English Quick Fix🔧
16 Steps to Fix your Broken English
For Spanish Speakers
By Greg Pioli
Online Language Academy
🔧English Quick Fix
Introduction
Do you want a quick way to take your English to the next level?
I’m Greg Pioli, the creator and director of Online Language Academy, and
in this book we’re going to fix your broken English!
Over the past 10+ years I have lived in 4 different countries, and taught
hundreds of students who make the same mistakes as you.
If you fix these common mistakes, you will instantly become a more
advanced speaker of English.
After extensive research and personal teaching experience, I have put
together this eBook, giving you the most important 16 mistakes that ESL
students make and how to fix them!
Are you ready? Let’s fix your English!!…
Visit us at www.OnlineLanguageAcademy.com
🔧Quick Fix 1. Still v Already v Yet
❑ What’s the problem?
These three grammatical words are easily mixed up by ESL students
and can cause real confusion when talking with native speakers.
❑ What’s the fix?
First we must imagine a timeline…
⏪ PAST → → → → → ▶ PRESENT → → → → → ⏩ FUTURE
Don’t panic: it’s easier than you think…
⏪ We use already to talk about things we have done in the past.
▶ We use still to talk about things that are happening now.
⏩ We use yet to talk about things we haven’t done, but we will do in
the future.
❑ Example phrases
✅ I don’t want to eat out tonight because I’ve already had dinner (I
had dinner in the past)
✅ I moved to the USA 3 years ago and I still live here. (I live here
now)
✅ I’m married but we don’t have any children yet. (I will have children
in the future)
❑ Watch my video on this topic
⏩ Click here to learn more on this topic
🔧Quick Fix 2. As v Like
❑ What’s the problem?
These two words express a really similar meaning in English (and even
native speakers don’t always follow the more specific grammar ‘rules’).
❑ What’s the fix?
Let’s keep this simple…
1. As describes the function of a person or object.
2. Like expresses that something is similar to something else.
❑ Example phrases with ‘As’
✅ I work as a teacher. (This is my function / my job)
✅ You can use your key as a bottle-opener. (A function of my keys)
✅ I use one of the bedrooms as my office. (A function of the bedroom)
❑ Example phrases with ‘Like’
✅ You are kind and sweet, just like your mum! (Similar to your mum)
✅ He plays the guitar like a professional. (He is not a professional)
✅ She speaks like a native speaker. (She is not a native speaker)
❑ Watch my video on this topic
⏩ Click here to learn more on this topic
🔧Quick Fix 3. Am I boring or bored?
❑ What’s the problem?
There are many pairs of adjectives that are very similar (boring-bored,
interesting-interested, exciting-excited, tiring-tired…), and students
very often get very confused about when to use each one.
❑ What’s the fix?
We use -ing adjectives (boring, interesting, exciting…) when
describing our opinion of something.
We use -ed adjectives (bored, interested, excited…) when describing a
feeling.
❑ Example phrases
❌ It’s been a tired day! I had lots of work to do.
✅ It’s been a tiring day! I had lots of work to do. (My opinion of today)
❌ There’s nothing to do here. I’m boring.
✅ There’s nothing to do here. I’m bored. (My feeling)
❌ My uncles is bored. He always tells the same stories.
✅ My uncle is boring. He always tells the same stories. (My opinion)
Watch my video on this topic
⏩ Click here to learn more on this topic
🔧Quick Fix 4. Make v Do
❑ What’s the problem?
Many other languages have just one verb for these two verbs. It is
therefore very difficult to know when we use Make and when we use
Do.
❑ What’s the fix?
Here’s a quick guide: use Make for creating or producing something,
and use Do for activities or jobs. However the rules for this are not
black and white, and there are lots of exceptions. We must therefore
change the way we learn English, and always learn “chunks” – groups
of words that go together – rather than individual words.
❑ Example phrases that use ‘Make’
✅ Make a booking
✅ Make money
✅ Make a decision
✅ Make an effort
Example phrases that use ‘Do’
✅ Do exercise
✅ Do someone a favour
✅ Do business
✅ Do a course
❑ Watch my video on this topic
⏩ Click here to learn more on this topic.
🔧Quick Fix 5. Listen v Hear
❑ What’s the problem?
Confusing these two verbs is a mistake that typical intermediate
speakers make. But I want you to have an advanced level, so you
need to stop making this type of mistake! Now!
❑ What’s the fix?
Hear is an involuntary action. But when you want to hear something,
you listen to it (please learn it together with the preposition… ‘listen
to’!)
❑ Example phrases with ‘listen’
✅ I always listen to the radio when I’m driving my car.
✅ Hey! I’m talking to you! Are you listening to me?
✅ Julie says her husband never listens to her!
Example phrases with ‘hear’
✅ Can you speak more loudly, please? I can’t hear you very well!
✅ Have you heard the news about the elections?
✅ My house is so near the airport that I can hear the aeroplanes.
❑ Watch my video on this topic
⏩ Click here to see my video on this topic
🔧Quick Fix 6. Pronunciation of -ed
❑ What’s the problem?
