COMMON MISTAKES IN ENGLISH FOR BACHILLERATO STUDENTS - Adjective + noun. A very interesting film, the most important thing...

- Com !"!tive# !nd #u e"$!tive#. In short adjectives, you add er for comparatives and est for superlatives (the fastest player in Real Madrid; shes shorter than her sister...). ith lon! adjectives, you use M"R# for comparatives and $%# M"&$ for superlatives (the 'oo( is more e)pensive than the ma!a*ine; this is the most e)citin! film Ive ever seen...). &ome adjectives are irre!ular ('etter, the 'est; +orse, the +orst...) - Adjective# don%t &!ve ! $u"!$ 'o"m. ,or e)ample- .cheap cars/, .!ood ne+s/, .'i! pro'lems/... - THIS ( THESE ( THAT ( THOSE. .$hese/ is the plural of .this/ (.these houses/) and .those/ is the plural of .that/ (.those people/) - 0eople is a plural +ord. Its the plural of .person/. - 0unctuation. $he rules are more or less the same as in &panish. 0ut them in practice. - )o"d O"de". In #n!lish, its more ri!id than in &panish- su'ject 1 (some adver's- .only/, .also/, fre2uency adver's) main ver' (e)cept .to 'e/) 1 o'ject 1 adver'ials (manner 1 place 1 time). ,or e)ample- .I li(e foot'all very much/. .I li(e very much foot'all/ is incorrect. 3nother e)ample- .&he had also +ritten a lot of interestin! novels in 4ondon 'efore she moved to the 5&3/ or .&he +on the race easily last &unday/. 6ou can place some adver'ials 'efore the su'ject (especially some time and place adver'ials)- .In 7889, he came to live to &eville/, .In 4ondon, he met some very interestin! people/. - *$u"!$#. 6ou can avoid this mista(e easily if you chec( your composition. $his is a .stupid/ and unfortunately common mista(e. Remem'er some irre!ular plurals- .+omen/, .men/, .children/, .teeth/, .feet/, .people/, .mice/ ... - A"tic$e#. :ont use .the/ +hen tal(in! a'out somethin! !eneral. ,or e)ample- .;iolence is found in streets all over the city/, Im !oin! to +rite a'out sport/, .<ats are cleaner than do!s/... 5se .a = an/ only for sin!ular counta'le nouns. ,or the rest, use some = any. ,or e)ample- .a 'oo(/, .a 'oy/, 'ut .some = any 'oo(s/, .some = any 'oys/, .some = any money/... - Ge"und# !# #u+ject. :ont for!et to use I>? +hen you use a ver' as a su'ject. ,or e)ample- .&pea(in! #n!lish is easy for me/, . or(in! 7@ hours a day is too much for me/, .&tudyin! Maths is very useful/... - *o##e##ive#. 5se .its/ +hen you are tal(in! a'out somethin!. .%is/ and .her/ refer to people. ,or e)ample- .Rome is 'eautiful. I love its museums and churches/. - Modi'ie"#. .;ery/ modifies adjectives and it means .muy/ (.very !ood/, .very intelli!ent/). If +e +ant to say .mucho =s/ +e can use .a lot of/ . ,or ne!atives and interro!atives, +e tend to use .much/ (uncounta'le) and .many/ (counta'le). - hen they as( you .+hyA/ you should use a complete sentence, includin! .'ecause/. ,or e)ample- . hy did it happenA/ .It happened 'ecause he +as drivin! too fast/. - Ot&e" ( !not&e". ."ther/ is used +ith plural nouns (.other thin!s/) and .another/ +ith sin!ular noun (.another thin!/). - *"e#ent #im $e ,"d e"#on #in-u$!". /ou !dd 0# (.$he 'oo( tells the story of.../, .$his influences their 'ehaviour.../) - Too ( !$#o. 6ou use .too/ atthe end of the sentence (...and it is ori!inal too) and also 'efore the main ver' (this also implies that...). - Im e"#on!$ 12ou3. 6ou use .you/ +hen you are referrin! to every'ody (as in this sentenceB)6ou should eat fruit every day (in &panish- .hay 2ue comer fruta todos los dCas). - A# ( $i4e. 6ou use .as/ 1 a prepositional phrase (&ha(espeare dealt +ith racism in his plays,

as in ."thello/). 6ou use .li(e/ 1 noun phrase = personal pronoun (.%e lives li(e a (in!/, .%is sister doesnt loo( li(e him/). - Suc& !#. It means .como/, .tales como/, .por ejemplo/. .&ha(espare +rote !reat comedies, such as $he Merchant of ;enice/. - )o"d c!te-o"ie#. &ometimes you say .violence/ (noun) +hen you +ant to say .violent/ (adjective), for e)ample. hen you have to !ive a +ord for a definition, a synonym or opposite, ma(e sure you !ive a +ord of the same cate!ory. - 3fter every simple mod!$ ve"+ the follo+in! ver' is 34 36& an infinitive +ithout to (and if itDs a compound modal, the structure is al+ays M":34 1 %3;# 1 past participle)- #)amples- ($his is called simple modal structure)MIGHT / MUST / SHOULD / Will / Would ... + infinitive without to: - I should study o!e. - I ust "o to the #oli$e. - %hild!en& even 'dults i"ht '(e ' show. )*nd not: )...+ i"ht to '(e ' show+. )ARNING- (&"M# :#&0#R3$# $I0& ,"R $%# #E3M)- $%I>F I> #>?4I&% (or try to do so), - <%#<F, <%#<F, <%#<F, <%#<F 3>: :">$ &$"0 <%#<FI>? 5>$I4 $%# $IM# <"M#& %#> 6"5 %3;# $" %3>: "5$ 6"5R #E3M. - 3;"I: .&$50I: MI&$3F#&/ (plurals, spellin!...) - I> <"M0"&I$I">&, $%I>F G#,"R# 6"5 RI$#. 04#3&# M3F# 3 4I&$ ", I:#3& ,IR&$. - :">$ M3F# #E0#RIM#>$& I> 3> #E3M (inventin! +ords that sound li(e &panish +ords...) - 5&# 03R3?R30%& - I><45:# 3 <"><45&I"> - G# "RI?I>34. If you can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