. The tiny traps hidden in articles and prepositions. Let's fix the 7 most common ones today.

1. The Article Nightmare: A, An, The, or Nothing?

For Slavic or Asian speakers, articles are pure hell. English loves them. You hate them.

The Rule of Thumb:

• Countable + Singular? You MUST use an article. "I have car" is primal. "I have a car" is correct.
• First time mentioned? Use "A/An".
• Second time mentioned? Use "The".
• General truth? No article (often). "Life is hard" (Not "The life is hard").

Correction:
❌ "I am going to office."
✅ "I am going to the office."

2. "Since" vs. "For" (The Time War)

This subtle distinction confuses everyone.

• Since: A starting point in the past. (Since 1990, Since yesterday, Since I was born).
• For: A duration of time. (For 2 years, For a long time, For 5 minutes).

Correction:
❌ "I am living here since 3 years."
✅ "I have been living here for 3 years."

3. False Friends (Cognates That Lie)

Words that look the same in your language but mean something completely different.

• Eventual: In many languages, "eventual" means "possible" or "potential". In English, it means "final" or "ultimate". (Eventual outcome = Final outcome).
• Actual: In many languages, this means "current" (right now). In English, it means "real" or "factual". If you mean "currently", use "current".

4. The Passive Voice Trap

Academic English taught you to use the Passive Voice ("It was decided that..."). Business English hates it. It sounds weak, evasive, and bureaucratic.

Make it Active:
❌ "The project was finished by the team."
✅ "The team finished the project."

5. Prepositions of Time: In, On, At

Imagine a triangle funnel.

• Top (Wide) = IN: Centuries, Years, Months. (In 1990, In July, In the morning).
• Middle (Narrower) = ON: Days, Dates. (On Tuesday, On July 4th).
• Bottom (Point) = AT: Precise Time. (At 5:00 PM, At midnight).

6. "I Am Agree" (The "Be" Virus)

This is a classic translation error from Romance and Slavic languages where you say "I am in agreement". In English, "Agree" is a verb, not an adjective.

Correction:
❌ "I am agree with you."
✅ "I agree with you."

7. Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns

Some things cannot be counted. You cannot have "two informations" or "three advices".

• Uncountable: Information, Advice, Equipment, Furniture, Luggage.
• How to count them? Use "A piece of..."

Correction:
❌ "Can you give me an advice?"
✅ "Can you give me some advice?" or "A piece of advice?"

Conclusion

English is a forgiving language to start, but a brutal one to master. Don't worry about being perfect. Worry about being clear. And when in doubt, use a tool like Syntaxify (or Korektor) to catch these subtle slips before you hit send.

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