English is not a phonetic language, and we do not pronounce every
letter that we write. I’m sure you know this. But I’m also you you
sometimes pronounce regular verbs in the past incorrectly!
❑ What’s the fix?
Change your mentality! Pronouncing letters when you shouldn’t (simply
because we write them) will not help a native speaker understand you.
There are 3 ways to pronounce the -ed:
1. /t/
2. /d/
3. /id
The thing is, that /t/ and /d/ are so similar that it’s almost impossible to
distinguish the two. So my personal top tip is to always add /t/ to the
end of the verb. If it’s not possible to add a /t/ to the end of a word, then
add /id/.
It’s not possible to add a /t/ to the end of verbs that already end in /t/
or /d/ sounds, for example:
✅ Decide
✅ Want
✅ Add
✅ Hate
✅ Collide
❑ Watch my popular pronunciation video on this topic
⏩ Click here to learn my secret tip…
🔧Quick Fix 7. Say v Tell
❑ What’s the problem?
Confusing these two verbs can make you sound like you have a lower
level of English. Don’t let that happen. You deserve better!
❑ What’s the fix?
The rule is simple… We say + something
We tell + a person
So, the verb you need is determined by what follows the verb.
Use tell when the verb is followed by a person (e.g. him, them, me, you,
Peter, everybody…)
Use say when the verb is followed by another phrase (e.g. happy
birthday / she was coming / hello / that’s not fair…)
❑ Example phrases with ‘tell’
✅ I’ve already told you the answer three times! (person: you)
✅ My students tell me they love my YouTube videos! (person: me)
✅ Katy told Peter she wanted to eat out (person: Peter)
❑ Example phrases with ‘say’
✅ Courtney said she was coming to the event.
✅ If you see Jill, say ‘Happy Birthday’ from me.
✅ Rob said that it wasn’t fair, and left the meeting angrily.
🔧Quick Fix 8. Used to v Usually
❑ What’s the problem?
You’ve used these words incorrectly so many times that you sound like
you missed the day they taught it at school.
❑ What’s the fix?
Used to is a past tense. We use it to talk about a past habit that is not
true now (think of things you habitually did as a child that you don’t do
now) e.g. I used to live with my parents, I used to go to school, I used to
have longer hair.
Usually is used for things we habitually do in the present! I usually go
on holiday in December. I usually eat fish on Fridays.
❑ Example phrases
❌ I am used to live in France when I was younger.
✅ I used to live in France when I was younger.
❌ I love the mornings, so I am used to wake up early.
✅ I love the mornings, so I usually wake up early.
❑ Watch my video on this topic
⏩ Click here to learn more on using ‘used to’ in English…
🔧Quick Fix 9. We are 5 people
❑ What’s the problem?
“We are 5” is a common mistake and is often caused by directly
translating from your mother tongue. You must be careful here,
because if you say “We are 5” you are actually saying that you are 5
years old, not that there are 5 people in your group.
❑ What’s the fix?
Instead of “we are”, we have to use the expression “there are … of us”.
This might sound a bit strange, but it is the only way in English to
express number of people that are in your group.
❑ Example phrases
❌ How many are you?
✅ How many of you are there?
❌ We are 5.
✅ There are 5 of us.
❌ We were 5 at the meeting yesterday.
✅ There were 5 of us at the meeting yesterday.
🔧Quick Fix 10. If I will... I will..
❑ What’s the problem?
I often hear students say things like “If it will rain, I will call a taxi”.
However, we must never use will twice in a sentence.
❑ What’s the fix?
For sentences like this, we use the 1st conditional:
[If / When] + [present simple] + [future with ‘will’]
If
it rains
I will call a taxi
Although the first part of this sentence refers to a possible future, we
must use the present simple tense.
❑ Example phrases
❌ When I will get home, I will call you.
✅ When I get home, I will call you.
❌ If we will play well, we will win.
✅ If we play well, we will win.
❌ When I will find out, I will tell you.
✅ When I find out, I will tell you.
🔧Quick Fix 11. I have 30 years
❑ What’s the problem?
I have dream, I have 30 years, I have hungry, I have thirsty, you have
reason… These are all expressions that use the verb to have in many
other languages, but which use the verb to be in English.
❑ What’s the fix?
For the above examples, the correct expressions are: I am sleepy, I am
30 (or I am 30 years old), I am hungry, I am thirsty, you are right.
❑ Example phrases
❌ How many years do you have? I have 35 years.
✅ How old are you? I’m 35.
❌ You have the reason. I’m sorry.
✅ You are right, I’m sorry.
❌ What time is it? I have dream.
✅ What time is it? I’m sleepy.
❑ Watch my video on this topic
⏩ Click here to learn more on this topic, including three ‘chunk’s
(groups of words) that you need to learn…
🔧Quick Fix 12. I didn't do nothing
❑ What’s the problem?
In some languages it is OK to use double negatives, but in English, we
must never use two negatives in a phrase (e.g. don’t + nothing, or
didn’t + nobody). Just remember, in English (and mathematics), two
negatives make a positive!
