"Once we cultivate an awareness of thinking grammatically, we can better understand our most common mistakes and more effectively correct them."
The way we think is literally structured in the grammar of our native language – or perhaps, vice versa. Once we cultivate an awareness of thinking grammatically, we can better understand our most common mistakes and more effectively correct them.
Keeping in mind that Romance languages have similar grammatical structures, when speaking in English, native speakers of these languages tend to make mistakes specific not only to their own language but also typical of speakers of other Romance languages. This is partly due to the fact that they translate directly from their native language into English.
When learning another language, we all translate, to one extent or another, from our own native language. This is in part because our brains have been trained to think using the grammar of our native language.
This is true for almost all languages. Read on for examples of typical errors that native Romance language and German speakers make in English.
Funny French Faux Pas
French speakers often confuse the words “fun” and “funny.” This is funny (haha!) because they are completely different words in French. The word for funny in French is drôle, and the word for fun is amusant. A typical French speaker’s mistake would be to say, “It would be funny to go to the movies,” when in fact what they mean to say is, “It would be fun to go to the movies.” It is common to make the error of mistakenly using funny in place of fun.
So, to sum up:
FUNNY=HAHA!
FUN=YAYYYYY!
The second part of this is that the Francophone might also be likely to say, "It could be funny if we drove together…” In English we would never say this. We would probably say something like, "Wouldn’t it be more fun to drive together,” or “Why don’t we drive together, it would be more fun,” or even, “It would be more fun if we drove together.”
Spanish Speakers' Indefinite Pronouns
Hispanophones will often mistakenly say in English, “I don’t have where to stay” when they should instead be saying, “I don’t have a place to stay.” This is due to the fact that in Spanish, “no tengo donde quedarme” literally translates into English as – guess what – “I don’t have where to stay.” The Spanish use where in the way that we would use anywhere.
Similarly, a Spanish speaker may mistakenly say in English, “I don’t have nothing to say,” instead of the correct, “I don’t have anything to say.” Again, here they are translating directly from their language and therefore using Spanish grammar in English, mistakenly using nothing instead of anything.
And finally, a Spanish Speaker might incorrectly say in English, “I don’t have who to go with,” because in their native language, they would say “no tengo con quien ir.” They should say “I don’t have anyone to go with. “
Summing it up:
I DON’T + VERB + INDEFINITE PRONOUN + INFINITIVE
I DON’T HAVE ANYWHERE TO STAY FOR THE NIGHT
I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO WEAR TONIGHT
Italians and their English
An Italian speaker would be more likely to incorrectly say “I keep you posted on the situation,” in English, instead of the correct, “I will (or I’ll) keep you posted on the situation.”
The other common mistake that Italian speakers of English make is to use feminine and masculine pronouns for words which are gender neutral in English. French and Spanish also attribute feminine and masculine genders and endings to inanimate objects, but for some reason, the mistake is more marked for Italian speakers. Practicing correcting this one mistake alone will go a long way in improving your fluency levels and making you sound more native.
To Sum:
I will keep you posted
The dog is sick – NOT The dog she is sick
Germans Speaking English
Though not a Romance language, I’ve included English mistakes typical of German because I have had a lot of experience with native German speakers of English, and also because French has roots in German, and English, even deeper.
Germans will incorrectly say in English “I work by Siemens” when they mean to say, “I work for Siemens”. They also may say “I work by the train Station” instead of “I work near the train station.” Once again, they are translating directly from their own language.
Let’s Sum it up:
I WORK FOR + Company (or entity or person…)
I WORK NEAR + Place
Germans also tend to use make vs. do more than other nationalities. For example, they would say, “Let’s make a pause” instead of saying, “Let’s take a break. Or, “I can make that task,” instead of, “I can do that task.”
An easy rule of thumb to remember is that if you are creating something, use make – such as “Let’s make a cake” – and if you are creating an action, use do – as in “let’s do this together.”
Again, the other nationalities here tend to get “make” and “do” confused as well, but Germans make this mistake more often.
“It’s OK when I sit here?” SHOULD BE “Is it OK if I sit here?”
First of all, when asking a question in English, the verb comes first. Normally, it is the other way around, with most English sentences using the typical Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure.
Secondly, when is only used in phrases related to time, such as, “Remember the time when we …,” whereas “Is it OK if I,” is used to check in with another person.
In this instance, I would suggest just going ahead and memorizing the phrase “Is it OK if I +verb,” such as “Is it OK if I arrive a bit later?” or “Is it OK if we postpone the meeting?”
Once you develop an awareness that we all unconsciously translate directly from or native language, you will be more aware when you translate directly. This will help you to improve your errors much sooner and better.
Ani Gabriel is mom of a teen boy and crazy desert-dog, and loves to travel the world and learn about new languages and cultures.
For more help with speaking, writing, and presenting better in English, contact Language Solutions today!
April 7, 2022
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