A selection of English ESL common mistakes printables

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

In this worksheet students answer opinion questions with "I agree" or "I disagree". Then, they correct mistakes in a conversation. The mistakes are related to common errors using "agree".

Agree Disagree in context and making corrections

 I prepared this worksheet by looking at common mistakes that students make.It is really beneficial to work on the mistakes together since almost all students make the same mistakes especially in their writing.

ERROR CORRECTION WORKSHEET

This is a FREE class questions poster featuring all the common questions students ask in the ESL classroom. Do your students often make mistakes when asking these questions? Just print the PDF and put it on the classroom wall. For online classes, you can email it to your students and tell them to put it on their wall or keep it on file. There is an A4 and an A3 version to download.







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Common Classroom Questions

Fix the mistakes

This ESL lesson, based on the humorous article "Why AI Won’t Replace Us (And Will Probably Just Become Our Digital Sidekick)," is designed for intermediate to upper-intermediate students (CEFR B1-B2). It explores how AI complements human work but cannot replace the unique emotional, creative, and unpredictable aspects of human behavior. The article engages students in thinking critically about AI, while the grammar section focuses on future simple and future continuous tenses, helping learners differentiate between the two.


Students begin with warm-up questions to introduce the topic, followed by true/false, multiple-choice, and open-ended questions to check comprehension. The vocabulary practice integrates everyday expressions and idioms. A Bamboozle game, accessible via a QR code, allows students to review vocabulary in a fun and interactive way. This method engages learners and enhances retention.


The lesson then moves into inductive grammar learning with examples from the text. This is followed by detailed explanations of the future simple and future continuous, including rules, structures, and common mistakes. Finally, students engage in task-based activities where they create real-life scenarios, blending AI collaboration with their future plans, using both future tenses. This well-rounded approach ensures students not only understand the grammar but also apply it in meaningful, engaging contexts.

Why AI Won’t Replace Us; future simple and future continuous

This worksheet focuses on analyzing Donald Trump’s speaking style and provides students with practice using comparatives and superlatives. It is designed for A2 level students and encourages them to think critically about how language can make speeches more persuasive. The worksheet begins with warm-up questions and vocabulary matching to familiarize students with key concepts like repetition, emotional appeal, and exaggeration. True/False and multiple-choice questions follow, helping students to analyze Trump’s techniques.


The worksheet transitions into a grammar focus on comparatives and superlatives, explaining how to compare two things and identify the most or least of a group. Students will learn the rules, spot common mistakes, and practice using these structures with various exercises, making the grammar both practical and engaging. The final activity uses **task-based learning**, where students participate in a debate, applying comparatives and superlatives in real-time speech. This worksheet combines analysis and grammar to improve students’ understanding of persuasive language in public speaking.

Donald Trump comparatives and superlatives

Study bookmark: I printed and laminated this for students to use while doing grammar homework. 

It has the basic rules for 'that' Noun Clauses and the common mistakes made when using them.

Noun Clauses with THAT

This worksheet is designed for **B1-B2 learners**, focusing on **quantifiers** such as *all, every, both, neither, either, none*, and *no*. Through a reading passage on **Son Doong Cave**, students explore the world’s largest cave while learning to use these quantifiers in context. The worksheet begins with **comprehension questions**—true/false, multiple choice, and open-ended—that help students engage with the text and develop reading skills. 
 

The grammar section follows the **inductive approach**, where students first analyze examples before receiving a detailed explanation of the rules. The **P.P.P method** ensures a thorough understanding, explaining common mistakes such as using *every* with plural nouns or confusing *either* and *neither*. The worksheet emphasizes quantifiers with time expressions, and nuances native speakers often use, such as the singular or plural use of *none*. 
 

Finally, a **task-based learning activity** encourages students to research a natural wonder, using quantifiers to describe it. This approach integrates **grammar practice with real-world applications**, making learning both meaningful and practical.

Son Doong Cave: Quantifiers

B5 Paper. My students have a really hard time distinguishing between Fun or Funny and when to use -ed v. -ing. Of course there are many ways to use these, but I created a simple rule guide with the most common uses for my students to follow.  

Common word form mistakes - Fun and Funny - ed and ing

This lesson focuses on helping students distinguish between the Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses. It is suitable for intermediate-level students who are developing their ability to use tenses correctly in various contexts. Through engaging activities, students will learn how to use the Present Simple to describe habits, routines, and general truths, as well as the Present Continuous for actions happening now, temporary situations, and future arrangements.


The lesson begins with a reading text featuring different people describing their holiday plans, allowing students to see the tenses in context. Students will then complete a series of practice activities, including gap-fills, error correction, and dialogue creation. These activities encourage students to notice the differences between the tenses and apply the rules independently. Additionally, open-ended questions are included to stimulate conversation and personal reflection on students' own habits and plans, providing opportunities for both written and spoken practice.


This lesson is ideal for reinforcing understanding of both tenses, as well as practicing speaking and writing skills. Students will leave with a stronger grasp of when to use each tense and avoid common mistakes.

Holidays Around the World: Present simple vs continuous

This worksheet is intended for intermediate-level students (B1) and focuses on a comprehensive approach to learning future tenses (will vs. going to) through engaging activities. Students will begin with warm-up questions that encourage critical thinking about how technology has shaped sports. Next, they will engage in true or false and multiple choice questions based on a reading passage, helping to reinforce key ideas while developing reading comprehension skills.

 
A vocabulary matching activity ensures that learners grasp the essential terms, and the open-ended questions allow them to express their understanding in their own words. The grammar section takes an inductive learning approach, encouraging students to analyze sentences before diving into detailed explanations of when to use will for predictions, promises, and spontaneous decisions, versus going to for plans and predictions based on evidence.

 
To reinforce learning, students will complete fill-in-the-blank sentences and correct common mistakes. A task-based writing activity invites students to reflect on a past sports event, make predictions using "will," and describe future plans using "going to." For additional practice, students can access a QR code to explore interactive grammar exercises online, allowing for further reinforcement of the lesson's key concepts.

The Future of Sports: will vs going to

This focuses on some common homophones in English that I think are most likely to confuse the students and cause the most amount of mistakes. It could be a good poster to have in your classroom to help students.



Grammar: Homophones

Vocabulary: None

Skills: Reading

47 Common mistakes English ESL worksheets pdf & doc