❑ What’s the fix?
If you already have one negative word (e.g. don’t, didn’t, can’t,
aren’t…), the other word must be anything / anyone / anywhere / any…
❑ Example phrases
❌ I haven’t had nothing to eat all day.
✅ I haven’t had anything to eat all day.
❌ I don’t know nothing about rugby.
✅ I don’t know anything about rugby.
❌ I haven’t said nothing to him for 2 years.
✅ I haven’t said anything to him for 2 years.
❌ I didn’t do nothing special this weekend.
✅ I didn’t do anything special this weekend.
🔧Quick Fix 13. The cat of the dad of Joe
❑ What’s the problem?
The cat of the dad of Joe is a very ‘foreign’ sounding construction. If
you use ‘of’ once in a sentence (e.g. the cat of Joe), you sound foreign.
However, if you use it twice (e.g. the cat of the dad of Joe), it becomes
quite difficult for native speakers to understand what you’re talking
about.
❑ What’s the fix?
Use the apostrophe to express possession (you might have learnt this
as the “saxon genitive”, though native speakers generally just call it the
apostrophe). So we would say Joe’s dad’s cat (3 simple words)
instead of ‘the cat of the dad of Joe’ (7 words!). We could go on and on
and say, for example, Joe’s dad’s ex-wife’s son’s friend’s cat’s food.
❑ Example phrases
❌ It’s the birthday of the wife of my friend today.
✅ It’s my friend’s wife’s birthday today.
❌ This is the favourite song of my mum.
✅ This is my mum’s favourite song.
❌ The band of my friend is playing a concert tomorrow.
✅ My friend’s band is playing a concert tomorrow.
🔧Quick Fix 14. Two woman and a men
❑ What’s the problem?
There are some confusing plurals in English, and they are sometimes
very basic words. Woman, man, child, wife and tooth are all examples
of words with confusing plurals that students often have problems with.
However, the most confusing of these examples is the plural of
woman…
❑ What’s the fix?
The correct plurals of the above words are women, men, children,
wives and teeth. Students have the most problems changing woman
to women because, although both words begin wo-, the sound of the o
changes in the plural and sounds more like an i.
❑ Example phrases
❌ All the childs in my class are lovely.
✅ All the children in my class are lovely.
❌ There are only three womans at my office.
✅ There are only three women at my office.
❑ Watch my video on this topic
⏩ Click here to hear the pronunciation of woman and women and
other confusing plurals.
🔧Quick Fix 15. Do you like the beef?
❑ What’s the problem?
Contrary to other languages, in English we have just one word for ‘the’.
Your problem is, though, that you are using it in places that you
shouldn’t.
❑ What’s the fix?
When we are talking about something in general, we do not use ‘the’.
When we are talking about something specific, we use ‘the’.
❑ Talking about something in general (without ‘the’)
✅ Bananas are yellow.
✅ English is spoken in the USA
✅ I like beef
Talking about something specific (with ‘the’)
✅ The bananas I bought yesterday are still green.
✅ The English spoken in the USA is different to the English spoken in
the UK.
✅ I like the beef they sell at the local butcher’s.
❑ Watch my video on this topic
⏩ Click here to learn two more rules about when and when not to use
‘the’.
🔧Quick Fix 16.
I want to can speak English
❑ What’s the problem?
Can is a useful word, but we can only use it in the present simple and
past simple tenses. It is not possible to use it in the infinitive (to can),
the future (I will can) or other tenses. Sorry!
❑ What’s the fix?
If we want to use it as the infinitive, we must use be able to. This has
exactly the same meaning as can but we can use it in every tense by
simply conjugating the verb to be (e.g. I will be able to, I would like to
able to, I would have been able to…)
❑ Example phrases
❌ I would love to can speak English perfectly.
✅ I would love to be able to speak English perfectly.
❌ I’m not sure if I will can go to the party.
✅ I’m not sure if I will be able to go to the party.
❌ I’ve never could run fast.
✅ I’ve never been able to run fast.
❑ Watch my pronunciation video
⏩ Click here to learn how native speakers pronounce can and can’t.
🔧BONUS Quick Fix. Pronunciation
❑ What’s the problem?
I see students pronouncing the same common words wrong every
single day. If you spend some time fixing your pronunciation of these
common words, you will rapidly give a better impression of your
spoken English.
❑ The videos
Here are some of my most popular YouTube pronunciation videos that
you need to watch if you want to fix your pronunciation!
⏩ Click here to learn the correct
pronunciation of busy, chocolate
and other common words!
⏩ Click here to learn pronunciation
mistakes typically made by Spanish
Speakers.
⏩ Click here to learn the how to
pronounce many common words
with silent letters (and see where I
live).
🔧More about the author
Hi, I’m Greg!
•
My name is Greg Pioli and I’m the
creator of OLA Online Language
Academy.
•
I’m here to help you reach fluency
in spoken English in an effective
and fun way!
•
We have a community of online
English learners all around the
world and I want YOU to be part
of it…
Learn English with my FREE YouTube lessons
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